Top 15 Los Angeles New Bands (new to me, but maybe not new to you) of 2017

I've done Top 10 lists for a number of years, but 2017 was so much fun, I couldn't limit my list to just 10 bands. Over the past couple weeks different band names kept popping up in my mind. So for 2017, I'm expanding my list to Top 15.

15: Pipe Dreams

August: So Jana Ghost was one of my first Instagram followers. I soon noticed that she was in a band called Pipe Dreams. It took around a year, but I finally caught her band at Echo Park Rising. LoFi with a who cares attitude.

Pipe Dreams at Harvard & Stone

14: Warbly Jets

January: They did the first residency night at The Satellite for 2017. I went twice. I seldom go to see a residency twice. The venue was packed. The music. The crowd. I felt swept away.

Warbly Jets at The Satellite

13: Goon

July: I first saw Goon randomly when heading out to catch a prior year Top Ten selection: Alyeska. Go see a favorite and find another favorite.

Goon at The Echo

12: Lucy & La Mer

August: My first interaction with the band wasn't because I saw them live. My first interaction was due to mistaken identity. Well, I decided to check out the band. This band can be rather deceptive. Lyrics tinged with painful memories against a backdrop of catchy melodies.

Lucy & La Mer at Chinatown Summer Nights

11: Ever So Android

March: I first saw them at The Hi Hat. They were the last band up. There were just a handful of us still around. I honestly was planning on sticking around for just a couple songs and then take off. They started to play and I fell in love. They know how to work a stage.

Ever So Android at The Hi Hat

10: Gypsum

October: Immediate reaction was: they sound like Local Natives!

Gypsum at The Echo

9: Zealyn

April: I first saw Zealyn at Broke LA. She has the most awe inspiring vocals and she moves so quickly that my camera has a hard time capturing her without blurs. By far my favorite idol.

Zealyn at Hotel Cafe

8: Trapdoor Social

September: You'll want to head out into nature and dance. Plus, this band puts on an awesome festival run totally by solar power.

Trapdoor Social at the Sunstock Solar Festival

7: Lily Waters

October: Combine Lauren Ruth Ward and LP together and you have Lily Waters.

Lily Waters at The Smell

6: Lauren Ruth Ward

March: Went to Harvard & Stone on a random night. Came across Lauren Ruth Ward. Addicted since that time. I'm sure many others out there would agree.

Lauren Ruth Ward at Harvard & Stone

5: Francisca Valenzuela

September: As is my norm every year, I head out to Chinatown Summer Nights. On this particular day, it was really hot and I was thinking of just going there later in the evening. But I changed my mind and went out early. I'm so happy I did. Her songs were in Spanish and I don't speak Spanish, but it didn't matter. I was listening to wonder.

Francisca Valenzuela at Chinatown Summer Nights

4: JaneLane

August: I first saw JaneLane at Echo Park Rising. Romantic disappointments against a soft touch of dreamy music. Now why wouldn't you love that?

JaneLane at The Smell

3: Holy Wars

June: My history with Holy Wars actually goes back a few years when there was a band called Sad Robot. I count this as a re-incarnation into a totally new sound and band. Some may find their music too emotionally painful. I find it to be emotionally cathartic.

Holy Wars at Harvard & Stone

2: Kid Wave/Lea Emmery

April: I had the opportunity to interview Kid Wave and got into a "debate" about what was the band's best song. She said "Everything Changes." I said "Wonderlust." I'm not going to lie: this is one of the few times I've seen a local Los Angeles band for the first time and known most of their songs beforehand. In my pre-interview research, I clicked on one song and then couldn't stop listening.

Kid Wave at Broke LA

1: Potty Mouth

January: 2017 started off with a big bang for me in terms of the Los Angeles music scene. And one of the main reasons is that I came across Potty Mouth. During their set, I was just blown away. I didn't want the music to end. I'm listing them #1 for a reason: for me, my go to Los Angeles band to listen to online is Potty Mouth.

