Saturday 08.01.09: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

Special show-stopping performances every half-hour from Bootie LA’s resident dance crew:
R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance)

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

Free Bootie mashup CDs for the first 75 people!

This month, it’s Mega R.A.I.D. at Bootie! Every half-hour, Bootie LA’s resident 15-person dance crew, R.A.I.D. (that stands for “Random Acts of Irreverent Dance”) will come out unannounced with a special choreographed mashup dance number. Gold suits will take over the Echoplex stage with several show-stopping performances! Resident DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D return from doing Bootie Brazil last month, and DJ Paul V. joins them on the decks for some hot summertime mashups.

Launched in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup — and is now the biggest mashup event in the world, with monthly parties in eight cities on three continents. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation — with free mashup CDs given away like candy!

Bootie’s resident DJs keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. Resident dance crew R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance) performs a mashed-up dance number nearly every month. Bootie showcases the best in mashup productions from around the globe and delivers them on the dance floor … because one song at a time just isn’t enough!

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

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Saturday 08.01.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 08.02.09: Grand Ole Echo with GRANT LANGSTON / LISA & HER KIN / CHRIS MILLER BAND @ echo

Grant Langston || Listen
Lisa & Her Kin || Listen
The Chris Miller Band || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 08.02.09: PART TIME PUNKS with NERVOUS GENDER / LOTO BALL SHOW @ echo

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

With:
Nervous Gender || Listen
Loto Ball Show || Listen

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $8 / 18+

Monday 08.03.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER / THE ZINFANDALS / VUM @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister
The Zinfandals
VUM

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 08.04.09: BOWERBIRDS / MEGAFAUN / BIG EAGLE @ echo

Bowerbirds || Listen || Watch

On Bowerbirds’ 2007 debut, Hymns For A Dark Horse, the coupled-up North Carolina duo spun folksy tunes and gypsy rags about the wonders of nature, which made sense—the record was made with singer Phil Moore and accordionist Beth Tacular living in an Airstream trailer in the woods, building themselves a cabin between band practices. Just as fittingly, Bowerbirds’ sophomore LP, Upper Air, is a more intimate affair that finds the pair well nestled in a spare-but-sound set of songs. Most noticeably, the “Go-Earth!” Pollyannaism (which was impressively tolerable the last time around) has been replaced by a flair for verbiage on par with Andrew Bird and Elvis Perkins, the two singers most conjured by Moore’s syllable-stretching and emotive coo. There’s still a line drawn in the dirt between the natural world and civilization, but that divide is explored through narrative on “House Of Diamonds,” and lines like, “You are free from the greed of your culture / you are free from the lust for the luster of the diamond houses in the city’s cluster.” And this isn’t Upper Air’s primary focus: Love is, and on songs like “Ghost Life,” stones, dunes, and oceans are metaphorical fodder used to soften the tougher parts of romantic entanglement. Bowerbirds benefit from a more-is-less dynamic musically, as well. Moore and Tacular break out organ, piano, autoharp, violin, and upright bass, among other instruments (not to mention a killer boy-girl harmony), but all in a successful effort to arrive at a simpler, more measured sound epitomized by the soulful jangler “Northern Lights” and the delicate surge of “Teeth.” Upper Air is a comely album through and through, and certainly one of this year’s high-water marks for the acoustically inclined. – The Onion AV Club

with:
Megafaun || Listen
Big Eagle

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 Day of show / 18+

Wednesday 08.05.09: LUKE TOP / MY PET SADDLE @ pershing square

Luke Top || Listen || Watch

Do you love your friends “more than lightning?” Are they “much more than a passing storm?” If so, perhaps they are also Friends with Luke Top and you can all connect for brunch, or form another band. It seems that everything Luke Top does seats a party of at least ten, be it with Fool’s Gold or this project, which also involves Fool’s Lewis Pesacov, Giant Drag’s Micah Calabrese, Cass McCombs, and Matt Popieluch and Ariel Rechtshaid of Foreign Born, to name a few—almost like a disease, each of these guys spreads his germs around town in different bands and projects. But rather than bring us any closer to swine flu, Luke Top’s music wants to make happy. It’s the sound of driving nowhere on a sunny afternoon. Opener “Lord, Save Me From This Valley” starts the car, then “Infant Rose” pulls the top down, shaking off a few leaves and dried berries before we hit the coastal highway. We arrive at title track, “Friends,” in third gear, jangling tambourine, handclaps, and vocal harmonies. While instruments pile up over the course of the album, adding horns and strings and even some nature sounds to the blend, every note fits in a streamline design: the road is clear, the car is clean, and the passengers smile behind their sunglasses. – LA Record

with:
My Pet Saddle

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Wednesday 08.05.09: DAWES / SLANG CHICKENS / BIG ECHO @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Slang Chickens || Listen
Big Echo

8:30pm / FREE for 21+; $7 if under 21 / All ages

Wednesday 08.05.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 08.06.09: JOHN DOE WITH THE SADIES / JILL SOBULE @ echoplex

