Thao Nguyen is the hetero-indie dudes’ dream girl: an adorable multi-instrumentalist who wears her heart on her sleeve yet is secretly really sad (but not too sad to dance). What makes Nguyen an even better catch is that she flies past the whole Jenny-Lewis-bunny-like-adorableness and straight into Ani DiFranco-intensity, with darker-than-Feist throaty vocals.

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The girls in the Raincoats have covered the Monks, but didn’t originally know the Monks possibly because they were so much like the Monks—formed perfectly from nothing and destined to disappear too quickly and leave anyone who discovered them later wondering how they’d ever happened in the first place. They play their first-ever Los Angeles show on October 11 at the Part Time Punks fest. This interview by Kevin Ferguson.

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People trying to dig a little deeper to find a decent description of Deerhoof’s sound have come up with adjectives like “melodically skewed” and “bombastically schizophrenic.” Impervious to the limitations of monikers, their DIY sonic aura has set them apart from most current bands. And that is exactly what Deerhoof fans witnessed Friday, July 31st, at the Echoplex in Los Angeles.

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The Thermals are one of the rare bands I get really excited about these days. Once I heard they we’re cutting ties with Sub Pop I anxiously checked their webpage every few days to see where and when their new album would come out. It wound up coming out on Kill Rock Stars, and it wound up sounding much more in the pop-punk vein than their previous efforts, but I still love it. Their songs are so catchy and Hutch (vocals, guitar) and Kathy (bass) play with such unabashed joy that their energy cannot help but jump off the stage, and off the record, right into my ears, silencing whatever musical prejudices my snobbish mind will try to throw at it.

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Dan Monick

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