Thursday 28
That Grammy-winning animated band from Plastic Beach, Gorillaz, swings into Viejas Arena. It’s concept pop of the highest order, co-created by indie-rocker Damon Albarn (Blur) and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl). The virtual quartet (2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodles, and Russel Hobbs) is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful cartoon band ever. (They’re bigger than the Archies?) Their human counterparts, who you’ll see in front of the screen, are none too shabs themselves, featuring Albarn (“Woo-hoo!”), Clash cats Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto.... Drop the kidz off at State and head up Texas Street to AMSD Concerts’ Normal Heights showplace, where Scottish folk-rockers the Trashcan Sinatras will lay out their latest, In the Music — easy listening, folk fan: myspace.com/thetrashcansinatras.... Up thataway, speakeasy throwback Til Two (née Beauty Bar) is up and running and staging a triple treat, with a Heavy Hawaii record release, L.A. she-shredder Colleen Green, and local electro-bedsit upstarts Raw Moans...and them space cowboys from NYC, the Billy Nayer Show, land at Soda Bar with Roxy Jones and Conceptus.... Or you could go DOWN-TOWN, where Anthology will host a CD-release for the Jessie Davis and Darci Daniels duet disc It’s About Love...hip-hop meets rock at 4th&B, where Mr. Dubie and Willie Psycho spin their Turntables and Straitjackets tour...and post-punk quartet Grand Tarantula drops its new seven-inch, “I’m Not Gonna Let You Go,” at El Dorado with experimental-pop pack D/Wolves in support.
Friday 29
House of Blues hosts indie acts Portugal. The Man (I know) and White Denim. Portugal is a four-piece band from Wasilla, Alaska, that just released its fifth full-length, American Ghetto. I don’t know anyone who has heard it, but the experts at sputnikmusic say it’s excellent — 4 out of 5! The first 34 seconds of lead single “The Dead Dog” (I know, I know) didn’t suck. “Country-club rockers” White Denim hail from Austin, just self-released another fine platter called The Last Day of Summer, and wear their math-pop nice and tight. Seen them. Totally worth the price of admission, which is, like, $15 — pretty reasonable for a Friday-night hoedown at the House.... If, like me, payday’s still a week away, then Tin Can Ale House fills a six-dollar bill with a whole bunch of witch-house by White Ring (NY), King Dude (Seattle), Raw Moans (right here) and late-night DJin’ by Disaro Records dude — Mr. Witch House himself — Robert Disaro.... Nice post-punk double bill in North Park, where local supergroup Mrs. Magician will set the stage for L.A. big band (no kidding, there’re ten players) Jail Weddings at Soda Bar. Jail Weddings has got kind of a Birthday Party–era Nick Cave thing going on: myspace.com/jailweddings.... And Bay Park bar Brick by Brick bills local hard-rockers Accident Experiment, Fuzz Huzzi, and Unset for your recommended daily allowance of Marshall stacks and kickin’ ass.
Saturday 30
How many times am I going to have to tell you how much fun it is up at Pappy & Harriet’s high-desert hideaway before you follow me there? This could be the last time, dood, because the Folk Yeah Fest hits it Saturday night and the lineup is going to get your La-Z-Boy ASS in gear. Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Palace Brothers!), RTX (Royal Trux!), and J. Tillman (Fleet Foxes!). Are you folking kidding me? Get your camping shit together, and we’ll see you in Pioneertown.... Absolutely cannot make the break, then go catch Gary Wilson & the Blind Dates at Bar Pink...Warrant’s playing Ramona Main Stage...and pop tart Justin Beiber will be at the Valley View Casino Center. I know, So what, just wanted to see what it felt like to type Valley View Casino Center. (If you don’t know what/where that is, click to this week’s Blurt for the poop.)
