We’ve given high praise to enchanting electro-pop act Steffaloo in the past, who most recently played our official CMJ showcase in NYC. After a pair of independent releases, Steph Thompson returns with a new full-length, Heart Beats, with the support of label Mush records. The album is now available to stream in its entirety on her bandcamp page. 

When Jack Gibson, the frontman and creative mind behind Tenlons Fort, handed me a blank CD-R inside a thin white paper sleeve with a hand drawn portrait on the cover as he readied himself to play solo at The Echo last week, I was slightly confounded. His response to my question of the meaning behind the cover design nearly took the life out of my limbs. The couple featured on the cover were drawn as a memorial. Cole and Lacey passed away this year. They were meant to be married this month, and it was decided by friends and family that their wedding go on as planned to celebrate their beautiful life and relationship. The album is dedicate to their lasting memory. 

With this backstory, I went into my first Tenlons Fort show not knowing what to expect. Donning a guitar and an electronic drum pad, Gibson, transported us to a higher place. We stood in awe, mesmerized by his vulnerability and sheer talent. There was magic in the air as his voice rang out in painful, exuberant cries. He stood alone on the stage creatively reinventing the songs on his latest self-titled release as a one man band. I have permanent chills.

The album itself feels like something you already have in your collection of invaluable classics. Gibson’s ability to effortlessly craft vulnerable, autobiographical stories is a master class in songwriting. The deep cuts flowing forth from the music are lifted to a place of hope. It tells the story of a beautiful mess, a necessary heartache and the rebuilding from the rubble – the courage to accept the brokenness of our fragile humanity and keep moving forward because of it, not in spite of it. His is a story of survival amidst pain, and loss deeper than you think a human can handle. It’s a beauty from the ashes redemption story, but there are no rose-colored glasses in sight. This is raw, honest emotion.

The album opens gently with “You’re A Child,” leading you by the hand into this brave world. As you enter, you encounter “Disaster Speaks.” On the surface, it is delicate folk pop, but there’s a heaviness undergirding the arrangement that gives it texture and depth. The band’s aptitude for weaving a classic, familiar sound into something innovative is what makes it impossible to pigeon-hole. Tracks 3 and 4, “What the Doctor Said,” and “Your Hand is A Song,” are lyrical stand-outs. Effortlessly heart-wrenching, they manage to take hold of your emotions no matter what state you are in. The deepest valley is reached at “German Film (Song for Shane), as the slowly drawn-out guitar trills signal the bursting forth of the storm clouds hovering above. A ray of sun peeks through a crack in the clouds as flower blossoms open to a new day on “Critters.” This song picks the pace up, but holds tight to the melancholy minor keys as it ups the ante on the pop side of things. It’s that moment of release you’re waiting for that truly ties the work as a whole together. But don’t expect sunshine and rainbows, as this uplifting tune leads right into the twisted, dissonant interlude, “As You Are,” that has an air of optimism that slowly descends into madness. It feels like a broken carnival ride that leads perfectly into Track 9’s creepy accordion outro. The album’s layout is off-putting at first, but it leaves you wanting to rush right back to the beginning and start the journey all over again. Gibson’s troubadour status is firmly established with this release. He becomes Dylan, Neil Young, Ben Gibbard, Matt Berninger, or even Justin Vernon, not only in tone, but as a master storyteller. Stream the entire album below from their bandcamp, and catch them live Nov. 1 at El Cid. – Jacqueline Caruso

Mystical duo Haunted Summer have been enchanting audiences each monday during this spook-filled month of October for their residency at The Echo. This coming Monday, to close out the whole shebang, The Deli LA will be presenting the night. Their residency is centered around the release of their EP, ‘Something in The Water.’ Playing songs off the EP as well as new tunes written during their recent honeymoon in Paris, John Seasons and Bridgette Eliza Moody, will be backed by a full band. Last week, they debuted the live version of a former B-side, “Ain’t One,” which is streaming below. It was a showstopper, featuring Moody’s light-as-air vocals soaring above the band’s signature psyched-out sound design experimentation. The line-up for the final week is stellar, featuring a Deli Mag favorite, Touché, who we reviewed earlier this year, alongside recent singees to Innovative Leisure whose music has mysteriously evaporated from the interweb, De Lux, as well as densely, spaced-out newcomers, Historian. It’s sure to be one of those epic, celebratory evenings made for re-telling. Head to The Echo’s site for more info and set times. – Jacqueline Caruso

San Gabriel trio Bastidas! are driven by the rhythm and the groove, albeit one that is informed by the eccentricities of post-punk. The five songs that comprise their latest EP Time Portal are carried with primal imperfection, creating this symbiotic mesh of pungent noise that welds into a beautifully chaotic whole. Much like their Chino neighbords Abe Vigoda, they embrace kinetic energy with a playfulness that invites the body to surrender. But their new material doesn’t settle on tangled propulsion – the sputtering guitars and whippy bass throbs of opener Pocket Jesus makes for what sounds like a long lost demo from an eighties band from the Athens post-punk scene that never got its proper due. And In the Now is complexly fleshed-out, brandishing an onslaught of spook-laden reverb over latin percussive elements. It careens in random directions, but all these different permutations are still highlighted with a sense of mad menace that’s undeniably theirs. Bastidas! have been around for over five years supporting like-minded acts such as No Age and Health, and it’s about time they start getting some national attention as well.

