Saturday 07.05.08: SMOG SESSIONS with HATCHA / ROOMMATE & ANTISERUM / SAM XL & PABLO HASSAN / DJ STEADY / MC KEMST @ echo

with:
Hatcha (Kiss FM, Big Apple, Tempa, London UK)
Roommate & Antiserum (OSC) (Argon, Hollow Point, Steps in Time, Mode, SF)
Sam XL & Pablo Hassan (Pure Filth, Smog, LA)
DJ Steady (Drumz, LA)
Kemst (Smog Pure Filth, LA)

Sound Reinforcement by: Pure Filth

Art Installations by: Spectr

BIRTHDAY BASH FOR PAWN!!

FMI: www.smogla.com

9pm / $10 / 21+

Wednesday 08.13.08: THE LOCUST / QUI / UPSILON ACRUX / HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM @ echo

The Locust || Listen

The Locust have always been noted for their alarming musical turns – just as soon as the listener’s settled into something relatively easy listening, given the band in question’s past, ‘We Have Reached An Official Verdict: Nobody Gives A Shit’ shows up, all dragonfly shrieks and Transformers death, and tips a few buckets of aural horseshit all over the place. A minute and 22 seconds after it arrived, it’s gone, but again don’t get comfortable: this isn’t an album of rapid-fire seizures a la its predecessor. You’d go so far, in fact, to say that The Locust have excelled themselves on New Erections: they’ve written ‘proper’ songs.

Of course, the ridiculous is still fantastically realised and brutally executed: the blink and you’ll miss it fit of fucked-up foaming-at-the-mouth franticness that is ‘Full Frontal Obscurity’ is terribly comic and completely terrifying in equal measures. Vocals snake about each other while drums slow, gradually, over a minute-something of sweaty sludge-core camped up with Rocky Horror histrionics. ‘Scavenger, Invader’, meanwhile, isn’t a song by any stretch of the definition: it’s an inhuman grind, the sound of Terminator’s killer robots achieving their goal of global conquest, throughout the ages. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Qui || Listen
Upsilon Acrux
Halloween Swim Team || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Skull to 467467

7pm / $15 / All Ages

Sunday 08.03.08: BORIS / TORCHE / LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR @ echoplex

Boris || Listen

Even though Japan noise/metal/rock/drone kings Boris have created a progressive body of work, the latest release from the prolific trio seems to be carrying baggage of the band’s recent collaborations with both Sunn0))) and Merzbow, in addition to further merging existing influences like punk and hard rock.

With all that going into the blender, Smile is remarkably diverse. The pacing changes from the psychedelic melancholy of opener Flower Sun Rain into quick, loud and messy punk/noise explosions before opening up the freak-out floodgates on My Neighbor Satan. Near the album’s close, the psychedelic insanity of Ka Re Ha Te Ta Sa Ki is a whirlwind of pounding drums, circular chanting, spasmodic guitar noise and violent soloing that perfectly exemplifies Smile’s fusion of panicky, heavy abrasiveness and lush, melodic and dreamy sprawls. – Now Magazine

with:
Torche || Listen
Lair of The Minotaur || Listen

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Boris to 467467

7pm / $14adv, $16dos / all ages

Saturday 09.20.08: LIAM FINN / THE VEILS / KARIN TATOYAN @ echoplex

Liam Finn || Listen || Watch

On his full-length debut, the child of Kiwi pop kingpin Neil Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House) is more a descendant of the scattershot aesthetic that Todd Rundgren perfected on his 1972 masterpiece Something/Anything. Often producing and playing all the instruments, Liam loops hook-happy guitars through syncopated rhythms (“Second Chance,” “Energy Spent”), serves up classic-pop reproductions (the Beach Boys-esque “Lullaby”), and tosses in odds and ends both ridiculous (the honking “Better to Be”) and sublime (the gently folk-rocking “Wise Man”). Skillful if occasionally rickety, Lightning showcases a confident, evolving voice. – Spin

with: The Veils
Karin Tatoyan

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text liamfinn to 467467

8pm / $12 adv, $14 dos / 18+

Saturday 08.23.08: LA Weekly Presents THE GERMS / THE MAE SHI / SPIDER PROBLEM @ echo

The Germs || Listen

The “new Germs” have toured semi-regularly since 2005, including a run on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour and playing the “Secret” premiere in June. Fans and some punk peers initially derided the reunion, believing it to be either a nostalgic cash-in or a reputation-sullying mistake. But those aghast by Landon from “A Walk to Remember” donning Crash’s blue-circle armband, are realizing that West’s spit-soaked reprisals of his Crash role are faithful and riveting, right down to West’s spitfire rebuttals to skeptics.
“If you sit home moaning about the past and haven’t seen us play, then you can go to hell,” West said. “I wasn’t going to mess with Darby’s songs or change his singing style. I wasn’t going to be sober doing lounge-jazz either.”
In a way, the Germs’ sets are more live theater than reunion tour, and less of a post-mortem hit parade than a chance for a younger generation to feel the gleeful fury and bleak sadness of the ’80s L.A. punk scene for themselves.
“There is a level of chaos, mischief and danger to it, but it’s fun and done in the original spirit,” said West. “We try and show them what a real punk rock show should be.” – LA Times

with:
The Mae Shi
Spider Problem

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Nogod to 467467

8:30 pm / $17 Advance, $20 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 07.29.08: THE WATSON TWINS / TIM FITE / ROBERT FRANCIS @ echo

The Watson Twins || Listen

With echoing acoustic guitars and gorgeous harmonies, it’s understandable that Los Angeles, CA’s the Watson Twins are occasionally tagged as a country act. However, identical twin sisters Chandra and Leigh Watson prove that genres are only skin deep on their debut LP, Fire Songs, out this week on Vanguard. The vocal melody on “How Am I to Be” sways and swaggers like a Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac gem, while “Sky Open Up” recalls Neil Young’s stark heartbreak as much as it does the Carter Family’s strumming meat and potatoes country.

Born and raised in Louisville, KY, the Watsons moved to California in the ’90s, where they began writing their own music and performing with local musicians. The Twins collaborated with Rilo Kiley siren Jenny Lewis on her 2006 solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat, while also self-releasing their first EP, Southern Manners. Fire Songs was recorded in September of 2007 in L.A. – Spin

with:

Tim Fite || Listen || Watch || Download

This noisy iconoclast, who backed up the anticonsumerist hip-hop folk of last year’s Over the Counter Culture by giving it away on the Internet, takes a more introspective, equally fierce approach here. Alternating between woozy crooning and angry outbursts, Fite echoes the bent intensity of Tom Waits and Eels’ Mark Oliver Everett, fitting his warped, oddly captivating melodies to everything from drunken waltzes (“The Barber”) to funky social commentary (“More Clothes”) to gorgeous ballads (“Harriet Tubman”). At his most relaxed, however, Fite still sounds like his head could explode. – Spin

Plus:
Robert Francis

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Sunshine to 467467

8:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.22.08: SUMMER DARLING / CHIKITA VIOLENTA / WRITER / AMATEURS @ echo

Summer Darling || Listen

I’d never seen Summer Darling before. It only took me about three bars of the first song to fall in love with the foursome. For large portions of their set I felt like I was transplanted to the year 1994, nearly sure my track jacket had transformed itself to an old flannel shirt found at Goodwill. One or two songs reminded me of something like The Promise Ring or early Jimmy Eat World. That’s not to say that Summer Darling is playing in the past because there was something very contemporary about what they were doing. I think ten years younger and played twice as fast, and Summer Darling might be at The Smell instead of The Scene.

There was a lot of band interaction as they played, turning to face each other and look each other in the eyes. What I really loved were the lyrics. They were honest, if not venomous, but still endearing. The words to the songs were sung above, not beneath, the instrumentation and that made for a very intimate set despite the deafening buzz and fuzz. – Classical Geek Theatre

with:
Chikita Violenta || Listen
Writer || Listen
Amateurs || Listen

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 07.19.08: DEVON WILLIAMS / RESIDUAL ECHOES / SILVER DAGGERS / THE MONA REELS / OF AIRES @ echo

Devon Williams

I was elated when Williams played a cover of “Alex Chilton” towards the end of his set, not just because it’s a killer song, but specifically because one of the notes I scribbled down in the first few minutes of Williams’ playing was “Waiting for Somebody.” The same feeling of whimsical mischief felt when listening to Westerberg’s love song from the 1992 Singles soundtrack is aroused when hearing Williams’ innocent pop guitar and string arrangements. Just as The Replacements sound like the lighthearted black sheep of the early 90s (compositionally, not lyrically) when occasionally/awkwardly lumped into the same category as grunge superpowers Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Williams’ work stands out as effervescent defiance in the face of the indulgent psychadelia that is getting much of the local attention. Spindrift, Entrance, and Devendra Banhart are all acts that I have written about and very much appreciate, but Williams is unique in that he refuses to be another psych-folk-blues musician in Los Angeles. He’s just not having it. Instead, Williams writes refreshingly light tunes tinged with Westerberg-like self deprecation that could have been fitting on the soundtrack of any My So Called Life episode: songs for being distraught, but laughing about it. – LA Weekly

with:
Residual Echoes
Silver Daggers
The Mona Reels
Of Aires

5pm / $8 / All Ages

Thursday 07.17.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents BODIES OF WATER / THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / SEASONS @ echo