John Doe & The Sadies || Listen || Watch

Punk rock has produced few singers with the strength and chops of X’s John Doe, and the force and presence of his vocals (and songwriting) on albums like Wild Gift and Under the Big Black Sun rank with the most satisfying rock & roll of the 1980s. But on Doe’s recordings with X’s acoustic incarnation, the Knitters, and on his debut solo album, Meet John Doe, he showed he was every bit as gifted with country-influenced material, and for years a handful of X fans has been patiently waiting and wishing for Doe to cut a straight-ahead country album. It took a while, but Doe has finally done it, and he’s done it right; Country Club is a collaboration with the great Canadian roots rock combo the Sadies in which they interpret a handful of classic country sides in a style that fuses the moody late-night atmosphere of Nashville’s countrypolitan era with the straightforward guitar-based sound of vintage Bakersfield acts like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. As musicians, the Sadies are as tight and as capable as anyone walking into a recording studio these days, and their touch on these songs is all but flawless, fusing Prairie soul with a high lonesome sweetness and a subtle but expressive sense of aural adventure that turn their interpretations of “Night Life” and “Till I Get It Right” into something truly special. And Doe’s vocals are a wonder; he never forces false melodrama or histrionics into these performances, but uses his rich, roomy voice to explore the spaces within these tunes with patience and a heart as big as all outdoors. Most country fans have heard “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Detroit City,” and “I Still Miss Someone” a few hundred times (at least) from dozens of artists, but Doe makes the heartache in their lyrics real and genuine, and few performers of the Nash Vegas era can match the innate understanding of classic country weepers that Doe reveals on this set. Doe and the Sadies contribute one new song each to these sessions (the band also tosses in two brief instrumentals), and “It Just Dawned on Me” and “Before I Wake” are good enough that you wouldn’t guess they weren’t copyrighted in the 1960s if you didn’t read the credits. Plenty of rock singers have tried to honor the sound and traditions of period honky tonk music over the years, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one who sounds as ineffably right singing this stuff as John Doe, and Country Club is a casual, no-frills masterpiece. – All Music

with:
Jill Sobule || Listen

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

8pm / $12 advance, $13 day of show / 18+

Thursday 08.06.09: QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT / STATIC STATIC / ALL LEATHER @ echo

Quintron & Miss Pussycat || Listen

Released on Memphis-based Goner Records, Too Thirsty 4 Love is the latest from New Orleans mad scientist, underground icon, and organ aficionado Quintron. One look at the cover gives the would-be listener some indication of what they’re in for: Quintron, dressed like a thrift-store game show host, relaxing in bed with a remarkable lady, both wearing plastic fangs, entwined in an enormous snake and enjoying a novelty ice cream drink.

In addition to posing for such swell album photos, Quintron has spent the last number years performing with puppet shows put on by his wife and partner-in-crime Miss Pussycat (whose inimitable lyrical prowess is present on most of the tracks,) and invented a drum machine that runs on spit along with countless other weird musical innovations.

Appropriately, his album contains plenty of sleazy, drum-machine fueled soul numbers including stand-outs “Waterfall” and “Final Conflict.” On tracks like “Reborn,” atmospheric, Esquivel-like lounge bizarreness abounds. – Alarm Press

with:
Static Static
All Leather || Listen (Members of The Locust, Some Girls)

8:30pm / $12adv; $14dos / 18+

Friday 08.07.09: IRREGULAR WINE TASTING- 4 SUICIDES FROM SUICIDE CLUB @ echoplex

Get thee to the Echoplex, aka the Julius Shulman Memorial Hall, this night for the forty-third edition of Irregular Wine Tasting, an adult-beverage haiku about which Lt. Cheryl MacWillie of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office never said: “I’ve got nothing against her personally, but Flo, the fictional cashier in the regressive insurance TV commercials, was an a–hole as far as the A-bomb was concerned.” This evening we pair five wines from Planet Vagina with four suicides from Suicide Club, then segue seamlessly into SuicideGirls presents Summer Suicide, featuring “beautiful naked punk rock, goth & emo girls with tattoos & piercings.”

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

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

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

Purchase Tickets at:
Stories
1716 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7:30pm / $20 / 21+

Friday 08.07.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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+

Friday 08.07.09: SuicideGirls presents SUMMER SUICIDE @ echoplex

SuicideGirls Presents…
Summer Suicide @ The Echoplex

Wear a bikini top and get in free all night!

18+ to dance/21+ to drink
2 Full Bars
ID Required

Electro, remixes, mash-ups, indie, pop, rock, 80s, 90s, and more…

With DJs…
Los (Ultraluxx)
Xian (Malediction Society, Ruin, Wumpskate)
Eddy Nightmare

Sexy SuicideGirl Go-Go Dancers
Free Glowsticks for the first 50 people
Ticket Give-Aways from Goldenvoice
SuicideGirls Merchandise Give-Aways

Photo Booth by Lisa Talbot Photography
Roaming Photo

@ The Echoplex
Through the alley at…
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(Valet on Glendale Blvd)

Sign up for our email list for special discounts at clubsuicide.net

10pm / $10 / 18+

Saturday 08.08.09: SATURDAYS OFF THE 405 with THE DODOS / DJ TURQUOISE WISDOM @ Getty Center Courtyard

The Dodos || Listen
Visiter, The Dodos’ 2008 sophomore album, and first for Frenchkiss Records, was seen by many as a resounding success. Combining simple pop ditties that were centered on a two prong axis of drum and guitar, the results were beautiful, chaotic, melodic, and ingenuity personified. Songs like “Ashley” were haunting in their aching beauty while a song like “Undeclared” had the unassuming charm of a young man groping with his convictions and feelings in the simplest of terms.

