Whether you’ve seen him in a sport coat, thick-rimmed glasses, or his ever-present beard, Andy Clockwise is a sight to behold. Raw, energetic garage rock mixed with new wave dance beats and Clockwise’s tenor vocals, songs like "My Generation", "Everybody’s in a band", and "Remember Love" show off his musical range tremendously.

Andy Clockwise will be performing tonight at the El Ray with other LA staples Abandoned Pools, Eastern Conference Champions, and Aaron Lee & the Love Vigilantes. Along with the stellar lineup, his newest LP, The Socialite, is available for purchase two months before other mere mortals can get their hands on it. Tickets are still available here for bit longer before the doors open at 7pm.

-Angelo Lorenzo

As we wait for our final jury votes to trickle in, we’ve spent the last few weeks combing through the bands who submitted through open submission process, and through SonicBids.com. After having editors weigh in from other regions of the Deli Magazine, here are our results:

Open submissions that qualify for the next phase:
1. Pepper Rabbit
2. He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
3. Incan Abraham
4. Michael Nhat
5. White Arrows
6. Fight From Above
7. Chasing Kings
8. George Glass
9. Hot As Sun
10. Eastern Conference Champions
11. Mad Planet
12. Letting Up Despite Great Faults
13. Manhattan Murder Mystery
14. The Mighty Regis

Of course, if your favorite band missed our open submissions, they could have jumped onto SonicBids.com to submit themselves. Below are the results:

SonicBids.com submissions that qualify for the next phase:
1. Dylan Trees

2. Patrick Joseph
3. Tara Priya
4. Cannoneers of the New Command
5. The Filthy Violets

Readers, look out for our public poll out by the end of the week for your voting pleasure!

-Angelo Lorenzo

L.A. based Violet Shades carry the swagger and pent-up energy of a gritty Indie rock band from NYC. (The Strokes perhaps?) Their compressed vocals, creative drumming, melodic basslines, and intricate guitar riffs spew alternately soulful and overeager jams over street-corner clatter. Brodie Reeds vocals interchange between distorted crys and melancholy wails that send the band afloat down the highway of modern rock. The Violet Shades will be playing a show this Friday the 7th at The 5 Star Bar in Downtown L.A. The indefinable sound of The Shoestring Prophets will be accompanying VS on stage. Their folk-driven vocals, rock steady drumming, and bluesy guitar will have you trading shuffles with the devil down Memphis into the Mississippi delta, leaving you lost in your tracks in the place you know best. 

–Margarita Castellanos

Pepper Rabbit released their debut album, Beauregard, in October with Kanine Records and had spent the fall touring the US with Cotton Jones, Canada with Rural Alberta Advantage, and finished out the year on the west coast with Passion Pit and Freelance Whales. Xander Singh and Luc Laurent are now ready to embrace the New Year, and what better than to embark on another tour?

The band recently announced their upcoming 2011 tour dates on the west coast with non other than Ra Ra Riot and Miniature Tigers, a triple threat that avid indie fans won’t want to miss in action. Orchestrating you through a gallery of sound, filled with bewilderment and charm, the troubadour duo will have you entranced by the whim of their instruments.

-Margarita Castellanos

Young The Giant has just announced that they will be playing the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight. They have had a crazy year from writing and recording their self-titled debut album here on the West Coast, to playing the CMJ festival in New York in early fall, and releasing their album in October. The band will be leaving for a cross country tour, hitting the UK to play some London shows, and swinging by good ol’ West Hollywood on the 26th of February to play The Roxy.

Young The Giant will be giving away two tickets to the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight, so get on it! View the contest details here.

Read our interview with lead singer Sammeer Gadhia for our latest print issue!

–Jenna Putnam

Folk singer/songwriter Jameson has just released his debut EP, "Shuffling Click". The EP is a 4 track compilation of mellow, well-written songs that tell a story and paint a picture for the listener. The romantic acoustic guitar, shakers, and lightly crashing drums with descriptive words tell a story of Jameson Burt’s inner monologue. He has previously played with The Steve Carson Band and Echo Echo, making this his solo debut. His influences include Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young, which speak for his folk-driven poetic sound.