Bodies of Water || Listen

Bodies of Water may have waited barely a year to release a follow-up to their hand-clapping, head-nodding, heaven-looking debut, but musically, they take their time. “Under the Pines”, a mostly instrumental track from their upcoming A Certain Feeling, takes a while to get to its verse, instead carefully establishing a theatrical organ-and-power-chords overture with all the rock-opera oomph of a homespun Jim Steinman. They project toward the rafters, but build the song carefully, bringing in David Metcalf’s snaky guitar line and letting their wordless harmonies comment on the earthly action of music. The first verse doesn’t kick in until after the two-minute mark, but the chorus sets the song loose: “Under and under and under and under the pines!” they shout in unison, alluding to Leadbelly or Nirvana or those 40 days in the wilderness. Here’s hoping they never make just a three-minute pop song. – Pitchfork

with:
The Henry Clay People || Listen
Seasons

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text secretlycanadian to 467467

8:30pm / $8 adv, $10 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.15.08: MUCCA PAZZA / THE HOLLOYS @ echo

Mucca Pazza || Listen

Well, this should be interesting! It’s not every day a traveling marching band rolls (marches?) through town. Mucca Pazza was conceived by composer Mark Messing and the band has been performing in and around the Chicago area, in bars, parks, parades and theaters for over three years. The lineup includes St. Louis expatriate Jeff Thomas, aka Jeffrey Positive, of The Honkeys, on guitar. The following is from their press kit:

30 people in a band? No problem. At every rehearsal, BBQ, and party, everyone loves one another like one big family. Until a gig comes along, and then… The trombones rumble with team saxophone, who fight for stage space with the clarinet and the fiddle, who don’t notice because they are busy vying for the attentions of the accordions, who could care less because the drum corps are a bunch of bullies, who are constantly melting at the sight of the glockenspiel, who has an eye for the cymbals, who keeps falling over the sousaphone, who is busy avoiding flying pom poms, who are chasing after the trombones, who are rumbling… Mucca Pazza are marching misfits. They play everything from Gainesbourg to Le Tigre, Bar-Kays to Ali Hassan Kuban and lotsa original compositions (including one commissioned by a queen from a distant planet – long story). One would think that only in Dr. Seuss’ imagination could a marching band perform in 10 canoes going down the Chicago River, but Mucca Pazza was there! They play everywhere: from punk venues to orchestral halls, from public parks to private extravaganzas, from diva palaces to dive bars, from TV shows (did you see them on Conan O’Brien?) to Lollapalooza. Your town is next! Watch out! – Trouble in River City

with:
Holloys || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Honk! to 467467

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Wednesday 07.09.08: HEARTS OF PALM UK / HAPPY STARS / BROKEN REMOTES @ echo

Hearts Of Palm UK || Listen

LA’s own Hearts of Palm U.K. are Erica Elektra (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Ambi-D (glockenspiel, guitar, keyboard, percussion). They are two friends who’ve known each other since junior high; two friends whose lives have led them to join together and make a new kind of music. The duo draws their influence from bands like Camera Obscura, Kings of Convenience, Fischerspooner, Ratatat, The Notwist, The Blow and Azure Ray.

Erica Elektra has been electric ever since she was electrocuted playing bass in her New York City basement apartment. The basement flooded, but she didn’t notice until it was too late. Now she’s a superconductor! Ambi D. gets her name because of the ambidextrous way she plays all those instruments at once. Hearts of Palm U.K. are developing their own electro-indie-pop style and couldn’t be happier about it. They are ready to dance, rock out and have fun…just don’t ask about the U.K. – Andy & Otis

with:
Happy Stars
The Broken Remotes

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 07.05.08: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

From Seattle, special guest:
DJ FREDDY, KING OF PANTS

Resident Bootie mashup DJs:
ADRIAN & the MYSTERIOUS D
DJ PAUL V.

Midnight mashup show:
FOXY COTTON

BOOTIE LA is now at the Echoplex, with more room to dance, two bars, great sound and lights, and mashup videos on three giant screens!

This month, Bootie welcomes back DJ Freddy, King of Pants, creator of Seattle’s original, long-running monthly mashup night, FrankenBoot. He’ll be dropping the bootleg classics, as well as the newest mashups fresh off the digital press. Resident Bootie DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D and DJ Paul V. will keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. And returning to the stage for the midnight mashup show — with a special political Independence Day-inspired number — is Foxy Cotton!

Launched in San Francisco in 2003, BOOTIE was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, it’s a place where all sounds, cultures, and sexualities can unite on the dance floor. Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation — with free mashup CDs given away like candy! Bootie Š because one song at a time just isn’t enough.

FREE Bootie CDs to the first 50 people through the door!

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

9pm / $5 before 10pm, $10 after / 21+

Thursday 07.31.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 07.24.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 07.17.08: RESPECT with THE INSIDERS / ROXANNE / MACHETE / MC XYZ @ echoplex

with:
THE INSIDERS [METALHEADZ, RUFIGE RECORDS, UK]

ROXANNE [GROUNDSCORE]
MACHETE [RESPECT]
MC XYZ [RESPECT

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $5 before 11pm – $10 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 07.10.08: RESPECT with ASIDES / SCOOBA / MC QUESTIONMARK / MC XYZ @ echoplex (11pm)

With:
ASIDES [METALHEADZ, EASTSIDE RECORDINGS, UK]

SCOOBA [RESPECT]
MC QUESTIONMARK [CONTAGIOUS MUSIQ]
MC XYZ [RESPECT]

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

11pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 07.03.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Wednesday 07.30.08: DUB CLUB presents TAPPA ZUKIE @ echoplex

Tappa Zukie

Backed by the Echodelic Soundsystem

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $12 / 21+

Wednesday 07.23.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 07.16.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 07.09.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 07.02.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Monday 07.28.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / DEVON WILLIAMS / THE STARLITE DESPERATION / ARROW DAN @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Devon Williams
The Starlite Desperation
Arrow Dan

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 07.11.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with MAGIC MIRROR / LOWER HEAVEN @ echo

with:
Magic Mirror
Lower Heaven

plus resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Sunday 07.27.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 07.20.08: PART TIME PUNKS with THE MUSLIMS / CHRISTMAS ISLAND @ echo

with:
The Muslims
Christmas Island

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 07.13.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 07.06.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 07.27.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with PSYCHEDELIC COWBOYS / THE BOWMANS / PAUL INMAN’S DELIVERY / SAUSAGE GRINDER @ echo

with:
Psychedelic Cowboys || Listen
The Bowmans || Listen
Paul Inman’s Delivery || Listen
Sausage Grinder

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.20.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with GRANT LANGSTON & THE SUPERMODELS / NICOLE GORDON / CLAIRE HOLLEY / SMITH AND WESSON @ echo

with:
Grant Langston & The Supermodels || Listen
Nicole Gordon
Claire Holley || Listen
Smith and Wesson

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.13.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with JAMES WILSEY / DAVID SERBY / LISA DEROSIA / AUSTIN HARTLEY – LEONARD / Squaredance with TRIPLE CHICKEN FOOT @ echo

with:
James Wilsey
David Serby || Listen
Lisa DeRosia || Listen
Austin Hartley- Leonard

Plus Squaredancing from 3pm-5pm with
Triple Chicken Foot || Listen

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

3pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.06.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with MIKE STINSON / THE CHEATIN’ KIND / WELLDIGGERS BANQUET / BRET JENSEN’S DEATH VALLEY JUBILEE @ echo

with:
Mike Stinson
The Cheatin’ Kind
Welldiggers Banquet
Brett Jensen’s Death Valley Jubilee

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 06.29.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE / 50 CENT HAIRCUT / DAFNI / DIME BOX BAND @ echo

with:

5 O’Clock Somewhere
50 Cent Haircut || Listen
Dafni || Listen
Dime Box Band || Listen

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Wednesday 07.23.08: HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR / GUNS N BOMBS @ ECHO

Hercules and Love Affair || Listen

Forget disco for a second. The most significant thing about the debut album from New York’s Hercules and Love Affair has less to do with revival than arrival– that of a compelling new voice in American dance music. Not Antony Hegarty’s, of Antony and the Johnsons, even though his pipes are an integral part of Hercules’ aesthetic, but Andrew Butler, a twentysomething resident of New York who has made one of 2008′s great albums, and one of the best longplayers from DFA. (DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy surely deserves some of the credit as well, as the album’s co-producer and the programmer behind most of the record’s beats.) Butler got his start writing music for art projects in college– “like a remake of Gino Soccio’s ‘Runaway’ done in the style of Kraftwerk,” he told Fact magazine– but Hercules and Love Affair’s music doesn’t require Fischerspooner-type theatrics. This debut album is a self-contained, self-assured, 10-song set that runs vintage styles through a restless compositional imagination to create something joyfully, startlingly unique. – Pitchfork

with:
Guns N Bombs (All Disco Set)

8:30 pm / $15 adv, $18 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.08.08: VON IVA / ASTRA HEIGHTS / LITTLE PIECES @ echo

Von Iva || Listen

Oh, it’s just plain nasty, you know it is — the moment that molar-chattering low end comes quaking out of your speakers, only to be stroked up by a nag-nagging synth sneer straight out of your most secret Missy Elliott–Wire tag-team fantasies. Bite your lip, lean back, and shake it deeper, ’cause it gets better, just as you knew it would. Twenty seconds onward, our diva steps in — and what a diva! Two sets of lungs, most likely. Her intro is inevitable: “She came / To party!” The full-throated bellow hurls over the bucking and bumping of the futuro–new wave rhythm. Everything elasticizes from there. Three minutes later, you light a cigarette.