Potty Mouth at The Hi Hat

Hope you've enjoyed this list. I have to say that this year was one of my favorite ever in terms of finding new bands. Ranks right up with those years where I first came across bands like Eastern Conference Champions, Family of the Year, Grouplove, and Local Natives.

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Smoking Flowers

The Smoking Flowers at The Hotel Cafe

Q&A time with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We would say that our sound is a melting pot of our life musical influences. Thus when you experience The Smoking Flowers live you might feel we are all over the place genre-wise. A little bit punk, a little bit country, a little bit rock, a little bit bluesy, a little bit folky. Put that and our two voices in a musical salad bowl and mix it with our 20 year history of living together and playing together and you get a sound which only that scenario can produce.

How do you believe the band has progressed over time? TSF started off as a side project from our separate rock bands and we decided to do something totally different... a “folk” record. We quickly realized we had something special together. Over the evolution of the 6 years performing together, the folk quickly morphed back into what we really loved the most… rock n roll. Originally we played with a full band, but when we went on the road we decided it would be best to tour as a two piece. After that experience with Kim on drums, we couldn’t look back.

Quick Hit Band Interview: WASI

WASI at The Hi Hat

Q&A time with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We call it riot pop - electro-Vibe-punk.

What inspires you to write/compose your songs? Being present in a fucked-up world insPires our songs. We take our experiences of hardship and turn it around in an honest and positive away to hopefully connect with other people experiencing the same thing.

Last thoughts? Our music is very fun and poppy but its built on so many layers of struggle, hardship and perseverance. And we hoPe our friends and fans can always feel safe and understood at a WASI show.

Sounds Like Disco with Singer & the Scientist and Topia at The Satellite

It was off to The Satellite to catch some random bands I'd never seen live. I'm so happy I went out.

Sounds Like Disco is a band that was seriously fun to photograph. Perfect example: I was tracking the lead singer with my camera. She would walk parallel across the stage. So what I was doing was getting a focus on her while she crossed and then waited for her to cross again and take a snap. Well, as I was doing that, out of the corner of my eye, the keyboardist went leaping into the air. I was like, "Oh man, that happened way too quickly and I probably never would have anticipated that jump, but I so wish my camera was focused in on him so that I'd at least have a try at it." So much action.

That band is just super fun to shoot and they have such a catchy style.

Sounds Like Disco

Prior to Sounds Like Disco was Singer and the Scientist and Topia.

Singer and the Scientist went all out with the imagery. Starting out the set, the lead singer had some glasses on that lit up with "S +" on the right lens and "T S" on the left lens. They also had a large neon heart backing them up. The heart became a big part of the set when at one point the lead singer went up to it and gave it a little kiss.

Well, the singer is the singer. The scientist is the keyboardist. And, of course, it had to be with the name scientist in the band: they did a Coldplay cover.

Singer and the Scientist

Topia opened the night with some stylish casual singing.

There was an amusing moment when the lead singer introduced a song:

"Our next song is 'Lay it on the Line.'"

Of course, some folks thought they heard (and I have to admit I heard a variation of this), "Lay on Your Mother."

Topia

I'm so Irritated with Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Upfront: I don't think I'd be considered a fan boy of Star Wars. I've seen all the movies, but I haven't read any of the books or seen the various cartoons.

Upfront 2: I found The Force Awakens to be a fun movie; however, I also thought it was plagiarism.

I had some serious problems with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Essentially, it boils down to this: it was obvious that the two movies of this trilogy (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) had two different writer/directors (J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson). The first movie teased out future story lines that I anticipated would be revealed in expected or unexpected ways, but were instead answered in a "meh" way.

Now most critics loved the movie. And this Vox article attempts to put a hammer down on fans who criticize the movie (or perhaps a critic who is trying to justify his position). Here's a quote from the writer:

But if it’s going to keep pleasing those who love it most, then it needs to stay preserved in amber (or, if you will, frozen in carbonite), leaving Luke Skywalker as the best boy who ever lived and continuing to tell endless variations on the story of a young kid from a nowhere planet who learns he’s part of the biggest saga of them all. But that kind of fetishization of what’s come before is the quickest way to kill off a pop culture artifact. 

