New Music Alert: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts' "Dirty Milk"

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts has a new single out called "Dirty Milk." Any proceeds from the record and merchandise will be used to support the release of their record. The music is relentless and without mercy. The vocals are gritty and feel just as prophetic as the lyrics.

The band says the following about the new release: 

The song is about lack, it’s about recourse. It’s about being a kid whose parents are ill-equipped to handle the responsibility of a whole other human turning out secure, so we learn these attachment styles within that dynamic and it sets us up to seek out that repeated pattern in others throughout life. Now we’re adults and we’re still lost, expected to know more than we know and need less than we do. Here we are now in present time, needing more than we’ve ever needed, and the system we are to rely upon and invest in is a hoax. The nuclear family has proved itself the same, it’s all the same. You’re fending for yourself as always and for what seems like forever. “Are you anonymous, are you just like me?” is us asking, do you see me? I’m like you too and I think we’ve been fighting the same battle together for so long, from the same side, against the same thing. Now we unite, what we’re being fed isn’t, and has never been, good enough.”

photo take at The House of Machines

Echo Park Rising 2020: Online Edition Part 2

I ended Part 1 of my Echo Park Rising review with Veneer  After their set I took a short break and then returned to Portia Street Studios Youtube page to see Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Their set just blew me out of my apartment. Did I need to wear ear plugs!

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

From there, I jumped over to Bands in the Barbershop via Twitch. I caught the last song of Jagged Baptist Club. Then Chase Petra came on. All members of the band wore masks. I liked that fact. What I noticed was how the bassist and guitarist bounced their feet to the beat in the same directions. Their duo vocals perfectly built on top of each other. 

Jagged Baptist Club

Chase Petra

ModPods' lead singer wore a hockey type mask. The drummer started the set off the stage, watching her band members. "My headache is like a bullet." The band is like a lounge singer deciding to go punk. The band goes without a guitarist and the drummer / bassist switched off. The lead singer asked, "Are other bands better at banter?"

ModPods

Broken Baby's lead singer wore a t-shirt that said, "We are RBG." Her energy just takes her body in every direction. The microphone stand traveled along with her sometimes ending up on the stage and other times ending up on the floor and sometime held high like an exclamation point. It got a workout. "This is the first time we've practiced since April . . . no, February." Pretty good practice session.

Broken Baby

Back over to the main Echo Park Rising site, Alica Blue played "Queen of Echo Park," a song dedicated to Lauren Ruth Ward. And Lauren Ruth Ward joined in for part of the song. Leila Sunier shared the stage with Alica Blue. They did a two person round. Leila Sunier had the wind blowing through her hair throughout the set. I learned that Alicia Blue wanted to be a poet and that she wakes up at 6 a.m. What was interesting about the set was watching the shift from late afternoon to night fall. They finished the round singing Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide.

Alicia Blue, Leila Sunier, Lauren Ruth Ward

Clit Kat hit the Bands in the Barbershop Twitch page. Their set started off with a brief John Williams introduction and then their Blade Runner inspired android punk music took over. They scream with a metal growl. I noticed that the band members (other than the lead singer) all wore midriff t-shirts and gym shorts. The Twitch comments section was all about mosh pits. The floor lights of the Barbershop were flashing. And the lead singer had her notes on the floor, which might be a reason why she spent moments throughout the set looking down at the floor.

Clit Kat

A jump back over to the main site had Skullcrusher up. I first saw this musician during this quarantine. I got to catch her a second time during this quarantine. She has a soft approach to her music that is filled with emotion. She played her set on the edge of her bed. Winter made what I think was a surprised appearance as I don't believe it was on the schedule. She did a one song set. 

Skullcrusher

Winter

Ramonda Hammer also played a one song set with each member of the band playing from different locations. Their song was their recent release "Big Hands." The video was done in B&W.

Ramonda Hammer

Slaughterhouse took over at Bands in the Barbershop. The lead singer was dressed in a leopard dress suit. And to end the songs, she'd often shake her head and make a kick with her right foot. The vocals at one moment are screaming and the next they're like a giant taking its time to crush you as you run as fast as you can away from it (of course, with those long legs, a leisurely stroll by a giant means they're rapidly closing the gap no matter how fast you run). A couple members of the band couldn't help but crack smiles throughout the set. In the comments section it felt like it was a live show. Instead of emojis people were typing out comments like, "Didn't put on deodorant so I can smell like I'm there."

