LA / LBC / OC
Long Beach’s Magic Lantern have finally gone and released a new sonic document after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Eagerly anticipated by those who have been biding their time waiting for the band to get on with their uber limited cassette only and CD-R releases (their Self-Titled CD-R was limited to 30), “High Beams”, the band’s latest opus [...]
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I had originally planned on going to Safari Sams Friday night to see the the Tee Pee Records showcase, but was so worn out from my week I couldn’t muster the energy to make it up there. Instead I opted to stick around Costa Mesa after work and head over to eVocal to see Bears, a little pop group from Cleveland, OH who’s guitar player, Craig, used to play on The Lovekill.
I had never been to eVocal before, but drive by it all the time. It is a small boutique on 19th street in Costa Mesa tucked next to a sewing and upholstery shop and the tiny hipster bar, The Avalon. Outfitted with a 6 inch riser for a stage and PA that is best suited for solo singer songwriters, eVocal provides a cozy “living room” atmosphere for it’s performers.
Lucky for me, Bears were up first this night as I don’t think I could hung around all night, even though the other two groups, Slings and Deep Sea Diver, are quite good. I arrived in time to chat with Craig for a few moments before he and the band took to the cramped stage (see how many people are in the picture above) and launched into a 30 minute set of blissfully pure “indie” pop. Running through songs from their 3 releases, a self titled debut full length and 2 subsequent eps, Bears’ set was fun, carefree, and void of any pretension. The small group of kids mostly sitting indian style on the concrete floor seemed to throughly enjoy themselves as they bobbed their heads and bounced their bottoms along to each note. Local Angelenos who are fans of Sea Wolf and The Little Ones should take note of these Midwesterners, who weave tight little numbers that sometimes border on 50′s doo wop, 60′s folk and pop, and at other times with songs falling right in line with their midwestern indie rock heritage.
This was Bears only performance in the Los Angeles/Orange County area on their self booked tour that is taking them up the West Coast, across the the Rockies and back to the Midwest.
Download “Stay” (mp3) from Bears’ 2006 self-titled album.
[audio:bears_stay.mp3]
Buy Bears Bears from: Amazon