The Pity Party and Mezzanine Owls at Alex's Bar

I try to cover as many venues as humanly possible but was still astounded that I haven't had a chance to review a show at Alex's Bar in Long Beach. Alex's Bar is a tad larger then the cozy Prospector but with its own distinct vibe. Both institutions serve the Long Beach community well and tirelessly support the local scene. It was apparently chaotic at Alex's a few weeks ago when some band played a secret show.

Coco B's


Coco B's have been on my radar and I walked in to Alex's just as they were starting their set. I immediately detected some influences of Archers of Loaf and Pavement in their jangle driven indie rock. Upon further investigation, Coco B's run a nice little blog on their site that highlighted The Helio Sequence, No Age and New Order so I gave them extra points for good taste. The Coco B's also released a split cd with the snowy Eskimohunter on Grand Theft Autumn Records which is a label run by the gentlemen of Hey Mercedes who used to be in Braid. I unfortunately didn't catch any song titles but was intrigued enough that I will catch a future show.

The Pity Party



Fresh from storming the U.K. and appearing in NME was The Pity Party. I caught them prior to their departure to the U.K. and could sense they were ready to conquer the British. The Pity Party was ginsu sharp as they sliced through a tight set. M (Guitars/Vocals) has dissassembled his massive Ground Control Pro system to a handful of pedals. His mastery of the Rocket was evident throughout the night as he frequently added some extra fuzz sauce to their spicy songs. "H.O.T.S" was performed at a feverish pace and Heisenflei (Drums) was drumming up a tornado. The Pity Party will be playing a show at the Echo Curio on July 3rd with Chase Frank to support Ronald Dzerigian who provides all the bizarre artwork for their EP "Orgy Porgy". I heard whispers of a return to the U.K. but I hope I will have a full length album in my hands before they leave.

The Secret 6


The Secret 6 played a hometown show celebrating the release of their full length album Close Enemies. It has been a while since I last caught up with The Secret 6 when I saw them open for Eskimohunter at Spaceland. James Thompson (Vocals/Guitars) still had his trusty Fender Stratocaster howling through his Orange halfstack as they tackled a few numbers from their new album. I didn't see the Nord Lead in their setup but saw a Roland keyboard in its place. I imagine they will tour more locally to support their album's release.


Mezzanine Owls



After a successful Spaceland residency, the Mezzanine Owls had the good fortune of opening for Swervedriver at the Fillmore. I still frequently listen to their Jaxart 7 inch EP release which I highly recommend your purchase here. "Drift" opened the festivities as the Mezzanine Owls showcased their tight sound and dream fuzz guitars. Jonathan Zetlin (Guitars) has morphed his sound from what I described in prior reviews as a "twilight sparkle" into a newly coined "twilight supernova" as he has added a few secret pedal weapons to his overall sound. Dan Horne (Bass) was holding down the low end and did the requisite beer chug during the breakdown of one of their songs. I was really impressed with the two new songs they played on this night as I remembered hearing them at Spaceland during their residency. The Mezzanine Owls don't have any scheduled upcoming shows so I hope they are working on a new album.

Eskimohunter at Spaceland

It seems like every time a good band does a residency at Spaceland I have a show conflict that prohibits me from attending some free shows. I was excited to see that my calendar was clear to check out the noisy goodness of Eskimohunter.



The Secret 6 by the way of Long Beach were on at just a bit past nine and started things off with a hypnotic synth groove from a Nord Lead 2x as they delved into their space/power rock influenced songs. I remember seeing them in December of last year and enjoyed some of the riffs that James Thompson (Vocals/Guitars) was deploying on his Fender Stratocaster plugged into his Orange amp half stack. James was rocking out so hard he blew his string. Glenn Coie (Guitars, Keyboards) was providing some nice counter melodies on top of the songs. Their debut album comes out in August.





Mere Mortals based out of Los Angeles kept up the rock anthems with a heavy nod to the Brits. I detected elements of Oasis, Primal Scream, and Stone Roses in their songs. Mimi Star (Bass) by the way of Japan was the show stealer rocking out on her Schecter star inlay bass. She was rocking so hard her Bass amp fuse broke. I guess she wanted to upstage The Secret 6. They have a self released album "Rebel Radio" on itunes. Check out "Jesus Trip" and "The Hard Light".






Eskimohunter started into their set after a lengthy delay in setting up their gear. The agony of the delay was quickly abated by some stargazer rock that leaves the listener looking up to the stars instead of staring down at their shoes. Their listed influences are some of my favorite bands like Autolux, The Doves, My Bloody Valentine, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Jason71 was emitting hypnotic guitar lines from his Fender Jaguar as John Riccardi (Guitars) was the sonic wizard on his Gibson Les Paul and bevy of pedals littered at his feet. I will get a picture of his two pedalboards in a few weeks. Legallo (Keyboards) lived up to his superhero like name operating his Apple Laptop and spilicing in synth washes amongst the movie dialogue into their songs. I was especially impressed by their Depeche Mode cover of "Never Let Me Down Again". I highly recommend going to their July 23 show with the mighty Mezzanine Owls.

Gliss, The Oohlas, The Secret 6, Pop Levi at the Knitting Factory

So at the last minute I added another show to my blog... no surprise to those who know me. The KROQ locals only Holiday Throwdown show at the Knitting Factory was only $7 and had 4 bands playing so I figured what the heck. I also wanted to see The Oohlas again since the last time I saw them was at Cinespace for their record release party. Their album Best Stop Pop is a superb album with lots of different tempo songs and all very catchy. Pop Levi was up first. As a former member of Ladytron I was obligated to check him out. Instead of synths, Pop Levi showed up solo with a Strat, a Vox Wah, and a Line 6 Modulation pedal and shredded!! It is difficult to describe what style of music he was playing but it had a western/60's vibe with a lot of phasing and flanging sprinkled on top. Unfortunately he did not have any cd's with him but I will check it out. The Secret 6 were up next hailing from Long Beach. They had a good sound and were rocking the Orange Amps!! Very anthemic songs with catchy choruses. Just be careful that you don't spell out 6 because there is some other band with that name that is not even close to these guys. They will be playing the Prospector in Long Beach on January 27th and I will have to roll by as well. The Oohlas came up next and put on an energetic show. Ollie has quite the stage presence and is a dynamo on stage. She was rocking a sweet Telecaster with a Big Muff distortion Pedal, and a Holy Grail Reverb which produced a killer sound. Every song on their album seems like a single to me. My favorite songs of their set included "TV Dinner", "Gone", "Octopus" and "Small Parts". Once this album makes it into your cd player or ipod, it never seems to go away. The guitar player Greg Eklund used to be the drummer for Everclear which is ironic since Alessandro Cortini(ModWheelMood) had a stint in Everclear as well. I recommend you pick up their album Best Stop Pop and you will not be disappointed if you like bands like Lush, and early Veruca Salt. Mark Eklund, the bass player also had a Digitech Whammy Pedal that he was running an octave up and plugged into a separate Vox amp which was interesting. Gliss was up next and have the endorsement of some of my favorite bands (Smashing Pumpkins, the Editors, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). They have a nice droney, fuzzed out Jesus and The Mary Chain type sound that I was digging. I haven't heard that much fuzz bass since Honey's Dead. All the band members switched between drums, bass and guitar for which I gave them extra points. I snapped a picture of the pedal board for the guitar to see that they were using the old school Boss pedals of Delay, Tremolo along with a Pro Co Turbo Rat. I purchased their new CD and will add it to the ipod. You can't even go to the movies for $7.00 these days but you sure can catch a good show if you look hard enough.