During the fourth or fifth song, I watched a guy who had been bobbing to the music turn to his friend and say, “This is a good one!” Reality became heavy for him and he stopped moving, closed his eyes, his hands stayed where they were for almost two minutes. He came back to life long enough to mouth the words, “They remind me of Helmet. You remember Helmet?” He blacked out again in slow motion, not drunk, but zoned in. I wondered if he was imagining Heisenflei’s bra.

[Read more →]

The Happy Hollows fills my hollow with happiness.—Do you really think of your body as being solid? Maybe this comes from playing with dolls, but it’s often very strange to really believe there are things inside me. Not to mention worms and spiders. Anyway…

[Read more →]

Widow Babies’ bassist Neal laid his instrument to rest after Saturday night’s show at the Smell. The word on the street is that Neal will be attending Columbia University this fall—starting Monday, actually—and for that reason he couldn’t play the Spaceland show. Despite this shortcoming, the band played on: Elise gave a lively vocal performance that sounded like a child singing to their favorite song while Danny kept his guitar sounding surfy and Tabor built complex beats out of simple rudiments. Even without a bassist, the Widow Babies ensnared the listeners with style and beauty.

[Read more →]

It was so strange to see Julian in Silverlake. To me, the Strokes were better suited as a small-venue band because when they played in large arenas, the group looked like little action figures on a stage. This we could chalk up to fame and stardom. But at Spaceland, we could see the man face to face. In the hallway, after informing the singer I was writing a review of the show, he admitted he’d be a little reluctant to read it in a few days due to what seemed to be a fear of bad press.

[Read more →]

Negahdari embodied a homecoming queen—her chest resplendent with glitter. She’d choke up on the mic thanking the audience with I love YOU ALL’s. She flailed and screeched while Charlie Mahoney’s fingers wove spider webs around his bass strings. Before the rhythm and before the melody came the sound’s impact. Like a bully’s push it was. The Happy Hollows’ first crunch made my skin shake. The songs loudly proceeded, carving a funnel of love and slipped along its smooth slope to fun house heaven.

[Read more →]

We locals find it funny to call Spells the debut of Happy Hollows. The band has been rocking Los Angeles for a couple years now, so this is hardly an introduction. Instead, Spells serves up a whopping mouthful. Sarah Negahdari rips her guitar open like a bag of candy, smothering herself in gooey sticky delirium. She might be the wild woman, but Charles Mahoney (bass) and Chris Hernandez (drums) absolutely get it.

[Read more →]

dan monick Stream: The Happy Hollows “Silver” [Audio clip: view full post to listen] The Happy Hollows are one of our favorite bands here at L.A. CRONOPIO and we are appropriately happy to present a brand-new song called “Silver” from some certain-to-be-engaging future release. They play this Friday at the Echo with the Valley Arena [...]

[Read more →]

After six weeks on tour, Henry Clay People played a “homecoming show” by dragging their producer and friends onstage to play tambourine and scream along with covers of Operation Ivy “Knowledge” and Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” It was a full-scene affair with members of Happy Hollows, Redd Kross and The Pity Party—all cover alumni—wandering in and out of the 6 hour show. (Chris from HH partied all night!)

[Read more →]

dan monick

[Read more →]

[Read more →]