Austra at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Austra at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

METZ at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of METZ at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Phosphorescent at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Phosphorescent at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Dirty Projectors at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Dirty Projectors at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Desaparecidos at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Desaparecidos at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Craig Finn at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Craig Finn at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour (6/4/11)

Check out my photos of the second night of Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour over at Brooklyn Vegan.

Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour (6/3/11)

Check out my photos of Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Brandon Flowers at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Brandon Flowers at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Holy Fuck at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Holy Fuck at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Nada Surf at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Nada Surf at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Holy Fuck at the Troubadour

Back in February of 2008, I uncovered the awesomeness of Holy Fuck. Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh oversee a small arsenal of synthesizers backed by a potent bass and drum assault of Matt Schultz and Matt McQuaid that blow minds on a nightly basis.

Latin is their latest release on Young Turks/XL Recordings and will be prominently featured when they stop by the Troubadour on 6/10. Watching Holy Fuck melt faces for $13.00 is priceless. Get your tickets here.

Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders at the Troubadour

Taking a break from drumming in one of the bigger rock bands on the planet, Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins reassembled his trusty Coattail Riders to record a sophomore album Red Light Fever. The Troubadour was packed with folks eager to check out the new tunes and secretly hoping for some special guests.

Dios Malos





It was fitting that Dios Malos would play on 4/20. Dios Malos continue to pound the pavement in support of their hazy, sun baked new album WE ARE DIOS. Joel Morales gently strummed his black Gibson Les Paul for shimmery THC laced chords backed by the low end Rickenbacker thump of John Paul Caballero.

Since the front row of fans were drummers, they talked amongst themselves stating that Patrick Butterworth was more than capable of holding down a beat and almost restraining himself from going berserk on the drums. They ended their set with a ramshackle cover of "Nervous Breakdown" by Black Flag with Caballero on vocals.

Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders






Drumming while singing is a herculean task that shouldn't be taken on lightly. Taylor Hawkins made it look incredibly easy perched behind his shiny orange Gretsch drum kit. My suspicions of being surrounded by drummers were confirmed when the air drumming commenced around me during "I Don't Think I Trust You Anymore".

Hawkins doesn't shy away from his influences. Each of the songs on the new record come off as a loving tributes to some of his favorite bands. I couldn't help but think Hawkins was making a sequel soundtrack to Fast Times at Ridgemount High by touching upon the sounds of Cheap Trick, The Cars and Styx.

Rifling through songs like "Louise", "Hole In My Shoes", and "You Drive Me Insane" had Hawkins dripping in sweat slamming the skins. Hawkins has assembled a solid band anchored by former Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney who played with Hawkins in their Alanis Morissette stint. Gannin Arnold was phenomenal on guitar, deftly soloing like it was '80s but without the unnecessary flash.

"Way Down", "It's Over" and "Sunshine" closed out their main set that with fists pumping in the air showing signs of approval from the crowd. Hawkins said he needed a two minute break before bringing out some friends which got a large ovation. A beautiful blue left handed Gibson SG was plugged in for Eliot Easton of The Cars fame as he came out for muscle car growl of "Not Bad Luck".

Hawkins didn't rely to heavily on his lyric cheat sheets for a stellar cover of The Cars "You're All I've Got Tonight". While I thought Dave Grohl was still on tour with Them Crooked Vultures, he magically appeared to sit behind the drums for "Your Shoes" as Hawkins did a little bit of air drumming himself. "Cold Day In The Sun" had Hawkins place the vocal microphone back in front of Grohl for some added harmonies.

Grohl and Hawkins exchanged handshakes before walking off the stage to thunderous applause. It wasn't surprising to see the crowd not move after the lights went up and the house music started to play. Drum heads and drum sticks magically appeared in hopes of being autographed. Make sure you check out some of the new Taylor Hawkins tunes via their awesome 8-track player.