If it’s possible to be aggressively laid-back, then noise rockers Wild Eyes have nailed it. Made up of four guys from Covina, they have been steadily releasing singles and EPs over the last two years. The band’s Blue Haze EP is what first caught my attention, with its patiently unfolding delicate dreamscapes, dipping every so gently into the stream of shoegaze, veering off into the world of noise, and gently cascading like a feather falling from a cloud in a dreamy daze. The quartet’s latest release, ‘Lose Your Head’, is two songs of over saturated noise, spacey vibes and cacophonous delay trails. Whether it’s an evolution or simply a maturation, the injection of gritty garage-style antics drives their sound forward. Somewhere in outer space Tame Impala and My Bloody Valentine procreated, and Wild Eyes’ “Lose Your Head” was born. The relaxed repetition of “I don’t care,” swathed in reverb, mixed with the gyration of guitar effects and crowd chatter is the sign of their true artistry. These aren’t just kids making copycat rock music. There’s intentionality and subtlety that show real promise for a full length release. Stream the two songs below from their bandcamp. – Jacqueline Caruso

Multi-instrumentalist duo Midnight Faces write songs of hearthbreak in an eerie mellow tone, lead by the achingly beautiful vocals of Phil Stancil. In the video for Fornication, the first single off their debut album of the same name, a man and a wife have a lost a child, or that’s what it leads you to believe until a twist ending is revealed. It uses the bell as a symbolic device, which was used for safety back in the 1800’s just in case a person was mistakenly buried. The visuals are perfectly matched with the song’s catchy shoegazing melody, creating a gut wreenching, emotional piece that could leave one in tears. – Kayla Hay

Midnight Faces – "Fornication" from Nimblefox Productions on Vimeo.

Topanga Canyon psych group, VUM, have released the video for “I Will Return,” off their latest album, ‘Psychotropic Jukebox.’ The song is another great droning tune that fits nicely into their catalog of “lost inside the desert of your own mind” explorations. The video, directed by Kyle Blair-Henderson, employs seamless camera tricks without ever feeling heavy-handed. As Jennifer Pearl stares ever-piercingly into your psyche, the kaleidoscopic layering takes you deeper into the landscape of the song. As each face on the screen begins to glitter, the drone-y instrumentation escalates entering that seance-like space VUM creates so well. Aptly enveloping you in their haze of peyote-induced mystery, the video seems to exist in the band’s own space vacuum. Once you get close enough to their magnetic pull, you won’t be coming back. ‘Psychotropic Jukebox’ is available now digitally, and on vinyl in November on Secret Lodge Recordings. VUM have just announced their Echo Residency, playing every Monday in December. – Jacqueline Caruso

Pat Grossi, widely known as Active Child, had a breakthrough 2011 with the release of his remarkable full-length debut You Are All I See. A highly ambitious effort that married synth-driven pop and classical music with his soaring vocal abilities, the bedroom recorded See was either unimaginable to top or it raised expectations for a follow-up to a hilt. It’s been a quiet two years for Grossi, but he’s finally opening the curtain with Rapor, a six song EP that is the result of an introspective year spent writing at his home studio of the same name. The EP’s first single "Subtle" is a great encapsulation of Grossi’s stylistic intent with Rapor, a frizzy, outré ballad that converts the sonic qualities of ersatz eighties synth into a swaggering, and even affective, number thanks to Grossi’s immaculate vocals. The full EP is currently streaming on his soundcloud page, whch is out today via Vagrant Records. His next peformance in LA is not slated until November 23rd at El Rey, but it’d be best to mark that down in your calendar right now as "not to miss", especially if he’ll be playing new songs and (hopefully!) previewing songs from his still unannounced follow up album due next year.

There’s something oddly amusing about production duo Nguzunguzu naming their latest track "Mecha". Its strident metallic tones and atonal rhythmic patterns sound like they were manufactured in a dystopian engine plant, readying its forceful machines for an imminent attack. The track is part of their upcoming Skycell EP, which will be released via local bred experimental electronic label Fade to Mind on November 5th. 

I was first introduced to Heathers the last time they played Pehrspace back in June. I was there to see Ablebody, but was enchanted by the opening band, which, like a monarch butterfly, is a rare and magical experience, one you always hope for, but that mostly eludes you. Heathers’ unapologetically grunge and brit-pop influenced ennui wrapped me in its waify arms and grated on my soul to its unexpected delight. Their debut 7” aptly titled, ‘Teenage Clothes’, is not reinventing a wheel so masterfully perfected by its ancient predecessors, that it actually becomes more satisfying to your ears. Drenched in reverb and distortion, rife with repetition, speed, and catchy, screamable lyrics, like, “I don’t wanna be adored,” I didn’t even notice I had the two immensely brief songs on repeat for hours. Their ability to make you feel so indescribably ambiguous that it becomes cathartic is what makes them a must see live band. Stream the 7” below and catch them tomorrow at Pehrspace for the 7" release along with Roses, Vaude, and Media Jeweler. – Jacqueline Caruso

Los Angeles-via Tempe duo Dead Times follow the current renaissance of eighties R&B with an ethereal, minimal take on the genre, splicing sultry snippets of sound and converting them into the smoothest riddims this side of Prince. After introducing themselves with sweltering slow jam "Inner Gold" a couple of months ago, they’ve just released a spacious, mutated version of Donnie & Joe Emerson’s downtempo cult classic "Baby". It’s as intriguing as it is bemusing, since it has a groove that’s easy to like but still mysterious enough to keeps us guessing about their next singles. Perhaps some of these questions will be answered this coming November, with two live performances at Galleria Obscura on the 7th and Goldroom on the 8th. 

Psych-tinged Deli LA veterans Crystal Antlers are prepping up for the release of their latest album Nothing is Real, which is coming out next Tuesday, October 15th via Innovative Leisure. As is the ensuing trend of exclusive hunting, the Long Beach three-piece are streaming it in its entirely a week ahead of its release on the New York Times. Have a listen to the vicious "Licorice Pizza", a straight-ahead rocker that abandons the spiraling time signatures of past records and goes right for the jugular.