Sunday 31
Monotonix, Burning of Rome, Ghetto Blaster, and Weatherbox will fill a bill with punky tricks and poppy treats at Casbah Halloween night. Monotonix is a garage-thrash trio from Tel Aviv that last year released its second on Drag City, Where Were You When It Happened? The live show is outrageous — in sound and fury, they are Israel’s answer to the Jesus Lizard. Yes, you can quote me, just don’t use my real name.... Parental advisory: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Miami, F-L-A’s 2 Live Crew rolls up on Fluxx Live. Brother Marquis and Fresh Kid Ice have got one in the hopper, their first in 12 years, called Just Wanna Be Heard. To check out lead single “Cougar,” click this: myspace.com/official2livecrew. I know, sounds nothing like the old Crew, but it’s got a beat and you can dance to it, and isn’t that, after all, what cougars want?... Italian electro-dance duo Bloody Beetroots play a Casbah-curated thing at House of Blues. I’m sure you and Wikipedia know a lot more about this shit than I do, so I’ll just cut and paste the tour note right here: “During their 2010 live tour they labeled themselves ‘The Bloody Beetroots — Death Crew 77’ and introduced a third member to their team, Edward Grinch, who plays the drums during the live shows”.... Uptown Halloween: John Reis will don his Slasher guise when the Sultans make a rare appearance at Bar Pink...and drum-and-bass duo the Dabbers will join piano-poppers Street of Little Girls to ring around the Whistle Stop.
Monday 1
Bunch of polite pop around town Monday night. Up north, Chicago troubadour Joe Pug and his Hundred Mile Band strum and hum the Dylan-flavored fare from Nation of Heat at the Loft at UCSD...and SoCal surf-pop singer-songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter brings his brand-new Glow to Belly Up. Two out of two Amazonians gave it five out of five gold stars.... From Champaign, Illinois, Elsinore sets up at Soda Bar. The indie-pop quartet is out to tout their sophomore set, Yes Yes Yes — like a little Belle with your Sebastian?
Tuesday 2
More Elephant Sixers coming through town this week, as psych-pop sextet Apples in Stereo plug in at Casbah. The friends of Frodo are enjoying a cache of critical praise for their seventh, Travellers in Space and Time. L.A. dark-pop act Fol Chen up first.
Wednesday 3
Belgium-born “body-music” band Nitzer Ebb flows into Brick by Brick. The synth-punk trio’s touring in support of their new one, Industrial Complex, and a box-set comp due to drop for the holidays. It’s pronounced NIGHT-zer, btw.... Else: Brooklyn electro-pop duo Small Black will play a Sezio date at Casbah behind their Jagjaguar debut A New Chain...and Oxford, Mississippi’s Colour Revolt will rock The Cradle at Bar Pink.
— Barnaby Monk
Thursday 28
That Grammy-winning animated band from Plastic Beach, Gorillaz, swings into Viejas Arena. It’s concept pop of the highest order, co-created by indie-rocker Damon Albarn (Blur) and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl). The virtual quartet (2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodles, and Russel Hobbs) is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful cartoon band ever. (They’re bigger than the Archies?) Their human counterparts, who you’ll see in front of the screen, are none too shabs themselves, featuring Albarn (“Woo-hoo!”), Clash cats Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto.... Drop the kidz off at State and head up Texas Street to AMSD Concerts’ Normal Heights showplace, where Scottish folk-rockers the Trashcan Sinatras will lay out their latest, In the Music — easy listening, folk fan: myspace.com/thetrashcansinatras.... Up thataway, speakeasy throwback Til Two (née Beauty Bar) is up and running and staging a triple treat, with a Heavy Hawaii record release, L.A. she-shredder Colleen Green, and local electro-bedsit upstarts Raw Moans...and them space cowboys from NYC, the Billy Nayer Show, land at Soda Bar with Roxy Jones and Conceptus.... Or you could go DOWN-TOWN, where Anthology will host a CD-release for the Jessie Davis and Darci Daniels duet disc It’s About Love...hip-hop meets rock at 4th&B, where Mr. Dubie and Willie Psycho spin their Turntables and Straitjackets tour...and post-punk quartet Grand Tarantula drops its new seven-inch, “I’m Not Gonna Let You Go,” at El Dorado with experimental-pop pack D/Wolves in support.
