Jai Chebaia
together PANGEA End Tour With A Bang At The Echoplex
Jai Chebaia
December 9, 2015
Since stumbling into the LA music scene a few years ago, I’ve probably seen together Pangea more times than I’ve smoked a cigarette in The Smell alleyway, and I’m not complaining, about either really. There’s something so synonymous with the LA garage rock pandemic and Pangea – half the burgeoning bands you see out want to sound like them, the other half want to embody their punk ass lifestyle. Regardless, whether you’re a fan or not, a together Pangea show is always bound to be crazy. Simply put, there’s too much hook driven, toe tappin, bass thumpin songs for a group of 200 kids not to mosh, and that’s exactly what went down at The Echoplex on Friday night. together Pangea’s debut album, ‘Night of the Living Dummy’, was a lo-fi garage punk masterpiece; with a coherent concept that threaded its way throughout the album, and some of the most original songs I’ve heard in a long time. The band went from releasing their first album on cult label Burger Records, to signing with major label imprint Harvest Records and releasing the ‘Badillac’ LP. Earlier this year, the group returned to Burger with the Phage EP, a slew of six
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Meet The Cinematic Wizards Taking Music Videos By Storm
Jai Chebaia
September 30, 2015
I met Theo Cohn, David Gantz and Ben Mullen, at their house in West Adams, Los Angeles, a few days before the release of their most recent music video. Before the interview even began, I caught the boys discussing the release party for their new video, ‘Norma and Jessica’, for LA surf-punk aficionados, SadGirl. They had been in the office for all of five minutes, and already they’d slipped into work mode, discussing technicalities with sound and video projection, as well as how much beer would be needed to placate the crowd. It was a testament to the trio’s work ethic, which throughout the interview, grew to a daunting point where you could begin to understand the difference between crafting a good music video and crafting a great music video. To first understand the boys though, and where there magic comes from, you have to understand what they commonly refer to as “The Nest”. The Nest, located right down the road from USC, is the house where the trio work, party, eat, and sleep. Out the back, there are three garages. Two of them have been converted into a DIY performance/rehearsal/storage space for Theo and David’s band, Wild Wing, while
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Shannon and The Clams Debut “Gone By The Dawn” at The El Rey
Jai Chebaia
September 26, 2015
Retro rock band Shannon and The Clams are no strangers to Los Angeles. The Oakland band has dropped three previous albums in the garage rock mecca, so when they returned last Wednesday night to mid-city hipster haven the El Rey for the record release of their 4th album, they were welcomed with warm arms and adoring fans. Opening for the headliners were fellow bay area band Cool Ghouls, who’s LP, “A Swirling Fire Burning Through The Rye”, was in my opinion one of the best albums of 2014. Consequently, watching these guys was incredible, especially on such a big stage, with even more impressive sound to match. However, what makes Cool Ghouls more unique than most garage bands, is the fact that ALL of them can sing, and not just belt out a few notes – they can fucking sing. This means not only are the harmonies crazy, but also each individual voice when alone, brings something different to the song, both emotionally and tonally. The crowd was a little thin to begin for the touring band, but there was no shortage of happy-go-lucky dancing. At times the band would break down into straight-up country punk, which by the way
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Way Strange Fest: Teenage Promoters In Way Over Their Head
Jai Chebaia
September 2, 2015
Way Strange Fest was the brainchild of two teenagers from the Inland Empire, Esmeralda and Nora, who managed to gather over 50 bands from Los Angeles and beyond for one exhilarating day. It had been a while since I’d seen this many bands crammed into one tight space in an even tighter day, so I was curious to say the least. There had been growing speculation about the legitimacy of the festival for some time, with some bands dropping off the festival last minute, leaving others who had made the trek out wondering how the two teens were going to pull everything off. Located in Upland, CA, Way Strange was hosted at an aptly named venue called Imagine That; in true D.I.Y. fashion the venue was most notable for its quinceaneras, as I read on a company truck nearby, which made the whole layout of the festival make a whole lot more sense. There were three stages, in three separate rooms, directly adjacent to each other. You could walk from one end of the venue to the other in probably 30 seconds. Each room was bigger than the last, housing bigger acts as they went throughout the night. The stages
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Meatbodies Lay Waste to The Echo With Spectacular Theatrics
Jai Chebaia
July 25, 2015
Around five minutes before the Meatbodies took the stage, I realized it was all about to go down. There was a mysterious Ty Segall in the corner, suiting up in god knows what, who seemed to be reading lines off his phone. Chad Ubovich, head honcho at the Meatbodies, wearing an epic red cape and face paint to match, gave Ty a pat on the back as he walked onstage to put his guitar down. Onstage, there were two drum kits. Which was weird, because as far as I knew, the Meatbodies only had one drummer. The Echo started to fill out as the crowd slowly came to the realization that they were about to witness something different, and hopefully, something memorable. The Meatbodies, who released their debut album earlier this year to critical acclaim, had obviously been planning this tour kick off for a little bit. Like any band that faces rampant success, the pressure to step up their game is always on, as the audience expects a little something more each time. As always, the Meatbodies seemed up to the challenge, and likewise, the crowd was roaring to go, laying waste to each other before the band even
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