Rock with a Twist Show (I don't even have to come up with a clever name) with the Monolators @ the Scene, February 21, 2008

Nothing will bring me out faster to a club than the call of free food. It is a sad but true fact. For example, this show at the Scene. I had kept off the myspace for a couple days and for some reason or another found myself back on there and noticed a bulletin: Pretzel time! Clicking on it I was to find out that

1. the Monolators were playing- who are quickly tying with Bodies of Water for local band I've seen A LOT.
2. Mary from the Monolators was making pretzels, soft pretzels, not the hard crappy kind.
3. FREE SHOW

There was no reason to turn down this show, and also, the other bands in the line up all seemed worth checking out.

Turn out in the beginning was, at best, roomy. How could so many people not want pretzels? Did they honestly think there would be some left after the first hour? Anyways, the first band up was Friends Of Dennis Wilson, from Detroit. The easiest way to describe them would be to call them psych-rock, which they were. But they didn't tip too much towards the hard side of that genre. If you like the Warlocks, or maybe Dead Meadow or Ride, you'd enjoy this band. The amusing part for me was the lead singer's funny little dance he did the whole time on the stage, with his down parka (or at least that's what it looked like). Coming from Detroit, you'd think the weather would be like summer for them out here. Ah well...

Now, I caught the beginning of the next set by Summer Darling, who are just that, darling. However, I got caught up in a lengthy discussion about pretzels and missed out on the rest, and the next set. Oops, sorry guys, I owe you a proper review soon, promise!!

Finishing off the night was a riotous set by the Monolators, who not only kick major rocking ass, but make some mean pretzels too. They even took requests tonight (well, one...)! It was just a three piece lineup this evening with the second guitarist absent. They played some fan favorites, and a few whose names escape me. I don't think I'll ever get tired of Strawberry Roan...

Oh, and apparently this pretzel making show is going to be a bi-monthly event. Holy cow, right?

Austin Fever: YellowFever, Her Girl Friday, Dylan Doren @ the Smell January 25, 2008

I will not lie to you all. I only went over to the Smell because I found out YellowFever was going to be playing. Initially I didn't know who else was playing and really wasn't concerned because I had the yellow fever.... Sorry, that was ridiculous, it's early right now. But getting there at 9:30 and sitting through the first two sets two things became apparent: I can listen to noise rock with ear plugs and actually enjoy it because my ears do not feel like they've been permanently damaged, and the first two bands were un-expectantly fun to listen to.

There's this trend at the Smell to just slide from band to band, and many times band names are not said. Or, a band name is missed because suddenly they are already playing and you're still standing outside the club. So, that's my introductory excuse as to why I'm not 100% on the first two band names (if you know what they were, please feel free to jot down in the comments below). The Smell attracts a LOT of young people/bands who are really into the noise scene. Really into it. Expect one of the bands in a line up there every night to fit this genre. The first person/band up, and don't get mad if I mix the names here, I believe was Dylan Doren. Now, that could be the guy's name, or the band. I say name but what do I know? His set began with about 10-15 minutes of him sitting on the ground with some keyboards, a pedal, and microphones. My first thought brought be back to seeing Mincemeat or Tenspeed at Pehrspace back in December (sorry, no review, but you can listen to the show here!). Now, I enjoy noise, when done well, and when they added some live drumming to the mix, the whole musical experience suddenly made my attention snap right to them. The drum beats were live, but had the quality of feeling like they were sampled. The songs were pecked with these tiny screams that could barely make themselves heard over the instruments, forcing you to pay attention to the two people before you. They really turned it into an unexpected surprise performance.

Second up was Her Girl Friday, a 3 piece all girl band that included their own bubble blowing robotic looking chick standing in front dressed like she belonged at an anime convention. I'm not sure what 'look' they wanted to achieve by having this; 'cute' I guess comes to mind. The three blended guitars, keys and drums into a dark, droning pop sound. At times they reminded me a bit of Electrelane and other songs were a bit tipping towards bands like the Warlocks. Heavy, melodic, occasionally screaming tunes. They were also surprisingly enjoyable.

