Authors: Taylor Hale
Local Review: Joe Ecker – Into The World
Moodier than Garfield on Monday and not nearly as fun, Joe Ecker makes up for what he lacks in musicianship with a strong voice and earnest (almost embarrassing) lyrics. … read more
Local Review: Desert Noises – 27 Ways
The “folk rock by way of Roky Erikson” sound concocted by Desert Noises isn’t anything new, but the standout track on the album, “Elephant’s Bed,” is an ominous and tuneful track that blisters at the end into a Neil Young–esque guitar solo—like something out of Rust Never Sleeps. … read more
Local Review: Brother Chunky – And Stuff
Brother Chunky drives the beat, all bluesy and SRV-ish with his guitar.
… read more
Local Review: Brad Hart & The Lopez Massacre – Sego...
Armed with a buoyant singing voice falling somewhere between Tim Rutili and Thom Yorke, Brad Hart and his conspicuously named backing band The Lopez Massacre’s debut album… … read more
Review: Doug Keith – Pony
Namely, the best track on the album, “Pure Gold in the ’70s,” rips at the seams midway and bursts open with a J Mascis guitar solo, and from there, the track is a pure slacker anthem, a salute to the children of the ’70s. Pony also has more than enough warmth and attitude to get me through winter. … read more
Review: Courtney Barnett – A Sea of Split Peas
Like a collection of Cheever shorts cut to Lou Reed, this “Double EP” features the most invigorating songwriting since Joni Mitchell’s Blue. … read more
Review: Breathe Owl Breathe – Passage of Pegasus
Breathe Owl Breathe = Destroyer + David Bowie … read more
Film Review: Sunset Strip
From the days of Mickey Cohen and the Wars of the Sunset Strip to the riots of the mid-’60s, the Strip has always attracted creative types: rock stars, writers, coke heads, mobsters and prostitutes—and John Belushi, who was all of those things at once. … read more
Julianna Barwick @ Kilby Court 11.18 with Grizzly Prospector and...
From where I’m standing, Julianna Barwick is a perfect silhouette. A projection of a slow moving video of white forests and breaking ocean waves frames her figure in the background, and the 50 or so people in the audience are in a trance, strewn out across the floor, some lying, some sitting, some standing, as her voice builds and reaches crescendo like a gothic one-woman choir. … read more
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ Kilby Court 11.22...
From the get-go, the small cluster of people to my right, all huddled beside the large speaker hanging from the ceiling, are in their thrall. Two kids with jet black hair are laboring over a sharpie mural on the plywood wall, only stopping intermittently to do something that resembles a dance, but is more likely some ancient satanic ritual, their possessed bodies twisting along with those sweet bass lines. … read more