A Bite From The Cobrasnake's B-Day Party @ Cinespace

Tongues and Trees in Pomona Tonight!

Two buzz bands storm the far east of Los Angeles when Neon Trees and Paper Tongues stop in Pomona at The Glass House tonight.

Both have been extremely active this summer on the Bang The Gong Tour, but Paper Tongues has been a beast on the road. The 7 piece band makes their stop amidst an 18 month tour as they parade the same talents that got the 7 member group signed by Randy Jackson. With talk show appearances recently on Jimmy Fallon and George Lopez, buzz on MTV, stops at major festivals like Bonnaroo and movement on the billboard charts with the song "Trinity" from their March 30, 2010 self titled release Paper Tongues, eastern Los Angeles is catching this band at the right time.

Paper Tongues

Paper Tongues hail from the other side of the country, but the band and their music still reflect the same American melting pot that LA bands do. The septet from Charlotte's sound is hard to define as it embraces elements from hip-hop, funk, soul and all the way to rock all at once. This might be expected when you have members of the band from all walks of life and cultures, from vocalist Aswan North to pianist Cody Blackler, but their blend is different than what you might have heard before. Tonight, 2009's "Ride To California" might be a fan favorite, but the band offers something for everyone, no matter where they are from.

Neon Trees, on the other hand, is a bit more of a niche group. They are part of the new breed of indie-rock and their sound, best exhibited on the charting and catchy "Animal," reflects their exposure to some of the bands they have opened for, like The Killers. The rest of their 2010 release Habits (which actually came out 2 weeks before Paper Tongues) carves them out as a new talent on the indie scene. Songs with toe tapping rhythm and easily repeatable lyrics, like "Sins of My Youth" and "Calling My Name," suggest this band is not going anywhere.

Unlike PT, Neon Trees are also close to their roots here in California. Not only are some of the band members originally from California (Temecula), but their name is a homage to the neon glow surrounding Cali's esteemed In-N-Out.

Check out more from them on their myspace page and do the same for Paper Tongues on theirs.

Midnight Juggernauts in Town for 2 Nights!

The fun party that is Midnight Juggernauts swings into town tonight at Echoplex and tomorrow at Cinespace (for Dimmak Tuesdays). You may recall some of their anthems from the 2008 album Dystopia, like "Shadows" which you've heard often and just didn't know the title of. Check out the video here.

But, their tour is truly in support of their soon to be released follow up Crystal Axis. Their 2 LA plays to kick off this week are their last stops stateside before they head back home to Australia for a series of August shows. Don't miss your last chance to potentially get dirty with the Juggernauts in California in 2010!

Teen Inc. @ Pershing Square TONIGHT

Come join us downtown at Pershing Square for the 1st installment of 2010's Spaceland Under The Stars Concerts, which are part of the Summer Concert Series downtown at Pershing Square. Every show is free, and this one is poised to be a special night not only because the catchy, somewhat mysterious Teen Inc. are performing - but also because Peanut Butter Wolf, the ambassador of Stones Throw, will be spinning some tasty tuneage.

SUPERGOODMUSIC will have a booth - so come say what's up, take a sticker and see what else we may have to give away!

Hard L.A. - NOT HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

Hard LA is no longer taking place this Saturday in Downtown Los Angeles and the news couldn't be more souring. Just days after M.I.A.'s third album, Maya, dropped, she will no longer be headlining L.A.'s version of the roaming electro party and not playing new bangers ("XXXO", "Teqkilla", "Born Free" & "Steppin Up") as well as old favorites ("Galang", "Paper Planes", "Come Around", "Sunshowers" and any Piracy Funds Terrorism mix up).

Although she remains as a headliner forHARD NYC taking place on July 24th in NYC, she will not be returning with the other HARD LA event taking place on August 7th. Not only does LA miss out on what certainly would have been a memorable M.I.A. performance, but other artists who were on the bill (like 12th Planet, Die Antwoord and N.E.R.D.) will not be at the event taking place on 7th.

For those of you that purchased tickets - your tickets are good for the August 7th event or you can learn about refund options here. As an additional consolation, there is now a Die Antwoord show at the El Rey; Destructo will also be playing.

HARD LA's website does not specifically state why the event was cancelled, but did explicitly mention that it was not amidst safety concerns - despite conflicting reports from many other websites. Other rumors have circulated that lackluster ticket sales and/or the recently established rave safety task force's concerns are reasons for the cancellation.

Hey Rosetta! @ Hotel Cafe (Photos from Jim Donnelly)

Check out these sexy photos from Hey Rosetta!'s performance at The Hotel Cafe last week on June 24th. The photography was provided courtesy of Jim Donnelly Photo. He tells us the show was quite a thrill and the pictures make it look like it was an intimate hootenanny. You can catch more of his photography and learn more about his work here.

Saint Motel Checks Into Hammer Museum

July opened up with a bang like fireworks when Saint Motel tore down the gallery for the capacity crowd at Hammer Museum last night. Gathered for the first installment of KCRW's "Also I Like To Rock" series, presented in conjunction with fellow music aficionado, Kevin Bronson, and his Buzzbands LA, the crowd was treated to one of the finer performance groups to mature out of Los Angeles recently.

We say performance group because Saint Motel is not just a band; Saint Motel is a fucking experience. Armed with the forces of a charming front man with a killer smile and vocals to boot (A/J Jackson), a funky Vietnamese base maestro (Dak), a porno-mustached guitar wizard (Sharp) and the drum general himself (Greg) - this quartet is going to be a household brand name soon if not already. With an educational background in film, these guys not only play instruments but also put on a multimedia extravaganza at each performance.




Thursday's party was no different - as A/J had a camera on his mic, Sharp had a camera down the neck of his guitar and one of the band mate's mothers paraded around the crowd with a portable camera. Shove all that footage into a blender and splice in some random old movies, blank screens and the occasional SAINT MOTEL word image and it becomes a constantly changing piece of artwork. Although the band did not wear their typical themed attire, which adds to the spectacle because their costumes are also part of the experience, the band was dressed to well in button downs, the occasional suspenders and some hipster shoes. Beyond the visuals and dress, being in the setting of the Hammer's courtyard made the show feel almost magical.




Opening with my personal favorite "Do Everything Now", the band wasted no time in piquing the interest of newcomers who'd only heard of the band as part of KCRW's recent push of the performance and the song "Butch", which was KCRW's download of the day earlier in the week.
After playing a non ForPlay song as #2, whose title I don't yet know, the band returned to their stellar EP material rifling off "Pity Party" and "Dear Dictator" with relative ease. Side note, you can check out their video for the Sam Sparro remix of Dear Dictator exclusively on Filter here.




Despite having already gone through my favorites (Now and Dictator), I could tell that there was an energy in the crowd that wasn't going to erupt until the boys delivered "Butch." When they dropped the KCRW trending song, the crowd exploded and, as usual, the quartet exceeded expectations - their enthusiasm and energy permeating the crowd from their perched point on the stage, even pulling some participation from the balcony level.

I chatted it up with the insider and fan based crowd before trying to squeeze my way into the packed merchandise area to acquire the sexy Saint Motel V-Neck. In addition to the tee, I tried my best to get some Saint Motel Herbie Hancock's on my breasts, but the scores of fans waiting for their photo opportunity ultimately wore on my patience and I decided I'd give A/J, Sharp, Dak and Greg the honor of sharpie-ing my chesticles some other day....perhaps at Sunset Junction, their next Los Angeles performance (as of now).