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Hope you’re enjoying Buzz Bands LA’s recent playlists — and finding some value in the notes posted about each entry below. Anything you’d like to see more of? Leave a comment.
That said, here’s the behemoth Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 280), 33 songs and two hours strong. As is my bent, it kicks off with assorted things like indie-rock and folk, but then there’s a big slab of mind-expanding experimental music that is … well, moving my dial. So press play to hear new tracks from Julia Holter, KÁRYYN, Tara Jane O’Neil, Amy Aileen Wood, Mount Kimbie and Claire Rousay, along with new rockers from the Rocky Valentines, Lone Kodiak, Benches, the Pretty Flowers, Near Beer, Edie Anderson, EELS, Peel and Charles Moothart. Additionally, there are songs from forthcoming albums by Chicano Batman, Lawrence Rothman, Phem, Thee Sinseers, Janelane, Luna Shadows and Rosie Tucker. And other assorted finds.
Oh, and there’s a cool surprise from Medicine, too, for you Bandcamp Friday shoppers.
Did I mention there was a lot?
■ The Rocky Valentines, “Sing the Song” — Second-generation indie-rocker Charles Martin (son of Starlfyer 59’s Jason) announces his debut album, “Erase” (out March 29 via Velvet Blue Music), with the big crunchy guitars of “Sing the Song,” which sounds like a radio hit from, oh, 1995?
■ Edie Anderson, “You Never Knew” — Seventeen-year-old Edie Anderson (who also plays in Vaquita) will release her debut album, “You Never Knew,” on March 8. She counts the Bangles, the Donnas, and the Go-Gos as personal heroes, and you can hear a little of that on the title track (and more over the course of the whole album). Stay tuned for live dates.
■ Lawrence Rothman, “LAX” (feat. Amanda Shires) — The follow-up to “Poster Child,” “LAX” is the second single from Rothman’s new album “The Plow That Broke the Plains,” out April 26. This one’s a collaboration with Amanda Shires (whose album “Take It Like a Man” Rothman produced). Check out the video here. Live April 25 at the Lodge Room.
■ Medicine, “The Night Before” — Yes, that Medicine and that “She Said She Said.” If you seek for Bandcamp Friday purchase, or a slab of vinyl that’s sure to make you a cool kid, look no further than “On the Bed” (out today), from the legendary Brad Laner and Medicine. It’s not exactly a covers album of Beatles and Beatles-adjacent songs, but it’s described as “appreciations, interpretations and ruminations.” Fab. Fore!
■ Chicano Batman, “Era Primavera” — The follow-up to “Fly,” “Era Primavera” reveals singer-lyricist Bardo Martinez’s fondness for 1960s Latin ballads, complete with strings and backing vocals (supplied in this case by Martha González of Quetzal with her son and two of his cousins). Chicano Batman’s new album “Notebook Fantasy” is out March 29 and they play the Kia Forum on June 29, with the Red Pears opening.
■ KÁRYYN, “The REAL” — We’ve followed sonic traveler Kárin Tatoyan across genres and continents since her nascent days in L.A., as she fiercely turned her examinations of love, grief and human interaction into experimental electronic music that, well, borders on the paranormal. 2019 finally brought her debut album, the thoroughly immersive “The Quanta Series.” She’s now back with two new singles, “Anthem for Those Who Know,” released in January, and “The REAL,” released last week.
■ Julia Holter, “Evening Mood” — “Something in the Room She Moves,” the new album from composer Julia Holter, is out March 22, and “Evening Mood” is another of the album’s spellbinding, elegant sonic excursions. Live May 3 at the El Rey Theatre.
■ Amy Aileen Wood, “Rolling Stops” (feat. Fiona Apple) — Known as a drummer nonpareil, Amy Aileen Wood has long flown under the radar despite her roles as a player/collaborator for formidable talents. (Her playing and production on Fiona Apple’s Grammy-winning “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” only reinforced her legend.) After working with myriad artists, she’s finally working on a solo project, and considering her pedigree, its fearless experimental bent is no surprise. Wood’s album “The Heartening” will be out May 3, and of the opening track “Rolling Stops,” she says: “It began with a drum take, shaped and slowed down by producer Pete Min, setting the tone. I then added layers of percussion and Kalimba. Inviting friends Fiona Apple, Sebastian Steinberg, Wayne Whittaker and Nicole McCabe to contribute unfiltered, spontaneous takes propelled this musical exploration to new heights.” Prepare to be mesmerized.