And so we have “LALA,” the lead-off single from Our Own Island (Ruby Tower), the new album by local electrofunk swaggerers Von Iva. The fashion-forward trio, composed of soulful vocal powerhouse Jillian Iva and hip-loosening instrumentalists Bex and Lay Lay, straddle the border between skuzzy and sultry with sweat-inducing plunges into the intersections of gossip spit and spunk, Devo-Wire post-punk, and Timbaland gadung-a-dung-dunk. Go on now, boys and girls: surrender to the nasty. – San Francisco Bay Guardian

with:
Astra Heights || Listen
Little Pieces || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Monday 07.21.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / THE MOON UPSTAIRS / THEE MAKEOUT PARTY / WEAVE @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
The Moon Upstairs || Listen
Thee Makeout Party || Listen
Weave

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.14.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / MORIS TEPPER / SOME DAYS / LISTING SHIP @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Moris Tepper || Listen
Some Days
Listing Ship || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.07.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / WOUNDED LION / VICTIM VISION / GUILTY HEARTS @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Wounded Lion
Victim Vision
The Guilty Hearts

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 07.04.08: ECHO & CLUB UNDERGROUND PRES: SPINDRIFT / FLASH EXPRESS @ echo

Spindrift || Listen

Truly out-of-sight, the seven-piece band celebrates the outlaw spirit with spooky, tripped-out variations on Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Western tradition. Live, they swirl and tremble like a lucid dream, banging a gong and shaking their tambourines for rattlesnake effect, jamming until the audience feels engulfed by a sandstorm (of course, it helps if it’s an outdoor concert and the wind is already fierce). Spindrift founder Kirpatrick Thomas (who holds together portions of the band’s East and West Coast factions) recently recorded a soundtrack to Mike Bruce’s bizarre concept film Legend of God’s Gun, which is like the original Ocean’s 11 with psychedelic rockers replacing tony rat packers. Visually schizophrenic, Gun follows a preacher turned gunslinger who travels to Playa Diablo to avenge his true love’s death. Trippy shoot-’em-ups ensue. Go west! – Salt Lake City Weekly

with:
The Flash Express || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Drift to 467467

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Tuesday 07.01.08: GRAVY TRAIN!!! / BRidEZ / DRAGON SUEDE BOY @ ECHO (Late Show)

Gravy Train!!!! || Listen

Gravy Train!!!! is a John Waters wet dream come to life, with openly gay boys and super-snarky girls singing hilarious lyrics about ghost boobs, 40-ouncers, and cottonmouth blow jobs, all the while playing a giddy form of bubblegum garage-pop that screams Hairspray (if not “holy crap!”). So it’s kind of a shock to hear the Oakland quartet’s third full-length, All the Sweet Stuff, because the disc sounds almost mature.

Ewww.

No need to worry, though. There’s still plenty of the salacious lyrics and exuberant melodies that’ve made Gravy Train!!!! so fun. But for the first time, the band members sound like, well, musicians. By adding glam, disco, and even ’60s French pop to their euphoric garage-rock, Chunx, Funx, Hunx, and Junx have created one of the most thoroughly entertaining records in ages, joining the upper echelon of local bands in the process. – SF Weekly

with:
BRidEZ
Dragon Boy Suede

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Solo to 467467

LATE SHOW: 10pm / $12 / 18+

Saturday 06.28.08: CLUB SUICIDE @ Echoplex

with:
DJ Amanda Jones (Das Bunker, Perversion, Malediction Society)
DJ Robert Lockerby (Clockwork Orange)

spinning the best in Electro, Indie, and ’80s.

The last Saturday of every month!

Come and check out our SUICIDE GIRL GO-GO DANCERS!

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

10pm / $12 / 18+

Monday 07.07.08: THE GITS MOVIE PREMIERE SCREENING @ ECHOPLEX

THE GITS MOVIE documents the influential Seattle band whose fable was unfairly abridged by the tragic rape and murder of singer Mia Zapata. July 7th is the fifteenth memorial anniversary, and THE GITS will appear alongside friends, family and the filmmakers at screenings in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles -with additional screenings in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, New York and Portland.

In the early 1990s, Seattle was the focal point of an emerging musical underground. The Gits helped spearhead this new scene. Their sound was proto-grunge and all-out punk aggression. The earnest, blues wail of front woman Mia Zapata was its center. Mia was the very embodiment of riot grrrl intensity, talent, and humanity. Her uncompromised integrity epitomized a way of life that influenced an entire generation of female artists to follow.
Upon returning from a successful European tour -and at the height of The Gits’ popularity- singer Mia Zapata was found raped and murdered, unfairly abbreviating the band’s fable. Incredibly, more than a decade later, new evidence would surface, Mia’s case file would be reopened, and a suspect would be brought to justice –as cameras rolled. The Gits is an account of overcoming adversity, addiction, love, loss and pain. It’s a punk rock mystery, but not merely a tale of tragedy. It’s the mythic story of a great American Rock N Roll band.

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Zapata! to 467467

7:30 pm / $10 / ALL AGES

Seated and standing; seats available first come first serve / bands & djs to follow

Saturday 07.12.08: DESCARGA with MENTIRITAS @ echo

Mentiritas

Mentiritas is a musical project lead by Grammy® Award Winning Musician, Wil-Dog Abers of Ozomatli, that combines cohorts (who happen to be some of L.A.‘s top session musicians) from bands such as Ozomatli, Beastie Boys, Cava and Plastilina Mosh, among many other noteworthy acts. In 2007, Abers (Bass), Walter Miranda (Keys), Fredo Ortiz (Timbales), Ulises Bella (Saxophone) and Anton Morales (Drums) combined their love for Latin music with humor and satire and thus, the Mentiritas project was born. Mentiritas keeps the crowd on its feet from start to finish and pokes fun at 80‘s and 90‘s hits, the “boy band” experience and gaudy Mexican Regional fashions and sometimes over-the-top banda music. In January 2008, ¡Descarga! featured the band at its sold out 5th Anniversary Party at Echoplex. The band now includes the powerful vocals of Claudia “Cava” Tenorio and on July 12, 2008, the show will include special appearances by Herbert Siguenza and Ric Salinas of Culture Clash theatre group.

¡Descarga! is a monthly Afro-Latin music gathering for the people. This event is an alternative to the commercial salsa nights that have dominated the LA scene for years. Resident DJs Sloe Poke, Mando, Bobby Soul, Loslito, and Mexican Dubwiser spin classic salsa and cumbia; plus merengue, punta and reggaeton. With live bands gracing the stage at midnight at nearly every show, it has become the taste-making New York to L.A. soiree, running over 5 years strong.

FMI:
www.descargaclub.com
Descarga on Myspace

9pm / $7 before 11pm, $10 after / 21+

Thursday 06.19.08: RESPECT with TWISTED INDIVIDUAL / DJ EVOL / SCOOBA B2B TOXIC / MEKANIX / MC QUESTIONMARK / MC XYZ @ echoplex

with:
Twisted Individual
DJ Evol
Scooba B2B Toxic (b-day set)
Mekanix
MC Questionmark
MC XYZ

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 07.03.08: Radio Free Silverlake, Web In Front & LA Underground present FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / THE STEVENSON RANCH DAVIDIANS / SUMMER DARLING / FOL CHEN

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra

A languorous desert landscape of fractured pop punctuated with the rumbling crackle of spinning art-rock, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra’s new EP, Escapements, swings from dream-lathered reveries of hazy beauty to propulsive, churning nightscapes—songs that sound as if they are the heat-twisted, shimmering and sky-fallen debris after Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker led a kamikaze nosedive into the 4AD records building.

