Silversun Pickups at the Glass House

Check out my photos of the Silversun Pickups at the Glass House over at Stereogum.com.

The Deadly Syndrome and The Morning Benders at the Viper Room

I have been attending the Indie 103.1 Check One..Two Monday night shows dating back to August 2007 when I caught Gliss. The word continues to spread as the Viper room was packed. A slew of excellent Monday night residencies started this month but the place to be was the Viper room for The Deadly Syndrome, The Morning Benders and Younger Youth.

Younger Youth



Younger Youth started the evening with their brand of soaring indie rock. Younger Youth is fronted by Matthew Muller (Guitars/Vocals) who was mixing power chords and tremolo picking on his Fender Telecaster to provide a wide canvas of sound. Casey Ryder (Drums) was constructing a variety of time signatures to mix up their songs. They currently have one song on itunes called "The Only Ones" and are currently recording. Matthew announced their bassist Paul was leaving which hopefully won't derail their future plans.

The Morning Benders





The buzz on The Morning Benders continues to get louder. I was impressed when I saw them at the Viper Room and at the Silverlake Lounge. Bronson from the Los Angeles Times recently featured them on Buzz Bands. The Morning Benders have a new album coming soon entitled "Talking Through Tin Cans" that will make a lot of noise in the indie community. "I Was Wrong" is one of the new songs off the album and is an accurate snapshot of climbing reverb guitars and cymbal smashing good time that the Morning Benders extol. Chris Chu (Vocals/Guitars) was strumming so hard on his Fender Telecaster he broke a string. Chris also was using a #1 Echo pedal by Electro Harmonix with his Fender Reverb amp to get an squeaky clean guitar sound. The Morning Benders covered "Ceremony" so well that I think they capable of taking on some darker subject matters. They closed their set with the one-two punch of "Grain Of Salt" and "Damnit Anna". I will keep you informed when the album gets a release date.

The Deadly Syndrome






I was surprised that I had to go back to the April archives of 2007 to find my review of The Deadly Syndrome when they opened for the Klaxons. The Deadly Syndrome have been touring in support of their album "The Ortolan" on Dim Mak records. I was amazed how much tighter the band sounded as they played on the fringe of chaos with their fractured off kilter indie rock. Micheal Hughes (Keyboards) was dialing up weird synth patches on his microKorg and adding other tones with his Nord Electro 2. William Etling(Guitars) was rocking out like he was in a speed metal band with his Paul Reed Smith guitar with a Line 6 Delay pedal, a Boss Digital Reverb, and a Boss Blues Overdrive pedal. Christopher Richard (Bass/Vocals) had a sweet Fender Telecaster Bass reminiscent of Sting as he bounded across the stage. The Deadly Syndrome opened with "Heart" and continued to play selections off their debut album. They brought down the house with "I Hope I Become A Ghost" with its bouncy piano lines and sing along chorus. "Eucalyptus" culminated in a tribal drumming session that was a Mike Tyson knockout punch with Christopher singing "Goodbye!". I would recommend you also check out their recording from Spaceland to get the flavor of their live shows.

The Klaxons at the Echoplex

I was fortunate to see the Deadly Syndrome do their sound check prior to their set, but it was because the Echoplex was running so late. The Deadly Syndrome had quite an odd stage setup with cardboard cutouts of ghosts placed on the stage. They played a good set that reminded me of Pavement, and the Rentals. They fall into the category indie alternative pop. I think they toured with Oh No! Oh My! which would have been a great bill. Their new album "The Ortolan" comes out September 11, 2007.








I didn't see any glowsticks in the crowd, but the Echoplex was packed for a show by NME dubbed "Nu-Rave" band The Klaxons. After a huge delay in opening the doors and a longer delay after the Deadly Syndrome finished their set, the Klaxons appeared on stage. The Klaxons were supporting their recently released debut album Myths of the Near Future. Pushing ensued as they broke into "The Bouncer" off of their EP Xan Valley. I started to have flashbacks that I was in a Slayer pit. James Righton (Keyboards/Vocals) was sporting his Dr. Dre t-shirt as his kicked out some acid laced synth lines via his Korg X50 with his Korg Kaoss Pad 3 tucked underneath. Jamie Reynolds (Bass/Vocals) was holding his own on his Rickenbacker bass and interacting with the crowd. Unfortunately the mix at the Echoplex has yet to be refined as the drums were loud and the guitars were not loud enough. The crowd did not seem to care as they enthusiastically danced along to such tunes as "Gravity's Rainbow", "Golden Skans", "It's Not Over Yet" and "Magick". The Klaxons did a great job getting the crowd into it and did the obligatory "This was the best show of the whole tour" commentary. The only disappointment was with their beer selection with Corona Extra bottles littered across the stage. I know for a fact they have better beer in England.