Over the past few months, Spanish-born Berlin-based singer/songwriter Sofi de la Torre has become something of a mainstay artist on this site. Now, if you’re new to the site — or just need a refresher let’s get into […]
Tag: Los Angeles CA
Comprised of Bobby Moynahan (vocals), Esli Sugich (bass), and Scott Eton (keyboards and guitar), the trio of Ballerina Black, have received praise across the blogosphere for a sound that my colleagues have described as “a collage of mope rock and grave wave;” in fact, their sound on their earliest releases reminded me quite a bit of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and 4AD Records as it struck me as being a slickly produced, anxious goth-based electro rock.
Adding to a growing national profile, the band has opened for the likes of Interpol and Silversun Pickups, have seen some of their singles receive airplay on radio stations across the globe and have played a number of sold out shows in their hometown of Los Angeles. And to continue the growing buzz around the band, they’re planning to embark on a tour to close out 2015; however, in the meantime, the band has released their latest single “Chiffon,” which is a decided change in sonic direction as it’s arguably one of the sunniest and breeziest songs they’ve released to date. Not only is the song much more upbeat with much of the gloom and doom being lifted from the proceedings, the song sounds as though it subtly leans towards shoegaze as the song consists of lush, shimmering guitar chords, propulsive drumming and Moynahan’s plaintive and ethereal vocals. And although swooning and seemingly channelling 120 Minutes-era alternative rock, there’s something under the surface that’s tense and menacing.
New Video: The Haunting and Troubling, New Video for Reptile Youth’s “Arab Spring Break Parts 1 and 2”
Reptile Youth – Arab Spring Break (Part I & II) from Reptile Youth on Vimeo. If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 15-18 months or so, you would have likely come across a couple […]
Led by its founder and primary singer/songwriter Arthur Lee, the Los Angeles-based band Love was one of the first racially diverse American pop/rock bands in a time when it was largely unheard of — the late 1960s-early 1970s. And although they had a sound influenced by rock, garage rock, folk and psych rock, the band had found modest commercial success during the peak of their recording career; however, in the roughly 40 years since the band’s breakup the band has been praised by critics as one of the finest and most important American rock acts of its era, with their third album Forever Changes being regarded as the band’s masterpiece. In fact, Forever Changes has recently been listed on a number of greatest albums lists and the band has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, among some other relatively recent recognitions.
Despite their relative anonymity to most music listeners, the band’s influence has managed to quietly loom larger than perhaps the members of the band could possibly imagine, as bands like Television Personalities, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Damned, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, The Hellacopters, The Bluetones, Ricky and others have publicity cited the band and Forever Changes as an influence on them, have covered Love songs or had titled an album in tribute.
Over the past couple of years, there’s been a resurgence of interest in Love and as a result, the band has been re-issuing long lost material. Lee and company, along with High Moon Records will be re-issuing a deluxe edition of the last proper Love album, Reel to Reel on CD and digital for the first time ever, and on vinyl for the first time in 41 years. The deluxe re-issue features the official album’s 11 tracks and 12 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including the album’s second single, the previously unreleased single “Graveyard Hop,” which is of course, perfect for Halloween season.
Recorded in one take “Graveyard Hop” is an impromptu, satirical take on “Jailhouse Rock” that’s absurd, hilariously campy, falling completely off the rails unhinged, menacing and perhaps just as important, raw, primal straight out of the garage rock with Lee howling like a man possessed — or set on fire. And the band manages to sound like Chuck Berry‘s backing band after drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels and smoking PCP as the song clocks in at a 107 seconds. But man, the song kicks ass takes names and leave you panting for more.
Comprised of Darren Weiss (vocals and drums) and Danny Present (bass), the Los Angeles-based duo of Papa have been playing music in a variety of bands and projects since they were 11. The duo have spent the past couple building up a national profile as they’ve toured the country’s major festival circuit, and have opened for the likes of Cold War Kids, Of Monsters and Men, Girls, Handsome Furs, and Florence and the Machine, among others and after an incredibly busy schedule, the duo went into the studio and began working on material that reportedly is a change in sonic direction that was largely influenced by the experiences they’ve had over that period , playing half-filled clubs to sold-out amphitheaters, self-releasing material and having major label support and back again.
