The Raveonettes and The Soft Pack at the Henry Fonda Theater

Lust,Lust,Lust was one of the fuzzier albums of 2008. "Aly, Walk with Me" blew my mind with its torrential waves of feedback to close out the song. It is easily my favorite Raveonettes album. I caught The Raveonettes at the Detroit Bar in 2007 and at the Make Music Pasadena Festival in 2008. The addition of The Soft Pack made this show a slam dunk.

The Soft Pack






I last caught The Soft Pack when they were known as The Muslims. They put together a toe tapping set opening for the Breeders at the Wiltern. The buzz continues to grow louder with The Soft Pack recently inking a deal with Kemado records.

The surf guitars were in full force for "Beside Myself" with the propulsive drumming by Brian Hill (Drums). "Extinction" tonally evokes the spirit of Joy Division but mixes things up with a swelling of background vocals. Dave Lantzman (Bass) drills the fuzz bass line into your head with the ping pong notes of "Nightlife".

An onslaught of infectious guitars crawls into your bloodstream with their ferocious closer "Parasites". The Soft Pack will be lighting up the Echo on Feb 4th and Feb 13th. It will be packed. Check them out at a small venue before it is too late.

The Raveonettes







The dreamy "You Say, You Lie" set the tone early as The Raveonettes were assisted by the talented Heisenflei of The Pity Party on Drums. Sune Wagner (Vocals/Guitars) and Sharin Foo (Vocals/Guitars) were armed with Fender Jazzmasters hypnotizing the audience with sheets of sound.

The cavernous guitar reverb of "Hallucinations" was simply awe inspiring. I am always impressed how faithfully The Raveonettes recreate their guitar tones in a live setting. The lost gem from the sixties in the form of "Here Comes Mary" sounded pristine with the harmonizing vocals from Sune and Sharin.

Heisenflei hid in the shadows when she kicked off the haunting beats of "Black Satin". The Raveonettes traveled back to their first album Chain Gang Of Love for "Noisy Summer". By the way, was anybody perplexed by the one audience member who was twirling glow sticks during the whole show?

"Love In A Trashcan" lit the crowd on fire with its howling guitars and rapid fire drums. I should also mention Heisenflei would hit her drumsticks together to keep the beat when all the other instruments dropped out and then everyone would come roaring back in with a storm of noise.

The Raveonettes saved their best songs for the end with a sparkling version of "Twilight" and closed out the evening with the noisy bliss of "Aly, Walk With Me". The Raveonettes are heading back into the studio to record their next album which I eagerly await.

Thorns of Life at the Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock

Check out my photos of Thorns of Life at the Center for Arts in Eagle Rock and Sis's Bar in Wilmington on Stereogum.com.

Peachcake at the Chain Reaction

Check out my photos of Peachcake at Chain Reacion for OC Weekly.

The Walkmen and Beach House at the Henry Fonda Theater

Check out my photos of The Walkmen and Beach House on Stereogum.com.

Autolux at the Henry Fonda Theater

One of my great expectations for 2009 would be a new Autolux album. Autolux is rapidly approaching the ten show review mark, as I have caught them numerous times since the inception of this site. Greg Edwards (Guitars) from Autolux has a meticulously crafted guitar tone that would leave any guitarist slack jawed.

Wooden Shjips





Wooden Shjips sent the audience adrift with their psychedelic drone drenched tunes. Wooden Shjips drill their riffs into your head with pulverizing repetition. "Loose Lips" from their Subpop release was a fuzzy phased out acid trip of a ride with Ripley Johnson (Guitars/Vocals) leading the way. Nash Whalen (Organ) kept it real with his Farfisa organ and a collection of pedal effects stacked on top at his disposal. They closed out the evening with a floating rendition of "Death's Not Your Friend". The Henry Fonda seemed to be at sixty percent capacity when they closed their set.

Autolux






Autolux conducted a lesson in sonics from start to finish. The haunting notes of "In The Way" filled the densely packed Henry Fonda Theater. A metallic bristled swarm of feedback washed over crowd during "Audience No.2" which is a highly recommended download from their website.

The new material kept coming with the unveiling of "Supertoys" before returning back to familiar territory with the quiet then super loud roar of "Capital Kind of Strain". Eugene Goreshter (Vocals/Bass) was swinging his bass around for the fuzzed out "Here Comes Everybody" backed by the floating vocals of Carla Azar (Drums).