■ Mount Kimbie, “Fishbrain” — Mount Kimbie, now a four-piece, with the duo of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos joined by longtime players Andrea Balency-Béarn and Marc Pell, will release their new album “The Sunset Violent” on April 18. Their “Joshua Tree” perhaps? The album was made in the Yucca Valley, inspired, the press release says, from the remote region, its UFO sightings, vast nothingness and an unexpected sushi joint (see “Fishbrain”). Live May 18 at the El Rey Theatre.
■ Tara Jane O’Neil, “Curling” — Recorded by Tara Jane O’Neil at her home studio in Ojai (built on the ashes of a home lost in the Thomas Fire), “Cool Cloud of Okayness” is, at the very least, the best title for an ambient-leaning album we’ve ever heard. The album is out April 26, and “Curling” thrums along, taking you to a better place. “Like mantra, propulsion, persuasion, ‘Curling’ is a repetitive drone piece, rendered as a lively jam,” O’Neil says. “Lyrically this became a portrait of a shapeshifter — transforming, transfiguring, evolving and surviving. With an eye toward the queer kids coming up in my hometown during this era of legislative oppression against inclusion, expression and safety.” O’Neil performs April 12 at Zebulon.
■ Claire Rousay, “ily2” (feat. Hand Habits) — Claire Rousay finds emotional heft in sonic subtlety on “ily2,” the second single from the album “Sentiment,” out April 19. Live April 27 at 2220 Arts + Archives.
■ Matt Champion, “Slug” — A Texas native and former linchpin in the hip-hop collective Brockhampton, Champion has released a pair of solo singles this year, and the latest, “Slug,” finds him (somewhat surprisingly) doing some high-wire disco. See Anna Pollock’s video for the track, and check out Champion’s Valentine’s Day single “Aphid” (a collaboration with Dijon) as well.
■ Phem, “Cheerleader” (feat. Waterparks) — Indie-rock drummer turned producer/featured vocalist/alt-pop enigma Phem (fka Liphemra) finds a collaborator in Waterparks’ Awsten Knight on the perky “Cheerleader,” the first song from her forthcoming debut album. It follows a robust 2023 during which Phem released four singles.
■ Peel, “OMG” — The L.A. duo of Sean Cimino and Isom Innis will release their album “Acid Star” on March 29, and “OMG” is the follow-up to “Climax” and “Y2J.” The new song, Innis says, is “about a psychedelic experience I had with my wife where I could see all these beautiful geometric shapes shooting from her forehead. Looking back, I think we tapped into a nostalgic space where a lot of musical ideas flowed in a very short amount of time.”
■ EELS, “Time” — There’s a 15th full-length coming from Mark Oliver Everett. “EELS TIME!” (out June 7) starts with the acoustic guitar-led “Time,” and it’s worth yours.
■ Rosie Tucker, “Paperclip Maximizer” — Rosie Tucker is rare artist who can lyrically alliterate (“A paragon of puritanical panoptical persistence”), and we’ll just nod and think, “Yeah, of course, go for it.” Like previous released single “All My Exes Live in Vortexes,” “Paperclip Maximizer” will appear on Tucker’s all-caps new album “UTOPIA NOW!,” out March 22.
■ Franky Fox, “Café Triste” — The onetime main man in Franky Flowers started releasing solo singles last year. The pop nugget “Café Triste” is his latest, and his debut EP will be out March 25.
■ Guppy, “Dog (Made Me Do It)” — Indie darlings Guppy (Julia Lebow, Marc Babcock, Kabir Kumar and Ian Cohen) are somehow even more darling on “Dog (Made Me Do It)” than they were on last fall’s “Texting and Driving.” “I ate my own homework / The dog made me do it / He watched as I slobbered / But I could intuit,” indeed. Woof. Live March 31 at Scribble.
■ Benches, “Naive” — San Diego-bred Benches (fka Ignant Benches) deal in ’90s/’00s-style indie-rock. “Naive,” the follow-up to their 2023 single “Crash,” is from an EP that the band — Anson Kelley, Ethan Bowers, Evan Ojeda and Charlie Baird — will release later this year. Live April 26 at the Regent Theater and April 27 at the Glass House, supporting IDKhow.
