Tag: featured
The Sonics Teach Garage Rock History 101 at The Observatory
Jessica Moncrief
August 22, 2016
In 1960, a band of kids heavily inspired by 50’s R&B, formed The Sonics with no clue that more than 50 years later, they would actually be the inspiration for modern day rock n roll power houses and music enthusiasts around the world. In 1964, The Sonics were signed by Etiquette Records and released their first (and wildly popular) single, “The Witch”. Even though its radio airplay was restricted, “The Witch” went on to become the biggest selling local single in the history of the Northwest. Between ’65 and ’67, The Sonics released three studio albums: “Here Are The Sonics”, “Boom”, and “Introducing the Sonics”. Their covers of songs by artists such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Fabulous Wailers and Richard Berry gained the boys national attention, however, the real standout tracks were their original hits such as “The Witch”, “Boss Hoss”, “Psycho”, “Cinderella”, “Shot Down” & “Strychnine,” which gained them a true cult following. The 60’s were a great era for music, but no one did it quite like The Sonics. They screamed louder and played faster and harder than anyone else at that time. Their recording style, performance, and lyrics would usher in a new age of
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Berserktown 3: The Craziest Festival on Earth
Rob Shepyer
August 18, 2016
2016 is the year everyone decided to step it up. Sound and Fury rolled out to the Regent, Beach Goth bounced to Oaks Canyon Park, Desert Daze doubled down to the Institute of Mental Physics, and the fest that I attended this past weekend, Berserktown 3 raided and shut down the Teragram Ballroom. Berserktown 2: Music Fringe Binge at the Observatory Beach Goth 4: The Party of the Year Desert Daze 2015: The Festival for the 21st Century I see every festival like it’s a good friend trying to impose their music on you with a mixtape of a bunch of bands you’ve never heard of but Berserktown is the best one of those friends that knows all the right bands to show any punk with (dis)tasteful sensibility. The lineup is handpicked with acts that are hard to see anywhere in the world, all of completely different genres. Where else can I see Parisian Oi, Mexican darkwave, death rock from Nuke York, experimental noise out of England, punk rock legends from Belgium, and Sweden’s Brainbombs all in one weekend? With so much range, creativity and originality spewing out of Berserktown, I couldn’t help but wonder if some future genius was
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Thee Oh Sees Slay Teragram Ballroom Night Before Album Drops/Tour
Danny Baraz
August 16, 2016
Is there anyone in independent music that has more going for them than John Dwyer and his band, Thee Oh Sees? In an industry that has been turned upside down, Dwyer and others such as Ty Segall have been successfully proving out the new business model for musical acts that aren’t corporate concoctions of sterile art, ripened just right for commercial licensing. Indy bands have proven that there is a demand for raw and innovative rock and roll, even as it disappears almost completely from the mainstream. Indy bands have proven that there is still a dream to be chased that can sustain their lives and compulsion to create with hard work and an untiring proliferation and output. On Thursday night, Thee Oh Sees threw a party at The Teragram Ballroom the night before their new album, A Weird Exits dropped and the night before they left on an extended tour of Europe that includes a backend leg in the US. While many bands might be content in taking the night off before a three month tour, whether John Dwyer wanted to brush up on some of the new tracks or he just wanted another stack of chips to add
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Video Premiere: Sloppy Jane- Aunt Rosie’s Garden
Paige Vreede
August 15, 2016
If you’ve ever seen L.A. based, “vomit-inducing,” Sloppy Jane live, you’d know they’re not afraid of pushing boundaries. Their performances come replete with nudity, green spit/vom, and unapologetic dance moves. If you have yet to see them on stage, you can catch them in all their fucked up glory with the premiere for music video of “Aunt Rosie’s Garden” off their 2015 Sure-Tuff album, exclusively here on Janky Smooth. What better way to start the weekend than watching someone uncomfortably touch themselves while feeling completely and utterly disturbed by it? The Blair Witch styled video is tainted with creepy subliminal messages and puts you in a state of discomfort you haven’t felt since *salad fingers. Hayley Dahl and Sara Cath awkwardly dance and push one another adorned in a red fur coat and a shirt that reads “Hayley Dahl is a mean mean whore” I’m not entirely sure about Dahl’s family history, but this Aunt Rosie character seems like a total dickhead to the tune of, “taking a stroll through Aunt Rosie’s garden you are hungry or starving she’ll feed you her thorns” While it may look like someone could have seriously been murdered in the making of this video, thankfully Dahl walked
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The Headliners Rule at Outside Lands 2016