"Headless" cut like a guillotine with Greg's guitar sound morphing into a metallic mangled synthesizer. The distinctive drum shuffle of "Turnstile Blues" elicited a large cheer from the faithful fans with the trio interlocked in its dreamy grove. A firm tension permeated the room with the shuffling "Blanket" and Greg's high octave outbursts.

"Subzero Fun" bled into the trance like looping feedback of "Finder's Fee". Greg threw me for a loop when he exchanged his trademark silver Gibson SG for a Gibson hollowbody for a new tune that would be the lead track from their new album. Greg conjured a storm of dissonance that would make Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth proud.

Eugene asked the crowd if they wanted to hear Carla sing, to which Autolux answered with a cover of Velvet Underground "After Hours". "Plantlife" and "Reappearing" concluded the noisy encore that galvanized my desire to have an Autolux album in my hands before the end of 2009.

Autolux setlist at the Henry Fonda (1/17/09)
"In The Way"
"Audience No.2"
"Supertoys"
"Capital Kind Of Strain"
"Here Comes Everybody"
"Headless Sky"
"Turnstile Blues"
"Science of Imaginary Solutions"
"Blanket"
"Subzero Fun"
"Finder's Fee"
"SYRH"
"After Hours"
"Plantlife"
"Reappearing"

NAMM Day 2 at the Anaheim Convention Center

Check out even more photos from NAMM for OC Weekly here.

Pennywise at the Hollywood Palladium

South Bay's finest, Pennywise packed them in at the Hollywood Palladium for a sold out furious punk rock show. Pennywise had dedicated the show to Byron McMackin's(Drums) mother Dartie who recently passed away. It was a touching tribute with Pennywise turning in a razor sharp performance featuring plenty of moshing and circle pits by the dedicated Pennywise fans.

Special "C"



Special "C" must be a new band because I can't find their Myspace page or any other information about the band. I did gather they also hail from the South Bay and probably are good friends with Pennywise. In the sound department, Special "C" falls into the realm of ska punk influenced heavily by Sublime. The bass lines rumbled and the guitars were skanky. Special "C" quickly wrapped up their thirty minute set.

Update: Special "C" features Bubba McMackin (Drums) and their myspace page is here.

Black President





Black President didn't waste any time with their politically charged no nonsense punk rock. Black President is fronted by Christian Martucci (Vocals/Guitars) who venomously spewed lyrics while thrashing his Gretsch guitar. Charlie Paulson (Guitar) was an uncaged animal on stage jumping around while hammering out power chords through his Marshall JCM 2555 Slash model amplifier. I wasn't too sure if Charlie was still involved with Black President because I recently saw him with Goldfinger at the Grove in Anaheim.

Black President stuck mostly to their self titled album by playing "Who Do You Trust?", "Not Amused", Not Enough", "Short List of Outspoken Suspects" and "Ask Your Daddy". Roy Mayorga (Drums) made quite the commotion behind the drum kit that even impressed one of the security guards in front. The crowd seemed to enjoy their high energy punk tunes.

The Vandals





I never get tired of watching The Vandals. They had me in stitches during their Christmas show at the House of Blues Anaheim. Their performance at the Liskfest was one of the more memorable sets of the day.

Dave Quackenbush (Vocals) is the quintessential punk rock funnyman. Only Dave can perform such songs as "It's A Fact" and "43210-1" with a smirk on his face. He would later quip about how they "put lipstick on the pig" in reference to the renovated Hollywood Palladium. Dave also pointed out that the crowd should give Josh Freese (Drums) a hand since he recently quit his job (drumming for Nine Inch Nails) and had a third child.

I couldn't quite make out who was pictured on Joe Escalante's bass but it looked like Old Dirty Bastard from Wu Tang Clan. Warren Fitzgerald (Guitars) was his usual animated self doing cartwheels and soloing with the guitar between his legs. "Don't Stop Me Now" closed out the hilarity. Good times indeed.

Pennywise





In case you haven't heard, The Hollywood Palladium is adopting similar rules to that of the Wiltern due to fire marshall restrictions. In order for you to watch a show from the floor, one needs to get to the Palladium early to secure a wristband for floor access. The Pennywise fans didn't take too kindly to this request. Things seemed to have worked themselves out as the floor was packed once Pennywise hit the stage.

Pennywise recently moved over to Myspace records for their latest release, Reason To Believe which they gave away as a free download. "As Long As We Can" jump started the audience into action. Fletcher Dragge (Guitars) was using his same blue battered Ibanez guitar that must date back to the beginning of Pennywise.

