Los Angeles outlets commit a daily sin of overlooking promising bands simply because they exist outside the realm of Downtown LA. At The Deli, we try to make amends every once in a while: over the last several years Ventura’s quartet Captions has quietly grown a lush mane in the midst of a burgeoning shoegaze and dreampop scene in Los Angeles. Despite gaining little friction outside the coastal city, their music measures up to the lush grooves of Craft Spells and Wild Nothing, albeit with a minimalist philosophy. 

The band released their first EP "Think Thunk Thought" to staid reception, quavering between crunchy indie rock and dizzying dreampop in songs like "Recording Silence", "Loops", and "A Worst Time". Since then, Captions have made appearances in their hometown and around — earlier this year they opened for Avid Dancer‘s Echo residency. Their newest single, the 50’s pop slow-burner "Two Step" was released on September 1st, the first of nine songs to their upcoming album. It’s a headrush of slow-dancing prom atmospherics, a menagerie of harmonizing vocals and spacious guitar chimes right down Captured Tracks’ alley. 

Captions finished recording their as-of-yet-unnamed album with Jacob Summers and Leif Davidsen (both of Avid Dancer) last year — expect an early 2016 release, and more surprises to round out this year. – Ryan Mo

For a high school band that’s grown out of its garage roots, Hin Du (fka The Hindu Pirates) have come a long way in their six-year search for a definitive sound. While peeling off the surf-rock tag, the band has opened for Delta Spirit, Froth, Avid Dancer, and The Growlers and played fests from Beach Goth and Burgerama in OC to Noise Pop in SF.

Their newest self-released album When You Come In leads a straight departure from the band’s blues-tinged surf-rock Pelican Daze and the rosy-eyed pop of their recent "Hurley" EP. Austin Green’s synths and noise manipulation add grandiosity to the band’s sonic presence, now focused on towering soundscapes than dirtbox licks. The voice of Austin Ferreira, once barenaked, orates in cavernous reverb as the glassy guitars refract in songs like "December" and "In Hell". Fans of orange-swirl psych pop bands Deep Fields and Cosmonauts might have found themselves a new trip buddy.

Listen to "Wind Song" from the album below. – Ryan Mo

Alexander Brettin’s debut release as Mild High Club is due next week — plan your 4:20 around this. The psych-pop salad Timeline features songs with the likes of Ariel Pink and Mndsgn, the former whom Brettin worked with in the album pom pom. You’ll hear Pink along with Weyes Blood in the newest teaser "The Chat" (via Pitchfork) as buttery bass and confectionary synths wrap themselves around the lackadaisical croon of Brettin, guitars quavering with delight. It’s the sweet, slow-rising narcotic you’ve come to expect from the jazz-trained transplant (ex-Soft Candy), whose previous list of credits also include working with Wolfgang Strutz and Salvia Plath.   

Days earlier, Mild High Club also put out the music video to another song on the album, "Undeniable". Brettin casually explores boundaries of bar and online dating with director Todd Narson in the glory of cathode ray grain. "It’s about hooking up, having the balls to talk to someone in real life instead of the obscure Tinder reality," he says.

Mild High Club’s debut album Timeline comes out September 18th via Stones Throw’s step-sister Circle Star Records. Listen to the first single off the album, "Windowpane" below. – Ryan Mo

The LA Psychfest continues to curate acts that aren’t psychedelic. More power to them.

2015 marks the festival’s fourth year of existence, and also its first year away from the Bootleg Theater (currently accepting submissions for a new wall mural). Live performances by veteran Drab Majesty, Ras G, and singer-songwriter Jenny O. might not fit the genre of psychedelic, but they’ll certainly expand your consciousness. Psych-rock mavens will still leave happy as locals JJUUJJUU and Mr. Elevator and the Brain Hotel join up with Moon Duo, Night Beats,Tomorrows Tulips, The Budos Band, and Earthless. Way more where that came from, with secret guest DJs, a custom poster by Tim Biskup, and live visuals at the Regent Theater and the Echo/Echoplex.

