Ports o’ Call Bedroom, run out of Jon Barba’s poolhouse-cum-bedroom at his parents’ house in West Covina, is my favorite venue in town and the friendliest and coziest of LA’s DIY house party dives. People were in a bad mood when we arrived, though, after an overly-long performance by David Liebe Hart—who left in a huff and talked racist shit because he wasn’t paid for the gig (an established pre-condition for the show because—duh—the fucking thing was happening in a dude’s bedroom). No matter. Once he left, the party vibe picked up and created the perfect setting for a throwback set by No Paws (No Lions), who welcomed former singer Jillian back for a special performance that was necessarily stripped-down to avoid harassment from local police. The band was in fine form, replacing its normal wall of sound attack with sparse bedroom pop—two keyboards, subtle bouncing bass from Rogers (usually the drummer), and the simplest Casiotone beats.

Precious and personal, No Paws writes songs that are emotionally honest without being emo, nursery rhymes about home and friends that they sing in unison and somehow jam in your head despite never passing the two-minute mark. Great as they are, sometimes the songs get paved over by the massive beat and overdriven keyboards of their normal formation; Sam, the singer, usually seems like he’s yelling as loud as he can to achieve only limited audibility. The raw power of the songs came through tonight, though, peaking with set-closer “I’ve Always Been Content,” one of my favorite pop triumphs from the past few years that I had nonetheless forgotten because the band rarely plays it live these days. It was a treat to hear it taken down to its quaint electro-charming roots, and the audience of friends was stoked enough at hearing it that the band could have easily played it ten more times without complaint.

Afterwards, I ate apple pie with my bare hands and found myself in a totally uninvited argument with an eighteen-year-old stuck in that sophomoric and confrontationally intellectual phase that we all go through before finishing our teenage years. I don’t really know what it was he was trying to say, but eventually we got rid of him and had a splendid time gossiping with Jon and Eddie about Miley Cyrus until it was very late. There were cats running around, and a dog in a sweater. Did I mention that this is my favorite venue in town?

—Geoff Geis