Jim Lindberg (Vocals) summoned up the stage presence of Greg Graffin from Bad Religion by frantically pacing the stage and inciting the audience. Jim even later gave a shout out to Bad Religion saying that they had been ripping them off for years. Pennywise is one of those bands that won't change the inherent sound of their band just like Bad Religion.

Pennywise would venture way back into the catalog for "Rules" from their self-titled debut album. "Can't Believe it" was a fury of drums and guitars with the mosh pit swirling in unison. The energy of a fervent crowd at a Pennywise show is something to behold. I stood on the sides and watched the chaos unfold on the floor.

Fletcher would later take some time to announce that the remaining members of Sublime are reuniting to reconstitute the band. Adrian Young (Drums) from No Doubt would come out on stage to fill in for their Sublime cover tune. Pennywise usually dedicates "F*** Authority" to the LAPD but graciously changed their minds after the Fire Marshall had allowed the fans on the floor.

Some of the highlights from their set included "Every Single Day", "Unknown Road", "Society" and "Living For Today". Pennywise also covered "Stand By Me" with the help of two fans from the crowd to varying degrees of success with the female fan faring slightly better.

The crowd would later become unhinged for "Bro Hymn", as the circle pits churned with a vengeance. Jim reminded the crowd that the song was dedicated to Byron's mother who was always sitting on the drum riser at all the Pennywise shows. It was a touching tribute to say the least.

Modwheelmood and Sara Lov at Spaceland

It is a good thing that I keep a close eye on the show schedule on the Spaceland website. The addition of Modwheelmood to the Sara Lov residency was a can't miss bill. I had heard many whisperings of Sara Lov's enchanting songs but was excited to see Modwheelmood, as they were outstanding when I caught them last year at the Henry Fonda when they opened for Ladytron.


Pink Mochi



My late arrival at Spaceland was costly. Pink Mochi was dispensing some floating keyboard lines that gave way to a ripping solo by their guitarist Michael. It turns out that I caught the last song by Pink Mochi.

Unfortunately, their home page is having some registration issues so it is difficult to dig up any more information than what is listed on their myspace page. As always, Pink Mochi gets extra points for having a theremin on stage.

Learning Music



Was it 15 or 18 ? It was hard to ascertain how many people were on stage for Learning Music. The voluminous amount of members on stage translated to a bevy of instruments. It would be easier to list all the instruments that weren't on stage. John Wood (Vocals/Banjo) is the mastermind behind this ambitious project. I can only imagine the Spaceland sound engineer must have been going crazy trying to mix all those instruments together.

Sara Lov




Sara Lov was nothing short of enchanting. Was I at a Mazzy Star concert? Sara Lov was one of half of the Devics with Dustin O'Halloran who has since enjoyed a burgeoning solo career. Sara Lov has been gaining her own traction with her cover of Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" featured as KCRW's top tune.

Spaceland had filled out nicely, as Sara continues her residency every Tuesday in January. Sara is gearing up for the release of her album on Nettwerk Records by unveiling a sampler EP entitled The Young Eyes, which also has a cool cover of Beck's "Timebomb". Sara sufficiently captivated the crowd with her deceptively simple tunes.

Modwheelmood




The midnight slot at Spaceland is a difficult proposition. Modwheelmood didn't have any problems keeping the room full. Alessandro Cortini (Vocals/Bass) gently tapped out the programmed sequence for "Problem Me" to kick off their set. Pearls To Pigs Vol 3 was released back in June 2008 and was one of my favorite EP releases of the year with its incorporation some snippets of Buchla synthesizer.

"Bellevue Ave." featured the swirling guitars of Pelle Hillstrom who had two Line 6 delay pedals and an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man to help forge his tone. Jesper Kristensen (Drums) rounds out the trio. The driving bass line signaled the start of "Crumble" from Pearls To Pigs Vol 2. The ping-pong mechanical electronic drums of "Mhz" gave way to some propulsive drumming by Jesper with Pelle adding washes of guitars to the mix. The whole set went by in seconds as they closed with "Things Will Change".

I think Spaceland should book them for a residency judging from their performance and the amount of people who stayed late. For all you lucky Canadians, Alessandro will be heading out for a mini-tour of Canada for his other project Blindoldfreak. I will be checking Youtube for some of those videos.