JustinThomas
Hot Chip Make Machines Come to Life at The Greek
JustinThomas
August 13, 2015
As the sun set last night over Griffith Park, both hipsters and middle aged white people congregated to relish in the sound waves of some of the better names in independent dance music. The historic Greek Theatre played host to a booty shakin’ line up consisting of Com Truse, !!!, and dance music staple, Hot Chip. Getting from Santa Monica to Griffith Park during rush hour is a gruesome task I do not wish upon even the worst of my ex-girlfriends. Yet there I was, Tinder swiping in grid lock traffic for two hours. Due to this, I completely missed Seth Haley’s electronic act Com Truise. I did, however, see Haley walking around the hospitality area, and if his beard was any indication of his performance, then I am sure it was nothing short of magnificent. !!!, audibly pronounced Chk, Chk, Chk, was next up. Taking the stage just as dusk was turing to dark, !!! had the task of loosening the hip muscles of the crowd that was beginning to fill in – and loosen they did. Lead singer, Nic Offer, looked like he could pass as Wayne Coyne’s twin as he danced the stage around in his short shorts. Overall, !!! had
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Corners Homecoming at The Echoplex
JustinThomas
May 15, 2015
“Where are we captain”, Corners bassist, Bill Changer, asked last night to an all aged audience. The answer was obvious; we were in Echo Park congregated to see Corners homecoming show after a lengthy tour consisting of 80 shows spanning from California to Lithuania. A tip of the hat goes off to Crap Eyewear and What Youth for putting together a rad line up of bands. Each of which complimented each other quite nicely, and the crowd, which unsurprisingly dressed in mostly black, was extremely receptive and got increasingly looser as the rainy night persisted. I stumbled into The Echoplex in somewhat tardy fashion around 9 PM (I blame Southern California’s tendency to suck ass at driving in the rain) just in time to see popwave rockers, Popheart. The appropriately named four-piece, Popheart, played a nice blend of; you guessed it, pop. The four-piece performed their poppy ballads with an eerie hint of Joy Division-esque darkness. Their groovy sound warmed up the rain-drenched crowd nicely. Next up was Tropical Popsicle, who in my humble opinion wins the award for dopest band name. The four-piece, lead by Timothy Hines, are fresh off a two year hiatus, and I for one, am stoked
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Fuzz Unleash Distorted Heavy Overdrive On El Rey
JustinThomas
April 25, 2015
Words: Justin Thomas Photos: Taylor Wong Last night Ty Segall, and his longhaired trio, Fuzz headlined the sold out El Rey Theatre in West Hollywood with support from Endless Bummer and CCR Headcleaners. Heads were banged, faces were fervidly melted and stoner jams tirelessly ensued. News Flash: Mr. Ty Segall knows his way around a fucking drum set, Ladies and Gentleman. Arriving just after 9 PM on a Friday night, with the venue nearly one third full, Endless Bummer were already creating mass amounts noise in the realm of psychedelic bong-rip friendly jams. The Los Angeles locals, Endless Bummer, carried the torch of the thriving garage scene well. Like Fuzz, as a three piece they did an efficient job producing a wall of noise while working in the ambit limitations of two dudes hammering guitars and a girl ripping the drums apart. Next up were the San Francisco five-piece CCR Headcleaners. The Headcleaners set the pallet well for Fuzz and warmed the waters for the crowd that was beginning to trickle in. CCR had some stand out moments during their set, one of which included a stoney version of Free the Freaks off their 7 in. split with Fuzz, LAMC
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A Place to Bury Strangers Makes Eardrums Bleed at The Echoplex
JustinThomas
March 16, 2015
Last night The Echoplex played host to a union of reverberate noise courtesy of A Place To Bury Strangers, Creepoid, and Tennis System. I arrived around 10pm, just in time to catch the Los Angeles transplanted three-piece, Tennis System. Like the other bands billed, Tennis System produced no shortage of noise, setting the stage perfectly with their stony jams for the rest of the acts to follow. Next up were the Philadelphia bred four-piece, Creepoid. Lead by guitarist Sean Miller and bassist Anna Troxell, Creepoid had a dark, shoegazey sound that translated extremely well live. Much like A Place To Bury Strangers, their songs seemed to deviate from their recorded structure, instead, leading into reverb filled bridges and bass driven breakdowns. Last night was their last stop on the tour supporting APTBS, and they made it known. Before Anna Troxell led into “Tired Eyes”, she dedicated the melancholy track to ABTBS letting them know how much she would miss them. To wake the sleepy Sunday night crowd at 11:30 PM was A Place To Bury Strangers and wake them they did. Never in my life have I experienced a band that produces the amount of noise that A Place to
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No Barrier Between Thee Oh Sees and Audience at Human Resources
JustinThomas
March 13, 2015
Last night I found myself on a mission on the streets of Chinatown, iPhone GPS in hand, searching for Human Resources. I love Chinatown, it’s an eccentric place to wander around and explore. Last night however, was not one of those nights. I was on a mission to find Human Resources because it was there that Thee Oh Sees were billed to melt faces. Tucked away on a little side street, I saw a bunch of grimy kids smoking cigarettes, huddling around 32 racks of beer on the street; I had found the spot. Human Resources is a DIY-style venue, with bare white walls, lofty vaulted ceilings, and no stage. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice that everybody was getting fucked up drinking beers and smoking weed. With a five-dollar cover, no security in sight, and a room full of rowdy kids, the evening was sure to be mayhem. Taking the stage around 9 PM was the Los Angeles duo, Caldwell/Tester. To put it bluntly, Caldwell/Tester made a shit-load of noise. With their ominous, and sometimes even celestial, beaming sounds, the duo played what I thought was a total of two songs over the course of their 45-minute set.
