Los Angeles – As is expected with any all-ages show with a mainstream bent, Albert Hammond Jr.’s Wednesday night set was a little more wacky and wild than the typical show at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom. While the sometimes-Strokes guitarist’s performance was a strong-if-standard performance for an artist of his stature, the audience was really
Los Angeles – There is nothing glamorous about Protomartyr. The band dredges the depths of the psyche, unearthing melancholic themes of misery and malevolence in the process. On a purely superficial level, the Detroit, MI four-piece lacks that certain “panache” that so many buzzy blogosphere-driven indie-rock bands possess; they are fronted by a slightly balding
Los Angeles – There’s really no point in rehashing Deafheaven’s controversial status among the pantheon of “black metal” bands; that conversation has been had a million times over, a ubiquitous addition to every review, interview, or feature on the San Francisco-based band. Listening to metal fans talk about Deafheaven is a perfect lesson in confirmation
Los Angeles – For someone that was essentially making his first ever live appearance in the United States, Fraser A. Gorman had an incredible sense of serenity on stage last Tuesday evening; he nailed every song in his set, even ad-libbing during an awkward moment after not one, but two of his guitar strings snapped
Los Angeles – While awareness of Greg Holden’s music is just now beginning to grow, the seeds of his prominence were sown over the last decade. His first taste of the spotlight was winning Lancashire Evening Post’s 2005 battle of the bands, and followed that victory with several Youtube-based video series. His channel in turn
Los Angeles – Shannon and the Clam’s record release show on Wednesday night at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater was a bit of a West Coast punk rock extravaganza. While the theater is most well-known for hosting larger indie-rock shows and even the occasional mainstream concert, it was a down-and-dirty night of DIY retro-style garage-punk
Los Angeles – Up until about the mid-2000’s, bands that fell under the categorization of “indie pop” typically had to spend years on the road while releasing barely-noticed records in hopes that eventually they would be able to quit their day jobs and make music their full-time gig. The internet changed all that, with blogs
Los Angeles – While Béatrice Martin, AKA Cœur de Pirate has toured the United States several times in the past, this year’s set of American dates are the most likely to bear the most impressive results. Fresh on the heals of her third full-length release, Roses, the French-Canadian singer-songwriter for the first time is offering some English
Los Angeles – In the wake of More Than Any Other Day’s enormous splash, critics could not help themselves but reference groups like Television or The Talking Heads when describing the wiry post-punk heard throughout Ought’s debut release. This opinion is backed up with some decent arguments; the sing/speaking bears a passing resemblance to David
Los Angeles – There is a certain art to perfecting a break-up record; it is a fine line to tread between emotional, heartfelt catharsis and over-the-top bitterness and resentment. While the finality of a failed relationship can cause an artist to reach deep into the accompanying well of misery, unpleasant feelings also have a