Upset Goes Back To School

UPSET

ECHOPLEX, LA

21 NOVEMBER, 2013

Thursday night saw the return of Upset to the Echoplex, not a month after their last appearance here, but with a difference: more shows under their belt, and in good company, touring with label mates/label anchor Screaming Females. It was a more assured Upset that hit the stage, spinning through the same set in different order, (from their debut LP She's Gone), plus their Guided By Voices cover. The crucial difference was the mood, at once looser and more ferocious. "Oxfords and Wingtips", (below), remains their signature song, and "Never Wanna" and "You And I" retained their double-timed thrash. Jenn Prince took the spotlight for her "Game Over", and Ali shed her guitar for the aforementioned GBV cover, "Chasing Heather Crazy", putting full focus on the vocal. As always, the powerhouse rhythm section of Rachel Haden and Patty Schemel carried the day, with Haden's melodic touch shining on "She's Gone", and Schemel, frankly, turbocharged every song. While the tag of 'supergroup' gets tossed their way because of the players' diverse backgrounds, the tricky part is growing up the band in public, and the key to their success at this point would appear to be their chemistry. Hopefully it won't be too far down the road when we check in again with Upset...the status report for now is full steam ahead.

Upset Runs For The Roses...

UPSET

ECHOPLEX, LA

24 OCTOBER, 2013

With only a handful of shows under their belt, Upset set the table for their debut album She's Gone, released next week on Don Giovanni, with a blistering set that answered all questions. Leader Ali Koehler was a winning combination of humble and asskicking, making jokes about her guitar volume and the newness of the group, but don't be fooled: the veteran drummer from Vivian Girls and Best Coast might be standing up front for a change, but she knows the drill. Leading off with album opener "Back To School", they settled in quickly, taking "Never Wanna" at a breakneck pace that trumped the recorded version, and revealed the band's secret weapon, ex-Hole drummer Patty Schemel, who kicked the band forward at every turn, and whose fortitude undoubtedly allowed Koehler the peace of mind to proceed up front.
Shifting gears down to first single "Oxfords and Wingtips", where their harmonies won the day, and it wasn't long before audience members pushed forward to present the band with their first onstage flowers. The remainder of their nine song set maintained the energy. Jenn Prince, (La Sera), was lively on guitar, lending a sublime solo to the title track, and Rachel Haden played supersub on bass for this date. She was loose and right in the groove with Schemel the whole set, and one hopes that her schedule will allow this arrangement to be permanent. The seeds are there, and it's scary to think how overwhelming this band will be a few dozen dates down the road.

 Related news: In addition to their debut LP, Upset also appears on a cool split single of Guided By Voices covers, out now on Salinas Records, along with Screaming Females, Swearin', and Waxahatchee.

On Point: Lee Fields live at the Echoplex

Lee Fields and the Expressions capped off a wild night at the Echoplex with a relentless set of old school soul that kept the crowd in thrall.  He came, saw, dusted off his snappy gold shoes, and conquered.  Backed by The Expressions, he burned through a set drawing largely on his last two releases, My World and Faithful Man, (on Truth And Soul), giving the crowd not only what they wanted, but what they needed.

Fields has worked the trenches for a long time, evolving from his heavily James Brown influenced early 70's singles through a gamut of styles, falling into obscurity until hooking up with Brooklyn based Daptone Records for a few 45's that showed the absorbtion of the JB influences into his own singular thing.  Upon landing at Truth And Soul, his collaboration with their house band The Expressions has proved fruitful, taking him to his highest vantage point yet on a long journey.

As evidenced above and below, Lee Fields just does not quit.  Of the show's highlights, above is "I Still Got It", from Faithful Man.  Below, he perfects his strut & preen on "Money I$ King" from My World.  Upon seeing these, it makes perfect sense why folks were so captivated with his breakout performance at this year's SXSW.  In an age of TV karaoke talent shows, this gentleman is ready for Mt. Rushmore.

Naytronix features Nate Brenner from tUnEyArDs, holding down the opening duties. This project veered off on a hard danceable tip, ignoring chillwave and looking back to the rhythmic side of the New York No Wave explosion.
It was weird, kinetic, and utterly danceable.  An EP is currently available, and they just signed with LA based Plug Research; an album will surely follow soon.

