Tag: featured
Janky Smooth Top 10 SHOWS of 2025 Rated by Contributors
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 30, 2025
Live shows, concerts, clubs and festivals have always been the life blood of Janky Smooth and that was no different in 2025. That’s why Top 10 shows are always on our year end lists… But 2025 was a relaunch in many ways for us after almost clicking our last click on this music blog through the pandemic. This year felt like we were back at full strength for the first time. A skeleton crew has grown skin that has been filled with the blood, sweat and tears of such a diverse group of contributors- all with their own taste. Taste, and the lack of it, at times is what we celebrate on our music blog. Here are the Top 10 Shows of 2025 from 7 of our contributors. Up next- The Top 25 Artists To Watch In 2026. *All highlighted picks are linked to reviews* related: Janky Smooth Top 10 Albums Of 2025 Rated By Contributors Publisher, Danny Baraz Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds at Cruel World, Rose Bowl Nine Inch Nails at The Forum Lip Critic at The Lodge Room Fleshwater and Chat Pile at The Fonda Theatre Marilyn Manson at House Of Blues Anaheim L7 and Lunachicks
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Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2025 Rated by Contributors
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 22, 2025
Year end lists don’t define many music publications anymore. But we’d like to change that. The Janky Smooth Year End Lists are personal to each of our contributors that participated and our contributors define the focus of our music blog. And while everyone can post their personal year end lists on social media with varying degrees of traction, it’s the collective that has always defined Janky Smooth and what we cover. It’s hard to tell if 2025 was a banner year for Independent Music or if Janky Smooth covered it in a way that we never have in the last 11 years. It would be strictly rhetorical to ask if the volatile times we live in were feeding artists inspiration that led to their most seminal works of art, but it would not be if we asked if we covered more new releases than we ever had in our history. In the latter half of 2025 we introduced Janky Fresh Friday to focus on artist in the studio as much as we spotlight the artists onstage. As a result, the contributors at Janky Smooth have felt like we have been able to offer a more holistic view of bands and
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Jonathan Richman: The Gift Of Being Present at Ojai Valley Women’s Club
Michelle Evans
December 17, 2025
I was not expecting to have my heart broken at the Jonathan Richman show at Ojai Valley Woman’s Club this past December 9th, 2025. Jonathan Richman is arguably the kindest soul in punk, except I’ve never actually heard anyone argue this. On the surface he comes off as simplistic, idealistic and perhaps even naive. Not everybody “gets” Jonathan Richman and by all accounts this seems perfectly fine with him. He’s never bent himself to appear any differently than exactly who he is. When he led the highly influential proto-punk band The Modern Lovers, their fast, energetic hit “Roadrunner” sort of blew up in its own way and turned them into a household name…if your household was hip enough at least. Following this success, The Modern Lovers responded by opening their very next show with silly, cute and quaint “I’m a Little Airplane,” complete with stretched out airplane arms by Richman and, yes, airplane noises from the entire band (nnnyyoww nnnyyoww!). Audience members constructed paper airplanes and floated them towards the stage, to the delight of The Modern Lovers. The scene made the concert look more like a children’s show and was not at all what the audience was expecting following
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Every Cap’n Jazz Song Is My Favorite- Live At The Wiltern
Michelle Evans
December 10, 2025
On November 20th 2025, I saw Cap’n Jazz at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA and then immediately drove to Las Vegas. The familiar five hour, starlit drive through the glowing blue Mojave Desert served as a catalyst for my mind to wander and wonder…is time travel real? What the hell just happened at the Cap’n Jazz show? related: Emo Is Hot Mulligan at The Hollywood Palladium As Southern California was being drenched by a rare storm, a weird-ass but perfectly curated variety show was going down on Wilshire Blvd. The curiously stacked lineup looked like any one of the mixed CDs I would have made in high school. Some thoughtfully burned acid jazz courtesy of Digable Planets, an angsty AFI track, “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. A perfect compilation. I would take a sharpie and scribble “Trix Mix” or something equally dumb on the white surface, but man would that tracklist hit hard on the bus ride to school. Here at The Wiltern, Cap’n Jazz invited four wildly eclectic supporting bands to the bill, as well as four different DJs buffering the sets. related: Ceremony Gets Their Flowers at Hollywood Palladium Anthony Family, a new project led