Okay, I'm fine with moving on from the original trilogies, but I think this movie also attempts to move on from The Force Awakens, which is part of the new trilogy.

My issues with the movie (Spoilers!!!)

Example of disconnect between the two movies: The Map

If Luke Skywalker didn't want to be found, why did he leave behind the map? This Quora discussion argues that Luke Skywalker didn't leave behind the map. Okay, but in The Force Awakens the two pieces of the map fit perfectly together (the larger map that R2D2 had and the smaller map that BB-8 had from Lor San Tekka). That can't be coincidental. To me, the map was perfectly cut out from R2D2's map.

Honestly, if Luke spent so much time trying to hide his location while at the same time deciding to leave R2D2 behind, why didn't he take the simple action of deleting the map from R2D2's database?

My issue with this is debatable as can be seen by the Quora discussion, but basically within a handful of minutes into the movie I was getting irritated.

Major issue: The lightsaber

If Luke did not want the lightsaber that Rey handed to him, why did he just toss it a few feet behind him? Why not toss it into the ocean like he did with his X-wing?

Maybe it is a symbolic move by the Rian Johnson to show that we're moving on from the original trilogy, but seriously toss that lightsaber into the ocean.

Minor issue: Rey practicing with the lightsaber 

Rey is practicing her skills with the lightsaber. We can see Luke walking down towards her. She puts too much of a swing into it and destroys a small rock formation. Off Luke goes, back up the mountain. Seriously, that moment pissed him off? If anything, I'd think he'd find it amusing.

Major issue: Luke considered killing Ben Solo

Would Luke really consider killing off his nephew? Okay, maybe, but wouldn't this be something you'd talk to your sister and brother-in-law about? Maybe say: Ben has serious dark side tendencies, we need to be careful or scared to death regarding this. Though, I will admit, this provides some dimension to why Luke disappeared.

Example of disconnect between the two movies: Rey's ancestry. 

So Rey's parents were drunk nobodies. Seriously? Why spend all that time in The Force Awakens teasing the audience about this important fact, if it wasn't important at all? We have the moment where Maz Kanata asks Han Solo, "Who's the girl?" We have Leia walking right past Chewbacca to comfort Rey after the death of Han Solo. And then there's that brief scene where Rey recalls her separation from her parents and the mother (or the woman who was asked to help Rey disappear) looks like she's in total anguish.

I will admit my thought process when hearing that Rey's parents were drunks leaped to that episode in Breaking Bad where Jesse is having to deal with a couple who are meth addicts. They also have a daughter that they totally ignore. So maybe my problem with Rey and her parents are misplaced by my own thought process from past entertain experiences where parents who are addicts are overwhelmed to the point where they have little care for their child(ren).

I've read in various articles that maybe this is just a misdirect about Rey via Kylo Ren. Part of me wonders if this is true as if Rey's parents are of no real importance how can she be a person that Luke Skywalker recognizes as someone who can rival the most powerful Jedi ever?

And yet, Luke feels no connection with Rey so I think we can conclude she's not Luke's daughter. In The Force Awakens, you have a sense that both Leia Organa and Han Solo feel connected with Rey, but at this point in the story if she were their daughter you'd think they'd have let her know. Sure, maybe they were protecting her by sending her off to the desert world, but at this point in time there is no reason to continue protecting her.

Also, the movie made it feel that there was no doubt with what Kylo Ren said. There was no apparent tease implying that there was still a question.

So she can't possibly be a Skywalker though maybe there are connections to other pass Star Wars' characters.

Minor Issue: Why no communication

Okay, so this is also an issue I have with The Walking Dead. You spend all this time together as a team and yet important information is never exchanged. On the other hand, that's how story lines can develop. But . . .

Rey doesn't tell Luke that she's communicating with Kylo Ren? We know via Kylo Ren that Rey is looking for a father figure. First it was Han Solo. Then it was Luke Skywalker. To me, something this big would get communicated to Luke.