This is one of the reasons to be excited about news of The Dodos’ forthcoming studio album. Another is the album’s title, Time to Die, which in itself kicks ass. Other reasons? Well, the nine-track effort, which is due out on September 15th, was produced by indie rock producer Phil Ek, the same Phil Ek who has previously worked with the likes Built to Spill, Fleet Foxes, and The Shins. The album will also mark the band’s first with new member Keaton Snyder (yes, the band is now a trio!), a classically trained music school dropout who will be bringing his killer vibraphone skills to The Dodos, which according to frontman frontman Meric Long (via Pitchfork), allows Time to Die to “sound more like a band.”

Time to Die? Yes, please. – Consequence of Sound

With:
DJ Turquoise Wisdom

Getty Center Courtyard
1200 Getty Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049

6pm / FREE / all ages

Saturday 08.08.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 08.09.09: Grand Ole Echo with DAVE INSLEY / WEST OF TEXAS @ echo

Dave Insley || Listen

Greg DaPonte’s Birthday Show!

With:
West of Texas || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 08.09.09: PART TIME PUNKS – FACTORY RECORDS NIGHT @ echo

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

FACTORY RECORDS NIGHT
A tribute to Tony Wilson

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Monday 08.10.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / TIJUANA PANTHERS / SOME DAYS @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
Tijuana Panthers
Some Days

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+

Monday 08.10.09: RESTAVRANT / SPIRIT VINE / HOCUS POCUS / DIRT DRESS @ echoplex

Restavrant || Listen || Watch

How ’bout filling your pipe with electro-tinged ho-made hillbilly music? The bass kicking comes in clear, but a clubby paradiddle irks alongside the slide guitar, as if a glowstick got dropped in a barrel o’ moonshine. A beer bottle precariously placed between a jostling knee cap and a tin gasoline can gets smacked by a drumstick thick as a chair leg and goes flying back at the wall. Smash. Hot bodies. Was that out loud? The contours of hot bodies. Ah, this thought has Tourette’s. You must get some very calloused hands from all that working out—I mean streamline pick-less strumming on a gee-tar. Equally intent on experimental beer spilling as percussionist J State, Troy Olaf Murrah slides a botttle up and down his fret board, twanging country roads home to gold-toothed crawdads. In a gruff froggy voice he announces they’re moving to Vancouver, going on hiatus, this will be the last show, which happens to be the (Sparks-sponsored—yay!) release party for Returns to the Tomb of Guiliano Medidici. It’s a joke. Maybe they’ll go to Vancouver, riding a wagon packed full of jangling license plates tied together with bra straps. – LA Record

With:
Spirit Vine || Listen
Hocus Pocus (Members of Dios)
Dirt Dress

8:30 / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 08.11.09: THE VOYEURS (Video Release) / KISSING COUSINS / BOX VIOLET / POLYGRAPH @ echo

The Voyeurs || Listen || Watch

Thoroughly Kinked and corner-turning rock-pop, The Voyeurs’ stately debut, Well Known Drag, rages and swoons with a kind of laser-honed songwriting precision not usually heard outside of a lavish, Rhino-released box containing the best of ‘60s powerpop. From the whiplashed and seasick dynamics of the gnashing, near-perfect “Thing People Say” to the ominous and piano-crashed menace of “The Trouble with Jerry” to the lazy, front porch acoustic haze of “New Beginnings,” Drag does anything but as it explores ringing vocal pop and percussive, sneering rock with a dedicated and knowing edge. By the time the beerhaul jaunt of “You’re a Wreck” closes the record with a playful, Merseybeat swing, the Voyeurs have not only issued a clever and catchy catalog of powerpop’s history, but they offer it a promising future as well. – Web in Front

with:
Kissing Cousins
Box Violet
Polygraph

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 08.12.09: OLIN & THE MOON / HORSE THIEVES @ pershing square

Olin & The Moon || Listen

With:
Horse Thieves

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Wednesday 08.12.09: DAWES / PAPA / PAIGE STARK @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Papa
Paige Stark

8:30pm / FREE for 21+; $7 if under 21 / All ages

Wednesday 08.12.09: DUB CLUB presents PABLO MOSES with THE REVOLUTIONARY DREAM BAND @ echoplex

Pablo Moses || Watch

Pablo Moses, born in Jamaica as Pableto Henry, released his first album in 1975, Revolutionary Dream, issued in the United States by UA Records as, I love I Bring “ A university trained poet,” according to the Village Voices Carol Cooper, Moses articulated his Rastafarian ideology with unprecedented political frankness in a high pitched, horn-like voice over rhythms and harmonies laid down by keyboardist/ producer Geoffrey Chung. Signing with Mango Records, Moses collaborated with Chung five years later to produce his follow up, 1980′s A Song, a subtle answer to the fire of his debut release. In 1981, Pablo Moses issued his third album, entitled Pave The Way.

Tunes such as “I Man a Grasshopper” , “Dubbing is a Must” , and many others became reggae classics.
By then, Moses had amassed a strong following in Jamaica, Europe, North America and Japan. Moses’ Rastafarian themes, the crusade against injustice, inequality, greed, racism, war, and the pillage of nature were and are universal in their scope.