And then right into YellowFever. I can't remember which blog I first heard about this Austin band from. I want to say Gorrila vs. Bear, because any good music coming out of that part of Texas I will hear about through their site. In the usual Smell style, there were some technical hiccups. One I swear was as close to the 'brown noise' as you can get. I felt really bad, cause later the drummer was saying how it fucked up his ears bad. I think the problem was that the vocals were too low and the bass too high, and the attempt to fix it by the guy who runs(?) the Smell, made it the opposite of fixed. It terminated "Cats and Rats" a bit short, which was too bad, cause it's a cute song. Anyways, stuff started to go better from there, launching into (in no particular order except for what I can remember) Metarie, Hellfire, Joe Brown, and Culver City. I'm missing some, but I forget which. It would have been even more awesome had they played Alice, but I'm not complaining, they came to L.A. and I will be perfectly satisfied with just that much. Their music crosses between bands like Stereolab, Tuscadero, Heavenly, and in some ways reminds me of earlier music from the Breeders. But there also feels like there is this darker streak just under the surface of their music. The quite, sometimes somber tone to the lyrics, backed by the more poppy bass and guitar notes makes for some more bittersweet concoctions. At least I get that in there sometimes...

Right, ok, this post is starting to get a bit long. I just wanted to direct your attention to Austin, TX for a moment. Austin seems like this magical far away land filled to overflowing with great bands and constant flow of incredible albums. The city makes me jealous with its green-ness awareness and cool shows and really nice people, compared to living here in L.A. But then I remember a friend telling me it 90+º for most of the year. And then L.A. seems ok, and Austin will just have to be that awesome city I visit.

Coming soon: Dare I step into the Smell for a second night in a row?!?!?!?

Waiting for the Stage to Break: Jail Weddings and Man/Miracle @ the Echo January 20th, 2008

Going to a 'Part Time Punks' show at the Echo makes me feel old, and I'm not really old. Maybe it's the drug induced pogo-ing or the Charlie Brownesque stand-in-one-place dancing going on around me as kids talk about how awesome it is to dance to Iggy Pop. What? Really? Anyways, sometimes you have to brave the queerness of young adulthood to go see a decent band. Jail Weddings earned such an honor this night.

I already had two naps by 10pm tonight, so I was lively enough and willing to catch the first band: Man/Miracle. I couldn't find any additional info on this band (edit: see below), however I believe that they said they hailed from Santa Cruz, or someplace with a similar name. Anyways, these boys were quite the energetic bunch- screaming and pounding away on their instruments, we reached the conclusion that they were a cross between the band James and the Strokes, if both combined to make a band you'd want to listen to. And we did! If you read this blog with any regularity, it's pretty obvious that I will walk away from your set if I find my time could be spent better elsewhere. However, I spent most of the set bouncing along and open jaw gaping at the amount of drum solos there were. Maybe, actually, that's why I like them so much... the drums. That's how they would end (at least it seemed that way); every song felt like they were trying to invoke the spirit of John Bonham, maybe a giant gong would have helped. Only two things slightly dampened this performance: one audience member apparently was shitting himself due to the aroma coming off his person, and moving to the complete opposite side of the room only helped slightly. And two, the last song Man/Mission played kept reminding me of a Bon Jovi ballad, except that unexpectedly it would pick up and get loud and pretty rocking. I had mixed feelings about that one.

After that set there was the discovery of a man selling a couple cases of records stuck in the back corner. I probably would have lingered longer had he been outside, however, he did have a copy of Los Yetis- therefor he is awesome and I hope he is selling again soon.

I had to break away from the records once Jail Weddings came on. How can you not be distracted by the completely FULL stage of people with glittery costumes and screaming main singer? I know I was. I witnessed this band last year and was completely taken by surprise. They describe themselves as "an updated take on the darker side of the '60s girl group blueprint with swamp-pop leanings, all combined with mean-streak mutant torch song drama." but with a mainly male lead vocal. Watching the stage puts me into a weird trance-like state. Perhaps it's the OOhing and Aahing that is so reminiscent of the bad 60's girl rockers (Oh Shangri-Las, how I love you so), or the maybe the bands ability to stick a violin in the mix and still make it sound 'hard'. One aspect I like about Jail Weddings is their ability to play off the idea of wanting to sound like this genre, embracing it but then tweaking it enough to sound new, and honestly, not like many other bands out there. So kudos to you guys putting on another memorable show. And sorry that my photos were kinda crap.

Coming soon: YellowFever and why Austin would be the best city ever if only the temperature wasn't so damn hot all the time.
EDIT: Ok, so the Echo had the band name spelled wrong for the opening act. It was Man/Miracle NOT Man/Mission. OOps. Anyway, for more info, please click here.