Inflight At Night

Matt Costa may be one of the most unpretentious exports of Orange County, and as a result he has avoided and far surpassed the common SoCal artist pitfall of localism (it also helps that he writes some damn catchy songs).

Unfamiliar Faces is Costa’s second album out on Brushfire Records and the follow-up to his 2005 debut Songs We Sing. While seemingly a continuation down the path first cut by Songs We Sing, Tom Dumont back at the helm of production and a video for the first single featuring a disheveled Costa dancing through various landscapes, Unfamiliar Faces is actually a sophomore album squarely inline with the progressive tradition of so many past artists who clearly influence him. Simply put it’s more mature. …continue reading »

Don’t you just hate it when you sleep on checking out a band and then finally someone tells you to pull your head out of your ass and get over their horribly chosen name and then you totally end up digging them and now feel like royal dick. Well folks that just happened to me with Underground Railroad To Candyland, who feature members of local San Pedro heros, Toys That Kill. I’d seen their name on plenty of flyers for shows here in Long Beach and just up the highway in San Pedro and not once did I ever take the time to investigate what they were all about.

Shame.

Anyways, I just ordered URTC’s debut LP, Bird Roughs, because I am lame and can’t go to their show tomorrow night at the Knitting Factory, and whose lineup of Entrance, URTC, Crystal Antlers, Moonrats, Triclops!, Langhorne Slim and Rumspringa, is so insanely good, you might even forget you are at the shitty ass Knitting Factory.

UPDATE: Underground Railroad To Candyland play Friday at La Conga in San Pedro and Saturday at a warehouse in Long Beach.

Well that’s all I got for now, but you can read an interview with Todd C (URTC guitar/vocals, FYP (rip), Toys That Kill, and Recess Records head honcho) in a recent issue of Thrasher Magazine for an explanation of the origin of the name Underground Railroad To Candyland.

Download “Livin’ In Straw” (mp3)

and “Over and O’er” (mp3) from Underground Railroad To Candyland’s debut LP, Bird Roughs.

Bird Roughs is out now, get the LP/CD directly from Recess Records or digitally from iTunes and Amazon.

god, I can’t believe I’m going to west hollywood for another show… I really need to find a job… a line, really, where the fuck did all these kids come from… yes you can see my ID… $7 for a goddamn corona! I don’t even like corona… who the hell is this band?… look at all those girls crowding the stage just to be close to the fuckin’ singer… screw him and his collegiate good-looks and paul simon riffs… jeez I’m kinda drunk…

As my above thoughts reveal, the deck was a bit stacked against Vampire Weekend the first time I saw them back in the summer of last year. In my defense I was a few months deep into unemployment at the time and feeling sorry for myself, but all the same, was I unfair? Yes. Was it unfounded? Yes. Was it inaccurate? Yes. (Well, maybe not the Paul Simon jab). …continue reading »

Tonight: Drug Rug w/Amnion, Abbot Kinney @ Spaceland - 9pm / $8 / 21+

I bought Tommy Allen and Sarah Cronin’s debut self-titled Drug Rug release, back in September after listening to a few samples and reading the all the praise that was being heaped upon them. Initially I was a bit disappointed with the album’s inconsistency, mainly every time Cronin’s vocals took center stage. Often compared to Joanna Newsom, I would instead equate Cronin’s vocals to any female cartoon character you might run across on Nick Jr., which one can imagine how that might throw a listener for a loop. Together Allen and Cronin’s two different vocal styles work, that, and along with the twisted janglely electric/acoustic 60’s type folk rock the two turn out, it all falls right in place and is what in the end kept me on board with Drug Rug.

Thomas Allen and Sarah Cronin, a real life couple, met in 2006 while working at the Middle East Club in Cambridge, Ma, where Allen was able to persuade Cronin to share her songs, eventually leading the two to coupledom and becoming the duo, Drug Rug. As with other such couple groups that Allen and Cronin draw comparisons to, Paul and Linda McCartney, John and Yoko, June Carter and Johnny Cash, Drug Rug’s juxtaposition of male and female personalities provide the perfect carriage for their message of love and peace, and stories angst and triumph.

Download “Day I Die” (mp3)

and “Winter Time” (mp3) from Drug Rug’s self-titled debut album.

Drug’s Rug’s S/T album is out now, get it from: Amazon | Insound | AmazonMP3 | iTunes | eMusic

Fans of Melvins, Big Business, Tweak Bird, and…umm anything Toshi Kasai has been behind the board for, take heed to the San Diego group, OAKS, who feature Justin Olsen, formerly of Tight Bros From Way Back When (Jared from Big Business used to sing for Tight Bros…) and Marc Baylis and Gerard Lawther of the now defunct Long Island group Flocking Eduardo.

OAKS just posted 6 new songs for download (3 are streaming) from their recent recording session at West Beach Recorders with Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business, Altamont, Tweak Bird) on their MySpace page.

I just downloaded all 6 tracks and I am really digging what these guys got going on and now wish I had made more of an effort to see them last Friday at the Tower Bar in San Diego when I was down that way for work.

Anyways, do yourself a favor and check OAKS out. If they are cool with me posting a track, I will, so check back here in a couple days…or just pony up the $5.94 for the six songs.

UPDATE: Justin in OAKS was very cool enough to let me post a track, so I will, and it is my favorite one on the ep. Also, I wanted to mention another band OAKS remind of; Red Fang from Portland, OR, if you don’t know who they are, check them out too.

Download “Dear Head” (mp3) from OAKS debut ep, Bravo!.

SATURDAY 01/26/08

OVRCAST PRESENTS

EARTHLESS
SEA of AIR
WIDOWS

*FREE ADMISSION SHOW*
no guest list, donation, or R.S.V.P. required

The Mountain Bar
473 gin ling way
Los Angeles, CA 90012
9pm / 21+ / Free

I went and saw Earthless last night at John Reis’ Bar Pink Elephant down in San Diego where I happened to be for work this week. The show was so fucking good I felt the need to get on here and tell the local LA’ers that they NEED to get out to The Mountain Bar tomorrow night (Saturday) to see Earthless. They played a brand new jam and it was probably one of the most intense performances I have ever seen. I’m still too exhausted to write anything really articulate now, in fact, this is my second attempt at this post - the first was aborted due to my hangover.

See all my photos from the night here.