Cody ChesnuTT, journeyman new soul troubador, has been working the underground side of the street since early major label misadventures, and it has reflected well on his music, if not so much on his wallet.  His monster bedroom project The Headphone Masterpiece and a cover of his song "The Seed" are what would ring a bell with most folks.  His last release was an EP in 2010, Black Skin No Value and his future holds a full length entitled Landing On A Hundred, tentatively scheduled for this year.
All his skills were on display in the middle spot, and he got the behinds back on the floor.  Highlight of the night was the jawdropping "No Turning Back", in which he channeled the spirits of Gil Scott-Heron and Donny Hathaway in equal measure.  No superstar duets, just good old down home grooves, and songwriting that doesn't make you wince and grab your head.  Who says they don't make them like that anymore.

Dum Dum Girls: Into The Gray

Dum Dum Girls

w/Tamaryn, Young Prisms, & Sisu

Echoplex, Los Angeles

18 May 2012

It’s been fascinating to watch the evolution of the Dum Dum Girls, started by Kirstin Gundred, (Dee Dee), as a bedroom project, turning into a tentative performing group, to a kick out the jams band. The recorded progress has evolved to match, with their latest LP, Only In Dreams, (on Sub Pop), capturing the unease of growing up without sacrificing the jangle.  Finding a balance between the two is a trick, and over the course of a night at the Echoplex, that is just what the Dum Dum Girls pulled off.

The set was filled with generous tastes of both their LP’s, starting unevenly with a muddy “Caught In One”, before plunging into the joyously up tempo “He Gets Me High”.  They persevered, and by the time they launched into “Bedroom Eyes”, sound issues were definitely under control, and they finished off the set strongly.

Along with Dee Dee, the band is now comprised of stalwart guitarist Jules, along with Malia James, in for original bassist Bambi, and the irrepressible Sandra Vu, who took over the drum throne from Frankie Rose. Her assertive beat kept things on track all night.

 To their credit, when the encore came, it was treated not as a formality, but full guns blazing as they opened up with “Jail La La”, from I Will Be, followed up with “Teardrops On My Pillow”, and then savaged the remaining faithful with “Coming Down”, an anthem pitched somewhere between Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” and Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”, proving decisively that you can take the ladies out of the garage, but the not the garage out of the ladies.

(below is a nifty cover of the Pale Saints "Sight Of You".)

A generous line of support acts made for a full, rich evening; one can get easily spoiled by four quality bands for $15.  The festivities were started by Sisu, followed by Young Prisms and Tamaryn.

Tamaryn, New Zealand born, San Francisco based singer led a group that turned up the volume considerably, sometimes serving and sometimes overwhelming songs from their debut The Waves, which came out last fall on Mexican Summer.

Young Prisms are a San Francisco based quintet that found a sweet spot of drone amidst the sometimes tricky acoustics of the Echoplex.  Their lush sound was informed by Shoegaze, but not held captive by it.  They were certainly the revelation of the evening.  The newest LP is In Between, on Kanine Records.

Sisu features Sandra Vu, stepping out from behind the kit to lead a sharp four-piece.  Their new EP Demon Tapes, Vol. 2 is hot off the press and available through Bandcamp, (check the widget below the photos).  This is a band you'll be hearing more of soon.

 

The Dum Dum Girls capped off their L.A. stay with a free show Saturday, May 19 at the Getty Center as part of the “Off The 405” summer concert series.

Viva Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos

Parenthetical Girls

Echoplex, LA

10 February, 2012

Saturday night heralded the return of Los Campesinos! to Los Angeles, on the heels of their most recent LP, Hello Sadness.  The lines outside the Echoplex stretched around the corner, and the crowd buzzed in anticipation.  While in no danger of laying waste to the charts here in the States, they command a rabid cult, and said cult was out in force for this show. 

Ably handling the opening honors were Parenthetical Girls, (Portland, OR), who tuned up the crowd admirably, working mostly from their recent series of 4 EPs'.  Zac Pennington didn't let the second billing stand in his way, commanding the stage, (plus leaving it for the audience, more than once), and totally winning over the crowd.  Amber was a winsome presence, nailing down the musical side of things, and serving as the perfect foil. It was a shame to see their set end, and I highly look forward to catching them on their own.  Hats off to the headliners for being comfortable enough to have a strong band open for them.

