Nike / Filter Present: NIKE BE TRUE FAMILY REUNION 2008 w/ Cool Kids & NO AGE, 6/1/08

What a fucking fun day! I drove with my sister to a random parking lot on Laurel and Sunset Blvd. just before 2 PM, where a shuttle bus took us for at least a 15 minute ride up into the Hollywood hills. We arrived at a giant gate that was the entrance to the most amazing mansion that felt like it was on the top of the world. The view was incredible and I could not spot anywhere else that was higher than us.

There were two giant inflatable slip 'n slides, a dunk tank (where you could win free Nike dunks if you knocked the big black guy in the water), tether ball, delicious BBQ that consisted of veggie patties, BBQ chicken, BBQ beef sliders, BBQ baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, etc. and to drink there was iced tubs of various soda and mini Fiji water bottles. There were also two bars serving up Belvedere vodka mixed drinks and some type of expensive rum (that I hadn't heard of nor do I remember) and mojitos. The bartenders were smoking hot and super friendly with the crowd.

First up on stage was a hip hop orchestra conducted by Double G. Now I would definitely not consider myself a fan of hip hop or rap, but these guys were really good and it was pretty amazing to see an actual orchestra conducting hip hop instrumentals on stage. There were flutes, trompones, trumpets, bass, saxophone, keyboards, etc. They sounded terrific and even toyed with some jazzy sounds as well. I was really blown away.

Next up were Chicago's "The Cool Kids" who have been getting a decent amount of buzz lately. They looked young. I bumped into Mapi of KXLU radio, and she told me one of them were only 20 years old. Cool Kids consists of two rappers and a dj behind the table in the background. I think they sounded okay, but again, i am not a hip hop fan, so if you are, please check them out!

About 30 minutes after Cool Kids, No Age took the stage. They had just been picked up from LAX after returning from Dublin. Guitarist Randy Randall wore an Atlas Sound t-shirt (if you like Deerhunter check them out, they're fronted by singer Brad Cox). Drummer/singer Dean Spunt sported a walking cane, which he explained to the crowd he acquired after injuring himself when trying to sneak into a children's bathroom at a show in Germany, because they charge people to use the restrooms there. Maybe he should change his name to Dean Cane. Haha. Get it?

Anyway, they played a set that didn't change much from when I saw them open for the Liars at the El Rey a couple months ago, although this time, the crowd was a much more tame. They also played a few tracks off the more melodic and rhythmic new album "Nouns". A lot of people were there for the hip hop stuff so they left when all that was done, but I spotted a small group of The Smell regulars who were there to support Dean and Randy, and everyone was soaking up the rays and enjoying there drinks in the mid 70 degree ridiculously comfortable and clear sunny weather. They ended right around 6 PM and the crowd cleared slowly thereafter.

Be sure to catch No Age next Sunday, June 8th, with breakfast at The Smell with Mika Miko and Abe Vigoda! It's only $5, and they're going to have pancakes! Please join me and don't be afraid to stop by and say hi! The syrupy madness starts at 11 AM.











NO AGE - TEEN CREEPS live @ BE TRUE:


Pray to Jesus and Mary...



WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!


Random + Crowd Pics...





Stay tuned for Double G + Hip Hop Orchestra vids, No Age live video, and The Cool Kids pics!

The Little Pieces / The Voyeurs @ Mariposa Cafe, 5/23/08

When you're invited to go watch a buddy's band play and they know you do show reviews, the initial anxiety can be a tricky thing to defeat. Regardless of who the people are, the first thoughts I have are "Will I like them?" followed by "Fuck. If I'm not into them, they're going to bug me about it for weeks and I'm just going to have to tell them I wasn't into them!"

Well, I'll tell you one thing, I am NOT one to give false compliments. I'm either positively honest, negatively critical, or hush hush. When it comes to a friend's band, I'd honestly rather skip the entire blog review rather than complain about me not enjoying their performance.

Thankfully, I did not have to worry about that with The Little Pieces @ Mariposa Cafe on Friday night (which had a similar feel and laid back atmosphere of San Pedro's Sacred Grounds, RIP). I already had a copious amount of enthusiasm since I already caught them a couple months ago at Charlie O's in downtown LA (see embedded videos below from that performance). Also, knowing that this group is fronted by none other than John Giovanni Boskovich, who is the best local guitarist I know, did not hurt either.