As a teaser for the EP’s July 3rd release, Web in Front is offering a stream of two tracks after the jump: the sleepfever swirl of “In a Dream”’s hypnotic sway and nightmare visions as well as the shapeshifted, epic buildup of “Audry (love keeps moving)”’s schizoid dynamics. You can pick the EP up at the Orchestra’s Escapements release party concert at the Echo on July 3rd (also featuring the Stevenson Branch Davidians and Fol Chen. – Web In Front

with:
The Stevenson Ranch Davidians || Listen
Summer Darling || Listen
Fol Chen || Listen

Presented by:
Radio Free Silverlake
Web In Front
LA Underground

8:30pm / Free for 21+, $5 Under / 18+

Wednesday 07.02.08: MODEY LEMON / THE MUSLIMS @ echo

Modey Lemon || Listen

Somewhere around Curious City, the Modey Lemon made a shift in direction, smoothing its rackety, blues-drunk grooves into a Krautish, hallucinogenic trip. You could pin it all on Jason Kirker, who joined after Thunder + Lightning, but the shift is equally evident in Phil Boyd’s vocals, no longer abrasive, and mixed substantially lower in the fuzz. And since Boyd has kindly created a muxtape of songs from artists that influenced him on Season of Sweets (mondoboydo.muxtape.com), we can see that it goes deeper than production values. Alongside oddities, like a track from Jesus Christ Superstar, he’s included lysergic, drum-happy drone-merchants like the Boredoms, Oneida, Apes and Kraftwerk – not a scruffy blues-rocker in the bunch. About the only thing that hasn’t changed on Sweets is Paul Quattrone’s ferocious drumming – and that’s a good thing, because the Modey Lemon just wouldn’t be the Modey Lemon without it. – Dusted Magazine

with:

The Muslims

Assured-beyond-their-years San Diego quartet the Muslims will definitely get a lot of attention for their name, but we’re much more interested in the band’s catchy, sorta sloppy and stark post-punk-infused rock ‘n’ roll. They mix a kind of Strokes-y, and therefore VU, detachment and something that bumps in the night like Hell and his Voidoids (or, better yet, Hell and the Heartbreakers doing “Love Comes In Spurts”). You can also hear a bit of the Stooges — not just because the band cites ‘em, along with the Replacements, as an inspiration — and early Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers (see “Future Rock,” “On My Time,” etc). Whatever the mix of forerunners, the Muslims find a way to make it their own — it’s kinda uncanny. – Stereogum

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Lemon to 467467

8:30pm / $8adv, $10dos / 18+

Thursday 06.26.08: RESPECT with CRS? / APX-1 / SENSE / DRONE / MC ZEZO ONE / MC XYZ @ echoplex

with:
Crs?
Apx-1
Sense
Drone
MC Zezo One
MC XYZ

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

THURSDAY 06.26.08: HELL YA! presents THE MOVIES / THE SAVAGES / PIZZA / THE VOYEURS / THE MAE SHI (DJ Sets) @ Echo

The Movies

…the Movies were, more than anything celebrating being the Movies—a ferociously talented live act bathed in a synthy haze of weary sleaze and winking, knowing lyrics, while simultaneously echoing the Bunnymen and remaining firmly, wildly original… Their set was an impassioned, alternately subdued and unhinged performance, as James whirled around the stage in a wild-eyed fever between bassist Jessica Gelt’s sinewy, rhythmic sway and the ambient wash of keyboardist Brian Cleary, demanding that audience members kiss to win copies of the new LP, furiously running in place, and riding the mic stand—once again proving that he is one of the funniest and most dynamic singers in the L.A. music scene (the man can croon, too). The Movies’ show spun between two poles: songs like the melodic, synth-stung “Get Your Macho Out” and the slow-motion whirlpool of “Creation Lake” were a down-tempo counterpoint to the warped snarl of “Autograph” and the glistening stutter-cool of “If I Had the Cash,” with the reeling keyboard intro and propulsive, howled choruses of “Missed Opportunities” unifying both ends of the band’s spectrum before falling into “When I Was in Nam”’s sleep-drawled slow groove of Caucasoid funk. – Web In Front

with:
The Savages || Listen
Pizza || Listen
The Voyeurs

Plus:
DJ Sets by The Mae Shi

8pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 06.22.08: BEAT SWAPMEET @ echoplex

The Los Angeles BEAT-SWAP-MEET is a Record Swapmeet consisting of over 20 invited vendors & collectors from the LA and surrounding areas vending music genres of a wide array. An event considered to be the 1st of it’s kind in the LA area, The Beat Swapmeet hopes to reunify LA in a way that is long overdue. Come through, listen to Beats, Swap records & Meet some new people…

BUY SELL TRADE
Jazz, Blues, Hip-Hop, Funk, Disco, Rock, Soul, Reggae, and World 12″ and 45 Records

with DJS:
Abel
AC The PD
C-Los
Counterstryke
Expo
Gabe Real
Kidragon
Listen Recovery
Pryvet Peepsho
Renato
Source
671

& your host with the most – DJ Marvski

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Beat Swapmeet on Myspace

12pm / $5 / all ages

Friday 06.20.08: IRREGULAR WINE TASTING @ echoplex

Six Characters from Vanishing Point (1971) and Six Wines from the Five Corners of Planet Stupid

Featuring:
Six wines from New Zealand, France, The United States, Italy & Japan
A screening of Vanishing Point
and much more

Hosted by:
Julian Davies (The Cheese Store)
DJ Cuz’n Roy

RSVP at:
irregularwinetasting@yahoo.com
Irregular Wine Tasting on Myspace

8pm / $20 / 21+

Sunday 06.15.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with ROSES PAWN SHOP / CLYDE WRENN / SARAH GAYLE MEECH / THE HORSETHIEVES / LONESOME HEROES @ echoplex

with:
Roses Pawn Shop || Listen
Clyde Wrenn
Sarah Gayle Meech
The Horsethieves
The Lonesome Heroes || Listen

@ Echoplex
enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

5pm / FREE / All Ages

saturday 06.14.08: SMOG SESSIONS MEETS DUB WAR II @ echo

with:
Joe Nice (Dub War, Baltimore / NYC)
Dave Q (Dub War, NYC)
Juakali (Dub War, NYC)
Knife Dreams (Smog, LA)
DJ Unit (Smog, LA)
Kemst Smog Pure Filth, LA)

Sound Reinnforcement by: Pure Filth

Art Installations by: Spectr

FMI: www.smogla.com

9pm / adv- $7, dos- $10 before 11pm, $15 after / 21+

Tuesday 06.10.08: ASCAP presents – WADSWORTH / ROGER MOON / JASON DIAZ / THE HANKS

Wadsworth

with:
Roger Moon
Jason Diaz || Listen
The Hanks || Listen

9pm / $7 / 18+

Thursday 06.19.08: SEA WOLF / THE JEALOUS GIRLFRIENDS / PATRICK PARK @ Echoplex

Sea Wolf || Listen

Sea Wolf is the project of Alex Church and stunned many with his debut EP Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low, whose lead song You’re A Wolf seemed made for the alterna-soaps in the US with its catchy melody and edgy lyrics. Combining the best of indie rock (maybe even Joy Division), singer-songwriter depth, Caribou-like electronica and even a bit of Balkan folf feel, the poetry of the lyrics is matched by quietly addictive music that would grace Radiohead or Elliott Smith.

It’s a measure of how high a hurdle has been set that the standout songs before – You’re A Wolf and Middle Distance Runner – now are only just part of what is a great album. This is narrative songwriting at its best – every song has its vignette, neatly told, beautifully presented. When a new act is able to generate songs as smoulderingly great as Black Dirt and You’re A Wolf, it is clear that there is a genuine talent here. – Contactmusic.com

with:
The Jealous Girlfriends
Patrick Park || Listen

@ Echoplex
enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Jealous to 467467

7:30pm / $15 / all ages

Thursday 07.24.08: LUCERO / JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD / GLOSSARY @ ECHO

Lucero || Listen

If the Pogues embody the Jameson-addled anthems of Ireland, Lucero turns the whiskey into bourbon aged in Tennessee oak and chased by a Bud. Their sound is a roll-up-the-sleeves-and-take-a-deep-sniff kind of pure angst. It’s like rain on the windshield as you drive through a cold November morning after a particularly regrettable evening. Raspy-voiced lead man Ben Nichols sings about themes associated with good loving and good drinking—thieves, love, getting drunk, and losing control—in a world where getting into trouble with a lady makes things turn thirsty fast. – Popmatters

with:
Glossary || Listen
Jessica Lea Mayfield || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Diehard to 467467

8:00pm / $15 / all ages

Friday 06.11.08: MARIA TAYLOR / JOHNATHAN RICE / NIK FREITAS @ echoplex

Maria Taylor || Listen

In ten songs (the eleventh is more a late-coming interlude than a song — it unspools a child’s sing-songy tribute to “Lynn Flower”), Taylor lays out tales of sadness, self-doubt and elusive love that seem hand-dunked in humanity — see “My Own Fault” and “Smile and Wave” for the best examples. Throughout, a cutback on shimmery electronic effects results in a lived-in sound; there’s a shabby chic-ness to these songs, and also a believability. Taylor’s voice is part Elizabeth Mitchell and part Sarah McLachlan, minus the syrup. Like the name “Lynn Teeter Flower,” it issues from somewhere plain and true and captivates fully. – Allmusic

with:
Johnathan Rice || Listen
Nik Freitas || Listen

Maria Taylor’s van was broken into in San Francisco the other night and almost everything was stolen.
Guitars, basses, equipment, suitcases full of clothes and merchandise are all gone.
Tonight’s show at the Echoplex is the last night of her six-week tour of the U.S. with Johnathan Rice and Nik Freitas.
Johnathan and Nik have decided that tonight’s show should be a benefit to help Maria and her band recoup some of the many thousands of dollars that they lost in this tragedy.
Please, come out and show your support for Maria in her new adopted hometown of LA.
All donations will be given to Maria.
It’s been a rough summer for bands out there with gas prices being what they are, and these kids could really use your help.

