Heathers‘ cardigan prince and Death Party label owner Michael Avishay celebrates his birthday in tandem with the band’s national tour, and you’re all invited to see them off and wax poetic about that late 20’s lifestyle. A blend of power pop and indie jangle with fuzz in all the right places, Heathers is an eminent force in Southern California, playing with fine fellas like Roses, Girlpool, and Kera and the Lesbians, making venues like Lot 1 and Los Globos sticky with feelings and sweat. With ludic songs suggesting sex-positivity ("Teenage Clothes"), catchy songs that are as sad as fuck ("Fear"), and covers of the integral C-86 band The Wedding Present (courtesy of Part Time Punks), Heathers’ musicality mashes heartfelt lyricism with propulsive rhythms. And that’s exactly what you need in your life.

Heathers released their newest single "Tanker" on June 3rd, and they’re probably most likely going to play it tonight. Catch them with Traps PS, White Bike, Uncrushworthy, and Media Jeweler at Pehrspace (event deets here) and get in on the Friday night feels. – Ryan Mo

Last year, Danger Collective Records worked with Lost Dog to bring the DIY Insidelands to Los Globos with acts like Girlpool, Soma (now Celebrity Crush), Casinos, and Together Pangea.

It sold out.

This year, Dylan Thinnes, Mike Morin (&? Productions), Austin Feinstein, Franky Newby, and Reed Kanter (Danger Collective Records) join forces and go double-down with a new name, new venue (Jewels Catch One), and over double the bands.

From heavy hitters like Kool A.D. (of Das Racist) and No Age to LA mainstays like Dream Panther, Slow Hollows, Winter, Dirt Dress, Surf Curse, and Lovely Bad Things, the new Runaway 2015 won’t just live up to the hyper of yesteryear; it’ll set the standard for DIY fests all over Los Angeles. Runaway’s roots run north in the San Fernando Valley, from the 17 year-old star promoter Dylan Thinnes, member of Slow Hollows and friend of Danger Collective Records.

About the presenter: Danger Collective Records is an independent DIY record label started by Reed Kanter and friends two years ago. The label’s ever-growing lineup includes local notables like Casinos, Kid Cassidy, Nirvanus, Best Friend, Zipper Lips, Te Amo, and more. Danger Collective Records’ résumé of events includes shows at The Smell, White Oak Music and Arts, Space Forty-Two, Almost Holden Collection, pehrspace, and more, making them one of the pillars of the Los Angeles underground.

Tickets are available online now — get them while they’re still available! – Ryan Mo

Los Angeles’ experimental quartet Liphemra is holding a zine release this Friday at the Non Plus Ultra, co-designed and pressed by the independent art print/publisher Obelisk Press.

Presented by Burger Records, Lollipop Records, Pizza Party Music, and Lucky Cat Club, the release will start at 7 PM with a pre-show party upstairs. Liphemra will perform first with suavecore surf revivalists The Buttertones and burning psych/garage rock WALTER to follow. DJ spins from members of the awesome Honey Power Club! – Ryan Mo

Saturday opened with an overcast morning that blossomed into balmy summer weather for downtown Pasadena — with an expected turnout of over 50,000 the conditions were perfect for this year’s Make Music Festival. Parking was ample and spread out: structures capped event parking at $20, and streetsmart locals snagged meters on Raymond Ave. and others. Food and drink were plenty with specialty trucks lining major streets. Every café, restaurant, and pub had all hands on deck to offer a cornucopia of tastes from lobster rolls to microbrews and milk tea. Six main stages were raised mere blocks away from each other and nearly two dozen venues dotted around them, delivering folk and punk and alt rock and blues. With pop-up shops on every other curbside, and even good vibes from security and the boys in blue, any SoCal music fan would have wondered: why aren’t more cities getting in on Make Music?

But if you were holed up last weekend, don’t worry — The Deli got down and dirty in the press pit to bring you photos of some great acts throughout the day. Beach balls and sunburn aside, Old Pasadena lined up some of the best performances of Make Music’s history, and we are grateful to have covered it.

Check out more photos from the show here. – Ryan Mo

Pretend are as haunting and majestic as the verdant monoliths of their home in Thousand Oaks. Members Luke Palascak, Timothy Ramirez, Michael Russell, and Joel Morgan have played together since 2005, and in winter of 2007/2008 they spread laid their roots and branched out in every direction, with shades of Slowdive, American Football, Sonic Youth, and Prefab Sprout influencing, but never overtaking their creations.

