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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Thorns Of Life photo by Christina Voudouris
Thorns of Life is the new band from Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets To Brazil), Aaron Elliot (Crimpshine, Pinhead Gunpowder) and Daniela Sea (actress who plays “Max” in The L Word and who played in the Berkeley punk rock bands The Gr’ups, Cypher In The Snow), who’s existence was widely reported last month when the band began playing house shows in New York and Philadelphia (where the photo above was shot).
Now us West Coasters and more specifically Los Angelenos will get a chance to see live for ourselves what Schwarzenbach and Elliot’s new group is all about when they play the Center for Arts in Eagle Rock on January 23rd. For now the only audio that exists is in the form of YouTube videos which have been posted all over, and of which you can see a good amount of over on Zane’s blog.
This show is being brought to you by the F Yeah Fest folks and tickets will be available at Headline Records in Los Angeles and Fingerprints in Long Beach starting Saturday, December 27th as well as online (sold out already).
Friday, Jan. 23rd: The Thorns of Life, Underground Railroad to Candyland, Audacity @ The Center for Arts, Eagle Rock (2225 Colorado Blvd) / All Ages / $8 / 8pm
Hey LA, this is Amazing Baby, they’re from Brooklyn (who apparently already hate them, so they must be doing something right) and are on their way to being huge, like what MGMT is experiencing right now, and are playing little ole Bordello on Thursday night.
A one-off show in Los Angeles for a band from New York usually signals that it’s going to be an industry gig, full weasels no doubt. So if you plan on going, plan on getting there early or actually buying tickets in advance.
Amazing Baby’s 4 song ep, Infinite Fucking Cross, is available for free on their website and are currently working with Claudius Mittendorfer (Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Muse) on their debut full length.
MP3: Amazing Baby – Head Dress
Thursday, December 18th: Amazing Baby, Warpaint, Light @ Bordello (901 E 1st St) 8pm / $10 / 21+
There are a couple of really good shows going on tonight on the West Side, one being The Sword’s one-off show at the Viper Room on their night off from their opening spot on the Metallica tour. The other being the These Arms Are Snakes, Trap Them and Narrows show at the Knitting Factory.
These Arms Are Snakes released their third long-player Tail Swallower and Dove back in October via their new home on Suicide Squeeze. Tail Swallower and Dove is heavier than their previous two efforts, a welcome progression for fans of the members of TAAS previous groups (Botch, Nineironspitfire, Kill Sadie), and is punctuated by a crisp recording that highlights bassist Brian Cook’s intricate playing style that treats the bass more like a lead instrument.
MP3: These Arms Are Snakes – Red Line Season (video)
TONIGHT: These Arms Are Snakes, Trap Them, Narrows @ Knitting Factory (7021 Hollywood Blvd.) / 7pm / $12 / All Ages
Austin, TX by-the-way-of Nashville’s Harlem’s debut LP, the cheekily titled Free Drugs;-), is a wonderfully loose lofi punk garage rock record of ramshackle clang that sounds like the repeated opening and slamming shut of a drawer full of silverware over the bass lines on Bad Religion’s 80-85. Think Mark Sultan and pretty much anything in In The Red’s catalog or maybe a couple of other Austin favorites, White Denim and The Strange Boys.
MP3: Harlem – Witchgreens
MP3: Harlem – Think I’m Thinkin’ Bout
TONIGHT: Harlem at Redwood Bar (316 W 2nd St) in Los Angeles – 10pm / 21+
I just missed Robert Francis‘ set at the Silverlake Lounge when he played with Pieta Brown last year and since then I hadn’t given the singer songwriter a second thought. That is until I came across his debut album, One by One, for cheap last week and just picked it up ’cause figured I should probably give it a shot sometime. Before I even had a chance to listen to One by One, Jax at Rock Insider plugged his show tonight at Spaceland, which kicked my butt into gear and I put the album on when I went for a run yesterday morning (when I do most of my new music listening), and then subsequently played it on repeat for the rest of the day at the office.
Songs that have got the most repeat listens are “Good Hearted Man”, “Little Girl”, the title track, and “The Devil’s Mountains” that throws a curve ball a little more than halfway through the song when the mariachi trumpet kicks in and the tempo picks up, reminding the listener again that this kid (he was only 19 when he released One by One) has got something special. Francis wrote, produced and played most of the instruments on the ten songs that make up One, something that begins to sound extraordinary as you make your way through the album and think that this should be the work of someone much older and world weary.
MP3: Robert Francis – Little Girl
TONIGHT: Robert Francis w/ Dawes, Romany Rye @ Spaceland (1717 Silverlake Blvd) / 9pm / $8 / 21+