Not to mention the show is gonna be fuckin’ sweet.

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Flower to 467467

7:30pm / $13 / all ages

SATURDAY 06.28.08: RALPH’S WORLD @ echoplex

Ralph’s World

A tap-dancing elephant, a cowgirl pig, a rock ‘n’ roll finger band and a new girl in math class named Polly Hedron (“a non-Euclidean lass”) are fanciful performers in “The Rhyming Circus,” the latest album from Ralph Covert and his Ralph’s World band, a family music star attraction.

It’s the first all-new Ralph’s World album on the Disney Sound label, and the band is celebrating with a concert for kids at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Echoplex in L.A.

The album’s humorous through line, Covert says, was inspired by the title track — at one point it rhymes “fish,” “squish” and “Lillian Gish.”

“I sat down and wrote that song and giggled the whole way through.”

The bespectacled rocker who gained an adult following during his years as frontman for Chicago indie-rock band the Bad Examples, shifted gears with his first children’s CD in 2001.

Adults are still part of Covert’s audience, not least because Ralph’s World songs are traditionally infused with inside musical jokes and tributes to the band’s heroes.

Johnny Cash meets preschool, for instance, in “Folsom Daycare Blues.” “Finger Is the Singer” includes a hint of Ziggy Stardust and a dash of the Beach Boys. Covert’s “Polka Dot Shirt” pays homage to Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” and to 1970s Irish hard-rock band Thin Lizzy. – LA Times

10:30am / $15 or $52 Family Four Pack Available / All Ages

Thursday 08.21.08: BOB LOG III / SCOTT H BIRAM / LEFT LANE CRUISER @ echo

Bob Log III

“When I turned 11 I got my first AC/DC record and that’s when I stopped putting the guitar down, let’s put it that way. I’m 33 now, my guitar playing’s 22. That means last year it became old enough to drink in America,” laughs the patently indescribable one-man-band Bob Log III. The Tucson-based Log has just lobbed Log Bomb, his latest bundle of bluesy, boozey and breast-obsessed mayhem, into an unsuspecting world. His is a baffling but playful mix of talent and novelty, truth and fiction. Accompanied only by his guitar (played with one human hand and one fabled “monkey paw,” allegedly transplanted onto his arm after a boating accident), he offers an almost ridiculous but somehow compelling musical ride, fuelled as much by his love of the guitar as his “appreciation” of the fairer sex. To truly understand the phenomenon that is Log, one must attend one of his live shows, slightly surreal, must be seen-to-be-believed experiences where Log plays the guitar like the salvation of his soul depends on it, his face hidden under a requisite helmet. Log claims the helmet serves the dual purposes of housing a mic for his vocals (“If I fall over I can still play guitar and sing,” he explains) and obscuring his face form the girl he’s hiding from (It’s like a security barricade”). – Uptown

with:
Scott H Biram || Listen
Left Lane Cruiser

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Oneman to 467467

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Thursday 06.05.08: AUSTIN JAMES BAND / MINIATURE TIGERS / LITTLE FRANKIE @ echo

Austin James Band || Listen

This eclectic group of rapscallions reminds me very much of Man Man with hints of The Beach Boys and Queen. Their debut album, Goes To Austin James Land, is deliciously absurd. Five part harmonies are masterfully mixed with key arrangements straight out of a community melodrama. This collection of songs has the range of a Broadway review. Each track portrays its own unique emotion and tells a story. What I love most about this band is the fact that they have taken your traditional indie rock and made it a production. This satirical view on music is incredibly endearing and send out more than a fair share of feel good vibes. – Rockinsider

with:
Miniature Tigers || Listen
Little Frankie

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 07.30.08: JAY REATARD / CHEAP TIME @ echo (late show)

Jay Reatard
Solo debuts aren’t supposed to be this good. Jay Reatard has been kicking around Memphis since a teen, starting in the 1990s with the dirty-word punk of The Reatards, and lately in the thrashy synth-centered Lost Sounds. The brilliant Blood Visions falls somewhere in between – rambunctious and roaring, jerking nervously all the way. Tons of highlights here – tons of them – hitting on just about every style that’s had the word “punk” thrown at it as an epithet. It adds up sounding closest to the not-quite-new-wave rock that bounced between ambitious indies and majors around 1980; it resembles the twisted naiveté of the era, before bands realized that building a hook around “I will kill you” was going to keep them off the airwaves.
- Dusted Magazine

with:
Cheap Time || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Oye to 467467

9:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Wednesday 07.30.08: WHITE LIES @ echo (early show)

White Lies

Until earlier this month, these three 19/20-year-olds were the UK’s hottest unsigned band. Now, following an A&R scrum at their debut gig in February, the west Londoners have signed to Universal’s Fiction imprint. White Lies’ gloom-pop influences are obvious – the Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division – but it takes some talent to channel them into music as striking, accomplished and downright catchy as this. The leap in quality from the trio’s previous band is astonishing. – Guardian

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Lies to 467467

7:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Wednesday 06.04.08: DUB CLUB @ Echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Friday 06.27.08: DUB CLUB – A NIGHT OF REGGAE LEGENDS WITH U-ROY / CORNELL CAMPBELL / PAT KELLY / STRANGER COLE backed by the Expanders @ ECHOPLEX

U-Roy

Known as the Originator, U-Roy wasn’t the first DJ, nor even the first to cut a record, but he was the first to shake the nation and he originated a style so distinctly unique that he single-handedly changed his homeland’s music scene forever. Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, in 1942, he received his famous moniker from a young family member unable to correctly pronounce Ewart and the nickname stuck.

with:
Cornell Campbell
Pat Kelly
Stranger Cole
backed by the Expanders

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

9pm / $20 / 18+

Wednesday 06.11.08: DUB CLUB FEATURING WAILING SOULS @ Echoplex

Wailing Souls

plus Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $15 / 21+

Tuesday 07.01.08: GRAVY TRAIN!!! / BRidEZ / FRISCO DYKES @ ECHO (Early Show)

Gravy Train!!!! || Listen

Gravy Train!!!! is a John Waters wet dream come to life, with openly gay boys and super-snarky girls singing hilarious lyrics about ghost boobs, 40-ouncers, and cottonmouth blow jobs, all the while playing a giddy form of bubblegum garage-pop that screams Hairspray (if not “holy crap!”). So it’s kind of a shock to hear the Oakland quartet’s third full-length, All the Sweet Stuff, because the disc sounds almost mature.

Ewww.

No need to worry, though. There’s still plenty of the salacious lyrics and exuberant melodies that’ve made Gravy Train!!!! so fun. But for the first time, the band members sound like, well, musicians. By adding glam, disco, and even ’60s French pop to their euphoric garage-rock, Chunx, Funx, Hunx, and Junx have created one of the most thoroughly entertaining records in ages, joining the upper echelon of local bands in the process. – SF Weekly

with:
BRidEZ
Frisco Dykes

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Gravy to 467467

EARLY SHOW: 7pm / $12 / all ages

Wednesday 06.25.08: CRYPTACIZE / BECKY STARK / PALMS @ Echo

Cryptacize

The sweet, rich vocals of Nedelle Torisi (who’s released a few solo albums as Nedelle) and the band’s theatrical scale may earn them some comparisons to Lavender Diamond, but the Dig That Treasure is closer to that of Young People’s War Prayers—that combination of suppression and ecstasy, the tension that emerges between the familiar and the buried. “Cosmic Sing-A-Long”, the midpoint of Dig That Treasure, opens with Torisi and guitarist Chris Cohen (of Deerhoof and Curtains) harmonizing. As each takes the foreground, drummer Michael Carreira starts playing something that’s less a beat than a vibration. “Every note is an unfinished song,” they sing, their voices melding perfectly. The instrumentation is sparse but the ornamentation is considerable; there’s a sense of tackling ages-old questions with the most minimal setup possible, of rushing at the cosmic with a handful of notes and a singular drumbeat by your side. And yet Cryptacize gets a solid amount from that; they’re idealistic enough to make that rush, but jaded enough to know that it doesn’t come without cost. – Paper Thin Walls

with:
Becky Stark (from Lavender Diamond)
Palms

8pm / $8 / all ages

Sunday 07.13.08: MATMOS featuring WOBBLY & DUB LAB DJs @ ECHOPLEX

MATMOS

Legions of Kraftwerk wannabes miss the band’s secret weapon: From their man-machine fashion to their preference for dinky beats, the self-described showroom dummies could always tease out a good joke. And although they’re purely instrumentalists, Matmos can too, with a charm that sets the laptop duo apart from lesser lights for whom chilly beats and icy synths are ends in themselves. “Rainbow Flag” is a Jetsons-esque symphony for telephone touch pad and synthesized trombone, “Exciter Lamp” sounds like a computerized toy xylophone, and the title track juxtaposes Space Invaders bleeps against progrock noodling—a gag Matmos stretches across 24 minutes and change. Conchords, time to step up your game. – Spin.com

with:
Wobbly
Dub Lab DJs

9 pm / $17 / ALL AGES

Saturday 06.21.08: THESE NEW PURITANS / MEHO PLAZA / YOUNG PUNX (DJ set) @ Echoplex