In 1983, Moses signed with Alligator Records to release In The Future. amplifying his political and social message with rock stylistics and the use of electronic instrumentation like the synthesizer and vocader. Moses expanded and deepened his sound and rhetoric with 1985′s Tension and 1987′s Live to Love. We Refuse, released in 1990, was a lyrical response to the political climate of the eighty’s seen as “good times”: by those who’ve closed their eyes to the underlying realities of poverty and racism, now unraveling in the ’90s. “In this album” says Moses,” I say what I ‘ve said all along, only in a modified mood, more straightforward. I refuse the Babylonian ways of society, the bully-istic attitudes. Jah made everyone with different cultures and colors just as he made different types of birds and plants for beautification.”

To this date, Pablo Moses remains one of the most original, out- spoken roots reggae artists to be found. After more than 30 years, he is still throwing out lyrics that are sociologically, political and culturally connected. Pablo Moses has toured extensively in Canada, U.S.A. South America, Central America, Europe, Scandinavia and the Caribbean. Pablo is currently almost finished with a brand new, highly anticipated upcoming album. Pablo Moses is a teacher, father and a revolutionary who has never, and will never, strayed from his path as a spokesman for the poor, oppressed and underprivileged people in the world.

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

9pm / $10 advance, $10 at the door before 10pm, $15 after / 21+

Thursday 08.13.09: MySpace Records presents Online [Offline] at The Echo with BURNING BRIDES/ JONNEINE ZAPATA / MARY MAGDALAN / SABROSA PURR @ echo

Burning Brides || Listen || Watch

It was pleasing to see a full house congregate at the El Mocambo for Philly rock trio Burning Brides. Critically-acclaimed but commercially underrated, they displayed no signs of rust from a layoff from playing live (Bassist Melanie Campbell and singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats recently had a baby). The band’s take on hard guitar rock is more varied than most, with their songs mixing melody and muscle to winning effect. The harmonies suggested X on steroids. Older favourites like “Glass Slipper” and “Arctic Snow” (their first ever single) still sound great, while such new songs as “Lovesick” also showed promise. As refreshing as their vibrant sound is an onstage demeanour reflecting the fact that they clearly love playing together in front of an appreciative crowd. – Exclaim!

With:
Jonneine Zapata || Listen
Mary Magdalan
Sabrosa Purr || Listen

8pm / FREE / all ages

Friday 08.14.09: Rock N Roll Summer Circus with THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / FOL CHEN / FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / MARVELOUS TOY & MUCH MORE @ echoplex

The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch
Fol Chen || Listen
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
Marvelous Toy || Listen

“Side Show Acoustic Performers”:
Damselles & The TC4
Roadside Graves || Listen
Les Blanks || Listen
Downtown Union
Balloon Bass
Banjo-Vi
Oof Aarted

MC’d by ELI MONOLATOR

FREE Cotton Candy and Sno-Cones

Skeeball and Prizes!!

Balloon hats–Mimes–and MORE

***Wear a moustache, come in clown or mime face, or come wearing some other type of circus attire and you get a free little mix cd with a song from each band performing***

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

8pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 08.14.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND vs GO COMMANDO with LITTLE RED RADIO / ON BLAST / DARWIN DEEZ @ echo

Little Red Radio
On Blast
Darwin Deez

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+

Saturday 08.15.09: Vtech & Mochilla present QUANTIC AND HIS COMBO BARBARO / J.ROCC / NU-MARK / SAKE ONE / GANAS @ echoplex

Quantic & His Combo Barbaro || Listen || Watch
Featuring Alfredito Linares, Freddy Colorado, Malcolm Catto, Nidia Gongora on vocals and very special guests!

‘Tradition In Transition’ – recorded in Cali, Colombia – is the upcoming album from Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, which sees Will ‘Quantic’ Holland mining the lesser-tapped musical sources from the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa and fusing those rediscovered psychedelic, experimental and rhythmically rich sounds of the past with deep funk and soul elements and folkloric vocal styles. This exceptional longplayer gives life to an explosive sonic snapshot of an ever-evolving musical landscape, played out by a carefully assembled international cast of musical creators.

with DJ sets from:
J.Rocc
Nu-Mark
Sake One (SF)
Ganas

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

9pm / $15.00 advance, $20.00 day of show / 21+

Saturday 08.15.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 08.16.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with DEAD ROCK WEST / RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA / THE LONESOME HEROES @ echo

Dead Rock West || Listen

With:
Ruby Friedman
The Lonesome Heroes || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 08.16.09: PART TIME PUNKS with NITE JEWEL / SILK FLOWERS @ echo

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

With:
Nite Jewel
Silk Flowers

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Monday 08.17.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / XU XU FANG / THELONIOUS MONSTER @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
Xu Xu Fang || Listen
Thelonious Monster

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+

Tuesday 08.18.09: CORREATOWN / MARVELOUS TOY / THE BREAK UPS / KILLSONIC @ echo

Correatown || Listen

There’s an inescapably seductive quality to Angela Correa’s songs; despite the fact that every song she writes is downtempo and melancholy, she has produced forty-five minutes of mellowness rather than full sedation. Correatown is ten beautiful, earthy tunes, stripped bare musically and emotionally, that trudge along at the pace of a wounded deer. Only Correa’s endlessly soothing voice and the strength of her bittersweet songs allows her to avoid the pitfalls of a “downer” album.