Single-day and two-day tickets still available. Celebrate and expand your consciousness with music and art next weekend, September 19-20 — you don’t have to be on drugs. You do have to be 18 or older. – Ryan Mo

Duo Tasia Trevino and Kenny Carranza will play their last show as Ghostporn tomorrow, September 7th at Harvard & Stone. After the release of their Godard-inspired single "Vivre Sa Vie", the moody LA outfit have sweated out the summer, helping to close the curtains for Dirt Dress and keeping the Lollipop love strong at Echo Park Rising. Last we heard, they’re still working on an album to be announced later this year, and Buzzband’s Kevin Bronson ventured a guess that the duo will just change their name. I wouldn’t take any chances, though.

Ghostporn will be accompanied by the acoustic singer/songwriter Marnie Herald and ’70 pop revivalist Dustin Lovelis (The Fling). The show is free and the feels will be fresh, so come out. – Ryan Mo

While folk singer-songwriter Holland Belle takes melody by the horns in her solo output, her collaborative work in Nightjacket goes a different way. Like Mazzy Star (which they’re oft-compared to), Belle and guitarist Jordan Wiggins are the creative force behind Nightjacket’s work, but they don’t mimic the aetheric qualities of Hope Sandoval and David Roback. The familiar acoustic strum ripples with each of Belle’s refrain, aptly paired with Wiggins’ cavernous reverb, inebriating modulation, or slapback fuzz. Backed by veterans Steve Lucarelli (Wounds, Gasoline Heart), Louie Schultz (Army Navy), and Diego Guerrero (Red Cortez), Nightjacket emanates a quaint, calming sound that can chill your spine like a twilight breeze through a desert highway.

Their debut EP "Eternal Phase" is available to stream in full on their Bandcamp. Watch their music video for "The Right Way To Fall" below. – Ryan Mo

Get your rocks off with the rock band (full-stop) Media Jeweler tomorrow as they kick off their West Coast tour, saying and playing their goodbyes at the Beatnik Bandito in Santa Ana with Canyons, Slow Rose, and Rufrano. Sam and the gang will make a pit-stop in time for Pehrspace’s "First Fridays" 9/4 with support from Pregnant, Bloody Death Skull, and Madame Headdress, and then it’s off to the mystical lands of Norcal and beyond!

Unfortunately, y’all missed your chance at a free download of their debut album $99 R/T Hawaii, with songs that have recently been lauded by big-name tastemakers Pitchfork and Stereogum (we wrote some nice things about them, too). Media Jeweler had originally planned to self-release in August as we previously reported, but that’s all changed after a solid partnership with the Brooklyn-based label Fire Talk Records, whose roster includes acts like Dreamcrusher and Advaeta. Now, the album will be cut and released in limited quantites pink and black vinyl so you can get sensual with a physical copy on or before November 20th! And of course if you pre-order you’ll also get a digital download of the album, which is slated for a release September 18th on their Bandcamp. 

Because let’s be honest: that round-trip airfare isn’t gonna pay itself.

Check out their most recent collaboration with up-and-coming director Anthony Joseph Lucido in the music video for "Passport Invalid" below. – Ryan Mo

Hillary Chillton, or "Hill Chill" as it’s affectionately inked, is a band that resides just east of Pomona in the quiet suburbs of Claremont. The five-piece rep the VLHS Warehouse in Pomona that, like DIY venues Bridgetown and The Smell, have never wavered to bring great local talent and ennervate youths to support the music community. As such, there’s an opulence of hi-gain twinkle and garage dirt in Hillary Chillton’s indie rock sound that balances pop sensibility without sacrificing that DIY aesthetic (their outputs are personally recorded and engineered). They’re also really into Weezer and Modest Mouse — just don’t harp them to cover "Float On" or "Pork and Beans".

Find them Friday at the stage of San Diego’s AwesomeFest 9, or hang back and watch them at The Smell this Saturday with some local cats: the previously featured post-rock angels Young Lovers and garage punk Saiyans Dustin and The Explosions. Listen to "Devil in Tights" from their recent split with Void Boys pop punk from the Bay. – Ryan Mo

This weekend, the convergence of six DIY organizers will mark the ninth iteration of San Diego’s AwesomeFest. And for an event that started in 2007 as a joke in Riverside, it’s certainly picked up steam.