These New Puritans

Firstly, I bow down to them, their way with rhythm and words, and their superiority to almost every other band ever. They carry a rare approach that it’s not the music itself but EVERYTHING that matters… all or nothing… playing music is no different from Renaissance science or 18th Century architecture… you can choose to draw influence on the whole of history or you choose none. With this attitude it is impossible to make bad music; the worst result could only be incoherence… with too many ideas, too much to experiment with that proper articulation becomes impossible; and even that’s a result superior to any of today’s generically bound fashionistas. TNP are exceptional purely because they cannot and will never belong to any scene, even though their release on the Digital Penetration lumped them in with the ‘new rave’ crowd. They recognize that drawing from the same narrow influences as your contemporaries is tantamount to incest; the gene pool narrows… weakness is exaggerated… the genetic flaws become clear to all… extinction is inevitable… musical Darwinism in perfect order. TNP are one band with ideas above all this. One listen to ‘En Papier’ or ‘C 16’ from their debut EP reveals as much. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Meho Plaza || Listen
Young Punx (DJ Set)

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Mental to 467467

9pm / $13 / 18+

Friday 06.27.08: GRAND ARCHIVES / SERA CAHOONE @ ECHO

Grand Archives

An urgent but atmospheric dose of indie pop, Grand Archives’ self-titled debut is a throwback from the future. Mat Brooke’s airy, measured folk vocals recall everything from The Band and The Beach Boys to After the Gold Rush-era Neil Young, but he’s less a copycat than a crate digger, mashing chilled rock genes with the genre modifications of postmodern music. The slow burn of “Swan Matches” lightly lulls you into the time machine, while the poignant, Mercury Rev-like “George Kaminski” and “Torn Blue Foam Couch” locks the door. But the unplugged stomp of “Breezy No Breezy” skews strange enough to make Grand Archives’ debut an original hybrid for the 21st century. – XLR8R

with:
Sera Cahoone || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Happy to 467467

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Thursday 06.12.08: Not Exactly the Pixies Tribute Benefit Show for the Downtown Women’s Center @ Echo

Not Exactly the Pixies Tribute Benefit Show for the Downtown Women’s Center featuring members of Fishbone, Tribe 8, Bedroom Walls, EZ Tiger, Romeo Crestwood, The Larks, American Music Club, and more!

Also Featuring DJ Baby D

9 PM / $10 / 18+
All Proceeds go towards the Downtown Women’s Center

Friday 06.06.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with THE PACIFIC @ Echo

The Pacific

4-piece, rock n rollin’, city-livin’, 5-9 workin’, trend-killin’ original. no frantic, fancy-pant, flash-era throwbacks in this camp. the pacific bring you gritty, vocals of passion and crushing guitars of conviction in it’s purest, most unpolluted-by-industry form. i would love to see these lads carry the torch into the new musical evolution as we enter into another phase of what t.wilson quoted as the 13 year revolution of a change in pop-culture. sit back or aggressively fly out of your seat hurling, unexpectedly into some innocent bystander and enjoy the classically nurtured, new sound of THE PACIFIC. – Xavier Zero

With resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Thursday 06.12.08: RESPECT featuring Teebee, Noface, Machette, MC XYZ @ Echoplex

Featuring
Teebee

with:
DJ Noface
Machete
MC XYZ

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 06.05.08: RESPECT featuring Empress w/ MC Kay, Noface, Machete, MC XYZ @ Echoplex

Empress

with:
MC Kay
DJ Noface
Machete
MC XYZ

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

10:00pm/ $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Friday 06.06.08: FIRST FRIDAYS with THE MOUNTAIN GOATS / THE ANNUALS @ Museum of Natural History

The Mountain Goats

For the last few decades, critics and fans alike have been searching for the heir to the almost mythical role of musical bard that Bob Dylan single-handedly created. Over the years, many have been proffered for that role, from Billy Bragg to Ryan Adams to Conor Oberst; expectations have risen and waned as a host of potentates have briefly sat on the throne before running from its responsibilities. For the last eleven years, John Darnielle, working under the moniker of the Mountain Goats, has steadily produced a catalog of work nearly unmatched in its lyrical honesty and narrative strength. Perhaps it’s time to for him to try the seat out? Caution: he may not vacate any time soon.

Darnielle has recorded over 400 songs since the release of his first cassette-only set of songs in 1991. Of those songs only a handful have dealt directly with Darnielle’s life, as he instead crafted careful fictions and song cycles that had more in common with literary types like Raymond Carver or F. Scott Fitzgerald. The baggage that comes with the tag of “confessional” singer/songwriter seems to be one that Darnielle has actively avoided, if not scorned. – Popmatters

First Fridays – Dinner, Discussion, Music & More

with:
The Mountain Goats || Listen
The Annuals || Listen

@ Natural History Museum
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007

FMI: http://www.nhm.org/firstfridays/

5:30pm – Tour
6:30pm – Discussion
8:00pm – Music

5pm / Adult $9, students (w. ID) $6.50, Members FREE / All Ages

Tuesday 06.24.08: HECUBA / HAZM / BRENDAN FOWLER / LACO$TE @ echo

Hecuba || Listen

Hecuba’s dubbed-out drone-moan is the L.A. version of New York bands like Excepter or Gang Gang Dance: sexier, cleaner, not as gnarled, more open spaces, more vocals, hippie-friendly, less concerned about their record collection, would rather dance to hip-hop than talk about it, not afraid of a little glitter, better filling your lungs than your nostrils, has photo shoots, trims beards. They’re using all the same glitches and squonks and hisses and growls (and most importantly the hoooosss of what is presumably an electronic cuica), and use them to motor Isabelle Albuquerque’s slow-churned pop spiritual. She sometimes sings in tune and sometimes deliciously out of tune, which means it’s polished, but just-not-polished enough to count as neo-no-wave death-disco or whatevs. Ergo, in a sun-beaten Los Angeles parking lot where No Age is Nirvana, Hecuba front the college-radio playlist of the steaming tarmac with their version of PJ Harvey swamp-poppy To Bring You My Love or Suzanne Vega’s quasi-industrial 99.9F°. – Paper Thin Walls

8:30pm / FREE if 21+; $5 if under/ 18+

Tuesday 06.17.08: CITIZEN FISH / INTROSPECT / THE VOIDS / ARTIC CHOKE @ echo

Citizen Fish || Listen

I don’t know if “ska” is the best term to describe the music that UK band Citizen Fish throws down. While the band has the horns and bouncing beats inherent to the style, they are so much more as a whole. To me, the band sounds like a weird cross breed of The Brian Setzer Orchestra and the educated Sex Pistols. Their singer, simply listed in the liner notes as “Dick,” adds what I’d call a little Irish accent to the mix that gives the band the feel of something you might run across in a dirty London pub.

Their new CD Deadline, a “split” album with New York hardcore purveyors Leftover Crack, is a powerhouse collection of songs proving, despite the frequent whining of mainstream music fans, there are still some great politically charged bands out there, if you know where to look. Fat Wreck Chord Records obviously does. – Blogcritics

with:
IntroSpect || Listen
The Voids
Artic Choke

7pm / $10 / All Ages

Saturday 06.21.08: HANG THE DJS @ echo

spinning the best in: indie, international pop, britpop, electro, disco, post-punk, new wave, no wave, hiphop and more..

FMI:
Hang The DJs on Myspace

10pm / $7 / 18+

Sunday 06.29.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

with:
Fool’s Gold || Listen
Rainbow Arabia || Listen

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 06.22.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 06.08.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 06.01.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Friday 06.20.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

With resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

11pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 06.28.08: FLEET FOXES / THE DUCHESS & THE DUKE / FRANKIE FAIRFEILD @ echo

Fleet Foxes

The opening track on Fleet Foxes’ debut EP is the perfect introduction to this Seattle band, whose carefully fashioned songs reward more active listening than your typical indie-roots outfit. “Sun Giant” begins with their soft harmonies reverberating in what sounds like a cathedral space. With no accompaniment, their sustained a cappella notes fade slowly, adding gravity to this hymn of contentment: “What a life I lead in the summer/ What a life I lead in the spring.” The only other instrument is Skyler Skjelset’s mandolin, which enters late in the song playing a delicate theme as singer Robin Pecknold hums quietly.

