WOUNDED LION @ echo

Posted by damara - filed in 18+, events

Most people didn’t hear about King Khan and the Shrines until last year, when What Is?!, their most recent LP for German label Hazelwood, seared the band’s combustible combo– Stax plus Nuggets plus hiss-covered indie-rock screwiness– onto listeners’ collective noggins. It was as if they were the Dirtbombs on simultaneous James Brown and Sun Ra kicks, or Black Lips with less of the Vice-ready comedy and more underlying pathos. Now signed to Vice, King Khan and the Shrines present a few of the best tracks from What Is?!, along with some of their earlier cuts, on label debut The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines. Despite the appropriately over-the-top title, it’s not so much a Greatest Hits– What Is?! has slightly better songs overall– as a chronicle of how Khan became King.

The strongest tracks, where the band’s unhinged nostalgia meets not only squealing discord but also Khan’s stupefying jester/soul-man antics, appeared previously on What Is?!. Take nourishment from the Hammond-drenched soul food-stamps of “Welfare Bread”. Hear Khan go howling mad and a step past girl-crazy amid the sitar-like guitar and wah-wah pedals of “I Wanna Be a Girl”. The string-tying absurdity of “69 Faces of Love”, or the prickly dick jokes and “Venus in Furs” string drone of “The Ballad of Lady Godiva” are sadly absent, but the deafness-repping James Brown of “Land of the Freak”, the Stooge-ian assault of “No Regrets”, and the relatively sane red-line retro of “Outta Harm’s Way” are all present and accounted for, as they should be. – Pitchfork

With:
Mark Sultan || Listen
Wounded Lion

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

8pm / $13 / 18+

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Friday 05.29.09: PASSION PIT / HARLEM SHAKES / CALE PARKS @ echoplex

Posted by damara - filed in events

Passion Pit

The boys of Passion Pit are Boston’s hottest up and coming dance-party darlings. The five began as one when Michael Angelakos decided to record some songs as a present for his girlfriend. Since talent doesn’t go unnoticed for long, Passion Pit went from being a Valentines Day present to opening for Death Cab For Cutie in a matter of months. Fans of Death Cab and the Postal Service might notice a similarity between Angelakos’ and Ben Gibbard’s vocal styles. The six song EP features light, airy synths grounded in subtle new wave and pop grooves. “Better Things” and “Sleepyhead” burst with fluttering synths, upbeat majors, and funky samples that have Passion Pit gaining comparisons to groups like The Go! Team. Since these two songs are recent additions to the upcoming reissue, they just might hint at what to expect more of on Passion Pit’s full length, which is slated for early 2009. – Urb

With:
Harlem Shakes || Listen
Cale Parks

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

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

8:30pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show / 18+

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