Friday 07.29.11: Rollo & Grady present THOSE DARLINS / WHITE ARROWS / MOTOPONY @ Echo

This latest collection of songs reveals the Darlins’ road-weary and hardened spirits as the full-throttle charge of their freewheeling early anthems, such as “Red Light Love” and “Wild One,” has faded into the clarity and the life lessons of , “Let You Down,” “Be Your Bro,” and the album’s title track. In “Be Your Bro,” Jessi sings “I just wanna be your brother, you just wanna be my boyfriend. I just wanna run and play in the dirt with you, you just wanna stick it in.” It’s the kind of lyric that any woman can relate to, and the kind of writing that tells a story with just enough detail to make your mind fill in the blanks and make it your own. But the album’s true tone culminates in the distant yearning of “Waste Away”: “What happened that makes you wanna go face first into the ground? What happened to me that I keep followin’ you around?”

The band re-enlisted producer Jeff Curtin (Small Black) and headed down to Atlanta, GA to record Screws Get Loose with engineer Ed Rawls at his Living Room Studio (Black Lips, Jacuzzi Boys). While the band’s country punk nature is still evident, the Southern roots that shine through are more in line with the dirty South garage rock blasting out of Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville in recent years. Haunting and hook-laden numbers such as “Hives,” “Tina Said,” and “BUMD” tussle with the confessional weight of other songs, like “Waste Away” and “Let U Down.” Stylistically, the band has created a range of sounds: “Boy” is reminiscent of Spector’s summery girl pop, “Mystic Mind” is a fully-realized stoner jam, and “$” is a lesson on the slippery nature of money sung in an infestation of gang vocals.

These songs show that life on the road is no place for the faint of heart. So, naturally, songs take shape with bold narratives, strong voices, and full-bodied performances that are no less vibrant than previous offerings, but are a little less naïve. Maturity and experience combine to open up wholly new dimensions for Those Darlins. But that doesn’t mean they have forsaken the spirit of fun and frivolity that has come to define them.

White Arrows || Listen || Watch
Mickey Schiff is one hell of a hip cat. Not only does he have a healthy addiction to Sperry top-sider boat shoes and Reyn Spooner tropical shirts, he fronts the best band in Los Angeles right now: White Arrows.

He’s got a lot to sing about, a Los Angeles native, Mickey was born blind which in turn had elevated his senses and pushed him towards music and honed his auditory functions. Before he could even play an instrument, he claims to have written many songs. Then, at the age of eleven, Mickey miraculously regained his sight! Can you imagine how insane that would have been!? Like really…

Fast forward a few years and Mickey is in NYU studying a major in Ritualistic Shamanism before moving back to LA to form a band with his younger brother Henry. His excuse for bullying his 17 year old brother into joining was: score with girls, rock out, or else I’ll kick your ass. Henry still attends high school in between tour dates, but is schooled by his elder brother. I mean brothers. Check this: the Schiff’s were joined by their old friend JP Caballero – who then, turns out is in fact Mickey and Henry’s half brother courtesy of a sperm donation by his dad to help some friends conceive. This is like a John Hughes movie already.

So, can you imagine a lofi electronic band with a sound fit for a psychedelic assault en masse? A sound like they could have only come from the hair / tight bleached jeans / tongue-out baseball boot metal days of the 80’s cross bred with the sweat / snarl / glitter and swagger of the 70’s guitar fuelled (Z)Iggy era.

Motopony || Listen || Watch||MP3
Motopony is a Seattle-based band that originally began as an outlet for singer/songwriter Daniel Blue’s poetry. Crafting songs on a three E-string guitar to match his voice, Daniel played as many shows as he possibly could in his then home of Tacoma. In the summer of 2009 his path crossed once again with producer Buddy ROSS (the hip hop pseudonym for Josiah Sherman). Having met years prior while working on other records, Daniel knew that fate had connected them again. The two worked through dozens of songs and by summer’s end Buddy Ross had joined Motopony, recruiting Brantley Cady (guitar) and Thomas Williams (drums) to round out the live band.