Review: The Spyrals bring their album 'Retrograde' to life with help from Devon Ross and Primitive Ring

On a chilly night in Los Angeles, The Spyrals had their record release party at Gold-Diggers for their fifth studio album "Retrograde." I actually crossed paths with this band back in 2013. How do I know I saw the band? Considering that the band's first album came out in 2012, I decided to look through my archives. The name popped up in a 2013 draft blog post that simply has four Facebook links to the bands that were playing the Bootleg Theater on that specific July night. I obviously never got around to finishing up the blog post. 

The Spyrals at Gold-Diggers

NFV Song Spotlight: Hailey Wild's Wake Up

The USC Thornton School of Music senior Hailey Wild had the WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy rocking. It was a perfect blend of hard rock anthems and the Sunset Strip. She opened up the set with Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" that solidified her rocker bona fides from the start. 

Hailey Wild at Hotel Ziggy

NFV Song Spotlight: Wayne Redfern's Without Saying

I do enjoy going to Club Tee Gee on occasion. Why? I often don't know anything about the bands or singers on the bill. It is an exploration of the unknown. I seldom even do any preliminary research on who is playing on the bill other than a cursorily look at Instagram pages. And honestly, sometimes the fewer Instagram followers the better, because I'm looking to be one of the first photographers to capture some photos of a band or musician. 

Wayne Redfern at Club Tee Gee

NFV Song Spotlight: Pom Poms' I Think You're Right

I've seen Pom Poms at least 6 times throughout the years. The band has played alongside some of my favorite local bands each of those 6 times. I first came across Pom Poms when they played with The Controversy at one of my previous favorite stomping grounds, The Satellite. It was a shared residency and I saw the pair team-up twice. In regards to The Controversy, it appears that the band is on hiatus though I do know that lead singer Laura Vall and husband / bandmate Thomas Hjorth are still involved in music. 

Pom Poms at Harvard & Stone

NFV Song Spotlight: Together Pangea's Misery

The band Together Pangea was the special guest headliner for Kills Birds' performance at Gold-Diggers. The Los Angeles based band has been around for north of 10 years. How many times have I seen Together Pangea? Zero times. For as much time as I've spent catching bands across Los Angeles, there are still bands out there that I've never seen. I had to admit this at the venue. A person who knows how long I've hung out in the scene joked that I must have seen the band when they first started out. I responded honestly that I knew of the band, but had never seen them. 

Together Pangea at Gold-Diggers

NFV Song Spotlight: Warm Human's Maybe

How did I cross paths with Warm Human (Meredith Johnson)? If you've come across my Instagram page or even this blogsite, you know that I enjoy a good Janelane set. Just a few months back, Janelane had a record release party at Zebulon for the album Love Letters. Scanning through Zebulon's website, as I so often do, I noticed that Janelane was once again playing at the venue on November 10th. The band was opening for Warm Human who I had never heard of, but was also having a record release party that night for Hamartia. That was a double reason to head on out. 

Warm Human at Zebulon

NFV Song Spotlight: Moonily's Evil Eye

I came across Moonily while covering one of my favorite Los Angeles based punk bands, The Paranoyds, for Buzzbands. Venues had just started to reopen in mid-2021 and The Paranoyds were playing The Echo. To me, it was one of the first big local nights and the place was packed. I recall during The Paranoyds set fans were having fun crowd surfing. It was such a joyous time to be back listening to live music. The three members of Moonily also joined in the crowd surfing craze of the night, coming to the stage together. Their set had already put them on my list of new favorite bands and their fun stage dives cemented that opinion all the more. 

Moonily at Harvard & Stone