Melodic counterpoint, cymbal swells, and calculated dynamicism will bring listeners to their knees with reverence, hands outstretched and grasping. Songs are atmospheric and epic, so masterfully produced that fans of Owen, Caspian, and This Town Needs Guns will think it a travesty that Pretend are not more well known. They released the debut LP Bones In The Soil, Rust In The Oil late 2010, and have been quite secretive, but despite their lack of social media presence the group’s emotive shows in Westlake, Sherman Oaks, and Ventura have gained a cult following throughout Los Angeles and around the world.

Pretend will be performing the final night of Young Lovers’ residency presented with DKFM Radio at Pehrspace with SHEER and Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos) & Eric Gardner (Dot Hacker) — definitely a night you don’t want to miss. Their newest album Tapestry’d Life will release October this year. Listen to "Patternless Tide", part of a 2014 compilation from San Diego’s Topshelf Records. – Ryan Mo

LA County’s kickoff festival is here: Make Music Pasadena is happening tomorrow, June 6th, with over 150 bands playing at the heart of downtown Pasadena! Along with main stage big-timers like Kishi Bashi, How To Dress Well, Sir Sly, Nick Waterhouse, and rising stars Jr., Kera & The Lesbians, and Autumn in June, music & arts collectives around the county will also curate some of the tastiest home-grown acts. The main stage activities end with Pasadena Symphony & Pops’ grandeur performance, but these side venues will be going strong late into the night.

You can find the complete schedule here on MMP’s site, and we definitely recommend hitting up these side-stages below:

All Scene Eye presents two live stages at Armory Center for the Arts: check out Kat Myers & The Buzzards, The Electric West, Draag, Holland Belle, Tashaki Miyaki, and more.

Sherpa Music MGMT, One Question Sessions, and De La Vie TV presents at Old Towne Pub: DARK FURS, Crystales, Sanglorians, LA Takedown, Le Cos, and more.

For Friends Of Sound presents at Der Wolfskopf in the evening: OYLS, Kid Bloom, Slow Graffiti, GDNA, and more.

Montecito Music and Media presents at Shoppes at Stats: Shattered Skyline, Cool Face, The Wild Reeds, Valley Queen, bed, and more.

Open Kanvas presents at Club 54: Veteran Assassins, Noah V, Kennis Clark, Born Allah, and more plus a surprise headliner.

Remember: this music festival is FREE and starts at 11 AM. Parking structures are dotted across the city, but will definitely fill up soon, so make it out early! – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Chris Molina

Sweet and sanguine, the Los Angeles-raised Tara Harris might be the sister Karen O wishes she had. Too bad though; she’s already got her mates Cliff Frelix (guitar), Nicky Kamrava (bass), and Tammy Hirata (drums) in their year-old lo-fi fuzz baby: Blood Candy.

Black Tambourines and The Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons aside, Bloody Candy leaves a metallic taste in your mouth and a ring to your ears that lasts an entire weekend. In the short amount of time they’ve been together, the four have worked with Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line, graced LA’s one-and-only Part Time Punks, and played with the likes of Tashaki Miyaki, King Woman, and The Stargazer Lilies.

Bloody Candy will support the neo psychedelic rangers The Warlocks at The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa on June 10th, and again at The Bootleg Theater on June 13th with Magic Wands. You can also catch them at Tennis System’s Echo residency on Monday the 15th. Listen to "Heart Attack" below and watch for the digital release of their debut album "Dead Moon" tomorrow! – Ryan Mo

Christoph Hochheim has an intimate history with New York’s shoegaze/dreampop scene, as a past member of the now-defunct shoegaze/chiptune The Depreciation Guild and a current member of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart along with Anton Hochheim.

However, the brothers have also been working as Ablebody, a Los Angeles passion project that first featured remixes and covers, but later grew to self-release High Home, a three-song instrumental EP with ethereal cries, bent-out guitars, and dying electronics. 2013’s All My Everybody EP developed with 80’s soft and clipping synth vibes. Slower and more sensual, the five songs now had Christoph’s warm and reassuring in front of the mix, even as the album dealt with more serious feels per an interview with BYT. Ablebody’s latest release dates back to last year, but does a complete 360-reverse-moonwalk to the dancey indie pop "After Hours" before getting rugged with fuzzy B-side "Lose Your Head".