Immediately I spotted the genre and artist influences. I'd say that post-punk and old school 70's New York punk are probably the biggest influences. I've seen Stephen Malkmus twice and I'd say there's hints of his sound in the guitar licks and vocal stylings as well, but mostly, I really hear a good amount of Television's Tom Verlaine (and Patti Smith, a necessary comparison by association) and The Rapture's Luke Jenner in his vocals.

Bassist Alex Rubio and drummer Donovan provide incredible balance to John's guitar, most notably on the solo for the track "Periphery of Pop", where a stomped out bass line really carries us through the solo while we stomp our feet and bob our heads in the crowd.

J. Giovanni handles the switch from really incredible rhythm intro guitar into verses, choruses, bridges, and solos. A lot of bands utilize more than one guitarist to handle this task, but this guy's got all the talent needed in just one package. (It's no wonder he's been in multiple bands and teaches guitar on the side.)

He plays through a sunburst brown Fender Jazzmaster which already gained him a bunch of points in my book, and has it plugged through just a few pedals and into a 70s silverface Fender Twin! This amp produces those sweet sweet "hot knife-through-butter" reverby rhythms and solos that sound like you're listening to a band play in a grand cathedral from down the hall. This is the kind of heavenly sound where when you hear it, you look around the room until you spot someone else in complete awe who understands the importance of tone. At this split second, you both smile and nod heads in unison, for at this moment in time, you have made the connection of the mutual realization of amazement, and you realize you have stumbled upon something great before it hits the fan.

I am already hooked, and you will be too. Go check out The Little Pieces at Three Clubs on June 5th, and a private birthday show at Babe's Warehouse Long Beach on June 6th. 

Additional pics from a backyard show at Chris Bautista's House on 5/26/08, Memorial Day:

Live videos of The Little Pieces at Charlie O's on 4/18/08:

Here is a cover they did of The Beat's "Rock and Roll Girl":


Periphery of Pop:


Sweet Little Friend:


The Voyeurs, who are still just a few months into their infancy (but years deep in experience) opened for The Little Pieces tonight. They have been reduced to just two members (singer/Nordist/guitarist Jon Hylander and drummer Sean Johnson). To be 100% honest with you, my friend Sean and I both agreed that they actually benefited from the simplicity of just two members. They are not far off from what they used to be, only now, there is more of a focus on the keys and drums, with guitar occasionally taking over. They covered The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon", which was pretty awesome, being as it is one of my top three favorite Kinks' songs! At this performance, I also noticed something not realized before: a similarity in sound to Philadelphia's incredible Man Man, one of my favorite live bands of all time!!! Rock on Hylander and Johnson, rock on! (PLEASE NOTE: This wasn't my first time catching The Voyeurs; I know this is a little backwards since they in fact opened, but my emphasis in this review is on The Little Pieces because I just reviewed The Voyeurs recently.)

The Voyeurs @ Comic Bug, Manhattan Beach, 3/21/08

Rockin'? Absolutely. Poppy? For sure. Catchy? Hell yes. South Bay music giants John Hylander (lead vocals, keys, guitar), his cousin Joe Hylander (guitar), Jesse Hoffman (bass), and Sean Johnson (drums) make up the quintet "The Voyeurs", which includes 3/4 of "E>K>U>K" (which was forced to disengage after Raymond left the band).

The Voyeurs are here to serve you up generous garage sized pop portions of harmonious crunch and just enough Big Muff to leave you wanting more. They play short shows because they are still a fresh new band. How do they differ from E>K>U>K? Well, they're less jangly, less explosive, and more mature. The vocal harmonies are much more up front, there's more balance between uppers and downers, there's more of a folky psych loungey vibe on some tracks, and they sort of have that 60s British Invasion sound. Think The Kinks and The Zombies. Also, I don't recall keyboards or acoustic guitars on many or any E>K>U>K songs.

This band definitely has a lot more early 20's talent than most bands in the South Bay (not that there's many to choose from). Sean Johnson (the only great local drummer that I know besides Maxwell Demon's Martin Avelar) pounds through each song with extreme energy, and his facial expressions and arching eyebrows definitely make drumming look exciting as hell. It's no wonder he's been in so many great bands since the days of high school: local surf giants from the past "From", "E>K>U>K", and currently, the jazzy Zappaesque "Vaudeville". Now, I'm not going to lie, I don't know much about drums, but I do know that in some bands, the drummer goes completely unnoticed and serves little help to the band besides being a human metronome. Not Sean Johnson. When you're good, you're good...this guy is fucking incredible.