 

The headliners hit the ground running with "By Your Hand", the lead cut from Hello Sadness, and the track of choice performed on the recent David Letterman appearance, then segueing neatly into a rousing rendition of "Romance Is Boring", (see below), title track of their previous LP.

The set was weighted with new tracks, but didn't stint on the old records, and the emotional highlight of the evening was the high energy "You! Me! Dancing!" into the grimly hypnotic "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future".  All in all, an amazing evening, and a nice sign that even though Los Campesinos have absorbed new members, the heart still beats strong.

Post Script: LC! bounced back up to L.A. a few days later for an appearance on KCRW's 'Morning Becomes Eclectic', where you can see a live in the studio take on "Songs About Your Girlfriend".

  

 Los Campesinos setlist:

1. By Your Hand
2. Romance is Boring
3. Death to Los Campesinos!
4. Life is a Long Time
5. A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; or, Letters from Me to Charlotte
6. Songs About Your Girlfriend
7. There Are Listed Buildings
8. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
9. Straight in at 101
10. To Tundra
11. You! Me! Dancing!
12. The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
13. Hello Sadness
14. Baby I Got The Death Rattle
15. Encore:
15. Miserabilia
16. Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks
    (courtesy of Setlist.fm)

Through A Glass Darkly...Matthew Sweet Looks Back

MATTHEW SWEET
ECHOPLEX, L.A.
30 DECEMBER, 2011

It was a mad year for music, and fittingly, the next to last day of 2011 found me at the Echoplex in Echo Park for Matthew Sweet's 20th anniversary celebration of his seminal LP 'Girlfriend'.  A majestic, unrelenting slice of fuzz spiked power pop, it staked out, (along with Teenage Fanclub's 'Bandwagonesque'), a pole opposite Nirvana's ' Nevermind' as a yearning melodic piece turbocharged with guitar work by Richard Lloyd and the late Robert Quine.  A standout record in what was the watershed year of 1991. 

On a personal note, at the indie record store I worked at, it was one of the few albums we could all agree on.  Today it's just as much of an anachronism as it was then, sounding completely apart from its time, yet timeless.
In what I think is a first on these pages, I feel compelled to shout out the DJ.  Kevin Bronson did the tunes between sets, and he had the temperature of the room read correctly.  The highlight being a late set segue from Big Star's 'September Gurls' into The Nerves' "Hanging On The Telephone".  Highest compliment I can pay is the amount of people near me grabbing for the Shazam whenever he switched tracks.  Well played, sir...well played.

Opener Daniel Ahearn And The Jones proved to be a folk duo with pithy observational songs backed with stellar harmonies.  Mindy Jones made an impression when she took the spotlight, but through their short set, it was those harmonies that set them apart from the pack.

Matthew Sweet was accompanied for the occasion by a crack band that included the rhythm section from Velvet Crush.  While pointing out old friends in the house, he noted that it would indeed be track for track on the LP, then plunged into "Divine Intervention".



 I've always been leery of any nostalgia trip, but Sweet quickly dispelled any fears I might have had by sending the songs into overdrive.  He seemed genuinely happy to be there, and not at all trapped by the songs.  After an intense version of "Thought I Knew You", he observed: "That was scary", and then, low and behold, the appearance of real honest to god cigarette lighters in the audience during "You Don't Love Me"!

One plus to the artist doing a whole album twist is the chance to dig a little deeper & pick up some knowledge nuggets.  Turns out the original end of side one was "Winona", (w/needle runoff), and "Speak To Me" was the record's end, but according to Sweet, they took advantage of marginal label oversight and banged out a few more tunes, which happily filled out the cd that most people (including myself), were familiar with. It reset my mind to consider the last two tracks, which in my mind were the emotional crux of the record, were actually bonus tracks.

 The backstory on "Does She Talk", involving the infamous channel 23 in NYC was worth the price of admission alone,



After a luminous 'Nothing Lasts', not wanting to end on a bummer,  he broke strict form, essaying a delerious rendition of  "Sick Of Myself" from 100% Fun.  In closing, it was humbling to see an artist embrace their old work and not feel trapped, and most satisfying to see someone fully having fun onstage.

Endnote: This entry marks the third anniversary of this blog, one of the preciously few New Year's resolutions i've managed to keep...Thanks to all for    support and feedback.