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Oi My God: Cock Sparrer at The Palladium
Danny Ryan
November 28, 2025
On November 22nd and 23rd 2025, legendary Oi band, Cock Sparrer played two sold out shows at the Hollywood Palladium. Have you ever experienced something that you felt you “weren’t supposed to”? Whether it’s something paranormal, shocking, surreal, from another dimension, or like you accidentally found yourself having traveled back in time? While there is a rising scene of newer Oi bands like The New York Hounds and The Chisel, seeing an original band from the 1970’s movement is nearly unheard of nowadays with legends from founding groups like Angelic Upstarts and The Business unfortunately passing away in recent years. related: LA Still Believes In Anarchy – The Exploited at The Regent Of all the original boot-boy skinhead Oi bands from 1970’s England; few have even come close to reaching the cult status that Cock Sparrer has in modern times. Hell at this point, the term “Oi” is almost unanimous with Cock Sparrer nowadays and especially their 1983 no-skips masterpiece of an album Shock Troops. Returning to Los Angeles for the first time in 25 years to completely take over The Hollywood Palladium on November 22nd and 23rd like it was a coup run by unruly ‘77 Rude Boys, this
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Melt Banana Rain Harsh Noise in Los Angeles at Teragram Ballroom
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 27, 2025
Revisiting the vibrant streets of Los Angeles, California on November 13 on behalf of their “2025 SlinGShot Tour,” Melt Banana crusades across the west coast of the United States in celebration of their latest album, 3 + 5. 11 years of pure creative flow led to the birth of their ninth LP (3 + 5) in 2024, which channeled in raw elements including hardcore punk, noise rock, and experimental electro themes. Joining the duo on tour are Deaf Club and Dream_Mega – both honorable features that beautifully complemented the energy Yako and Agata curated on stage at the Teragram Ballroom. The initial chaotic rush left by the presence of the opening acts left the crowd hungry for more action. A lingering sense of exhilaration fills the venue as crowds of rabid fans flood the scene in classic punk-rock regalia. Overhanging strobe lights and the smell of rebellion energized every individual who dared to attend. Words by Max Molina Photos by Auburn Sky click to expand truncated photos related: Three One G Radiation – Deaf Club at The Echo As Yako and Agata aka Melt Banana made their way on stage, fans erupted in a flurry of excitement, laced with mosh
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Emo is Hot Mulligan at The Hollywood Palladium
Danny Ryan
November 25, 2025
Hot Mulligan headlined the Hollywood Palladium on Nov 19th 2025 and that’s important. I’ll tell you why. What qualifies as “Emo” has shifted dramatically in many waves throughout the years. There are some that consider 90’s Midwestern Emo like American Football to be the pinnacle of the genre, while others look all the way back to the 1980’s melodic hardcore projects like Embrace and Jawbreaker as the roots of the scene. Regardless, true up-and-coming Emo artists have been relegated to the underground again in the post-Hot Topic and MCR years of pop culture, with many of them choosing to take influence from all waves of Emo rather than wasting time with arguing about “what real Emo music truly is”. related: Emo Never Dies – My Chemical Romance at T Mobile Arena Hot Mulligan are one of the few Emo bands in more recent years to transcend out of the underground and into more mainstream status, as evidenced by their Hollywood Palladium headlining show on November 19, 2025. Just because they have reached the status of headlining a venue as massive as The Palladium doesn’t mean they have forgotten their underground punk roots however. Hot Mulligan wants to emphasize that they
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Substance Festival 2025: The Post Pandemic/Post Punk Era
Danny Baraz
November 14, 2025
Substance Festival in Los Angeles has become a right of passage in this city and this past November 7th and 8th we attended the 2025 installment in the festival’s return to the Belasco Theater. Approaching this Substance Fest review with any overt enthusiasm would be antithetical to the spirit of the way we revel in the morose nature of this art- the oddly mesmerizing decay of destruction/creation approached with a somewhat detached dreariness that is direct in it’s aloofness. But also… the fucking horrific beauty of it all… or whatever. related: Cloak And Dagger Fest- The Heart Of Los Angeles Bled From Dusk To Dawn Even with the orbits and cycles of pop culture and music circling back to black lipstick among the masses, the mainstream attention can cause a scene to go into lockdown and it’s members more discerning on where they spend their show dollars. So for Substance Festival, it was important to pull in the beating heart of the scene at the increased ticket price. related: Sextile At The Novo- The Most Important Band in Los Angeles? A touch for curation in the dark arts is what scene loyalists look for most and their return to the
