Wrongchilde is the solo project of Kill Hannah frontman Mat Devine, whose love-stricken anthems veer from wispy, stadium-friendly synth pop to stately ambient ballads. He’s assembled a strong lineup of cameos for his debut release Gold Blooded, which features Morgan Kibby – who also took the solo route after touring with M83 – and Gerard Way, who contributes vocals to the track "Falling In Love Will Kill You". Devine is hosting a record release party at Community on August 20, who’s self-releasing the album after a succesful PledgeMusic campaign. 

Bassist Holiday J and drummer Nicole Turley came together in the heat of L.A. to create a unique and dynamic group called Amoureux. With smooth saxophones, violins, tribal drums and lo-fi synths, Amoureux offers something inspiring with every single song. Defining minimalism to its smallest form, there are simple and few elements used to create a maximum effect. The complexity in their hypnotic effects combined with their unconventional character entanglements give this album a lasting impression. They hit the nail on the head with using so little, to make so much in their music. The limited vocals add to the rawness of the orchestra, which creates this band’s style. Never Young As Tonight was released on July 29 via Neurotic Yell Records. – Kayla Hay

Singer/songwriter Matt Kivel’s latest full-length release, Days Of Being Wild, carefully balances ruminative acoustic ballads with modestly strummed uptempo melodies. One of the songs off the record, "Insignificance", features a streamlined electric strum that’s just as tranquil, coupled with a tense, bare rhythm that fully embraces the bare essentials of nineties college rock. Kivel has just released a video for the track, which features him doing the kinds of things working musicians regularly do on a daily basis over what looks like VHS camcorder-quality footage. Days Of Being Wild is currently availale via Woodsist. 

Phil Beaudreau operates on a level of seriously superior pop sensibilities. His debut, Ether, is a staggeringly groovy album. With mostly electronic production, the textures create a smooth, dreamlike ambience. The tasteful variation of influences that Beaudreau pulls from earns the album a comparison to Gorillaz, where Damon Albarn’s rejection of consistency became a trademark. RnB, funk, soul, hip hop, and pop all find its place onto the album, resulting in a truly successful amalgamation of genres. His collaboration with Dawaun Parker is especially satisfying; it contains a sick horn sample, and Beaudreau’s breakdown in the middle of the song feels like it’s suspended in zero gravity. Stream the track below, or head over to the soundcloud to stream the album. – Jake Saunders

Castro are a trio of transplants who first began writing and recording together at a rehearsal space in Glassell Park. After sharing a likeminded sonic vision, the band quickly began recording a number of songs that would eventually become their first EP, Castro EP, a brisk ten minutes of smoothly layered new wave that relishes the more jaunty, tuneful side of eighties bands like The Cure. The track that kicks off the EP, "Why Don’t You Find Out?", sparkles with a nimble hook that’s all the more slick with the heavily-affected vocal delivery of singer Vincent Venturella. There’s been a good amount of bands that have given new life to the eighties in the past few years, specifically revisionist-leaning labels like Captured Tracks, but Castro mostly keep things simple by focusing on keeping the songs light and the melodies laser-sharp instead of drowning them with scuzzy reverb. You can check out Castro next week on August 1st at El Cid. And you can listen to Castro EP on their official sonicbids page.

The dreamy, sun-drenched essence of the golden coast is an intoxicant in itself. And San Diego’s own The Donkeys are turning out a style of soft rock perfectly complimentary to the quintessential Cali vibe. Drawing from 60’s surf rock instrumentation similar to Dick Dale & The Del Tones and The Beach Boys, their newest full-length album release Ride the Black Wave offers a sound much like it name suggests: a hybrid between swaying, soft beach music reminiscent of Best Coast and Beach Fossils, along with something a bit darker. The result of this combination being a pleasantly somber and sedating fusion of rock, sunshine, and surf. Think Arctic Monkeys in paradise. – Michael Iemma

Dub Thompson hails from Agoura Hills just outside of Los Angeles, but after listening to their album for two straight weeks I can now say with confidence that this is a band that transcends the sunny California vibe. In fact, the recently released 8-song album, ironically titled 9 Songs, operates under a traditional rock band’s instrumentation while working past any form of categorization whatsoever. The album takes influence from rock and roll experimenters like Can and Deerhoof, and psychedelia from The Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd. It reaches towards grunge at many points, and yes you guessed it, even some dub/down-tempo sneaks its way into the mix.