John Hylander, the local recording engineer mastermind, plays the Nord Electro 2 keyboard, which adds a great subtle psychedelic pop touch to their tunes, and you know what? I realized something was never evident in the past...his vocals actually sound a great deal like Dave Grohl's, especially when the choruses kick in. And Joe Hylander kinda looks like Kurt Cobain, too! I'm sure these guys are grateful there's no Novoselic lookalike in the mix.

Jesse Hoffman and Joe Hylander of the mindblowing "Fragments of an Imagination" (formerly known as "JH and the Squares" both stand near each other as if channeling

each other's confidence and statute skills on bass and guitar; they may be the youngest in the band, but that doesn't mean they don't know what they're doing. They both make their tasks look extremely easy. I've seen these guys improvise jamming before, and they definitely know their shit.

Stay tuned for these guys...they all have the skills to backup success, the friendly personalities to keep you hanging out after the show is done, and a dedicated local fanbase. Keep the scene alive, and go check them out at Charlie O's in downtown LA on May 8th, Mariposa Cafe in LA on May 17th, All Star Lanes on June 29th, and the 4th of July at

Mr. T's Bowl in Highland Park! They will be sharing the stages with The Henry Clay People, The Rolling Blackouts, and The Monolators!

The Voyeurs - Things That People Say, 3/21/08

Neon Neon @ The Viper Room, 3/18/08

Neon Neon is a collaboration between Gruff Rhys (frontman of Super Furry Animals) and musician/producer Boom Bip.  They are probably the most convincing 80's throwback band I have seen, and they sound just amazing live.  Full and fat synths, keytars,  cowbells, double necked bass and guitars...they've definitely got the instrumentation down.  

Neon Neon got everyone (yes, EVERYONE!) shaking their hips and bobbing their heads this St. Patty's day at the Viper Room.  They played tracks off their debut Stainless Style, including "I Told Her On Alderaan", "I Lust U", "Belfast", and "Raquel".

The biggest surprise of the night was the amazingly entertaining and overweight Har Mar Superstar, who raps on a couple album tracks, but I had no clue he'd actually be touring with them.  He sweated the night away with his performance of "Sweat Shop" where he apparently freestyled most of the song because the lyrics weren't the same on the album.

Outside the Viper Room were a couple DeLorean's, just chilling.  They had to be on tour with Neon Neon because people were taking pictures in them and they were open to the public.

Go catch Neon Neon while you still can; the two frontmen are extremely busy with other main projects, and this band may not be around for long.

I couldn't help but go crazy with the effects on this one:

Beach House @ Echoplex, 3/13/08

This show was originally scheduled for The Echo, but when they pushed the early show from 6:30 to 8:30, and then realized the amount of people that were in line, they moved it downstairs (literally) to the Echoplex.

Balitmore's Beach House is consisted of singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand, and guitarist Alex Scally (who has only been playing guitar for 4 years, when the band formed!).  Together they craft tranquilizing tunes and melancholy melodies that have been known to produce an opiate like effect on listeners.  This ain't your Friday night jamz (don't click on that, and don't say I didn't warn you!); these are downer songs...but everyone needs a downer sometimes, right?

The Echoplex filled up with a room full of scenester zombies, who didn't talk much, didn't move much, hell, I don't even know if they were breathing.  But that's the way it goes when you're the living dead, I suppose.  

They opened with album opener "Wedding Bell" off their amazing recently released sophomore LP Devotion.  WOW!  This isn't shoegaze, I don't understand why they needed the volume so damn high!  It did not help their sound at all!  

They went on to play tracks such as "You Came to Me", "Apple Orchard", and Devotion's first single "Gila", which is indie's answer to that really fucking Rihanna song "Umbrella".  God I hate that shit so much.

Highlight of the night?  Answer: THE DAILY DOUBLE!  What is: a very drowsy cover of Daniel Johnston's "Some Things Last"!

Beach House sounded just as good live as on their two albums, which I absolutely fucking love, by the way, and highly recommend going to pick them up RIGHT NOW!   I would not rush to see them at a standing venue again, however, as this is music best suited for mopy midnight mattress melt-aways (what a great band name!).   They are about to embark upon a large European tour with some Washington's finest Fleet Foxes, one of my favorite new artists of the year!!!

Beach House - Gila