Here at the Deli, we’re all about local music. We, however, have to take a short break to recognize the amazingness of more prominent LA bands like Black Label Society. On August 10th they’ll be playing the Roxy as charity event with all proceeds going to the Zakk and Barbaranne Wylde Foundation at St. Jude’s Hospital.
Of course, that’s not all that’s going on. The show coincides with the release of their new album "The Order of the Black" the same day. Zakk will also be at Best Buy on Pico Blvd. from 4pm to 6pm for signings.
If you can’t make it to the show, or it sells out before you have a chance to grab a ticket, consider donating the ticket price to St Jude’s anyways. I promise it won’t hurt one bit.
The first time I heard the Local Natives, I fell in love. And when I saw them live, I fell in love all over again. These guys have succeeded because they do things differently, and do it right. Whether fusing three-part, graceful harmonies with swelling instrumentals, or blending Afro beats with sexy/sensual chants, body-slamming guitars, and rhythmic crescendos, they do it with passion and rock-filled beauty. And it’s not just the musicality that defines them – there’s emotionality and meaning behind every single song. Because, unlike some of their West Coast counter parts, the Local Natives don’t talk about everyday shit like weed, partying and being stuck in the middle of nowhere, but about love, loss and seeing life in a different way – intuitively, artistically and philosophically.
Local Natives will be playing with We Barbarians and label mate, Young Man (newly signed to Frenchkiss Records), at Governor’s Island this Saturday, August 7th. Lets send them some good vibes over in New York!
Lions, tigers, and bands? Oh my! Patrolled By Radar (formally 50 Cent Haircut) will be joined by a number of special friends at the LA Zoo on August 6th. A bit down tempo alt-country, there is enough twang to keep a smile on your face.
If the furry animals don’t keep your attention, The Happy Hollows, Voxhaul Broadcast, Useless Keys, The Lonely Wild, Walking Sleep, and Slang Chickens will.
High-octane guitars mixed with a heavy dose of southern hospitality is what Night Horse is all about. Channeling inflences from southern rockers like the Allman Brothers, 38 Special, and The Black Crows, the new album was produced by Matt Bayles (formerly of Minus The Bear). Perdition Hymns hits the streets August 3rd thanks to Tee Pee records.
You can download their free EP, released back in June, Sympathy Ain’t Free on their official website. If Southern rock gets your mouth watering, the boys will be playing August 8th @ The Echo’s Power of the Riff Festival.
Garage rock with a surf soul and a synth vibe, White Arrows groove with an unmistakable feel good vibe. With music like theirs, it’s no wonder their August is shaping up to be a busy one. Not only can you catch them for free at their Monday night residency at Spaceland all month, they’re even planning to release their debut EP, Hearts and Lungs, later in the month too.
Of course, we at the Deli would never leave you hanging, so you can check out a few demos from their EP on MySpace. We’ll be reviewing this thing once it hits the streets.
Tuesday, the 27th, it’s time to loosen your ties and order your favorite drink. The Monthlies will be playing at Spaceland in celebration of the release of their new EP, Horror Flick. This quartet from Echo Park is unapologetically indie pop and honestly, there isn’t much to fear about this four song collection.
LA mysterious electro-pop combo Fol Chen toys around with bizzarre sound, concepts and images in this new video of the song "The Holograms", from their sophomore CD "Part II: The New December". The video, directed by Keith Musil (who directed Rainbow Arabia’s "Omar K" and some of the craziest Skittles commercials you’ll ever see) is based on a "Stepford Wives" wasteland scenario and stars Isabelle Albuquerque of Hecuba playing most of the cast herself. The band just announced their residency at the Echo in LA for the month of August (16, 23 and 30). Definitely a good opportunity to shed some light on this mistery-band.
Sometimes I get a bit jealous when my friends find great music before I do. Today I received an innocent looking email linking to Faded Paper Figures‘ album New Medium. If I had any doubt in my friend’s taste in music, lets just say they were put to rest and I owe them a beer.
Faded Paper Figures fits nicely into downtempo pop with a bit of electronica. Pitter-pattering drum machines and synths sweetly fill in the gaps between the trio’s guitars and vocals. R. John Williams and Kael Alden bring the musical muscle, but the real secret weapon is vocalist Heather Alden — her demure voice rounds the act out. There is a subtle dissonance and melancholy feeling to each song, but that should be plain to see when the band names influences like Morrissey, Radiohead, and Jon Brion (… speaking of Jon, he still regularly plays at the Largo here in LA).
The band is embarking on a small summer tour but still has a few local shows lined up. 7/28 @ Spaceland, 7/29 @ The Continental Room, and 7/30 @ The Glasshouse. I wouldn’t pass them up.