Correa hails from San Diego, a town that boasts an impressive collection of singer-songwriters: Liz Janes, J Turtle, Castanets (Ray Raposa) and that Jason Mraz fellow all compete with her for coffee shop stage time. Maybe it’s the fact that San Diego’s weather is exactly the same every day, but all of these artists, Correa included, attack their music as if they’re on the tail end of a vicodin bender. When you hear the droning organ on “Hardship to Be You”, you’ll realize that time simply isn’t an issue for Correa. Similarly, “Mercurial Heart”‘s sparse guitars and “Night Light”‘s wispy vocals suggest a world where the seasons never change, the hours don’t pass and the only causes for concern are heartache and depression — two things Correa understands well. - Splendid Magazine

With:
Marvelous Toy || Listen
The Breakups
Killsonic

8;30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 08.19.09: GREAT NORTHERN @ pershing square

Great Northern || Listen || Watch

On the cover of Great Northern’s debut album, Trading Twilight for Daylight, sits a barren tree backed by an arctic landscape. Such a dormant image is ironic considering the band’s lively and articulately layered sound, with traditional instrumentation being complemented by the likes of strings, brass, and other orchestral elements that are often considered too complex or overbearing to even visit the usually simplistic world of indie pop. Demonstrating the ability to take risks, Great Northern are one of the more capable bands of their element I have heard lately. Based out of Los Angeles, Great Northern was formed due to the strong friendship of pianist Rachel Stolte and guitarist Solon Bixler, both proficient songwriters and lead vocalists. – Obscure Sound

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Wednesday 08.19.09: DAWES / MISSISSIPPI MAN / THE ROMANY RYE @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Mississippi Man
The Romany Rye

8pm / Free if 21+; $7 if under / all ages

Wednesday 08.19.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 08.20.09: Echo & Folk Yeah present- J TILLMAN (Fleet Foxes) / EVAN WAY (Parson Redheads) / BIG SEARCH @ echo

J. Tillman || Watch || Listen

Carving out a darkly brooding persona with roots in Neil Young’s early ’70s output, Richard Buckner’s elliptical Americana, Nick Drake balladry, and assorted, harder-to-pinpoint gospel, country, blues, and folk idioms, Tillman’s two most recent solo long-players—Cancer and Delirium (2007) and Minor Works (2006)—are packed with memorable songs. Often built upon the simplest, ingratiating musical maneuvers–like the little stair-step acoustic guitar on Minor Works’ “Crooked Roof”–Tillman’s songs rarely hew to the literal, instead deftly navigating allegory and alienation, the occasional revelation stacked against heaps of melancholy.

On Vacilando (so named from the Spanish term, indicating a wanderer for whom the experience of travel is more important than the reaching of a destination), though, he strips away his tendency for over-production, resulting in a more focused, refined approach. Tillman’s cavernous vocal range, all texture and nuance, is front and center; meanwhile, a wise-beyond-his-years lyrical depth that, one fathoms, springs from (or, more accurately, is a reaction to) his restrictive religious upbringing, results in pithy imagery, i.e., “Suffering doesn’t know God’s name (from “New Imperial Grand Blues”) or, from the album’s opening salvo, “All that you see, you have dominion/All you don’t know, you are forbidden.”

The record’s insistently bleak tone threatens to tilt into claustrophobia at times, but Tillman winningly subverts expectations. The striking full-band cut, “Steel on Steel,” with delicious French horn/pedal steel interplay and Fleet Fox Casey Wescott on keyboards, melds agonizing romantic heartbreak to an epiphany on life’s ephemeral nature. It’s a leftfield instant pop classic, Tillman winding his silkiest vocal around the song’s glistening melody. “New Imperial Grand Blues,” in contrast, is a pulsating rocker, a jarring peek into the Crazy Horse side of Tillman’s brain. It’s a bone-rattling blues called “Master’s House”, however, that best embodies Tillman’s talent: “How easily the heart of man is tamed” he surmises, over the music, his quivering, floating tenor gaining a steady, stoic determination. It’s an explosive assessment, with implications reverberating into personal, spiritual, even geopolitical realms. Tillman’s own spirit, meanwhile, you suspect will be tough to quell. – Uncut

With:
Evan Way (Parson Red Heads)
Big Search (Foreign Born, Fool’s Gold, Glasser)

8:30pm / $10 adv, $12 at the door / All Ages

Thursday 08.20.09: DOWN & DERBY ROLLER DISCO with Skate Lessons from BLADE @ echoplex

Down and Derby, the premier roller skating organization that has quickly garnered a loyal following in cities like Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and New York City will host its second Los Angeles event at The Echoplex, Thursday, July 30. Resident skate guard DJs Thee Mike B and Steve 1Der will control the roller disco rink’s turntables, broadcasting amplified sounds for the eight-wheeled revelers.

The Los Angeles event is set apart from Down and Derby parties in other cities by its authentic 70s feel. The resident DJs don’t just spin popular tunes for which the era has become known—they reach into the depths of 70s music to bring partiers the obscure hits that may not be recognizable by most, but are truly indicative of the culture and lifestyle of the era.

