One Week in Loud Town
CityBeat's musical core sample
SUNDAY
At the Gates
(Music Box @ Fonda)
This more melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, broke up in 1996 but after announcing their reunion in 2007 made plans for a “Suicide Final Tour” in the U.S. with Darkest Hour and Municipal Waste. Repulsion will also be joining them at the Music Box for this show. At the Gates will be playing all old material, featuring the typical neoclassical melodies and unconventional song structures of their album released 10 years ago, Slaughter of the Soul. Does this band have a death wish or what? (GP)
Blue Hawaiians
(Bordello)
Local surf-rockers got a lot of heat after Pulp Fiction’s focus on Dick Dale got all the hipsters searching for the perfect wave. (It didn’t really do the same for Urge Overkill, though.) Fun music, fun time, but lots of people my age and up. Fresh-faced Echo Parkers, you may feel like you’re surrounded by parents – and you are. (RS)
Captain Ahab
(The Smell)
One (actually two, since they’re a duo) of local music’s Great Unclassifiables, this Captain holds forth from the prow of the good ship Smell several times a year, packing in a freight of gawky young weirdoes who leap with abandon at exquisitely gargled synthpop straight outen the Moroder-Mordor pit. There’s any number of disdainful old punk relics I’d love to haul to a CA show, just to see their habitual expressions change. Heh. (RG)
DEERHOOF
(Hollywood Bowl)
It doesn’t get much more legendary than Deerhoof when it comes to the experimental rock scene from San Francisco. Their music tests boundaries while remaining accessible, partially thanks to vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki’s adorable sound. The show they played last year at the Natural History Museum among dinosaur bones and stuffed mammal species was stellar, I wouldn’t expect less from them at the Bowl, let alone compeers Gnarls Barkley. (GP)
Gnarls Barkley
(Hollywood Bowl)
Just-released sophomore album The Odd Couple back in the spring plays off the mainstream’s perception of the group, when the combination is not odd, it’s nothing short of brilliant – Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo once again deliver an album that’s fresh, inventive, and experimental. It’s soulful with psychedelic lyrics, continuing the journey of their first album, St. Elsewhere, but in a more disconnected way that still makes sense. With Cee-Lo’s vocal abilities and Danger Mouse’s sick talent, this duo isn’t afraid to take risks – they’re a breath of fresh air. (HP)
The Secret Machines
(Viper Room)
This show is sold-out, so expect lucky ticket-holders to be packed to the Viper’s buttresses and breathing in shifts for this NYC psych-indie trio. They’re set to go on tour with proggy wonder boys Coheed & Cambria later this month, but theirs is the star wallow this Sunday night at the House That Depp Built. Sensible patrons will find a congenial niche on Larrabee Street, toke until they see day-glo paisley, and stagger in, taking care to avoid entanglement in the velvet rope. (RG)
MONDAY
The Leaving Trains
(The Scene)
Falling James Moreland built the Leaving Trains out of a first-wave punk act called the Mongrels back in the anno horribilis of 1980. A late-arriving, long-staying addition to the fabled L.A. punk mishigas, this band must be experienced by every L.A. rocker – watching the leggy Mr. Moreland careen this durably rattletrap stuff out of speakers is one of the ever-fewer ways left to plug into L.A.’s living rock history. Kind of like Sky Saxon but more fun and more frequent. (RG)
Jail Weddings
(Echo)
Had you been a teenager in love in jail in the ’50s, and you wanted to get married, this might just have been your band. They’d play you some nice doo-wop tunes before your conjugal visit. Part Everly Brothers, 100 percent AM radio gold. Also playing is onetime Beefheartian Moris Tepper, who scrogs up IFC at the opening credits of each and every brilliant episode of “Minor Inconveniences of Drunk Laura Kightlinger.” That’s what it’s called, yeah? (GP)
Willie Nile
(McCabe’s Guitar Shop)
McCabe’s is legendary for bringing incredible musicians to an intimate stage. Willie Nile, one who has wondered about the cell phones ringing in the pockets of the dead, is no exception. The talented singer/songwriter has been admired by everyone you admire, Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed ... here’s a great chance to admire him up close and in person. (GP)
The Starlite Desperation
(Echo)
This band was born with, like, seven tongues in its cheek. Their debut single “Hot for Preacher” has proven they have the talent for quirky lyrics and rocking guitar licks. If you’re too cool for yourself sometimes because you’re an L.A. hipster, you may just have to suck it up and go to this show. So you can stand at the back and make fun of all the other cool people who are too cool for you. (GP)
Under the Influence of Giants
(Spaceland)
This L.A.-based band’s appealing sound is somewhat mellow, a little bit pop, with catchy tunes and a honey-voiced singer – his high notes sound effortless. Their “sound” has yet to find a definite category; where you think they’re just a little rebellious with “Mama’s Room” they still resort back to the easy-listening “Lay Me Down.” All around, a band worth seeing live. (HP)
Published: 07/23/2008
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