Tonight at Pehrspace, LA indie pop purveyors Big Whup celebrate the joint release of their first two music videos with a screening that pairs dictators with dancers and pillow fighting with glitter. Band members Drew Denny, Jenna Eyrich, Geoff Geis, Morgan Gee, and Rand Voorhies joined forces with directors Kate Gill and Matthew Chevlen for [...]

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With a new album on the way and a brief West Coast jaunt just under their belts, they sped through a set that must’ve been less than an hour long. They rarely stopped to talk to the audience during the show, preferring instead to rifle through their already-impressive catalog of EPs and 7-inches along with cuts from their debut and the upcoming Belong. I was already impressed with the bands’ songs, which are as bathed in intimacy and immediateness as they are in reverb.

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Did two stoned scenesters really co-opt the 3-D technology that was designed for Michael Jackson’s ill-fated London comeback shows in order to sell out the Smell and turn it into a full-on rave? Did we actually just go to our favorite neighborhood all-ages spot to witness the future of high-tech arena shows?

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The Refugee All Stars laid elements of all of those different genres out in front of us and traded instruments and microphones in a manner that seemed less choreographed and more driven by the immediate feelings of the performers, who exuded tremendous delight as they shimmied and caterwauled to an audience that was full of the spirit and ready to dance from the moment that the band walked into the Roxy.

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While the title suggests future heartache, band mastermind Nima Kazerouni makes it clear that he’s already well-versed in the spiritual vernacular of loss.

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Make no mistake—these guys may have chosen hip hop as their genre, but hip hop is just a conduit for delivering pure, throbbing pop of the highest caliber. 

This show was a triumph. I have nothing but effusive things to say about Kid Infinity.

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Talcum rolled up to West Covina as part of the misnamed Huge Bicycle Tour, three older dudes touring together in a big maroon van. They reminded me of the guys in that John Travolta/Martin Lawrence flick Wild Hogs, except they had songs instead of motorcycles.

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On Monday, Sean hosted a birthday rager for Kyle Mabson, his roommate and the official party engine of Pehrspace. A double-sized crowd appeared to celebrate Kyle’s special day and check out a solid-from-top-to-bottom lineup of performers that was headlined by Abe Vigoda. Sure, there were still people in the parking lot—but that’s only because the venue was too sweaty and insane for their sensibilities.

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We Are the World started their set on Monday in flowing white burkas, complete with capes and little square hats like the Shriners wear. I was trying to figure out how to describe their look (KKK-esque? Like whirling dervishes?) when Manimal’s Paul Beahan whispered into my ear: “it’s like Chef Boyardee on acid!” …Of course! Everything Manimal Vinyl does is like something-or-other on acid. Beahan’s label is the bulwark of left-coast psychedelia for the early 21st century—a new psychedelia that seems to be more influenced by raves and millennial tension than by drum circles and love-ins. Accordingly, the byword on this night was “mesmerizing.”

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Girlhouse looks a lot like Women across town, and apparently the home was designed by the same architect, says inhabitant and L.A. Record writer Drew Denny. Go figure! Porch Fest II took place on Dec 5 with performances by Kevin Greenspon, Geoff Geis, Nicole Kidman, Brother Mitya, Voice On Tape, Whitman, Interlude in, Drew Denny, [...]

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