Slaughterhouse

For me, I closed out my time at Echo Park Rising by heading back over to Portia Street Studios to catch Naia Izumi who was a blissful way to end the night. A guitar aficionado providing jazz vocals. But wait, was that some recorded growling during one song? 

Naia Izumi

Quarantine Online Sets: Version16

Can there be an online music family in this era of coronavirus? It really does seem like it. The punk rock community that has grown around bands like Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Ramonda Hammer and Bands in a Barbershop transitioned online for a week where 6 individual singers took the stage at The 6*6*60s house, playing 6 song sets at 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. That's a lot of 6's. The sets were played on The Satellite's Instagram Live page. The line-up was:

Dolly / Doctrin

Sunday: Dolly from Doctrin.
Monday: Sarah from Spare Parts for Broken Hearts.
Tuesday: Mandla from Ugly Sweaters.
Wednesday: Devin from Ramonda Hammer.
Thursday: Jonny from Spare Parts for Broken Hearts.
Friday: Charley from Dirty Cakes.

Sarah / Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Devin shined bright with her tunes. There were demands for a encore, but an encore didn't come. Okay, that encore request came from me.

Devin / Ramonda Hammer

Does Jonny even sing backup for Spare Parts for Broken Hearts? Well, he sung well during his Thursday set.

Jonny / Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Sarah did some extensive Q&As with both the audience and The 6*6*60s. I got to ask a question about if she was self-taught (accidentally typed in thought) or was musically trained. She is self-taught.

Dolly brought a singer-songwriter version to her punk tunes.

Mandla played his guitar strings so hard that I was surprised he didn't bust a string or two. As a side note, I first saw Ugly Sweaters at Broke LA, I miss that festival and hope it comes back at some point in time.

Mandla / Ugly Sweaters

Charley closed out the series with a donation for Meals on Wheels campaign. What a great idea.

Charley / Dirty Cakes

La Tierra De La Culebra and The House of Machines: Gracie Gray, Okudaxij, Glaare, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Milly and Tennis System

A recent Saturday was a busy music day. First up, it was out to a park in Highland Park called La Tierra De La Culebra. I had never heard of this park. It is on 57th Street, not that far from Highland Park Bowl. It is a community park kept up by the neighbors in the area. There are some giant trees that keep the area shaded. And there are paths along the area that takes you up and down the 3 tiers of the park.

The afternoon was put on by Beating Lights. I specifically went to catch Gracie Gray. I had just recently seen her at The Satellite and just fell in love with her vocals. Watching her a second time, playing under a massive oak tree, was like listening to the vocals of an angel. And the atmospheric sounds of her music hits you emotionally.

Gracie Gray

I also happened to catch Okudaxij and his folk tunes. He mentioned that his band name was hard to remember so he just told folks to find his Instagram by typing in OKUD. He also looked over to where Gracie Gray was sitting and said that he noticed that her Instagram account was GracietheGray. He wondered if that was a reference to Lord of the Rings. Gracie lifted up her left arm and yelled out, "Yes."

Okudaxij

A couple hours later is was off to The House of Machines to catch a few more bands.

Up first was GLAARE. I had previously caught GLAARE at The Satellite. As they started their set, they asked if the lights could be brought down to match their goth sounds. Unfortunately, the guys at the soundboard said they couldn't really do anything about the lights. Maybe they're connected to lights that impact the rest of the building? The lights were brighter than they might have wanted, but that didn't stop them from putting on a solid sound of doom.

GLAARE

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts was the highlight of the evening. Their punk sounds brought sunlight to the venue. They just are relentless in their music. One moment will stand out for me. Johnny, inspired by being in the moment, kicked a cup of water into the audience. I happened to be kneeling down at the stage during the moment. Drops of water splashed across me. A little bit hit my lens. No big deal, but my one thought was, "I wonder if I'm going to take anymore photos of Spare Parts for Broken Hearts or is there just going to be water bubbles all over my lens." I think the water splashes were more on the edges of my filter so I don't think they impacted the photos that much.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Milly came up next. The band likes to play with rather emotionless looks on their faces. Kind of like the faces that models use on the walkway. Well, one friend was having none of it. She ran up to the stage and danced around until she got a smile from the band.

