1. It should be dark out. The Strangegloves put it best with their lyric “The night time, is the right time.”
2. The venue should be enjoyable. This is determined by a complex algorithm involving many factors including a venue’s: size, shape, sound, decor, and rules (or preferably a lack thereof).

So when I heard that the cancellation of Sunset Junction resulted in the Growlers scheduling a FREE Amoeba show at 5pm, as well as a second show at the DIY art space NOMAD Gallery at midnight, I was happier than a Catholic priest in an unsupervised playground. The Amoeba show alone would have been a welcome substitution for the festival set. The Nomad show was just icing on the cake and an extra special treat for longtime fans that miss the days of the Growlers at warehouses and dive bars. It’s been over a year since the Growlers played a DIY space in the L.A. area, and the Nomad Gallery was a choice pick.

This Frogtown venue is tucked away in a residential area, behind large fortress walls. Upon entering, one might notice a fire pit in one corner, porta potties in another, a wrestling ring and a bar—all before reaching the interior gallery. It feels like the front yard of an abandoned hacienda that’s been taken over by an eccentric punk rocker. Inside the gallery, high ceilings and psychedelic projections fluttering across the wall behind the stage created an expanding effect to the modestly sized rectangular room. I walked in during the tail end of the Abigails set and unfortunately only caught a couple numbers from singer, Warren Thomas’ (Grand Elegance, Growlers) newest project. The old school country vibe got the kids a-shakin’ as he snarled, “All my friends are alcoholics and I am too.” Next up was Tomorrow’s Tulips and (I know what you’re gonna say, but…) I swear to god they sounded spot on like the Velvet Underground. From the back of the gallery, the stripped down drum sound and the singer’s dead pan Lou Reed voice, combined with the psychedelic images projected high above the band felt as though I was at the Factory in 1968 (who’s got the Amil Nitrates?).

As the Growlers set up their equipment, the audience grew, packed with the typically diverse Growlers’ crowd: hipsters, hippies, punks, greasers, geeks and norms in an even ratio of boys to girls. Singer Brooks Nielsen apologized for the unusually long set up time and promised a show worth the wait. It was. They opened with ‘Tijuana,’ as if to warm up the audience, and nothing could have been more perfect. Bodies gyrated slowly as the voices attached to them sung along, “Take me to the city of wasted dreams where there’s little boys with M16.” The Growlers continued rolling out hit after hit and revamped versions of familiar songs (i.e. an uptempo Wet Dreams) proving that they are continuously evolving as all around incredible musicians. Temperatures rose and bodies flew through the air as people began rushing the stage. At some point the fourth row became the first, and couples all the while danced and made out. After an hour the Growlers finished their epic set and an insatiable audience demanded an encore. The Growlers obliged.

All told, the night was a wild ride on an alternate universe path that never would have happened had the city not called bullshit on the obvious game of Three Card Monty being played by the organizers of the Sunset Junction Festival. For this, and the rampant community spirit spawned by the impromptu shows that the festival’s cancellation facilitated, I think we owe the Los Angeles Board of Public Works a thank you letter and a firm hand shake. Well played!

—Vanessa Gonzalez

Dave Van Patten

The Growlers “What It Is”
(from Hot Tropics out now on Everloving)

The Growlers have set a high bar for themselves: over the past couple years they’ve attained the eminence of a favorite pair of worn-in boots, and hearing that they were going into the studio to re-record songs from various volumes of their self-recorded, self-released Couples 1-8 EPs induced a panic in me akin to hearing someone say, “Don’t you think it’s time for some new boots?” But to my joy and relief, Hot Tropics surpassed my greatest expectations. Now in theory, the Growlers could have continued their DIY trajectory for ages. With over 100 self-recorded tracks under their collective belts, multiple full-lengths could have been formed from previous recordings and released over the course of many years. Sure, the Couples recordings are a bit lo-fi, but plenty of bands make that work for them—think Times New Viking! Re-recording songs also presents a concern: what if you can’t recreate the magic? This is the question that seized me with apprehension as I placed the needle on the 10” vinyl (the packaging on this record is of the utmost quality, by the way). But all my fears melted away with each passing track. The new recordings do sound different, but in a good way. As a rule I prefer demos and practice recordings to slick studio finishes, but Hot Tropics may be the exception. This brilliant work showcases the Growlers in their fullest stride, like fancy new boots that make you feel mature and confident.

—Vanessa Gonzalez

the growlers

THE GROWLERS, GRAND ELEGANCE, AND GANTEZ WARRIOR ON THURSDAY DEC. 30TH AT THE ECHO, 1822 WEST SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ $12/ 18+.

THE GROWLERS ON THURSDAY DEC. 23RD AT THE DETROIT BAR, 843 WEST NINETEENTH STREET, COSTA MESA. 9:00PM/ $12/ 21+.

On August 13, Wavves played at Pomona’s Glass House. Sensing the “Friday the Thirteenth” spirit in the air Nathan Williams and company played a rowdy set, replete with crowd surfing and stage diving. Wavves’ signature surf goth sound had the crowd surging against the barricades like a roiling tempest.