Weiss and Presant’s latest single “Hold On” is the first original material they’ve released since the release of their 2013 full-length effort, Tender Madness and the single is a funky track with a propulsive rhythm, soaring hooks paired with urgently sung lyrics to craft a song that feels anthemic and club-ready while possessing a direct, intimate emotionality. It’s radio friendly pop that feels and sounds carefully and thoughtfully crafted while possessing an upbeat, swagger.
Weiss and Present will be embarking on a short West Coast tour over the later part of the fall. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Date:
Nov 27 – The Echoplex Los Angeles, CA
Dec 1 – The Chapel San Francisco, CA
Dec 2 – Don Quixotes Santa Cruz, CA
Dec 6 – Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA
Dec 9 – The Casbah San Diego, CA
Dec 10 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
Interview: A Q&A with Corina Seas
Born and reared outside of Tampa, FL, the up-and-coming Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Corina Seas has what may arguably be a prototypical American, feel-good story, as the singer/songwriter is the daughter of Honduran immigrants, who settled […]
Interview: A Q&A with Painted Palms’ Chris Prudhomme
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past year to about 18 months or so, you likely came across a post or two on the cousin duo of Reese Donahue and Chris Prudhomme, best known […]
New Audio: Kisses’ Disco-Friendly, New Single “Jam”
Comprised of Zinzi Edmundson and Jesse Kivel, the Los Angeles-based duo Kisses have developed a reputation for crafting records that had been intentionally and conceptually cohesive synth pop — with both Edmundson and Kivel assembling […]
New Video: The Stunningly Gorgeous Visuals for Lunar Twin’s “Champagne (Grand Cru Edit)”
Comprised of Bryce Boudreau (vocals) and Chris Murphy (multi-instrumentalist, producer), the electro pop duo Lunar Twin derive their name from a scientific theory that says that Earth may have had a twin moon that was destroyed in […]
New Audio: Indie All-Star, Side Project, Coromandelles’ New Single Channels a Playful Version of Phil Spector and Others
Initially begun as a sort of side project of Tijuana Panthers’ Dan Michicoff, Coromandelles, the project became a full-fledged band when Cold War Kids‘ bassist Matt Maust, Robyn Roth and Naomi Green joined. After recording […]
New Video: Story of the Running Wolf’s Fittingly, Weird Science-Inspired Video for Electric
Since their formation in 2012, the Los Angeles-based synth pop duo Story of the Running Wolf, comprised of Josh D’Elia and Jeffrey Chernick have developed a reputation for a retro-sound meshed with modern production techniques, which […]
New Audio: Re-Introducing 4th Coming’s Futuristic and Breezy, Synth Funk Sound
Founded in 1969 the Los Angeles funk collective 4th Coming was essentially the songwriting and recording project of primary songwriting duo, Henry “Hank” Porter and Jechonias “Jack” S. Williams, who teamed up in the studio […]
Live Footage: A Place to Bury Strangers on Last Call with Carson Daly
//player.theplatform.com/p/NnzsPC/widget/select/media/GM3z_dv7CfE1?carouselID=144391 (Caption: A Place to Bury Strangers performing “Fill the Void”)[…]
New Audio: Carroll’s Dreamy, Shoegaze Rock-based New Single “Green Acres”
Comprised of Brian Harlow (vocals), Charlie Rudoy (drums), Max Kulicke (guitar) and Charles McClung (bass), the Minneapolis, MN-based quartet Carroll can trace their origins to when its founding members and college classmates Harlow and Rudoy decided to move in together in […]
Live Concert Review: PHASES at The Studio at Webster Hall 7/21/15
Live Concert Review: PHASES The Studio at Webster Hall July 21, 2015 As I’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions on this site, this past summer had been one of the busier summers in recent […]