Hosted over three days, AwesomeFest will be spread through four eminent local venues: The Hideout, The Soda Bar, The Office, and U31, all of them equally vital to the growing SD music scene. With over 60 homegrown punk acts from across the country playing, including Hilary Chillton, The Stupid Daikini, Stymie, and Upset, you can bet that this event will be absent of any corporate sponsorship. No Heineken Dome, no Toyota Charging Station, and no free bodypainting booths. On the other hand, if you’re into loud garage bands, cold brews, and one of the most flagrant displays of DIY community strength over Labor Day weekend, this might just be the festival for you.

Awesome Fest 9 happens September 4-6, at venues between Washington Street and Robinson Ave., in San Diego. Set times available here. – Ryan Mo

The dreamgaze-y quartet Last Canyon (fka Nightmail) released their newest EP "gold, sight, and silver" yesterday in an El Cid performance with post-punk revivalists The Electric West and the bright-eyed melancholic surfpop of Little Magic.

It’s been three years since their debut self-titled EP, an abrasive yet melodic spectrum of synth and oscillating guitars, and the group certainly have not lost their sharpness even as they announced a name change last October following singer-keyboardist Tammy Herrera’s departure. However, small changes to sound were in order: the halcyon voices of bassist Dvin Kirakosian (ex- Courtney Love and the Chelsea) and drummer Brian Ramirez now intertwine as they fade in and out of focus. Nick Nevlin (light fm) and Gabriel Fernandez (Facts on File) trade line for line on the guitars, re-imagining the nostalgic tones of 90’s dreampop with new romanticism, new sincerity, and new conviction.

"gold, sight, and silver" is available to stream on the Last Canyon’s Soundcloud. Listen to it below, starting with the sublime first track "Daymoon". – Ryan Mo

Vocalist/bassist Sera Timms is ready to show the fruits of her labor with Black Mare, who last played at The Complex mid-May, and featured new songs "Fighting Birds" and "Babalon’s Fold" for fans who had little chance to see the songwriter since her previous show with Glaare, Lightsystem, and He Whose Ox is Gored almost one year ago. The former member of critically acclaimed Black Math Horseman, Timms’ project expands on the atmospheric post-metal qualities of her previous output: drifting, evolving folk dissonance in blank verse. It’s characteristically minimalist, yet retains craftsmanship and aesthetic reminiscent of ISIS, Chelsea Wolfe, and Emma Ruth Rundle.

Black Mare performs at The Echo on September 13th with visiting SF bands Them Are Us Too and Chasms. Listen to "Low Crimes" from Black Mare’s split with Arizona’s Lycia. – Ryan Mo, image credit: David Lee Dailey

It’s Tuesday. You’ve recovered from your FYF haze, and now you’re itching to get out and see some more kickass bands.

Hopefully the tinnitus has gone away, that is, if you didn’t accidentally forget your earplugs for two days straight. If not, you’re gonna want to remember to bring them to this show, because it’s a killer. And if you were disappointed in the lack of local acts this FYF (you probably didn’t wake up early enough for JUNK), don’t worry — you can compensate tonight!

Local show organizers FineTime is holding a three-course performance tonight (event link here) at Vega’s Meat Market with delicious servings of full stop rock, creamy dreamy pop, and ethereal electronic apértif.

Up first to whet your sonic appetite is mAsis, the Glendale act that floats and pulsates serenely — fans of The XX and Odesza’s chilled tones will be pleasantly surprised to hear these guys.

Then, OC’s agitatin’ rock band Media Jeweler changes the pace with full-force hits from their debut album $99 R/T Hawaii, out September 18th on Fire Talk Records. The songs are meaty, filling, and will leave you feeling bloated — everything a main course strives to be.

And ending the night is BALMS, the dreampop trio from San Francisco on the tail end of their summer tour through the Southwest coast. These guys made a recent appearance at Los Angeles’ DreamGaze Fest, showering attendees with their billowy lo-fi pop jangle — a great way to end the evening, unlike that molten chocolate lava cake I had at Chili’s.

Tickets are still available online via Ticketfly, but this isn’t a bougie event; there will be door sales, too! Show starts at 7:30 pm, so mind the horrendous LA traffic. – Ryan Mo