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KSCR FEST 2010

4:15-4:45 The Smiles

5:00- 5:30 Trolley Station

5:45- 6:30 Princeton

7:50- 7:35 Rumspringa

8:15-9:00 The Growlers

8:00-9:20 Dublab

9:20- 10:05 The Entrance Band

10:05-10:25 DJ Set- Dublab

10:25- 11:15 Thee Oh Sees

—lauren everett

Download: The Growlers “Average Man”

(from Greatest Hits available from the Growlers)

Long Beach band The Growlers, who talked to L.A. Record in August about their chupacabra grandfather, will be touring the U.S. in January and February alongside Dr. Dog. They’re also performing on Fuel TV’s  The Daily Habit on January 20.

Tour schedule:

Saturday 1/23 – Las Vegas, NV, Bunk House Saloon
Wednesday 1/27 – Troy, NY, Revolution Hall*
Thursday 1/28 – Burlington, VT, Higher Ground Ballroom*
Friday 1/29 – Providence, RI, Lupo’s*
Saturday 1/30 – Syracuse, NY, Westcott Theatre*
Monday 2/01 – Buffalo, NY, Mohawk Place*
Wednesday 2/03 – Pontiac, MI, The Pike Room*
Thursday 2/04 – Milwaukee, WI, Turner Hall*
Friday 2/05 – Madison, WI, High Noon Saloon*
Saturday 2/06 – Iowa City, IA, The Mill*
Monday 2/08 – Omaha, NE, The Waiting Room*
Tuesday 2/09 – Rock Island, IL, Rock Island Brewing Company*
Wednesday 2/10 – Cleveland, OH, The Spot*
Thursday 2/11 – Bloomington, IN, Video Saloon*
Friday 2/12 – Columbus, OH, Newport Music Hall*
Saturday 2/13 – State College, PA, State Theatre*
Sunday 2/14 – Brooklyn, NY, Union Pool
Tuesday 2/16 – Cambridge, MA, TT The Bears
Wednesday 2/17 – Washington, DC, Black Cat
Thursday 2/18 – New York, NY, Piano’s
Saturday 2/20 – Chicago, IL, Ronny’s Bar
Monday 2/22 – Denver, CO, Hi Dive
Tuesday 2/34 – Aspen, CO, The Belly Up
Friday 2/26 – San Francisco, CA, Café Du Nord

(*with Dr. Dog)

Download: BLK JKS “Molalatladi”

(from After Robots out now on Secretly Canadian)

If one more person compares BLK JKS to Vampire Weekend, we might explode. This South African band writes pop songs, rock songs, slow tunes and fast tracks; they get proggy and they jam. There’s a great amount of variety on BLK JKS’ latest album After Robots, but the only thing the band imitates is the sound that reality transmits through their nimble fingers. Guitarist Mpumelelo Mcata breaks it down for Daiana Feuer.