Danny Baraz
August 12, 2016
In the year of our lord, 2016, I attended my first Outside Lands inside the crunchy granola confines of Golden Gate Park. I have been experiencing much Bay Area festival envy in the preceding years so I rectified it by attending this year’s Burger Boogaloo in Oakland and I attended my very first Outside Lands last week . Even though this year’s Outside Lands lineup didn’t blow me away, I decided that I needed a change of scenery, a change from the jaded, L.A. crowds and… of course… RADIOHEAD! No Live Nation or Goldenvoice. No 100 degree weather. No rubber necking, celebrity duck sicking or friends plus 1 on the guest listing. No Native American Head Dressing anywhere to be seen. Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing but love for my birthplace in the mecca of entertainment but sometimes familiarity brings comfort and sometimes, it breeds contempt. Aside from the persistence of seeing San Francisco Giants apparel everywhere I looked, I’ve always loved the folks I’ve met and become fast friends with in San Fran and Oakland. Just wondering if it’s coincidence that the only real jerk offs I’ve met up there happen to be rocking VaGiants gear. Someone
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Janky Smooth Presents: FYF 2016 Preview And Janky Mixtape
Brent Smith
August 10, 2016
It’s that time of year again in L.A. FYF is OUR festival and the evolution of a fledgling, independent, local event in Echo Park called Fuck Yeah Fest organized by some local scene kid named Sean Carlson, has transformed into a world class festival with world class talent in a world class setting in Exposition Park. To all our faithful fans and haters; please enjoy streaming or downloading our annual FYF 2016 mixtape by DJ Justin Cornwall and festival preview by our very own wordsmith, Brent Smith. Love, The Jankiest, Danny Baraz It’s 2016. Bowie and Prince are dead. Reality T.V. has assimilated the political sphere, summer fires are stoked and well-fed, and trigger fingers seem itchier than ever. This is Fuck Yeah Fest’s moment. On August 27 and 28, FYF looks to put on a hell of a clinic, going with moxie over showmanship. Headliners feature Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala, LCD Soundsystem and Grace Jones—four acts that inhabit a paradoxical interzone between indie and mainstream. FYF has all the cred of Coachella or EDC without the obnoxious baggage or neon-gaudy self-importance. FYF’s reputation now is one of coveted, cunning formidability; like a million-person kill count it’s almost too big
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Dirty Penni Fest: A Rock and Roll Romper Room For Young and Old
Paige Vreede
July 27, 2016
Los Angeles is a mecca for DIY events, especially in the Summer and this past Saturday Penniback Records and Dirty Laundry TV teamed up to put on hybrid “Dirty Penni Fest”, at you guessed it, The a Echo and The Echoplex. Teenagers would get nine hours of freedom and independence with headlining acts such as Cherry Glazerr, No Parents, and Guantanamo Baywatch. But it wasn’t just the youths who were permitted to have a good time… Mike Watt and the Missing Men were also on the bill. Whaaaaaat?! When I was first asked to cover it, I honestly approached my editor with great hesitancy in agreeing to spend an entire day drenched in 18-year-old sweat. Most of the aversion I have with these type of events is a bi-product of me getting older, music festivals increasing popularity and my progressively shortened temper to be around nihilistic teens. Alas, I agreed to it anyhow, and holy shit I am glad I did. Though there were some incredible bands that kicked off the shenanigans at noon, I knew if I had arrived early, by the time the headlining acts were to go on I would be too exhausted to care or too drunk
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Annual Low End Theory Festival Spreads L.A. Wildfire Into Shrine Auditorium
Danny Baraz
July 25, 2016
A radioactive, orange, spherical fiery orb in the sky hung just below a thick, impenetrable blanket of ash and dust from the sand fires burning the Angeles National Forrest, just 30 miles outside of Los Angeles. The distant wild fire choked my lungs and burned my eyes as I navigated the streets of South L.A. to enter the Shrine Auditorium for the third annual Low End Theory Festival in 2016. But even with the safety of distance from the flames, the most important beat collective in the world gets LIT af everytime they get together to dance and blaze and spark the imagination by pushing the envelope of sound, rhythm and rhyme. Whether you are a regular at Low End Theory’s home base on Wednesday’s at The Airliner in Lincoln Heights or you attended the festival because Wu-tang MC’s Ghostface Killah and Raekwon were at the top of the bill, you were a part of a movement that is shaping the future of music. It was clear, immediately, that attendance was down from the previous year’s sold out festival but it is no commentary on any type of waning influence. Last year, Low End Theory booked widely respected and beloved cross