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GBH at Ventura Music Hall- Street Punks In Paradise
Rob Shepyer
October 29, 2025
The scene was the Hi Hat. One of the most vibrant venues during its short life on York, a must attend space on Highland Park art-walk nights. I don’t remember who was playing, just that it was a punk show because Blaque Chris was DJ’ing between the bands that night. During his set, Blaque Chris spun a track that stood out to me as especially vibrant and danceable, but in that street punk way, like kicking up dirt in the discotheque. I didn’t know the song at the time and went on a long journey trying to find it. Before seeing GBH at Ventura Music Hall though, the planets aligned to tell me the song was Big Women by GBH off their “Leather, Bristles, Studs, and Acne” album. GBH is quintessential street punk- the exact sound and spirit of the punk genre and look. Songs like Big Women are exemplary of that vibe. Comical, crass, gritty, simple, rhythmic, and too much fun to stop your body from hopping up and down. It took me far too long to see them perform, but finally, I had my punk rock rite of passage on October 17, 2025 by seeing them with Slaughterhouse
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Juggalo Halloween Party: Insane Clown Posse at House Of Blues Anaheim
Danny Ryan
October 28, 2025
Insane Clown Posse was not a band I ever expected to see in my lifetime, especially if you would have asked me in my younger years. Between their goofy carnival-sounding production, overly edgy lyrics and imagery, trailer trash fanbase, their beef with Eminem; the list of reasons not to like them upon first impression is endless. As time goes on and Juggalos get older however; the perception of Insane Clown Posse has changed drastically over the years with Vice’s documentary about their Gathering Of The Juggalos festival, their collaborations with Danny Brown and more recently Jelly Roll, and their song Miracles becoming a viral sensation upon its release. ICP are the black sheep of music as a whole, and the world has mostly decided that we were a bit too hard on them over the years. related: OC Did It All For The Nookie: Musink Tattoo Convention And Music Fest 2019 I decided I wasn’t doing my due diligence as a music journalist if I had never experienced them live, and being as they never visit Southern California; this was one of the few chances I had. House Of Blues Anaheim made the ridiculously insane decision to book them right
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Seducing Tommy Meehan At The Gwar Museum-Janky Smooth Sessions
Danny Baraz
October 20, 2025
Awhile back at the Osees show, I ran into Tommy Meehan. Tommy’s band Squid Pisser was main support for Dwyer and his band of merry thieves that night and I said hi to him at the merch table after their set. related: Osees At The Teragram- A Rose By Any Other Name We caught up briefly and I found the short chat so intriguing that I asked Tommy Meehan out on a date… and he accepted. We were to meet at the museum, or rather, the Gwar exhibit at Beyond The Streets Gallery in Los Angeles. Tommy walked me through every Gwar artifact at the installation that is running through November 2nd, 2025 where the label owner, scene impresario, band leader, innovative guitarist, animator, satirist and historian revealed his life long obsession with Gwar- I instantly fell in love with the fact that this man is in the midst of all his dreams coming true. It’s intoxicating to be around and Tommy Meehan is an easy guy to like and root for. This was our conversation: Background on Tommy Meehan Tommy Meehan is one of the most quietly influential figures in the Southern California punk and hardcore underground—a
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Smashing The Status Quo With Fleshwater at The Fonda Theatre
Aria Silva-Espinosa
October 20, 2025
Fleshwater and Chat Pile at The Fonda. October 11, 2025. Doors at 7:00, show at 8:00. Knowing full well that on-time arrival was going to translate to late arrival, I dipped directly from work for The Fonda without going home to change into something more camouflaged for the occasion. Whenever I arrive at the function, I’m always immediately clocking what everyone lined up down the block is wearing. Among the standard all black outfits and LA’s current favorite branded workwear I notice a series of band tees – Turnstile, Bauhaus, and Pig Destroyer logos and graphics featured on the chests and shoulders of the queue forming along the Walk of Fame. Before the algorithm, your best bet for ‘suggested artists’ would be the merch of the other people at the show. The aforementioned time crunch between the end of my day job and the door call at 7:00 PM now has me in a cardigan, long floral skirt and heels in the foyer of the venue – now both feeling awkwardly overdressed and freezing cold under the blasting AC vents, an effort to combat the anticipated body heat from an active packed house. Words by Aria Silva-Espinosa Photos by Evan
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