Serena Maneesh at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Serena Maneesh at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Broken Bells at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Broken Bells at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

We Were Promised Jetpacks at the Troubadour

Scottish bands rule. Teenage Fanclub, Jesus and The Mary Chain, Mogwai have paved the way for such newer bands like Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks. The Troubadour was packed with fans eager to hear material from We Were Promised Jetpacks debut album, These Four Walls.

Bear Hands





Mixing bits of Modest Mouse, MGMT, Yeasayer and Fool's Gold, Bear Hands, by the way of Brooklyn unfurled an ear pleasing nine song set. The rhythmic clang of "Can't Stick Em" swirled with assistance of delayed guitar notes that would violently bounce into an angular direction. Tribal rhythms of "Tablasaurus" were propelled by a staunch fuzz bass line as Dylan Rau dispensed his spoken word vocals.

"What A Drag" had a woozy bluesy feel reminiscent of Cold War Kids, yet the chorus aligned more closely to something Isaac Brock would put together for Modest Mouse. Bear Hands finish their tour with We Were Promised Jetpacks before heading down to SXSW and later landing a highly coveted slot of opening for Passion Pit.

The Lonely Forest





The Lonely Forest created a large enough buzz in the Northwest to be the first band to sign to Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie's new label imprint Trans records. They mentioned to the crowd that they hail from, "Anacortes, WA where Free Willy was filmed". The Lonely Forest's penchant for melody and crafting well written power pop songs likely attracted Walla to sign the band.

I wasn't familiar with too much of their material but one tune "Tunnels" grabbed my attention. Bradyn Krueger (Drums) was a beast on the drums with his arms frantically flailing everywhere. "We Sing In Time" recalled a more uptempo version of something Rogue Wave would craft. The Lonely Forest have a huge opportunity in the horizon as they play the well assembled Sasquatch Festival.

We Were Promised Jetpacks





A pair of Fender Telecasters started to churn as the spoken word samples of a NASA countdown from "A Half Built House" reverberated throughout the Troubadour. The volume increased as the band started into the lengthy introduction of "Keeping Warm". Darren Lackie (Drums) had his hi-hat hissing and was relentlessly bashing at his drums as the tempo continued to increase. Michael Palmer (Guitar) filled the role of sound architect adding clouds of delay or reverb washes to the songs.

"Quiet Little Voices" really kicked things up a notch as the crowd chanted the chorus along with Adam Thompson (Vocals/Guitars). Adam impressed on many levels with his vocals and handling a large portion of the chord work on his guitar without missing a beat. Sean Smith (Bass) stood quietly on his side of the stage easily keeping pace with the kinetic drumming of Lackie. The angular guitars and off kilter drum beat of "Moving Clocks Run Too Slow" added another layer of anxiety to the panic attack of a song.

Thompson was very appreciative of the sold out crowd and thanked everyone for coming out to see their "wee" band. It didn't take long for them to get back to work as they conquered "Roll Up Your Sleeves" at twice the recorded speed. The song ended in a fury of drone and feedback which would have made Jesus & The Mary Chain proud. Thompson mentioned how excited he was to play Los Angeles because he could finally meet Larry David, which got a number of laughs from the crowd. The crackle and pop of "It's Thunder and its Lightning" had Thompson screaming "Your body is black and blue" at the top of this lungs a few feet from the microphone.

After recanting a story about almost getting into a fight at their show in San Diego due to an overzealous fan filming the show with iphone, a shimmery cluster of guitars for "This is My House, This is My Home" washed over the crowd until it devolved into a fury of feedback. "Short Burst" ended their set with its rapid fire drumming and walking bass line. The chants for an encore were unfortunately unfulfilled, but We Were Promised Jetpacks literally had already given all they had.

HEALTH at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of HEALTH at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Dirty Projectors at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Dirty Projectors at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Dinosaur Jr. at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Dinosaur Jr. at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

I previously caught them a few days ago at the Detroit Bar for OC Weekly.