The Little Ones and Pity Party at the Hammer Museum Courtyard, 12 July

The Little Ones’ sound is kind of like The Futureheads meet Polyphonic Spree and smoke weed with them on Maui. Like an all night beach party on some far off tropical island where even though the rum has run out, nobody's going home because the pounding dance rhythms and blazing melodies have us all in a euphoric dancing frenzy. This crew has talent to spare. Musical chops, good taste and a sense that each member knows their place in any given tune and although each are jamming their brains out they don't step on each others toes. Their hit that has been picked up on local radio, ‘Lovers Who Uncover’, sticks in your brain after one listening, and especially after being played every half hour on the radio. It teeters just on the brink so I can’t decide whether it is a blatant rip off of The Futureheads ‘Meantime’, or a catchy as hell ditty from a local band that coincidentally happens to eerily resemble it

The Pity Party is, sadly, an aptly named duo that belts out an impressive array of screeches, squawks and thumps to an electronic beat. They also appear to be ambidextrous which with a little work should serve them well drumming with one hand and tamping the keyboard with the other. Quite interesting as a concept, but the results were grating on the ears. The audience was fleeing to the balcony. This band could gain useful intelligence from Al Qaeda without leaving a single scar simply by exposing them to their sound. The pity was that we were there listening to it for no good reason.

Pink Enemy and Black Market at Spaceland Club NME, 19 July

Club NME, a weekly promotion at Spaceland started out being a showcase for music from the UK, and oddly has turned into just the opposite, a showcase for local LA bands.

Pink Enemy’s second show ever was better than their first one. Energy level and original tracks on their laptop make them worth a listen. Singing in unison while wildly prancing about the stage take real talent...doesn't it? Well perhaps not but it does take practice so we give them a nod for a good effort and waking up the room, not to mention attracting a respectable cult following in record short time. The lead singer definitely took a page from the book of Blood Arm, kind of like Blood Arm meets The Go Team with sound samples blaring out of what sounds like an ancient one piece stereo that is about to explode from the pain. Somehow out of that, insidiously catchy melodies and irresistible energy comes through, especially in ‘Wolf Gang Toys’.

Black Market’s formulaic punk metal served up by four lads who work hard at mimicking their rock heroes cause all their tunes sound vaguely like some annoying tune that you only hear bits of here and there as you scan the radio dial for something worth your while. You would think with half an hour of random notes, four musicians would just by chance be in the same key at some point, yet they manage to avoid that, which must be some kind of a record.

Seriously at ClubTatou 14 July
Seriously’s R&Bemo sound is boy-band R&B that blazes into serious emo, especially on their radio favorite, ‘Humility’. Their energy and melodic soul stands out in the ‘too cool to care’ LA landscape. This Santa Monica based underage band is forced to get gigs at over 21 clubs since the under 21 music scene in LA is sparse at best, based upon the drinking age.

We asked Seriously about how the ‘underage teen scene’ in LA is treating them.

“Recently, we had a couple gigs at 21+ clubs. It's funny because me, Nathan, and Chris are frail, underaged boys and we are definitely treated differently! For instance, at our recent gig, the security guard took our drivers license when we entered the club. Honestly, I was so confused when he took our license. At one point I thought that this was completely normal, being new to this club thing! But, obviously, I was very wrong!” - Philip (Drummer, Seriously)

”Going to 21+ night clubs and playing there as a 19 year old is pretty cool and something to brag about to your friends that are under 21. The teen music scene also seems a much more open crowd compared to college, as it seems the older you get, the more you become fastened to certain types of music.” -Chris (Lead Vocals/Guitar, Seriously)

“It's been quite a crazy ride. We have been performing in 21+ clubs as of late, and although there exists some degree of excitement in our performing in a place where we're underage, our primary fanbase, along with our friends, are prohibited from attending our shows! We definitely would not have gotten this far without our fans; knowing that they support us from the outside is encouraging, but this 21+ business gives me the feeling that our shows are incomplete without our fans and friends. Oh well, I guess this will put our true fans to the test--wait a couple years!” (note from June: or get a fake ID) -Nathan (Electric Guitar, Seriously)


 

June Caldwell lives amidst drawers stuffed with an array of earplugs, clipped wristbands, and notes scrawled on ticket stubs… splitting her time between concert reviews, and doing radio airplay promotions for Indie bands at Bryan Farrish Radio Promotions. She covers the LA music scene for artrocker.com, the largest bi-weekly new music publication in the UK, and www.fly.co.uk with her shutterbug hubby Roger.

June’s always interested in Indie bands looking for promotion, and can be contacted at: junejer@gmail.com.