Facebook likes aren’t everything; just ask Crown Dancer. Formed in 2013 somewhere in South East LA, the five musicians Fernando Nunez, Keith Hernandez, Jesus Barron, Marlow Coloma, and AJ Dungo were more interested in crafting wildly poppy songs from their prismatic and far-flung influences: outwards from Japanese post-rock math group Toe and the British jazz-punk King Krule, to the hip hop messiah Kendrick Lamar and late soul wonder Lee Moses.
What came out from hours in the studio was a sound consciously inflected by emotive synth, crash, and fuzz. With noisy-yet-catchy compositions and high-energy lives fit to open for acts like No Age, Future Islands, and The War On Drugs, it’s almost heinous that they’re still infants in the social media scene.
But don’t take their sparse Internet presence as a sign of youth: Crown Dancer have performed with the finest underground acts in all corners of city, sounding off with the progpunk duo The Littlest Viking, glistening noise trio Take Pictures, and the Gutter Trunk hip hop muse Bizzart aka GOTHIC CHOLO.
Crown Dancer are currently working on their first EP “Leftovers”. Recorded and mixed by Dylan Wood (Pageants, Time of Wolves, ex- 60-Watt Kidd), this year-long labor of love is slated to finish by the end of June. They have plans to begin recording a full-length soon, and will make their last appearance (for a while) tomorrow at Young Lovers’ third night of residency with The Littlest Viking. Listen to the first three demos of “Leftovers” EP and see them live tomorrow night at Pehrspace! – Ryan Mo