At certain points on the album the experimentations lunge towards what New England bands such as Guerrilla Toss and Sediment Club are reaching for; the noisy, chaotic complexities that may be a mystery to the band as much as the listener. "Dograces", in particular, is a signifier of this eclecticism, beginning with a fairly straight forward grunge rock groove before diving head first into a glaringly wild synth breakdown, one where I can’t help but think of the innovative song structures of The Flaming Lips and Tame Impala. The song ends with an intermission for the album, which is just some lounge music that you might hear when you’re on hold with a phone operator. Proving to be masters of alternating dynamics, unpredictable song structures, and straight-up powerful jams, Dub Thompson has sought after an unpredictable form, one which I believe will reject any expectations from future releases. – Jake Saunders

Roses, a fairly new dream-pop trio out of LA, has pumped out two perfectly dance-worthy singles in preparation for their debut EP, Dreamlover, via Group Tightener. Their most recent single, "It’s Over" (streaming below) pays homage to 80’s disco with familiar 90’s shoegaze guitar wash. Juan Velasquez, previously of noise-pop band Abe Vigoda, sings with a half-talking drawl akin to David Byrne’s unmistakable vocal presence. The band almost sounds like a west coast Diiv, particularly in song structure, but also because of that warm chorus/tremolo effect that every slacker-rock band out of New York seems to be using these days. The EP is out on August 5th, and you can catch them live tomorrow at the Bootleg Theater among United Ghosts and A Sunny Day In Glassgow. -Jake Saunders

San Diego singer-songwriter GUNAKADEIT’s latest video for the track "South" is handled with an imaginative creativeness and abstruce bend of reality, and it molds around her unique style. Filmed around the non-absent artist, a beautiful red head is an actress that slowly drowns in the world around her. The song speaks loudly with hints of social distractions and insecurities, almost as if gazing at a piece from an art show, engagingly directed with detailed cinematography with the help of Liz Nistico of HOLYCHILD. Nistico’s style was made for an artist like GUNAKADEIT; HOLYCHILD has a nag for taking down social stigmas" in their videos,  like in their song ‘Playboy Girl’, which mocks gender expectations. Nistico brought a view of social situations becoming too much for someone and eventually breaks them, which evidently plays into the lyrics of "South". – Kayla Hay

A noodling guitar lines opens the brightly cathartic "Playground Days" by Carlsbad quartet Paper Days, and it quickly hits you with a radiant glow that’s far more serene than its busy arrangements initially lead you on. The track soars with an anthemic pull, and yet it’s never showy or grandiose – the rthytmic interplay between the band members balances their formidable skill, letting the math-rock guitar lines and jittery drum strokes play together with some breathing space as it builds into an urgent finish; subtle yet all the more alluring for it. "Playground Days" opens their three-track debut EP of the same name, which they just released this week and is now available to stream on their official soundcloud page. 

Fresh off their upcoming album You Were The Fire (out July 29th), San Luis Obispo folk trio Anton Kellner & The Lone Stars offer up their bittersweet single “Rebel.” The track, described by Kellner as “a civilized yet fumigating song directed at the ways of our society,” provides a soothing and satisfying three-way marriage between mellow and uplifting folk instrumentation, melancholy lyrics, and smooth-rasp lead vocals. Reminiscent of the somber tone of Death Cab For Cutie, the rock vocals of Switchfoot, and the driving jug band quality of Mumford & Sons, “Rebel” succeeds as a modern-day indie-folk ballad filled with a healthy dose of acoustic twang, heavenly backup singing, and 90’s soft rock charm. – Michael Iemma

As an east coaster by-way-of the west coast by-way-of the east coast (it’s a been a lot of there and back if you know what I mean), I whole-heartedly welcomed the sunny vibes that The Canyon Rays so expertly delivered upon my first listen. The band fits in perfectly with the sunshine pop aesthetic, so naturally pioneered by bands like The Turtles and The Beach Boys. I can’t help but think of this band as an amped up west coast version of Real Estate whose music may be a bit mellower but share similar song structures. The Canyon Rays expel positive vibes to no end, combined with uplifting back up vocals and just the right amount of synth to add a tinge of dream-pop into the mix. The Canyon Rays recently released a music video for their self-explanatory song "The Sunshine Growers" which you can watch below; three minutes and sixteen seconds of nothing but happiness, posy-vibes and you guessed it…sunshine. – Jake Saunders