Vice Admiral Holdo doesn't let Poe know what's up with her strategy? Yeah, Poe was on Leia's you-know-what list and therefore Poe was on Holdo's you-know-what-list; however, this isn't a situation where there are 100,000+ solders getting ready to invade Normandy. Maybe there were a couple hundred rebels remaining at that point in time. This simple lack of communication almost threw the whole plan into disarray. Actually . . . hey, even the soldiers during WWII knew they were going to be invading continental Europe.

At the end of the movie when Luke meets up with his sister . . . he couldn't tell her, "Hey, I'm going to buy you some time to try and find a way to escape? Personally, I don't know how you'll do it, but try and figure it out."

Minor Issue: Vice Admiral Holdo's strategy

Seriously, did anyone really think Vice Admiral Holdo's strategy would work? That somehow the First Order wouldn't see a bunch of ships exiting for a planet. Sure, there was some brief explanation given that I don't recall the exact wording for, but seriously?

And did Holdo really need to stay with the ship. Even in modern real life, aircraft have auto-pilot. They don't have auto-pilot in the world of Star Wars? They can track you through hyperspace, but don't have auto-pilot?

And if she was going to stay with the ship, why wasn't going kamikaze the first option -- if you buy my argument that trying to escape unseen makes no sense.

Nitpicking Issue: The First Order being able to destroy the rebel escape ships

Weren't we told at the very start of the whole cat and mouse story arch that the rebel ship was able to stay out of firing range, because The First Order ships were too large and therefore too slow to keep up with the smaller faster rebel ship? So suddenly, The First Order ship is able to make up ground on even smaller ships?

Random Thoughts

Am I the only one who thinks Finn is the one person you don't want to trust in battle? I think Rose had him nailed: he's a coward. I think he was trying to escape and he was using Rey's beacon as an excuse for leaving the rebels behind. Sure, he acts as a hero when there is a distinct strategy/plan. But when there isn't one, he's out the door. He's a person who needs strong leadership, which I guess makes sense as he grew up under The First Order.

So seriously, Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma) signed up for two Star Wars movies for pretty much doing nothing of importance?

Part of me wishes that Leia and Luke had pass away at the same time. It just seems like it would have been an option at the end of the movie considering the passing of Carrie Fisher. To me, it'd be a cleaner way to start the final movie of the trilogy. Or maybe that would have been over-the-top.

Isn't a lightsaber the equivalent to the magic wand in Harry Potter? If Rey has no connection to the Skywalkers, why such a powerful reaction to the lighsaber in Force Awakens?

To me, the music often got in the way of the story telling. Sorry.

A Movie Review: The Disaster Artist

Other than wondering why in the world Greg (Dave Franco) and Tommy (James Franco) would even be friends . . . I mean, neither Greg nor Tommy are the brightest individuals in the world, but at least Greg has the ability to create personal relationships . . . this movie is down right fun.

The movie starts out in an acting class. Greg is acting out a scene. From what can be seen, he lacks confidence and the necessary skills to be an actor. Tommy also does a scene and shows even less skill, but this is offset by an over-whelming level of misplaced confidence.

Interestingly, Greg is drawn to Tommy's confidence and acting ability. They form a friendship. Hanging out at Tommy's place, they watch a James Dean movie. On the spur of the moment, they decide to go to the site where James Dean died. Inspired by the moment, they head off to Hollywood.

They spend their time trying to get acting gigs, but without successful. They come up with the idea to write their own script. Well, Tommy does the writing while it seems to be implied that Greg follows other interests (be it acting or something else -- the movie doesn't go into it). After a couple years of writing, Tommy finishes the screenplay and convinces a somewhat skeptical Greg to join the project. And so off they go making an unintended cult movie.

This movie is just filled with hysterical moments.

Some of the moments are already in the trailers such as a scene where Greg is constantly forgetting his lines to the frustration of many. But there are plenty others such as when Sandy (Seth Rogen) is shocked to learn that his check that he received from Greg doesn't bounce at the bank. (Yeah, that might be considered a spoiler, but since there really isn't any shocking cliffhangers, I'm not sure one can call that a spoiler).