Down and Derby, is a retro-inspired roller-skating party created and designed to give attendees a unique nightlife experience. The interactive throwback events combine décor reminiscent of a 70s roller disco with attendees participating through wearing fashion attire evocative of the era. DJs known for pushing the limits of mixing and music production are procured, adding vibrant energy to the event with both underground and popular mixes.

The entry fee is $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door and quad skates of every size will be available to rent for another $5. Guests are welcome to bring their own roller skates to the event.

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

RSVP at www.downandderby.org

9pm / $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door / 21+

Friday 08.21.09: Echo & Club Underground present HOCKEY / THE FRENCH SEMESTER @ echo

Hockey || Listen || Watch

Hockey’s another band being chased hither and yon by thin young boys and girls wielding fat wads of cash in a bid to get them to sign to their label. It’s not surprising. Talk about ticking various demographic boxes and appealing to distinctive niche markets. This Portland four-piece, who describe themselves as “new wave/soul” on their MySpace and have been bigged-up of late by Dave (Gang of Four) Allen on his Pampelmoose website, are wordy yet funky, the gritty vocals and chunky beats equally clear and upfront in the mix. Hockey could easily be enjoyed by Dylan, Springsteen and Hold Steady fans as much as they could by devotees of LCD Soundsystem and their ilk. In fact, if James Murphy ever decides to produce the Strokes then this is roughly how it might turn out. It’s been treated by the same sort of FX used to make Julian Casablancas sound as though he’s singing through a megaphone in a wind tunnel. Witty, literate songs you can dance to – they don’t quite give Dylanesque narratives a dubstep undercarriage, but they do effect a collision of opposites that is quite unprecedented. – The Guardian UK

With:
The French Semester || Listen

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

8pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 08.21.09: THE SONICS / PRIMA DONNA / JAPANESE MOTORS @ echoplex

The Sonics

The Sonics walked on stage to some seriously deafening applause. The atmosphere was so intense that you could have struck a match in the air and watched the vapor explode. That guitar sound hunched over everyone, scowled, started to feedback, raised a claw then knocked everyone over like dominoes with the riff of ‘He’s Waiting’. 100mph start… and yup, these old guys dressed all in black, were in London taking names. And guess what? The screaming was gooo-oooo-ood.

The set blistered through Strychnine, Have Love Will Travel (which was met with a predictably riotous response from the entire contents of the building including stationary objects), Louie Louie (“we’re going to play rock ‘n’ roll’s national anthem”), Shot Down, Maintaining My Cool, Boss Hoss, Like No Other Man, Money, Lucille, Cinderella, Dirty Robber, You’ve Got Your Head On Backwards… you get the idea. The best two tunes of the evening, both in crowd response and performance were Psycho and The Witch. Psycho, at times, was completely terrifying, with demented screams and howls coming from the contorted Roslie who was possessed by his younger self, with shoulder cocked like a trigger and his throat producing broken glass. Larry Parypa gunned down front and back of house with ferocious guitar work… which he can whip into shape as good as he ever did. Rob Lind, ‘im on sax, provided that rasp that give the ground that full audio assault.

Defying everything I’d thought about the gig (that The Sonics were going full tilt), it seemed that they’d managed to store up enough energy to really dish up some sonic savagery. The Witch was brutal, coarse, mental, twitching, incredibly loud and aggressive. No lies here… it was probably the greatest moment of any gig I’ve ever been too. So hot was the belting of The Witch that people in the front row started to spontaneously combust, with the people at the back toppling inward like dried skeletons whilst everyone in the middle had a mini-riot and screamed along until their voices snapped and lassooed round each other, leaving everyone in some tangled blooded knot. With that, The Sonics hollered farewell and left everyone with their various injuries. – Electric Roulette

with:
Prima Donna || Listen
Japanese Motors || Listen

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

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

8:30pm / $22 advance, $24 day of show / 18+

Saturday 08.22.09: NEON NOISE – SUNSET JUNCTION AFTER PARTY @ echoplex

“NEON NOISE” MOVES TO THE ECHOPLEX -
ON THE 4th SATURDAY EACH MONTH!!!

IT ALL KICKS OFF ON SATURDAY AUGUST 22nd,
WITH A MEGA, POST-SUNSET JUNCTION DANCE PARTY!
…. Special 18+ Night! …

DJ PAUL V. DROPS BANGIN’, DIRTY ELECTRO,
MASHUPS, NU-DISKO, & INDIE ROCK REMIXES!
______________________________________________

MORE INFO TO BE REVEALED!
______________________________________________

- COVER IS ONLY $5.00 ALL NIGHT -
AND FREE ADMISSION WITH
YOUR SUNSET JUNCTION STAMP!!!