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The Dickies Dry Hump The Roxy
JustinThomas
February 23, 2015
“There is no better place to be on a Saturday night than Hollywood.” These were the words mumbled by my Uber driver. All while the lunatic stranger from our Uberpool ride-share aggressively barked lyrics from Sublime’s 40 oz of Freedom to an audience of one. My Saturday night was already headed in the right direction. I arrived at the historic Roxy Theatre around 8 PM. The curtains were drawn, mo hawks were groomed, and “The Dickies” back patches were imperfectly sewn onto sleeveless denim jackets. Each of the times I’ve been to the Roxy, every artist has acknowledged the history of this venue, and any number of google searches will result an overwhelming number of articles about the mystique of the Roxy. This all lead me to believe there is no better venue to see The Dickies, one of LA’s most historic punk bands. As the curtains raised for the first time, my eyes were met with pure bewilderment as the stage was set with two white dudes in freshly pressed Mormon door-knocking uniforms, slicked back hair, and a Wall-E-eque computer holding a MacBook. It all took a second to process and what followed was one of the best shticks in
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Dum Dum Zine Party with TULIPS and So Many Wizards
JustinThomas
February 9, 2015
The dream of the 90’s is alive in Portland Echo Park. Every time I venture into the hipster-friendly, conveniently gentrified, Echo Park, I can’t help but reference this Portlandia bit. It just rings so true here. A print media zine release party, conveniently located next to a record store; the only thing missing from the night is to manifest an outright time warp into the golden decade of the 90’s was the glaring of smart phones screens, which lit up the faces that lined the dimly lit, iconic Echo, smack dab in the heart of Echo Park. I arrived slightly after the live zine readings around 7 PM. I was just in time for Echo Park’s own TÜLIPS to commence the musical portion of Dum Dums Zine release party, which also served as the official LA Zine Week kick off. Upon entering, I darted straight to the bar. The Echo stands as one of the only venues where you can order a beer and a slice of pizza, which is delivered from the delectable Two Boots Pizza right next door. If that isn’t enticing enough for you then your soul is black. TÜLIPS, the self proclaimed “riotgaze” rockers lead by Taleen
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PPL MVR at Bardot: The Mystery Deepens
JustinThomas
February 3, 2015
Spoiler alert; PPL MVR are insane. Upon sinking into the jam-packed crowd at the opulent Bardot Lounge in Hollywood, it became apparent that something was in the air aside from the looming second hand, cancer inducing cigarette smoke that slowly wafted out of the pseudo open air venue. From the right angle the venue plays host to a view of the historic Capital Records building. There was a palpable buzz around the picturesque venue about who the fuck PPL MVR actually are outside their masks, the platform boots, the fur, the lack of vowels, the names (SNWBLL, HNGRY Q, K-PO); who the fuck is this band? My attempts of digging through Reddit threads and YouTube comments speculating that PPL MVR might be Brand New’s latest side project left me doubtful at best. Also dead-ended were my attempts to eavesdrop the “in the know” pre-set chatter from self acclaimed Hollywood music producers and their assorted entourages. I decided to say fuck it and let the experience of PPL MVR wash over me from a virgin perspective. I was ready to have their lustrous, riff driven, melodically auto tune induced cuts break though my venerable hymen. Standing front row and dead center, armed
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