Mpumelelo Mcata (guitar): I forgot my sunglasses on top of the guitar amp there in Los Angeles. It was sucky—they were a gift.
Do you lose many possessions in your travels?
Mpumelelo Mcata: Yes, it happens all the time! Sometimes your mind, sometimes your heart, sometimes your sunglasses.
When was the last time you lost your mind?
Mpumelelo Mcata: I think it was Philly. I am not sure how long ago that was. Maybe I haven’t found my mind yet. The concept of time has been warped. Meeting people, various people, and life on the road, always on the road—you lose your heart and your head. It feels pretty schizophrenic. The days go by like day after day with hardly any rest.
Is that a dream come true? Would you rather be in a studio or a stage?
Mpumelelo Mcata: I like being around sounds and making music and just around art in general outside of music. It’s cool to have these kinds of problems. I don’t have a particular preference—as long as I’m doing it, it’s alright. But in the van for so long, driving for so many hours is what it is. Being in the studio, pressed for time, is what it is. We always have these things to keep us grounded. A little bit of cramped, a little of this and that. Broken amps need fixing. We never really step back to look at what’s going on from outside and say, ‘Well, this is all well!’ The situation, though—how can I say it? I am happy to be in it.
As a musician, do you find sounds or create sounds?
Mpumelelo Mcata: Finding or creating? Receiving. Which is different from those two in some ways. It’s all out there and finding requires one to be looking and looking may be a bit difficult to do in a sincere way. Not saying it’s impossible. But it’s hard to be looking and still do honorable work. I think receiving is key and hopefully one can communicate what comes to them truthfully and be an honest voice. There’s a lot of information trapped or stored in phonics, you know? Besides what musicians put in the lyrics and also what is said in interviews. A lot of stuff is just said in between the sounds—as in between the waves. I am sure music is a form of communication.
How do four different minds or receivers create one sound together?
Mpumelelo Mcata: I think one of the first points that we’d have to—I don’t want to say understand because that’s also a conscious in the mind thing—something that we have to feel is that all is one already. Once the American comedian Bill Hicks said all matter is energy condensed to slow vibrations. There is no such thing as death. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. So! That is the basic idea. We are one already. So the individual is allowed to exist completely. We find that conflict to be interesting—experiencing ourselves subjectively. That is the point. If everybody felt this way in the world maybe the world would stop breaking up. Maybe not. Maybe this is just part of the human condition. But we need to accept all parts of ourselves. I think that’s what we do in the music, as schizophrenic as it may seem.
There sure are a lot of sounds going on in your album. A lot of directions. I was intrigued by the emotion and the musical shifts in your song ‘Lakeside.’ What’s the story behind it?
Mpumelelo Mcata: ‘Lakeside’ is basically—OK, all the songs have a bit of a backstory, but ‘Lakeside’ is basically about the taxi industry. ‘Lakeside’ and ‘Taxidermy’ follow each other on the album but ‘Lakeside’ is about this young boy-man-kid who is caught up in a taxi accident. The taxi rolls off the freeway and lands up next to a lake. In his head, he has been trying to escape the city—Johannesburg and the mundane situation that he lives in. And he is very imaginative and kind of in some ways it’s autobiographical on our part. Living in the confusion of Johannesburg. And so he imagines his taxi as a UFO and he imagines himself as having been caught up in a crash-landing situation. It’s a terrible thing that has happened. People are bleeding. He is lying outside on the grass. People are suffering. But at the same time it is a beautiful thing that his mind is doing in the song. That’s basically ‘Lakeside.’
That’s a heck of a story. Does a song that comes out of a story lyrically influence the music as well or is that worked upon separately?
Mpumelelo Mcata: With ‘Lakeside’ it was definitely the music first. We didn’t know what that song was trying to do. We were jamming and somehow it kept coming up in those different directions. So what you hear on the record in the beginning—in the rehearsal room, ‘Lakeside’ was really that Molefi, Lindani, Tshepang, and myself fighting against each other and pulling the song in different directions. Like, ‘We can’t stay here—Molefi’s gone over there so we have to follow him.’ Or, ‘We’re going to follow Tshepang and see what happens.’ That was the nature of most of our rehearsal room sessions. Coming to the center, running to and from all four corners and meeting at the end. So—sound first. Then we listen back to the take and everybody thinks about what it means to them and then we discuss it and feel it out and it comes out lyrically if it’s going to be really elaborate—if that happens. Sometimes it’s just we’ll breathe over it and that’ll be it. Like ‘Molalatladi.’ For that song, the lyrics happened immediately as the music. It’s a different purpose.
What would you like to get out of this experience that will nourish you as artists? Aside from getting to play and seeing the world?
Mpumelelo Mcata: I mean, we’re getting in touch with our faith, more in touch with our faith, which is this miracle. Us being alive, you being alive as Daiana and floating in outer space. To us it is really a miracle. People like to intellectualize or coffee table talk about bands but for us, it’s like—we’re here, we’re together. You can either like a band—you can walk into the room or walk out. People like to say this band sucks, that band sucks. I wouldn’t even say that even when I wasn’t in a band because at the end of the day, who knows what? We’re all just here. To get into different cultures and to see how people react to the sound which is created out of a South African context, us receiving signals and those signals going through our filters. Out of Johannesburg, we’re presenting them to the world, we’re going to Japan—it’s going to be super interesting. And it’s always excellent to see people’s reactions, whatever that is. To us, the fact that the conversation is even occurring in the first place is the point. I think we’ll get a lot from that. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be like the Brazilian Girls—writing songs in many languages about different places. Our context right now is what it is. This is our introduction to the world.
What’s the last thing that made you smile?
Mpumelelo Mcata: The last thing that made me smile? I know the answer to that but let me mine my thoughts for a second. Let’s see! You know what always makes me smile? At every show the people coming up saying, ‘We like what you do.’ That’s always a pleasurable thing. That makes me smile that it touches them. It makes me smile when the media makes negative comments about our songs. It’s funny because we have the same conversation before we make the song but we go for it anyway. Or when we see something someone says and this guy has no clue whatsoever. That makes me laugh. The whole journey, enjoying the journey makes me smile. Not pining for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but enjoying the rainbow—that’s what makes a brotha smile.

AQUARIUM DRUNKARD PRESENTS BLK JKS WITH THE GROWLERS AND MACK WINSTON AND THE REFLECTIONS ON THUR., OCT. 15, AT SPACELAND, 1717 SILVERLAKE BLVD., SILVERLAKE. 8:30 PM / $10-$12 / 21+/ CLUBSPACELAND.COM. BLK JKS’ AFTER ROBOTS IS OUT NOW ON SECRETLY CANADIAN. VISIT BLK JKS AT BLKJKS.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/BLKJKS.

Ancestors / Tweak Bird @ The Smell
Antarcticans / John Thill / Halloween Swim Team @ House of Vermont
Christine Hale @ Pehrspace
The Growlers + more @ The Coachhouse
Dengue Fever @ MLK Park