9pm / $5, Free with Sunset Junction Stamp / 18+

Saturday 08.22.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 08.23.09: PART TIME PUNKS – BRITPOP NIGHT guest DJs from TRANSISTOR Dorian & Maurice DFL @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Monday 08.24.09: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE / HORSE THIEVES / MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE @ echo

Six Organs of Admittance || Listen || Watch || MP3

Six Organs Of Admittance’s forthcoming Luminous Night was recorded and produced by Randall Dunn, who’s manned the boards for Earth, Wolves In The Throne Room, and most recently Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions, to name a few. It makes perfect sense to pair Dunn’s knack for layering dark, deep soundscapes with Ben Chasny’s ability to transform his psychedelic, folky, and finger-picked guitars and distinctive somnambulant vocals in otherworldly excursions. Add guest spots by Eyvind Kang (on viola), Hans Tueber, Tor Dietrichson (tabla), Matt Chamberlin (drums, percussion), etc., and you have yourself one of Six Organs’ most gorgeous collections in a line of gorgeous collections. (Full disclosure: Ben and I are friends, though this stuff would be just as beautiful if we were enemies.) See, for instance, “The Ballad Of Charley Harper,” a smeary 5-minute acoustic-and-distorted trek in honor of the Cincinnati wildlife artist that perfectly matches (and echoes) Luminous Night’s tree-lined album art. – Stereogum

With:
Horse Thieves
Master Musicians of Bukkake

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

8pm / $10 / All Ages

Tuesday 08.25.09: Otik Records presents TERRAPIN / LAST LEGS / MERRY CHRISTMAS @ echo

Terrapin

The Terrapin was birthed out of a couple of bars in Long Beach, the failure of previous bands and chance. After Vanessa and Rufo ran into Alan at The Prospector in Long Beach, a jam session was scheduled. From that point until now The Terrapin has been keeping it real… real busy. The bands first show was in March 2007 at Que Sera as a trio. That continued until mutual friend Bill was brought into play saxophone. Yes, saxophone. Once they became aware that he could play keyboards and guitar, the sax got the ax. Now he is the proud mantle holder of bassist and has the position of first chair. This stroke of genius happened due to the fact that the original three members were sick of the Spinal Tap-like relationship they had with anyone else that tried to fill the spot..

with:
Last Legs
Merry Christmas

8pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 08.26.09: DAWES / MICHAEL DAVIS WITH LIONS / ANDREW LYNCH @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Michael Davis with Lions || Listen
Andrew Lynch

8pm / Free if 21+; $7 if under / All Ages

Wednesday 08.26.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 08.27.09: CONOR OBERST & THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND / DUNGEN / KURT VILE @ echoplex

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band || Listen || Watch

Last year, Conor Oberst set aside his long-standing Bright Eyes moniker and made a run for the border, decamping to a Mexican mountainside to record his first album under his own name. Conor Oberst was laid-back folk rock in love with the road and far from Bright Eyes’ rep for indoors-y shame sharing. Now, Oberst is covering more unknown territory by splitting songwriting duties for the first time in his 15-year career. Written on tour with the band he took to Mexico, these 16 songs are full of the freewheeling possibility and, at times, errant indulgence you can get when bros hang out in hotel rooms passing around guitars and massaging each other’s muses. Even the drummer gets two cuts.

Oberst’s songwriting has always been first–thought–best–thought, so the loose communal vibe usually fits nicely. On “Slowly (Oh So Slowly),” an ode to taking it easy that the Eagles might appreciate, Oberst lounges in a swimming pool languidly watching life pass by. Fans of Bright Eyes’ white-knuckled miserablism might find that image of suntanned bliss about as likely as Jay-Z rolling around in a used Pinto. But there’s still introspective angst here, from the scared lover’s acoustic plea “White Shoes” to the apocalyptic lefty rant “Roosevelt Room.”

No one in the Mystic Valley Band is an undiscovered genius, but no one is a charity case either; guitarist Nik Freitas’ rollicking country paean to paranoia, “Big Black Nothing,” and guitarist Taylor Hollingsworth’s speedy indie-pop ode to van sex, “Air Mattress,” could even be decent Bright Eyes throwaways. Predictably, however, this six-piece are best at backing their boss with a road-seasoned mix of meaty jangle and whirring Sixties-Dylan organ. They’re also pretty good at proving what a nice guy he is. Many things may weigh on Conor Oberst’s mind, but on this record, ego isn’t one of them. – Rolling Stone

With:
Dungen || Listen
Kurt Vile || Listen

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

7pm / $25 / All Ages

Thursday 08.27.09: THE DIRTBOMBS / THE SERMON / JAIL WEDDINGS @ echo

The Dirtbombs || Listen || Watch

A couple of years ago, when I talked to Mick Collins, he said that the Dirtbombs were probably more than halfway through their arc as a band and that after one more album, their bubblegum record, they would most likely call it quits. Collins observed that he would ordinarily have had three or four bands during the lifespan of the Dirtbombs. No one was more surprised than he that it had lasted so long.