The Sun Giant EP– sold on tour and digitally through Sub Pop, with a proper release forthcoming– contains familiar sounds, but Fleet Foxes make something new and special with them, following their own musical whims as closely as they follow tradition. (Maybe more closely.) These five songs– modest but never spare, atmospheric but never as an end in itself– change shape constantly, taking in elements of classic rock, church music, old-timey folk, and soundtrack flourishes. Already mistaken for Southern rock (there’s not enough boogie in Nicholas Peterson’s drums for that), Fleet Foxes will bear repeated comparisons, both praising and disparaging, to groups like My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses, but those connections are based on superficial similarities like geography or the heavy use of reverb. In fact, Fleet Foxes’ touchstones are much more diverse than that– and not necessarily so contemporary. – Pitchfork

with:
The Duchess & The Duke
Frankie Fairfield

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Jump to 467467

8pm / $10 advance – $12 door / 18+

Wednesday 06.18.08: DUB CLUB & Echo present – EXTRA GOLDEN / DAVID RODIGAN / DUB CLUB DJS & SPECIAL GUESTS @ ECHOPLEX

Extra Golden || Listen

A true collaboration between Kenyan and American musicians, Extra Golden melds rock influences into benga music traditions. Kenyan benga music and American rock first met with a friendly handshake on the group’s 2006 debut, Ok-Oyot System, and are now fully integrated in a union that represents the vanguard of both styles and transcends the very notion of authenticity.

David Rodigan

For over a quarter of a century Rodigan he has been the top dog in the ganja-scented, bass heavy-atmosphere of Britain’s reggae dance-halls. The key to his success has been an unsinkable passion for reggae music, which first took a hold of him as a schoolboy when he heard ska music. He developed an obsession with the music of Jamaica that generated an encyclopedic knowledge of the island’s every artists, every song and every rhythm track.

And Special Guests

plus Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $10adv, $15dos / 21+

Sunday 06.15.08: Echo & Part Time Punks present TIMES NEW VIKING / PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT / FABULOUS DIAMONDS @ echo

Times New Viking

Remember fall ’92? No-fi rock felt like the future, Bush Sr. seemed all but toast, and a Clinton was waiting in the wings. Times New Viking remember — Rip It Off, their third album, is a note-perfect ode to those better days. Sixteen quick-hit songs pile up in a half hour of Neanderthal synth hooks, barely audible drumming, snotty art-kid vocals, and busted-amp guitar fuzz. Like obvious antecedents Pavement, they are probably destined to sell out to beauty and grace. But for now, they’re kinda perfect. – Spin.com

with:
Psychedelic Horseshit
Fabulous Diamonds

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Saturday 06.07.08: FROG EYES / THAILAND @ echo

Frog Eyes || Listen

Drawing inspiration from Dante, Shakespeare and the paintings of Brueghel, Frog Eyes’ Carey Mercer has cast himself as a kind of raving academic, gone batty from too much time cooped up in the ivory tower. Most often, he sings of the very building blocks of civilization, from industry and commerce to little birds and houses in the woods. Yes, conspicuously couching one’s work in the classics is an ambitious and professorial stance, but Mercer has always been up to the task; he howls — and pants, whoops, shrieks, barks, et cetera — like a feverish lecturer behind a guitar instead of behind a podium. And while Mercer’s antics, on record and in concert, are impossible to ignore, Frog Eyes has always backed it up musically with a wildly imaginative, deeply dramatic sonic language all its own. But on Tears of the Valedictorian, the band’s fourth album, Frog Eyes rises to a new level, framing Mercer’s ranting in a more expansive and lavish sound. – Prefix Mag

with:
Thailand

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Monday 06.30.08: Monday Night Residency – RUMSPRINGA / 1921a / SLANG CHICKENS / THE AMAZEMENTS @ echo

Rumspringa

Onstage Rumspringa always impresses me—as energetic and exciting as singer/guitarist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega might be, their music is always the main attraction that inspires the audience to dance uncontrollably, as if a spirit had been awaken inside of them. From the show’s start, fans were continuously moving and shaking amidst the band members onstage as well as in the crowd, illustrating the group’s devoted Los Angeles following and growing potential.

To get a sense of its style, look no further than the band’s bio I wrote a few months back: “Trading in Los Angeles’ haughty glitz and glam for a style far more genuine, the freaky folk-blues duo Rumspringa has escaped the clichés attached to its hometown, soul intact. As gritty as the band is eloquent, singer/guitarist Joey Stevens weaves psychedelic themes through surrealist dreams with divinely looped guitars reminiscent of early blues and rock. Thanks to Itaru de la Vega’s ardent drumming, the band’s driving force, Rumspringa’s reverie is one that is sure to awaken the senses—inspiring live reactions anywhere from tribal dancing to a raucous food fight.” – Fuel.tv

with:
1921a
Slang Chickens
The Amazements

8:30pm / FREE IF 21+; $7 IF UNDER / 18+

Monday 06.23.08: Monday Night Residency – RUMSPRINGA / THE UNION LINE / THE HOLLOYS / DANGER BEES @ echo

Rumspringa

Onstage Rumspringa always impresses me—as energetic and exciting as singer/guitarist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega might be, their music is always the main attraction that inspires the audience to dance uncontrollably, as if a spirit had been awaken inside of them. From the show’s start, fans were continuously moving and shaking amidst the band members onstage as well as in the crowd, illustrating the group’s devoted Los Angeles following and growing potential.

To get a sense of its style, look no further than the band’s bio I wrote a few months back: “Trading in Los Angeles’ haughty glitz and glam for a style far more genuine, the freaky folk-blues duo Rumspringa has escaped the clichés attached to its hometown, soul intact. As gritty as the band is eloquent, singer/guitarist Joey Stevens weaves psychedelic themes through surrealist dreams with divinely looped guitars reminiscent of early blues and rock. Thanks to Itaru de la Vega’s ardent drumming, the band’s driving force, Rumspringa’s reverie is one that is sure to awaken the senses—inspiring live reactions anywhere from tribal dancing to a raucous food fight.” – Fuel.tv

with:
The Union Line
The Holloys
Danger Bees

8:30pm / FREE IF 21+; $7 IF UNDER / 18+

Monday 06.16.08: Monday Night Residency – RUMSPRINGA, RANDOM PATTERNS, GOLDEN ANIMALS, HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM @ echo

Rumspringa

Onstage Rumspringa always impresses me—as energetic and exciting as singer/guitarist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega might be, their music is always the main attraction that inspires the audience to dance uncontrollably, as if a spirit had been awaken inside of them. From the show’s start, fans were continuously moving and shaking amidst the band members onstage as well as in the crowd, illustrating the group’s devoted Los Angeles following and growing potential.

To get a sense of its style, look no further than the band’s bio I wrote a few months back: “Trading in Los Angeles’ haughty glitz and glam for a style far more genuine, the freaky folk-blues duo Rumspringa has escaped the clichés attached to its hometown, soul intact. As gritty as the band is eloquent, singer/guitarist Joey Stevens weaves psychedelic themes through surrealist dreams with divinely looped guitars reminiscent of early blues and rock. Thanks to Itaru de la Vega’s ardent drumming, the band’s driving force, Rumspringa’s reverie is one that is sure to awaken the senses—inspiring live reactions anywhere from tribal dancing to a raucous food fight.” – Fuel.tv

with:
Random Patterns
Golden Animals
Halloween Swim Team

8:30pm / FREE IF 21+; $7 IF UNDER / 18+

Monday 06.09.08: Monday Night Residency – RUMSPRINGA, MY PET SADDLE, WHAT LAURA THINKS, THE FRANKS @ ECHOPLEX

Rumspringa

Onstage Rumspringa always impresses me—as energetic and exciting as singer/guitarist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega might be, their music is always the main attraction that inspires the audience to dance uncontrollably, as if a spirit had been awaken inside of them. From the show’s start, fans were continuously moving and shaking amidst the band members onstage as well as in the crowd, illustrating the group’s devoted Los Angeles following and growing potential.