The film reminds me of Dumb and Dumber. These two characters are just so out of their depths. I like the dynamics/friendship between Greg and Tommy -- though this doesn't negate my above question. Tommy is very dependent on Greg, probably because Greg is the only friend he's had in years. We learn early on that Tommy is very wealthy. I couldn't help but think that the reason Tommy decided to make the film was to make sure his friendship with Greg didn't end.

And the best thing about this movie: it knows not to over-stay its welcome. It is a quick 104 minutes. The jokes come fast. Character development is established. And when the movie ends, it makes you want a little bit more, which happens during the end credits. Kudos to those involved in the movie for getting it just right.

I loved the movie, but if folks hate seeing movies where they find themselves constantly yelling at the characters in frustration, "How can you be so stupid?," you might want to skip this one.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Cashew & Cleary

Cashew & Cleary at The Hotel Cafe

Q&A time with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Psych rock, garage rock, folk rock . . . any of those seem to work.

How did the band gel together as a group? We got together as a cover band then decided to write our own originals.

What are some other interesting facts about the band? Norman Woods and Dyami Klein is our rhythm section. Norman is a pro skater and Dyami transcribes music for Mel Bay books.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Salar Rajabnik

Salar Rajabnik at Zebulon

Q&A time with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Rock & roll with soul.

What is your favorite song lyric (own lyric)? Difficult to pick. Probably a dead tie between the following:

1. From In A Little While: "And if she’d known better, things wouldn’t be so bleak. But when you’re young & you’re in love, you don’t realize you’re weak. So then you start to get older, & people break your heart. And if it keeps on beating that’s the hardest part.”

2. From Black & White World: “I used to think that my life was blue, but the darkest blue is black. So I’ve been staring at the clouds in the sky, now they seem much less abstract. I don’t want to live in a black & white world.”

Quick Hit Band Interview: Paradise Vultures

Paradise Vultures at The Satellite

Q&A time with the band (via Tommy Senter). Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I would describe the sound of Paradise Vultures as kind of an amalgam of the brash swagger of rock and roll with pop sensibilities in terms of songwriting mechanics; combined with the raw expressiveness of grunge. Throw in a dash of glam theatricality and camp to keep it fun and sexy; not taking itself too seriously. We take what we do seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

What’s the story behind how your band started? The band originally started back in 2015 under a different name in a garage in Burbank. We had all known each other for years from playing with each other in different bands, and this band just formed organically from some songs I had started writing and had started jamming with Joe and Jace. In late 2016 we decided we wanted to put a little record together, and did so with the help our friend (and incredibly talented producer) Phil English. We kind of piece-mealed our record “Gourmet Carrion” together over the course of about 9 months, released it in August of 2017, and started playing shows immediately afterward. We’ve got a lot of exciting things in the works for 2018 and are looking forward to meeting the new year head on.

P.S. The album “Gourmet Carrion” is available on all major streaming platforms.

Here are the links:

Spotify and Apple.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Dream Phases

Dream Phases at The Hi Hat

Q&A time with the band (via Brandon). Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Petty + Sativa, Young + a Kaleidoscope, Harrison + Liquid Lights

What’s your favorite Dream Phases' song and what makes it the favorite? I think my favorite song(s) to play are the medley we do with the first four songs, Maybe Tomorrow > Easy Love > Frightened Man > Promise of Promise. We've been working on transitions between each song to make them seamless and appear as one long song.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Young Creatures

Young Creatures at The Hi Hat

Q&A time with the band (via Michael). Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We like to let our fans/listeners decide what our sound is. We don't think too much about this but sonic weird trippy space shit that sits well over some nice melodies is a good way to describe it.

Other than Los Angeles, where could you see yourselves living/playing music and why? We love LA, but life or death situation . . . maybe the UK because it’s something we’ve never seen before and a market we would like to tap.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Livingmore

Livingmore at The Hi Hat

Q&A time with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? There’s definitely a mixture of different elements in our music. But to sum it up, we’d say its Mod Rock with an Americana flare.

Do you find greater enjoyment writing a great song or performing a great song? Why the choice? Writing and performing are equally valuable to us, we’re just happy to be sharing our original material.