No kidding. The band has, at this point, been through 17 line-ups, always with the same basic structure, two basses — one regular, one fuzz — a guitar (Collins himself), two drummers and whoever happens to drift into the studio for backing vocals and hand-claps. (Collins’ “innocent bystander” rule requires that anyone physically present at a Dirtbombs session contribute something to the record.) The distinctive double-shot rhythm section has been consistent through the Dirtbombs various incarnations — as a soul band, as a pop band, as a cover band turning its voracious attention to everyone from Yoko Ono to Elliott Smith and even, recently, as the house band at a Cannes film festival party. While not exactly predictable, the Dirtbombs always sound like the Dirtbombs – thunderous, fuzzy, loose, funny, smarter than average and maybe a little dangerous. – Dusted Reviews

With:
The Sermon || Listen
Jail Weddings || Listen

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

9pm / $15 / 18+

Friday 08.28.09: TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS / JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD @ echo

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists || Listen || Watch

Ted Leo, one of rock’s last great intellectual populists, likes to throw you. Now on his fifth album, Living With the Living, the thirtysomething rocker still prefers the same music he’s probably loved since his teens: the smarty-pants punk and new wave of turn-of-the-1970s UK labels like Stiff; the amped-up rhythm’n'soul of 60s mod and ska; the rangy heavy rock of Thin Lizzy; the hard-strumming folksiness of 80s indie; and the idealism impressed on him by American hardcore. The Pharmacists’ oeuvre is all of a two-toned piece, but each record stands on its own, just different enough from its predecessor. So while I haven’t lived with Living for very long, it’s steadily grown on me, making me want to rave louder about it than it may deserve.

Call me a booster rather than a critic, but I love Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and seriously want this band be, like, fucking huge. But at the same time, and call me old-fashioned, it’s honorable the way Leo has opted to grow his audience and his songwriting talent organically– and watch both increase exponentially, on his own terms. I like that he’s got ethics and ideals that go beyond lifestyle choices. I like that he sees writing the most compassionate song possible about eating disorders as a political act, because it is. And with its airtight rhythm section and the crackling energy of its bug-eyed frontman in his Conflict T-shirt, no rock band currently touring puts on a better live show than the Pharmacists. – Pitchfork

with:
JEFF The Brotherhood

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

8pm / $15 advance, $17 at the door / 18+

Friday 08.28.09: OS MUTANTES / DJ NOBODY / BUYEPONGO @ echoplex

Os Mutantes || Watch

When the members of the legendary “Tropicalia” band Os Mutantes took the stage before an audience of thousands at the Hollywood bowl a few years back, it seemed one of the greatest secrets in modern music was finally out. The seminal band whose ethereal absurdist pop music had inspired so many prominent musicians since their breakup decades before, were back. This time the world seemed ready. Now this influential band has reemerged with a brand new much anticipated album entitled Haih or Amortecedor on Anti-records, their first new album in over three decades. On it Sergio Dias has collaborated with two of the founders of Tropicalia, renowned songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tom Ze and Jorge Ben who wrote the band’s first hit Minha Menina. But don’t expect anything like nostalgia from Haih or Amortecedor. The end result is a record that brilliantly updates the band’s legendary “Tropicalia” sound, propelling it out of the sixties and into an uncharted but undeniably exotic future. As expected, the songs utilize a startling assortment of instrumentation, from austere violins to distorted metallic guitars and something called a crazy flute, lending an underlying theatrical power to their genre defying music. The song Bagdad Blues, with its tinkering old piano and seductive horns, conjures an otherworldly cabaret while Querida Querida is modern rock music unlike anything you’ve heard before.

With:
DJ Nobody
Buyepongo

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

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

8pm / $28 advance, $30 day of show / 18+

Saturday 08.29.09: BOX ELDERS / AUDACITY / TIJUANA PANTHERS @ echo

Box Elders || Listen || Watch

Omaha, Nebraska has been an overlooked outpost of rock’n'roll music for way too long and with the recent debut 7″ EP release by the brilliant pop pioneers, the Box Elders on Grotto Records, it’s sure to arouse even more suspicion. On first listen, these tracks of sparkling, yet perfectly muddy stabs at Lou Reed’s pre-VU Primitives/Beachnuts-era warbling pop hit a high watermark and effortlessly fill out a 4 song EP with nary a dud in the bunch. Featuring the relocated Jeremiah McIntyre from now defunct Chicago band The Afflictions, along with his younger brother Clayton and Dave Goldberg of the Terminals and Boom Chick Records, Box Elders have that magical something in their brutish, yet nascent pop sound that really grabs you and instantly conjures up how familiar everything fits together into songs that you can hum along to instantly . With Jeremiah’s deep appreciation for all things Redd Kross, it’s not a surprise to see a convincingly legit cover of RK’s “S & M Party” on the b-side, done with the tossed-off grace of someone who embodies the spirit of the songs way more than just how to rip them off. Great influences aside, it’s clearly their originals that stand up and bowl me over every time, and you’ll quickly see that it’s just one of those records that’s impossible to stop playing. – Victim of Time

with:
Audacity
Tijuana Panthers

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

4pm / $8 / All Ages

Saturday 08.29.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 08.30.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with TED RUSSELL KAMP / GINA VILLALOBOS / PAPERPLANES @ echo

Ted Russell Kamp || Listen

With:
Gina Villalobos || Listen
Paperplanes || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 08.30.09: PART TIME PUNKS with MARK BURGESS (THE CHAMELEONS UK) / WAR TAPES / THE NEW ROOM @ echo

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

With:
Mark Burgess (of The Chameleons UK) (playing a set of all Chameleons songs with a full band.)
War Tapes || Listen
The New Room || Listen

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 18+

Monday 08.31.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / MY PET SADDLE / GRAND ELEGANCE / DOGWEED @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

With:
My Pet Saddle
Grand Elegance
Dogweed

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+