■ Lone Kodiak, “Obvious States” — Lone Kodiak’s debut album, “If We Have a Future,” both rips and is ripped, balancing the muscular and ethereal. RIYL: Hum, Failure. Also recommended, the band’s video for “Obvious States,” composed of footage from frontman Dainéal Parker’s wedding in the Scottish Highlands.
■ The Pretty Flowers, “Police Me” — OG indie-rockers the Pretty Flowers flexed last summer with their second full-length, “A Company Sleeve.” Guitars blazing, “Police Me” is the first single from Noah Green (ex-Henry Clay People), Sam Tiger, Jake Gideon and Sean Johnson since. Live March 23 at Permanent Records Roadhouse, with Gentlemen Rogues and the Spires.
■ Near Beer, “Your Favorite Band” — Speaking of Henry Clay People, their other offshoot band, Near Beer, is back with their first releases in a year. Potty-mouthed and prickly, “Your Favorite Band” further the raucous energy of their 2022 self-titled album. The other release from the quintet — Joey Siara, Brent Stranathan and Jeremy Levy, now with Joel Wall and Stephen Kirkham — is “Al Pacino,” a janglier but no less anthemic power-pop volley.
■ Ariella, “Blindsided” — Ariella Fett has released a handful of singles under her full name, and she’s played around as Ariella the Band. She releases “Blindsided” as simply Ariella, and no matter the moniker the intimate song is a piece of folk-rock magic. More is one the way from the L.A. native, who studied at CalArts and spent a yearlong residence in Nashville.
■ Charles Moothart, “Little Egg” — “Little Egg” is the latest single from Ty Segall accomplice Charles Moothart, whose debut album “Black Holes Don’t Choke” is out March 8. Live March 15 at Pappy & Harriet’s and April 20 at Zebulon.
■ Daniel Brouns, “Lizard Killer” — Pour one out for the reptile. “Lizard Killer” is the first single from Daniel Brouns’ debut album, “Stock Music for the Cosmos,” made with Goon’s Kenny Becker. Says Brouns: “‘Lizard Killer’ is about the first experience I remember having with death. My brother had brought his class pet lizard home for us to take care of for one month. One morning we woke up and found that the lizard had died. I was distraught and felt like I had committed a heinous crime. My parents saw my pain and asked if I would like to have a funeral for the lizard. I sobbed the entire time. I even dug up the lizard after the funeral and asked my parents if we could pray for the lizard to come back to life.”
■ Thee Sinseers, “Hold On” — Grab your slow-dance partner for the latest souldie from Thee Sinseers, whose album “Sinseerly Yours” will be out March 22. They perform live that night at the Belasco, joined by the Altons.
■ Dylan Chambers, “High (When I’m Low)” — None other than Dave Koz and LunchMoney Lewis guest on “High (When I’m Low)” — in the video, too, for you moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas. It’s the latest single from pop-soul guy Dylan Chambers, who will release his debut EP, “For Your Listening Pleasure!,” on May 17.
■ Janelane, “Love Letters” — The lilting new single from Sophie Negrini is the title track of her new Janelane album, out April 14.
■ Orion Shoals, “Keep on Running” — The duo of Joe Olney and Floyd Kellogg have released an album’s worth of singles since forming Orion Shoals in 2020. They make classic rock, classic-rock style, and if you like the open-road sort of anthems, “Keep on Running” will get your motor running. Live at Venice West on March 22, opening for Mason Jennings.
■ Luna Shadows, “Stay Mad” — The follow-up to “Little Rituals,” “Stay Mad” introduces Luna Shadows’ sophomore LP, “Bathwater,” out June 21. The video is mighty interesting.
■ Big Search, “Wellspring” — The follow-up to November’s “Loose Ends,” the hymn-like “Wellspring” is the second single from Matt Popieluch’s fourth album as Big Search, “Animal Cheer,” coming later this year. Say mellow, friends.
■ Devon Thompson, “Poison Me” — After kicking off the year with “I Love You But It Hurts Like Hell,” indie-rocker Devon Thompson returns with “Poison Me,” the second single from her EP “Sin,” arriving this spring.
■ Tish Melton, “Sober” — We’ll end this week’s missive with the sobering but prepossessing single “Sober,” the final track on 18-year-old Tish Melton’s new, Brandi Carlile-produced EP, “When We’re Older,” out today. (See Gus Black’s video for the song here.) She plays a free show March 4 at the Hotel Café.