To get a sense of its style, look no further than the band’s bio I wrote a few months back: “Trading in Los Angeles’ haughty glitz and glam for a style far more genuine, the freaky folk-blues duo Rumspringa has escaped the clichés attached to its hometown, soul intact. As gritty as the band is eloquent, singer/guitarist Joey Stevens weaves psychedelic themes through surrealist dreams with divinely looped guitars reminiscent of early blues and rock. Thanks to Itaru de la Vega’s ardent drumming, the band’s driving force, Rumspringa’s reverie is one that is sure to awaken the senses—inspiring live reactions anywhere from tribal dancing to a raucous food fight.” – Fuel.tv

with:
My Pet Saddle
What Laura Thinks
The Franks

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

8:30pm / FREE IF 21+; $7 IF UNDER / 18+

Monday 06.02.08: Monday Night Residency – RUMSPRINGA / DAW / DARREN WEISS / CLYDE WRENN @ ECHOPLEX

Rumspringa

Onstage Rumspringa always impresses me—as energetic and exciting as singer/guitarist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega might be, their music is always the main attraction that inspires the audience to dance uncontrollably, as if a spirit had been awaken inside of them. From the show’s start, fans were continuously moving and shaking amidst the band members onstage as well as in the crowd, illustrating the group’s devoted Los Angeles following and growing potential.

To get a sense of its style, look no further than the band’s bio I wrote a few months back: “Trading in Los Angeles’ haughty glitz and glam for a style far more genuine, the freaky folk-blues duo Rumspringa has escaped the clichés attached to its hometown, soul intact. As gritty as the band is eloquent, singer/guitarist Joey Stevens weaves psychedelic themes through surrealist dreams with divinely looped guitars reminiscent of early blues and rock. Thanks to Itaru de la Vega’s ardent drumming, the band’s driving force, Rumspringa’s reverie is one that is sure to awaken the senses—inspiring live reactions anywhere from tribal dancing to a raucous food fight.” – Fuel.tv

with:
Dawes
Darren Weiss
Clyde Wrenn

8:30pm / 18+ (FREE if 21+ / $7 if under 21) / Entrance will only be at 1154 Glendale Blvd

Thursday 06.19.08: EARTH / JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER / RESTAURANT @ Echo

Earth || Listen

Earth’s “Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)” is a steady, sedate, chiming march, a primary-colored burst of guitars, organs, drums. For a man whose scuzzy, Melvins-mainlined Earth 2 remains the document for drone-and doom-minded depressives– some of whom actually named their bands after Earth songs/guitar equipment– Dylan Carlson’s return as the Ennio Morricone of metal continues to confound. The band that borrowed their name from Sabbath’s earliest, nuclear-paranoid incarnation have become optimists, purveyors of uplift. Where Earth once pounded chords flat, the newly reconfigured quartet pulls them out like taffy. “Miami Morning Coming Down” nods at Johnny Cash, spaghetti twang, gospel hymns; even Carlson’s newest title, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, turns his band’s fearsome reputation inside out, offering up metal’s ubiquitous skull as the birthplace of something sweet. – Pitchfork

with:
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter || Listen
Restaurant

8pm / $13adv, $15dos / All Ages

Friday 06.13.08: Echo & Club Underground present – THE SUBMARINES / CASTLEDOOR @ echo

The Submarines || Listen

The Submarines are Hazard and John Dragonetti. And yes, it’s true: They’re a real-life couple whose 2006 debut, Declare a New State was written in the wake of a big break-up, then recorded after the make-up. Take that, ye enemies of romance! L.A. couple’s garage pop mishmash sounds like Nina from the Cardigans singing karaoke atop your favorite ’80s and ’90s vinyl. Blake Hazard’s button-cute voice is the duo’s favorite weapon, whether layered atop xylophones and electric piano on “Swimming Pool” or Morcheeba-esque, dubbed-out trip hop on “1940.” – Spin.com

with:
Castledoor

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Sunday 06.01.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with MIKE STINSON / DAVID SERBY / RUBY FRIEDMAN @ echo

with:
Mike Stinson
David Serby || Listen
Ruby Friedman

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Friday 06.06.08: The Echo, Footlong Development & Frolab Present HAPPY FEET w/ DJs BOBBITO / RICH MEDINA / RASHIDA @ echoplex

with DJ’s:
Bobbito Garcia AKA Kool Bob Love(NY) & Rich Medina(NY)

Plus opening DJ:
DJ Rashida(LA, KissNGrind,Prince)

Since 1997, DJs Rich Medina and Bobbito Garcia have collabed behind the turntables to the great pleasure of crowds in NYC and Philly. In ‘02, the two decided to start “Leaving This Planet” which had a torrid run at Manhattan’s Table 50 until the club closed in ‘05. They’ve since renamed the party “Happy Feet” and moved it to the Lower East Side’s Element, where in ‘07 it became the most talked about event of the summer months. The pair blend genres seamlessly, so that a dancer, or listener, can experience Afro-Beat, Latin, Jazz, Dance, Breaks, progressive Hip Hop, and Soul in an unprecedented presentation. The achieved result is a entertaining night for the most die-hard rare groove fans to casual clubgoer—everyone leaves with happy feet!

FMI: lahappyfeet@gmail.com

9pm / Limited $10 adv, $14 dos until 12am, $20 after / 21+

Saturday 06.07.08: BOOTIE LA – 3 Year Anniversary Pirate Ball @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA 3-Year Anniversary Pirate Ball
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

Live on stage at 11 PM, from San Francisco, the world’s only mashup rock band:
SMASH-UP DERBY

Mashup DJs:
ADRIAN & the MYSTERIOUS D
DJ PAUL V.
DJ MAXENTROPY

BOOTIE LA celebrates its big 3-Year Anniversary by throwing a Pirate Ball! Dress like a pirate, and come on out to dance and rock out to the best pirated mashups on the planet.

This month, at 11 PM, we are proud to feature the triumphant return of San Francisco’s Smash-Up Derby, the world’s only live mashup rock band. It’s been nearly a year since the band was in Los Angeles, and in that time, they’ve been busy flying around the country for various gigs, and rocking out as the house band of Bootie SF. Last year, they were voted “Best Cover Band” in the SF Weekly, and received a “Best of the Bay” award in 2006 from the SF Bay Guardian:

“The only thing better than a mashup — that fantastic alchemy that makes two songs, played together, better than either is on its own — is a live mashup. Which is exactly why Smash-Up Derby — the world’s only act to cover and mix songs on stage with actual instruments — is the crowning jewel on the bizarre tiara that is Bootie. (Imagine the musicians playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and the vocalists singing “Billie Jean” and you’ll have some idea.) – San Francisco Bay Guardian

Resident DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D and Paul V. will be spinning all your favorite bootlegs and mashup videos, to keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. And kicking off the night will be guest DJ Maxentropy from Philadelphia.

Launched in San Francisco in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, it’s a place where all sounds, cultures, and sexualities can unite on the dance floor. Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation — with free mashup CDs given away like candy! Bootie Š because one song at a time just isn’t enough.

FREE Bootie Anniversary CDs to the first 300 people through the door!

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

9pm / $6 before 10 pm, $12 after / early drink specials / 21+

Wednesday 06.11.08: SPAIN / DANIEL AHEARN / CORREATOWN @ echo

Spain || Listen

Formed in Los Angeles in 1993, Spain released three albums (Blue Moods Of Spain, She Haunts My Dreams, I Believe) before breaking up in 2001. A retrospective cd, Spirituals: The Best Of Spain, was released in 2003. In 2007 Spain founder Josh Haden reformed the band with all-new members. A brand new album is forthcoming produced by Soulsavers’ Rich Machin.

with:
Daniel Ahern || Listen
Correatown || Listen

8:30pm / $7 / 18+

Thursday 06.12.08: THE HELIO SEQUENCE / TALKDEMONIC / WAIT.THINK.FAST @ echoplex

The Helio Sequence || Listen

Sub Pop stalwarts the Helio Sequence have always been masters of atmosphere, no stranger to the epic and echoed build-up. While the group stays grounded in pop songwriting, their music absorbs a demure and warm ambiance from soft keyboard textures, loose guitar lines and gentle but eerie, emotive vocals. Sounding polished and radiant on this title track from their upcoming fourth full-length, the Helio Sequence has perfected the art of rise and fall. – Spin.com

with:
Talkdemonic || Listen
Wait.Think.Fast.

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text SUB to 467467

8pm / $13 adv, $15 dos / All Ages

Wednesday 06.04.08: Aquarium Drunkard Presents THE WHIGS / THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE @ echo

The Whigs || Listen

You have to hand it to an Americana/garage-rock band that can condense its sophomore effort into 11 tracks, totaling just 37 minutes. Why? Well, for one, because there are just too many ego-driven double albums out lately, and two, because it’s refreshing to hear a group that realizes less can be more. With “Mission Control,” that’s just what Athens, GA, trio The Whigs [ tickets ] have proven.

The album kick-starts with hard-punk force, then drifts through some freewheeling neo-psychedelica and finally exits with an organic, stimulating anthem of horns and heavy riffs, all without getting stale. Swanky southern moodiness, steady driving raw guitars and inspiring choruses saunter and shuffle throughout the album. It’s a hodgepodge of ’90s grunge-pop vibrancy and classic rock, which amounts to lots of identifiable points of reference. – LiveDaily

with:
The Henry Clay People || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Whig to 467467

8pm / $13 / all ages