Ablebody will play their first set since early January this Friday for Young Lover’s fifth night of residency along with Sacramento’s glazed out indie pop quintet Soft Science and the jangle-psych group Deep Fields. Listen below to their 2014 7" split "Ablebody". – Ryan Mo, photo credit Nick Marshall

June marks the official start of summer, and Tennis System kicks it off by premiering the video for "Such a Drag" from the 2014 album Technicolor Blind. Guitars shimmer and crackle in this down-tempo memento, but the song is anything but a drag — Matty’s and Zach’s harmonizing "oohs" swirl amongst the torrent of sound through fast and slow rhythms courtesy of ex-member Misha Bullock’s impeccable drumming.

Check out Tennis System’s first night of residency tonight at The Echo with The Primals, Sunset Sons, and Bonfire Beach — it’s free, so what’s stopping you? – Ryan Mo

Crystales are a band from Highland Park sporting that ‘60s beach vibe with fuzzy facial hair and fuzz pedals. Brothers Nick and Billy Gil go halfsies on guitar and vocals while Jason Hanakeawe and Tony Infante keep the crew rocking. Splashing through C86 guitar tones with just the right amount of reverb and kicking down walls of sound, Crystales have shimmered through Los Angeles and Pasadena nights with Roses, Michael Vidal, and Hyacinth Girl.

Join them tonight at Pehrspace as they open for Young Lovers’ night of residency with Echophonix and Judy Gloom, and next weekend at Make Music Pasadena. Listen to “I Don’t Care” below. – Ryan Mo
 

LA music & arts collective Bonus Druthers are hosting a second Pity Party tonight (wait — when was the first one?!) at the Missing Piece Theatre in Burbank. Stuck in NoHo with no plans? Start your summer break by getting intimate and sweaty with four great LA bands.

The Electric West: the post-punk blood brothers that will fog up any venue. Dig their new album Verdugo but missed them at Ghost Noise’s residency? Redeem yourself! You’ll be glad you did.

Tiny Stills: moniker of Kaitlynn West, Tiny Stills blasts easy-dancing indie pop way loud, the kind of stuff that would make Colleen Green proud. 

Sullen Ray: producer Seth Eubanks’ solo-thing-that-turned-into-a-duo with singer Dee Clement. Rosy 90’s reminiscent duets and righteous jams. ‘Nuff said.

Draag: the up-and-coming quintet sporting valley fuzz and valley feels. It’s crunchy, it’s heavenly; it’s gaze-inspired rock that inspires you to mosh.

Feeling thirsty? Bonus Druthers got you covered with a pop-up the traveling Baxter’s Speakeasy: all-you-can-drink happy hour from 5-7PM while supplies last! Shoutout to Culver City’s Exposition Studios who are helping out with live sound. Acoustic sets start at 5 — get some earbuds if you bus in at 8. Tickets 10$. – Ryan Mo

An autodidact by way of KRS-One with a punk spirit blessed by Bane and the DIY patron saint Beats Antique, Lawrence Lindell is nothing short of a multi-genre musician. And with glitched out nods to Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, Lindell’s penchant for percussion takes IDM to the ground-level, serving up sounds of indiscriminate densities on a bed of beats.

Lindell began his electronic trek in 2009, taking on different identities (most recently as LAw) before settling down with himself and the home-grown label Noise Met Sound in 2013. With it, Lindell joined up with like-minded musicians like ambient noise artist Gypsy Eyes and experimental chamber group Inner Ecstasy. From empty backyard pools to the dA Center and the LA Fort, Lindell has been unapologetic in his art and vision. And slowly but surely, people are beginning to notice.

"The philosophy I stick with is "Never apologize for being who you are." Do things your own way and forget about what everyone else thinks or has to say about it. DIY is the basis of everything we do. If we can’t find someone to distribute for us or book us for shows, we do it ourselves."

Lawrence Lindell recently released two albums, Magic Megaphone and Cinema of Soul, which will be out as a two-disk set in June. Listen to "Ego Death" below, and stay tuned for more news on live shows. – Ryan Mo