Friday 29
House of Blues hosts indie acts Portugal. The Man (I know) and White Denim. Portugal is a four-piece band from Wasilla, Alaska, that just released its fifth full-length, American Ghetto. I don’t know anyone who has heard it, but the experts at sputnikmusic say it’s excellent — 4 out of 5! The first 34 seconds of lead single “The Dead Dog” (I know, I know) didn’t suck. “Country-club rockers” White Denim hail from Austin, just self-released another fine platter called The Last Day of Summer, and wear their math-pop nice and tight. Seen them. Totally worth the price of admission, which is, like, $15 — pretty reasonable for a Friday-night hoedown at the House.... If, like me, payday’s still a week away, then Tin Can Ale House fills a six-dollar bill with a whole bunch of witch-house by White Ring (NY), King Dude (Seattle), Raw Moans (right here) and late-night DJin’ by Disaro Records dude — Mr. Witch House himself — Robert Disaro.... Nice post-punk double bill in North Park, where local supergroup Mrs. Magician will set the stage for L.A. big band (no kidding, there’re ten players) Jail Weddings at Soda Bar. Jail Weddings has got kind of a Birthday Party–era Nick Cave thing going on: myspace.com/jailweddings.... And Bay Park bar Brick by Brick bills local hard-rockers Accident Experiment, Fuzz Huzzi, and Unset for your recommended daily allowance of Marshall stacks and kickin’ ass.
Saturday 30
How many times am I going to have to tell you how much fun it is up at Pappy & Harriet’s high-desert hideaway before you follow me there? This could be the last time, dood, because the Folk Yeah Fest hits it Saturday night and the lineup is going to get your La-Z-Boy ASS in gear. Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Palace Brothers!), RTX (Royal Trux!), and J. Tillman (Fleet Foxes!). Are you folking kidding me? Get your camping shit together, and we’ll see you in Pioneertown.... Absolutely cannot make the break, then go catch Gary Wilson & the Blind Dates at Bar Pink...Warrant’s playing Ramona Main Stage...and pop tart Justin Beiber will be at the Valley View Casino Center. I know, So what, just wanted to see what it felt like to type Valley View Casino Center. (If you don’t know what/where that is, click to this week’s Blurt for the poop.)
Sunday 31
Monotonix, Burning of Rome, Ghetto Blaster, and Weatherbox will fill a bill with punky tricks and poppy treats at Casbah Halloween night. Monotonix is a garage-thrash trio from Tel Aviv that last year released its second on Drag City, Where Were You When It Happened? The live show is outrageous — in sound and fury, they are Israel’s answer to the Jesus Lizard. Yes, you can quote me, just don’t use my real name.... Parental advisory: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Miami, F-L-A’s 2 Live Crew rolls up on Fluxx Live. Brother Marquis and Fresh Kid Ice have got one in the hopper, their first in 12 years, called Just Wanna Be Heard. To check out lead single “Cougar,” click this: myspace.com/official2livecrew. I know, sounds nothing like the old Crew, but it’s got a beat and you can dance to it, and isn’t that, after all, what cougars want?... Italian electro-dance duo Bloody Beetroots play a Casbah-curated thing at House of Blues. I’m sure you and Wikipedia know a lot more about this shit than I do, so I’ll just cut and paste the tour note right here: “During their 2010 live tour they labeled themselves ‘The Bloody Beetroots — Death Crew 77’ and introduced a third member to their team, Edward Grinch, who plays the drums during the live shows”.... Uptown Halloween: John Reis will don his Slasher guise when the Sultans make a rare appearance at Bar Pink...and drum-and-bass duo the Dabbers will join piano-poppers Street of Little Girls to ring around the Whistle Stop.
Monday 1
Bunch of polite pop around town Monday night. Up north, Chicago troubadour Joe Pug and his Hundred Mile Band strum and hum the Dylan-flavored fare from Nation of Heat at the Loft at UCSD...and SoCal surf-pop singer-songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter brings his brand-new Glow to Belly Up. Two out of two Amazonians gave it five out of five gold stars.... From Champaign, Illinois, Elsinore sets up at Soda Bar. The indie-pop quartet is out to tout their sophomore set, Yes Yes Yes — like a little Belle with your Sebastian?
Tuesday 2
More Elephant Sixers coming through town this week, as psych-pop sextet Apples in Stereo plug in at Casbah. The friends of Frodo are enjoying a cache of critical praise for their seventh, Travellers in Space and Time. L.A. dark-pop act Fol Chen up first.
Wednesday 3
Belgium-born “body-music” band Nitzer Ebb flows into Brick by Brick. The synth-punk trio’s touring in support of their new one, Industrial Complex, and a box-set comp due to drop for the holidays. It’s pronounced NIGHT-zer, btw.... Else: Brooklyn electro-pop duo Small Black will play a Sezio date at Casbah behind their Jagjaguar debut A New Chain...and Oxford, Mississippi’s Colour Revolt will rock The Cradle at Bar Pink.
— Barnaby Monk