Milly

Tennis System closed out the night. Their sounds shakes the body. Moment of the set has to be when the bassist got atop the speakers that have to be 10 feet above the ground and then took a leaping jump off. I personally would have broken an ankle.

Tennis System

Weekend Adventures: The Smell, Permanent Records, Casey's Irish Pub

It was a fun Friday and Saturday to catch bands. I was also tempted to go out Sunday afternoon, but decided I needed to just relax.

Suzie True

Nightgown

Friday night started out with an invite by Dum Dum Zine to catch their event at The Smell. I jumped at the opportunity as I recognized most of the bands and they're all solid: Nightgown, Slugs, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts and Taleen Kali. The one band I didn't recognize was Suzie True. Their set had a youthful joy to it. There were songs about randomly sleeping with co-workers at a coffee house that isn't a great place to work.

Slugs

Taleen Kali

Dum Dum Zine knew how to get the Echo Park music crowd to show up to The Smell. The way is to bring Echo Park bands to The Smell. The most memorable of the bands were Slugs. They had an acoustic set with some fun banter. They didn't have a drummer for the night. Instead, they had a computerized system that they called Xander. Xander didn't always work upon request and the band had a lot of fun poking fun at the troubles Xander was causing them. When they kept saying Xander, I had to think: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

One important note is that Kaleen Kali is the founder of Dum Dum Zine.

Bogan Villa

Jane Church

Saturday early evening was spent at Permanent Records. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any bands there since the time the location was Origami Vinyl. It was Dream Phases record release. Bogan Villa and Jane Church opened. It was a psychedelic early evening of music. There was free beer for those who came. Some folks slipped in to grab a beer and then slipped out. Eventually, the store manager hid the beer and handed it out to those he knew were there to catch Dream Phases.

Dream Phases

I closed out the night by heading to Casey's Irish Pub to catch Pu$$y Cow and Maniac with some solid punk. One thing I noticed: Casey's had a brake for the bass drum. It was just a cut 2x4. What I noticed was that nails were sticking out of the wood by perhaps 1/4 inch. I pointed it out, but I guess I was the only one concerned that a musician might accidentally step on it. I'm pretty sure that someday a musician is going to make the mistake of stepping on one of those nails. Both bands have similar fans so there were a number of friends of the bands hanging out in the audience. And there was a lot of mosh pit dancing. And well, a lot of paper streamers that got caught in the ceiling fans.

Pu$$y Cow

Maniac

American Barbershop: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Speed of Light, Ugly Sweaters

It was off to the American Barbershop to catch a trio of bands. Yes, it is an actual barbershop that turns into a venue at night. I first stepped foot inside the barbershop a few weeks back to catch Disco Shrine's video release party. This time, it was to catch live music. The place was packed with music fans. One thing I noticed that I didn't appear to have noticed the first time I went to this "venue" was the moose head above the stage that the bands played on.

This was my second time catching Ugly Sweaters. The first time was at Broke LA 2017. The band is fronted by a married couple. They're expected a son in the not so distant future. Comment of the set was, "Buy some stuff and we'll put some food in our kid's mouth." This band played with some rocking spirit that perhaps had the baby kicking.

Ugly Sweaters

Up next was Speed of Light. This band is fronted by 3 tweens/teenagers. If ever there was a band name that matched the band, this is it. This band plays at the speed of light. What is actually fun to watch is the bassist. Her eyes show such excitement. One hopes that never goes away. What was cool about their set was seeing Spare Parts for Broken Hearts helping the band out to make sure nothing went awry during the set. This band played a good portion of their set off the stage so Spare Parts for Broken Hearts made sure that wires didn't get tangled or bring down any microphone stands.

Speed of Light

Closing out the night for me was Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Lead singer Sarah's vocals bring the power of punk. And yet there is a solid melodic sound that drifts through all that rawness. And there are just those moments that just cause you to want to jump and scream. A demand was made for an encore and it was given.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

What was especially fun about the night was recognizing so many faces in the audience. It was like a small community of the Echo Park/Silverlake music scene. And unlike maybe a random night out when most people are strangers to each other, I think on this particular night people knew a number of those hanging out that night. A very precious moment to have in the crazy city of Los Angeles. 