Jameson will be playing a show this Friday the 7th at Hotel Cafe. 

Listen to the full EP, "Shuffling Click", and free download of the single "Let You Be".

–Jenna Putnam

Not Explain from Strange Fruit Music on Vimeo.

It was a cold and easy drive down to Pehrspace on Dec. 30th to catch Hello My Name Is Record’s year end show. Tucked away in an unassuming commercial building dotted with restaurants, it’s a venue where the uninitiated only seem to enter when dragged in by friends; it breeds a level of intimacy in the crowd.

The band I was most impressed with, in part that I hadn’t seen them live up to this point, was the straight ahead punk rockers The Mormons. Donning the missionary garb of white dress shirts, ties, slacks, bike helmets, and backpacks, I knew from first glance the band would be a treat. Their vocalist, Patrick, contorted and shook like a special ed case before ending the show by crawling under a rug and letting the crowd drag him away. I should be wearing a bike helmet too, my skull feels like it was cut open and the Mormons took a hand blender to it.

The Mormons recently released their EP, Forge Ahead, on their own label MorMusic. It’s available for purchase and download at CDBaby. For fans of Bad Brains, Fugazi, or even Devo, it’s a fresh musical fix.

-Angelo Lorenzo

Dangerbird Records holds a pretty strong name, representing bands like Silversun Pickups, Eulogies, Minus The Bear, and Darker My Love. They just recently announced their signing of The Fling, hailing from Long Beach and taking the world of indie rock by storm. The Fling just returned from a tour with Darker My Love and Delta Spirit, lifting the heads of those rock ‘n’ rollers who thought they were too cool to listen to the opening act. They play deep, melodic rock that could be compared to bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or The Jesus and Mary Chain (that’s right, I said it). They have a slight folk and psychedelic undertone, with guitars that make the blood in your chest surge to the surface, pounding drumbeats that echo against the outskirts of your soul, and dark piano keys that make your heart ache. Their songwriting is intimate and honest.  

It’s only fitting that the group settled on their title through self-discovery one summer on the island of debauchery, Crete, Greece. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Grouplove recorded their self-titled debut EP, which contains the single, "Coulours". The track is comprised of melodies as polychromatic and quirky as the title. They toured with Florence and The Machine, The Joy Formidable, and recently with Two Door Cinema Club proving only they have something new to share with us avid fance of new music. 

A white noise panorama of melancholy fuzz conjoined to sweet melodies at the hip is rolling in. Bass lines that throb in your veins, distant thundering drums, and ominous guitar howls that slash and bounce like light. Bobby Hecksher’s vocals alone hauntingly comfort. Listening to The Warlocks is like an out of focus capture of life that fades in and out of the vivid heartbeat of strange.

Interested in watching light revamp into live and loud sound that melts time? Or just don’t have New Year’s Eve plans? Get lost between and beyond minutes and hours with The Warlocks this tonight at The Smell.

-Margarita Castellanos

Charlotte Martin‘s piano-driven songs are calming and timeless, with sweet sensational vocals. Her latest album, "Piano Trees", is a 24 track instrumental piece transitioning from lighter, twinkling sounds to deeper, darker keys, leaving the listener without words but full of thoughts and feelings. She is currently working on her fourth studio album, and she will be playing some of her new work at The Bootleg Theater on the 29th of January. So if a night of escape is needed, this is a perfect show to sip on a glass of red and enjoy a flowing, melodic performance by a well-respected artist.

–Jenna Putnam

I’ve always thought it would be great to celebrate New Years Eve by warping back into time where synths and funky bass lines ruled dance clubs and echoed in unision out onto the streets of Hollywood. Fortunately instead of having time to find a time machine, I found Nite Jewel. If you’re a fan of 80s new wave and pop then Romona Gonzalez has your name written all over her Casio keyboard and Roland drum machine. Night Jewel is a perfect combination of the Tom Tom Club and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. If you find yourself on the Sunset Strip on the eve of the New Year, catch the 8-track shoegazer live at The Echo.

–Margarita Castellanos