Wild Flag may be a fairly new band (self-titled album just came out), but members Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss have been rocking in other solid bands, including Sleater-Kinney, Autoclave, and Helium. Drummer Weiss has also contributed to Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks and Bright Eyes’ albums. Put these four punk [...]

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Tune-Yards It only made sense for Cut Chemist to open for Merrill Garbus aka tUnE-yArDs at The Music Box since Garbus will be on his upcoming album.  The love was returned when it came time for tUnE-yArDs to perform “Gangsta” off  2011′s W H O K I L L. Cut Chemist came out and threw [...]

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Deer Tick Indie folk band Deer Tick gave some samplings at the Echoplex of its brand new album, Divine Providence.  It all started when John J. McCauley III said he really didn’t feel like playing and wanted to just drink some more and talk with the crowd.  I think most wouldn’t have minded as McCauley [...]

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Amanda Palmer There was no denying the unique Amanda Palmer would sell out El Rey Theater the Saturday before Halloween. Performing from her latest, Goes Down Under , as well as some beloved Dresden Doll tunes, the versatile punker dressed in cabaret attire shared the stage with her friends, including Jason Webley, The Jane Austen [...]

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You really never know what you will get when Evan Dando plays a show with his band The Lemonheads! The only original member came to El Rey performing It’s a Shame About Ray in its entirety (sans “Mrs. Robinson” which was added to the album later).  Although it would have been a nice surprise to [...]

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Maria Taylor Alabama native & once upon a time Los Angeles resident Maria Taylor was back in support of her latest release, Overlook, which came out on Omaha based label Saddle Creek earlier this year. Touring with her is Dead Fingers, a duo composed of Kate Taylor & Taylor Hollingsworth, & another Saddle Creek duo, [...]

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Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Brooklyn-based The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, with opener Twin Sister, had quite an age-diverse crowd at El Rey. Looking around, you could spot kids with acne and men with white hair. Opening FYF this year, Twin Sister had some followers eager to meet Andrea Estella. Estella’s breathy [...]

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“Kelp Girls” dance to Bloody Death Skull Directed by Mecca Vazie Andrews, THE SERIES IX “AN OCEAN IN FATHOMS” went swimmingly on Tuesday, September 6th. The night opened with a poetry reading and live installation by four top LA-based writers: Kate Durbin, Mathew Timmons, David Shook and Mandy Kahn. Musical performances included folky variety music [...]

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Twin Shadow came to the Troubadour in his first appearance in L.A. in about a year. He is slimmer, more handsome, more confident. he is stepping into his destined role as the future Prince. The band is absolutely on fire. He has managed to achieve what was only an attempt before: to raise the songs [...]

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The Detroit Bar has a capacity of 250, but the main room is at most half of that. That’s a tiny sardine can for a band with as much depth, power, fame and great material as the Horrors. They blew the roof off the place. Photos by Ward Robinson

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