The Satellite: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

The Satellite hasn't had many residencies this year. In fact, as of October, they might have had just one residency, The Colour Coast. If my calculations are correct, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts was The Satellite's second residency and it was a well deserved residency. This band started out in Long Beach and have been playing around for a few years now, slowly building their fan base. On this specific Monday night, they gave the crowd an entertaining hard rock/punk set. The crowd responding by packing the front of the stage like they were anticipating Green Day to show up. The crowd was packed with who's who of Los Angeles musicians: Ever So Android, Graves and The Bad Weather, Holy Wars, Lauren Ruth Ward, LP, Satellite Citi, The Vim Dicta. There were probably a few more that I didn't notice or don't personal know.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Opening up was singer-songwriter Nicole Kiki Jaffe. I say singer-songwriter, but her sound has an undercurrent of rock. The photographers were out for her set. I think there were 7 or so of us hanging out at the front of the stage. We weren't the only ones hanging out. The Satellite was filled up nicely first her 9 p.m. set.

Nicole Kiki Jaffe

Ramonda Hammer closed out the night. As per their Instagram account, they were there to melt faces. It just so happened that throughout the set, there was a big circle face projected on the white screen at the back of the stage. From my notes, this is my fifth time seeing Ramonda Hammer in 2018. I never get tired of catching their set. Though I will admit it is dangerous hanging near their bassist. He swings his bass all over the place and very close to the front of the stage. I started to get concerned that he might accidentally swing his bass right into my camera lens. 

Ramonda Hammer

The Hi Hat: Ramonda Hammer, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Thick, Gypsum

I made the assumption before heading out to The Hi Hat that this specific night was going to be awesome. I was already very familiar with three of the bands playing that night and so it was really just that fourth band that I wasn't sure if I would enjoy or not.

Gypsum opened the night up with their intricately constructed music. This band is really coming into form. It was fun listening to the banter between the lead singer and bassist. And I think one indication of a band finding a level of comfort is when the lead singer doesn't spend the whole set within an inch of the microphone. I believe that every time I've seen this band, they've either opened up the night or been stuck playing on a side stage. There has to be a venue out there willing to give this band a residency. They deserve a larger audience. 

Gypsum

Thick was that one band I knew nothing about. They're a band from Brooklyn, New York. Yet, even though they're from New York, I couldn't help but think about a former-Los Angeles band called The Randies. During the Thick's set, I swear I was expecting them to sing "Thought I Could Change" by The Randies. Thick is a band that is heavy on the garage sound and their stage show indicates that someone does a whole lot of stretching before their set.
 

Thick

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts and Ramonda Hammer are on a West Coast tour together. Folks who catch their tour are in for a treat. Spare Parts for Broken Hearts brings you back to the grunge era. One reason I was thinking about The Randies is that a former member of Spare Parts for Broken Hearts was in that band.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Meanwhile, Ramonda Hammer hypnotizes with musicians who will explode at any moment. I love The Hi Hat, but I really wish they had brighter lights on for Ramonda Hammer. At any moment, their bassist and guitarist would go into wild motion. The stage lights were too low for my camera to auto focus quickly enough. So many missed shots. The lead singer thanked those who hung out with them during their recent residency at The Echo. They had taken donations for Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls that is happening this summer and they said thanks to those who donated.

Ramonda Hammer

I had some photo shop talk with another photographer. We both accommodated the low lights in different manners. I hate blur in my photos so I shot at a really high ISO and sped up my shutter speed. My fellow photographer hates grain so he went with a low ISO and a very slow shutter speed, hoping to capture a moment of non-motion.

P.S. Yes, I know that my last three music night posts are via time spent at The Hi Hat. I do go to other music venues, I swear.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts at The Satellite
(archive interview, but photo from Dec 2017)

(Archives from Oct 2017). Interview with the band.

How would you describe your sound? Our sound definitely has its roots in the grunge era of the '90s, we meld that with a melancholy slant. This allows for a dynamic of heavy & constant drive, but holds space for the exchange of intimacy with our audience.

What’s your favorite Spare Parts for Broken Hearts song and what makes it the favorite? Collectively, I think we would all agree that 'Say When' has been our tried & true. It's the one song in the set that changes the temperature of the room, it's the only song we've never taken off our setlist. The new ones are always the favorite, but we're in a long term relationship with this one.