Quick Hit Band Interview: PHEVR

PHEVR at The Satellite

Q&A time with the band (via Derek). Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? In an attempt to avoid clichés, I describe our sound as a sonic Polaroid. It is a real moment in time. We try not to bother with perfection, which is difficult since we are both perfectionists!

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What make them your favorites? As for myself (Derek), I have been a film buff since I was a kid so my favorite spots are the theaters that still show 35mm film. The New Beverly Cinema and the Egyptian Theater are at the top of my list.

The Smoking Flowers at The Hotel Cafe

I got an invite to catch The Smoking Flowers at The Hotel Cafe. This band hails from Nashville and revolves around married couple Kim and Scott Collins.

Side topic: I'm pretty sure I've never seen this before at any venue . . . while The Smoking Flowers was setting up, a random individual got up on stage. I figured the person was part of the band. This individual lifted up the keyboard cover and started to play. Nothing loud. It looked to me like the person was just fiddling around before getting reading for the set. But no, a staff member of Hotel Cafe had a quick discussion with the person and off the person went. No big confrontation, but hysterical.

The Smoking Flowers set brought the Nashville sound to The Hotel Cafe with some rocking good sounds. This band had me thinking of another two piece band, Crushed Out. Perhaps the main driver of this comparison is the fact that Kim Collins and Moselle Spiller of Crushed Out steal the show during their sets. Kim Collins went from drums to accordion to tambourine to an awesome solo all within a span of 45 minutes. And all this while proudly wearing some red high heels.

As for Scott: sometimes I was thinking, you've got to do more than just play the guitar. Help carry the load, bring out a trombone. Nah, he carried the load with some awesome guitar play filled with energetic riffs.

It was an extraordinary fun night out. 

Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Mildred's (Frances McDormand) daughter was raped and murdered. As time passes, the police are no where near figuring out who committed this horrendous crime just yards from where Mildred lives. As she's driving down the road that passes her house, she notices three billboards that have long been abandoned. She goes to the advertising company that owns the three billboards and purchases ad space that read:

"Raped While Dying."

"And Still No Arrests?"

"How Come, Chief Willoughby?"

It doesn't take long for news of these ads to reach Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). He goes to Mildred's home to say he thinks that those billboards are unfair. Mildred won't bend. Though Willoughby sees the chess move that Mildred has made and doesn't hold it against her, one of his police officers, Dixon (Sam Rockwell), does.

Soon, skirmishes form where both Dixon and Mildred do very regrettable actions.

To me, this is a tough movie to like as the two main characters, Dixon and Mildred, are impossible to like. The movie largely revolves around Dixon, Mildred and Willoughby.

Willoughby ends up being a likable character. He's a police chief who tried his best to solve the murder, but just can't. He's also an individual that is dying from cancer and will be leaving behind a wife and two young children.

Then we have Mildred and Dixon.

We learn some of the backstory on Mildred. She was abused by her ex-husband. And the day her daughter was raped and murdered, Mildred got into an argument with her daughter where she actually said she hoped her daughter got raped (there is additional context, but those are awful last words). So there is a lot of personal vendetta that has built up inside her, which is driving her need to find her daughter's murderer. Though one can sympathize with her taking out the billboard ads, her actions after that are wrong headed moves that put innocent lives at risk.

Dixon is a hot headed, drunk racist who is known to have tortured an African-American teenager. (Of course, the fact that he is still on the force is a major ding on Chief Willoughby.) He takes offense to what Mildred has done and so he also takes actions that are horrendous.

Also, what I found hard to like about the movie is that many of the characters are just plain dumb. It makes it feel like this is a movie that has an agenda to make small town folk look silly. To me, it is one thing to have a movie that shows the quirks of a small town versus a movie that seems just mean spirited towards small town folk.

I'd say this is a movie that one can wait for until it hits Redbox, Netflix or pay TV. If you're looking for a better independent murder investigation, I'd say go watch Wind River. If you're interested in a vendetta movie, driven by the murder of a child, go watch Prisoners.