THE DELI

When The Smell was given notice to close for demolition, news spread like wildfire and galvanized Southland’s music comunity into action. Organizer/musician Gregory Cole (Crescendo) scrapped plans for his summer DreamGaze Festival and concentrated efforts to raise funds for the legendary venue. But he was not alone in that endeavor—Cole reached out to two active veterans for help: Top Acid‘s Chris Gonzalez and guitarist/singer Sophie Negrini (Janelane).

"Gregory messaged me out-of-the-blue because he had read a post of mine [where] I wrote about how much The Smell meant to myself and the rest of the community when the building first received its demolition notice," Negrini recalls. Even though the three ran in different scenes, the DIY venue’s monumental influence brought them together. 

With owner Jim Smith’s blessing and months of planning and outreach, over 30 bands joined with hundreds of fans on August 6th in a converted warehouse space near the San Antonio Winery. The three were rarely in sight—always running from stage to stage, prepping backlines, moving equipment, and keeping the cross streets free of pedestrian traffic and litter. Crowds moshed and nodded in solidarity. Despite minor issues with sound and schedule (it’s never picture-perfect when you’re DIY), the festival came up with over $15,000 raised.

"This is the teamwork & togetherness that saves The Smell. I have no doubt in our community’s ability to achieve [The Smell’s] permanence of address for generations of music lovers of all ages," says Cole in retrospect.

Gonzalez was even impressed by the results. "I think that’s just a huge indicator and a true testament to how much respect everyone has for Jim and the sober scene he’s created at The Smell."

Check out our photo recap of Save The Smell Fest on our Instagram @TheDeliLA. – photo by Rachel Collins

You might not think you know Luke Reed, but odds are you do, at least from the bands he’s in. A member of Bent Shapes, Mini Dresses, Fedavees and Feral Jenny, Reed is deeply embedded in Massachusetts’ music scene to say the least.  He’s an accomplished solo artist as well, having released tracks over the past few years that range from mellow to psych pop to a standalone krautrock track — no kidding! His latest single is called "Without You," and seem to take a nod or two from The Avalanches tune of the same name, sounding almost like a hungover version of it. With tropically inflected guitars, Reed’s vocals add another dimension to the track’s wistful, psychedelic and disoriented, and sing repeatedly "I wouldn’t know which way to go without you." This song prooves Reed’s talent is only matched by how busy he must be with all these projects, and you can see him live solo at Great Scott on 8/18. —Henry Solotaroff-Webber

Forming as a duo along opposite coasts, Jackal Onasis eventually became a Brooklyn-based fuzz rock trio in 2015. Influenced by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Autolux, and the Deftones, their music is a fierce blend of shoegaze, post-hardcore, punk, and noise rock. Guitarist Alex Molini and drummer Jordyn Blakely share vocal duties on their debut full length Big Deal Party, creating delightfully mellow harmonies over the band’s chaotic and sludgy tracks. Their fuzzy noise-pop borrows the soft-loud-soft dynamic from grunge, while adopting the wailing ‘wall-of-sound’ element of shoegaze and noise-rock. Molini and Blakely’s melodic and breezy vocals have an hypnotic effect when paired with their crunchy guitar and bass tones and the crashing drum parts. Jackal Onasis will be playing Shea Stadium on August 12th in support of NYC legends Fiasco! – John Honan

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best NYC songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

foster., a NYC based artist blending blues and hip hop, delivers a hard-hitting track to the tune of "Think Me a Fool." The song, which lauches with a soul-quaking guitar line a la Gary Clark Jr., combines hip hop beats, with vocals that feature the warm distortion of an old school radio. The single is catchy, raw and seamlessly mixes two genres in a way that feels fresh. Check out the track below, and click here to hear more from foster. – Olivia Sisinni

This artist submitted music for coverage here.