Even on a Tuesday, the L.A. music scene brings the love. Admittedly, the lineup at the Troubadour last week felt a bit disjointed, but The Silent Comedy, Marvelous Toy, and Andy Clockwise did what they do for the die-hards willing to take Wednesday morning lumps with extra caffeine. If you came to see the show to see three bands you’d never seen before, you would probably surmise, "Yah, these are three bands that are rocking and sweaty," but you’d miss the nuance of each. You’d miss the Appalachian swagger of The Silent Comedy. You’d miss the preposterous over-sexualization of song as sung by Andy Clockwise. You’d miss the folksy turn of a phrase and Woodstock-revisited fete Marvelous Toy puts on. Together, I’m not sure the three bands worked. But if you came knowing who you were seeing, you could look hard, you could scratch the surface, and dig down and see it. It’s there.
Especially for Marvelous Toy. You don’t have to dig deep to see the joy springing from this Eagle Rock gang. The joy comes from their bevy of keyboards, their big hair (that’s you Jordan), and their girl-boy harmonies. Keyboardist and backing vocalist Ny Lee looked distant but occasionally gave up a smile. She was at her best when she stood front and center and sang, exposed and free from the shield of the keys. The rest of the band, on the other hand, were bouyant and energetic and timelessly young.
We met frontman Jordan outside (with his girlfriend AND his old boss, no less, who proudly claimed to be MT’s biggest fan) and the dichotomy between Jordan’s street-side persona and his onstage presence was profound. Unassuming and polite, the lead of MT took charge and poured over his songs jealously like each was a mistress. He held on so tight and then gave them up and watched us and watched the songs get set free. He had little interaction with his bandmates, playing to the audience solidly for the eight-song set. We clapped and MT smiled so graciously, seemingly charmed by the well-deserved adulation.
MT’s set was brief but packed full of energy and uplifting and bouncy and tight. Jordan wasn’t bothered by inane audience chatter. MT kept it about the music and that was the right thing to do. MT have a show on August 8, 2010 at Spaceland.
This Wednesday, July 21st, Gram Rabbit will be revealing a sneak peek of their forthcoming LP, Miracles & Metaphors, thanks to our friends over at KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. If their toe tapping, desert worn music catches your ear, you can see them the night of the 21st at the Troubadour too.
Miracles & Metaphors marks the fourth studio offering from founding members Jesika von Rabbit and Todd Rutherford since their first appearance in 2004. Part dance groove, part western folk, their unique mix of genres keeps their fan base, aptly dubbed ‘The Royal Order of Rabbits’, very happy indeed.
A little birdy told us any tickets purchased in advance of the Troubadour show will come with a complimentary download of the exclusive unreleased song, "Stars," to be made available day of show.
LA native dubstepper Rusko just released his video for ‘Hold On’ ft. Amber Coffman of the Dirty Projectors. Shot over a hectic 5 day period on his last UK tour, the video is a glimpse into his world.
If you thought the crowd in the video looked like they were having fun, you can check Rusko out next weekend, July 24th, at the NOS Events Center in San Bernadino, CA
For a tiny little place, Synchronicity Space packs a punch. This writer can’t speak to the venue as a gallery, but for music, it’s the jam. Cuddled up in warehouse-like spareness on one of those perfectly crispy L.A. nights that feel like 8 o’clock forever, four bands and a few in the know blended into each other’s darkness like the black on black on black of the blacked out sky when the city lights burn out. On this night, the lights went dark and the music lit us up.
The best thing about a show in a gallery is not only the merging of multiple forms of art but the willingness of the bands to get loose, to make the space theirs for the night, to be more than themselves, to be the art, to be the medium. One F (from San Francisco), War Tapes, Jesus Makes The Shotgun Sound, and VoicesVoices (all LA based) brought us out and made us pay with some tortured exploration and some torrential force and some traditional rock and roll and some transformative lyrical imagery. We hustled free Colt 45 and we listened to it all happening. Sometimes it all happens and you can’t say why but you feel the rolling underneath you and the earth wells up and someone great is born.
The clear standout of the night, hands down, was JMTSS. So raw, so loud, so scientific, these boys do not mess around. Not even a little bit. This is math rock and this is pathos. A fan tells us that we need this music and until we hear it we didn’t know we needed it. Then she says, "But once you have it, you can’t let it go." JMTSS make you need them. With their understated off-stage presence and their tight (as in cool, not ill-fitting) black suits and their intense scrutiny of every last element, this band goes all Mars Volta and all The Dear Hunter with a maniacal speed and precision. In a hyphenated word, they are mind-blowing. Maybe the stars aligned or maybe the other three just weren’t at their best, but JMTSS owned it, claimed it, ate it up and spit it out. Friday was yours, Jesus Makes the Shotgun Sound.
-Angel Baker
Check out our review of DAMNANT QUOD NON INTELLIGUNT EP coming in the print issue of The Deli Magazine at the end of this month.