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In the Red Records’ 25th Anniversary Party: Weekend at Larry’s
Rob Shepyer
July 18, 2016
A quarter century ago, Larry Hardy formed In the Red Records in Los Angeles, California to release garage and punk records for an underground that is thriving now more than ever. Some call this scene the garage rock revival, in which case In the Red Records was the scene’s Lazarus. So with 25 years of releasing music ranging from down tuned stoner rock to twangy blues garage, from bands in Los Angeles to Detroit, Portland and NYC, how does Larry Hardy decide to celebrate? A three night festival taking The Echo and Echoplex hostage to host a slew of bands spanning In the Red’s sonic history. As soon as I crept down those pissed stained stairs from Sunset to Glendale blvd and checked in, it was nonstop rock. Wounded Lion’s party rock launched the festivities and loosened me up for the debauchery to come. Dancing and prancing around the stage, cramming the jams down our throats, I picked up a sweat bouncing and bobbing and dashed out the Echo down to its bottom-bitch Siamese sister venue. A man eyeballed me suspiciously and asked for my papers, so I showed him my Zig Zags. Zig Zags were the first of many
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Death Grips Side Project “The I.L.Y.’s” Release New Album – Listen Here
Johann A. Ramos
July 16, 2016
We here at Janky Smooth love the Sacramento born experimental hip-hop outfit Death Grips. We love that they announced their break up on a coffee diner napkin back in 2014. We also love that they announce an extensive world tour just a few months after that stunt. We just love that they don’t really give a fuck, and they don’t have to write a song to tell us all about how very little fucks they give, they show us. They do everything a band should not do and yet they have one of the most loyal fan-bases in arguably the most obscure genre right now. They play to this role very well, not just with their music but with their attitude towards the big machine us simple minded individuals know as the music industry. Their latest puzzle – The I.L.Y.’s –is a Death Grips side project consisting of Death Grips’ very own Zach Hill on vocals, Andy Morin on production, and Tera Melos’ Nick Reinhardt on guitar. ‘Scum With Boundaries’, The I.L.Y.’s second album, was released via a post on Death Grips’ Facebook page. They kindly warned us of the release 2 hours before they dropped us this heavy hitter on their Facebook time-line as well. Screenshots:
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New Album Review: The Julie Ruin- Hit Reset
Janky Smooth Central Command
July 15, 2016
There’s something about the sound of sweet electro-pop mixed with iconic punchy punk vocals of the one and only Kathleen Hanna that just screams perfection. The Julie Ruin’s first album, Run Fast, set high expectations for the band that came out of prominent groups like Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Their latest release on July 8th via Hardly Art, Hit Reset, only proves that they can continue to surprise with diverse sounds that are charged with personal and political energy. related content: The Julie Ruin at The Troubadour- Vaginas and Suprises After many years of staying out of the spotlight and battling Lyme disease, Hanna joined forces with Bikini Kill bandmate Kathi Wilcox alongside Sarah Landeau, Kenny Mellman and Carmine Covelli towards the end of 2009. Their first album, the previously mentioned Run Fast, was released in 2013 along with the revelatory documentary on Hanna, The Punk Singer, which served as a sort of notice to fans and critics that Hanna wanted back into music and out of the hiding that was induced by her condition. The Julie Ruin definitely doesn’t ease you into the action that is contained within Hit Reset. The first (and title) track begins with a
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Beach Goth V Lineup Announced: Everything You Need to Know
Johann A. Ramos
July 13, 2016
Beach Goth is the one time a year where I can get a taste of all of my favorite bands and acts across the entire genre spectrum. The Growlers hosted festival is infamous for it’s very consistently unpredictable line-ups. Booking past festival favorites like Die Antwoord, Ghost, Touche Amore, The Drums, Mac DeMarco, and more raises an eyebrow or two but it works out in its own way by attracting all sorts of demographics, making conflicting set times less of a worry for the crowd and offering evidence that today’s young music fan isn’t limited by dogmatic genre loyalty. Beach Goth V is no exception: The festival will no longer take place at The Observatory (thank god). The OC Canyon Park will be Beach Goth V’s new home for now, which is good news for everyone because it’s biggest turn off was its cramped festival grounds. Popular festival’s always take a huge risk with a move in location. There will always be those that can never be satisfied but there is danger in changing a dynamic that works and production that has been perfected over years of working out the kinks. As long as the open minded party vibe remains, Beach Goth
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