The CYP2 party folks stacked this past Tuesday’s Echoplex bill to the brim with female-fronted power: Light Asylum, Tearist, Chelsea Wolfe and Violet Tremors. Photos from the night are below and will also hit MiskaNYC’s Bloglin.

FULL GALLERY HERE

Violet Tremors 

Tearist

Chelsea Wolfe

Light Asylum

An oddball and I totally love it. Prolific as a solo artist, the work of Kirin J. Callinan is performance-heavy and borders on the bizarre and impacting and as a result, from me, comes highly recommended. A longtime Jack Ladder (Holloweyed Records, you know?) cohort and a Dreamlander himself, Callinan’s recently signed solo to Terrible Records (Kindness, CANT, Chairlift) and just released one of the better videos of the year for the tune, “Way to War.”

Watch the video and stream the track below. His two-track Terrible debut is coming soon. I suggest you support a friend and grab the 7.”

Kirin J Callinan – WIIW by Terrible Records

Photo:  Kirin J. Callinan shot by Mclean Stephenson during the HURTSVILLE sessions. 

Brussels Express is a beautiful documentary about two of the only bicycle messengers in the very congested city of Brussels, where as it stands, only boasts a 4% cycling traffic rate. Even for myself, a bicycle commuter in Smog City, that number is low. Directed, shot & edited by Sander Vandenbroucke. 19 minutes.

Keith Morris, one of hardcore’s true forces through stints in Black Flag, Circle Jerks and now OFF!, is 56 and is still fucking pissed. As evident with OFF!’s 2010 EP collection as their powerful debut, Morris can still lead a band to war and continuing the battle (with pretty much most of society), the quintet released their first official longplayer this week on the Vice label. The band celebrated with a record release show this past Tuesday at the historic West Hollywood venue, The Whiskey a Go Go, with fellow punks FIDLAR and Spider Fever supporting. Hear a tune from OFF!’s S/T album below.

FULL GALLERY HERE

OFF!- “King Kong Brigade” (MP3)

OFF!

FIDLAR

The NYC project of multi-instrumentalist Ben Kaplan Sleep Maps have matured into a full-fledged band for their debut, Fiction Makes the Future, out now via the Lost Future Music imprint. The music is aggressive, yet buoyant instrumental rock perfect for fans of a band like Pelican. Stream the tune, “Men Against the Stars” below.

Sleep Maps- “Men Against the Stars” (STREAM)

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LA-based producer Anenon (Brian Allen Simon) makes drifitng, lost-at-sea electronic productions without skipping out on the focus toward beat placement. He’s an alum of the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy and founder of the label Non Projects. Snag the track “Inner Hue,” from the same-named album below for free below.

Anenon- “Inner Hue” (Direct MP3)
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Stockholm outfit Ditt Irne (Hampus Klint and Einar Andersson) make dance pop that us here at The Holloweyed have come to expect from the always on-point Cascine label. In a recent release, the label calls it their “most poetic project” to date. Grab a standout cut from their EP, En Värld I Brand, below.

Ditt Irne- “Månljus (saknad)” (Direct MP3)
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The Los Angeles-based label Germ seemed to have popped up overnight. With a focus on upcoming releases from bands like Hecuba, We Are the World and newcomers ESP, the imprint also is looking forward to a release from the duo Dreamers. Described as “witchy electronic cyber punks,” the pair of Robbie Williamson and Megan Gold met at a coffee shop in Tacoma, WA and will release their self-titled debut on May 22nd. Grab the single, “City of Hope” below.

Dreamers- “City of Hope” (Direct MP3)
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The one-man moody guitar-bouncing project of Zach Cole Smith have changed their name from the spelled-right DIVE, to DIIV, citing respect for the original Dive.  To celebrate the change, they have shared the quite-good tune, “Doused” for streaming. Having recently signed up with the Captured Tracksimprint (a good decision I’d say), the DIIV band is comprised of Devin Ruben Perez, ex-Smith Westerns drummer Colby Hewitt and Andrew Bailey. The longplayer, Oshin, drops June 26th.

DIIV- “Doused” (Stream)

The mighty industrial-leaning electronic duo from New York, Gatekeeper, return with their interactive debut LP, Exo, set to drop July 17th via Smog City imprint, Hippos in Tanks. Welcoming the group, the CYP2 party folks stacked their recent Echoplex bill with Hype Williams, Bodyguard (James Ferraro + Teams) and White Car. Photos from the very foggy night’s last two acts are below.

Gatekeeper- “Giza” (MP3)

White Car- “She the Bodiless” (MP3)

FULL GALLERY HERE

Such a well-booked night! The Check Yo Ponytail crew polished the gold to a sparkle at their last event and from openers to headliners the night blinded. Responsible for one of the best albums of the year- yeah, I know it’s April dude- Canadian dark dance act Trust went first staking claim at their LA debut and leaving many bounding out of the Echoplex, the vinyl copy of their Arts + Crafts release TRST, under their arms. Sandwiched in the middle was former Test Icicle and Lightspeed Champion player Devonté Hyne, this time under the Blood Orange moniker. The set was honest and skillful and I suggest you add his Coastal Grooves release to your library. Likely the hottest pop-minded, classically trained import from Denmark yet, Nanna Øland Fabricius going as Oh Land, two members alongside her, closed the night with a passionate and lasting set of selections from her S/T record. Smog City producer and friend, Teams also made an appearance and posed for a few snaps. He’s the one rocking undersea camo behind the jungle of blondes down there. Huzzah!

Snag Trust’s CYP2 mixtape below (the first one, it’s a doozy) and if you’re in Smog City, the party returns TONIGHT with Gatekeeper, James Ferraro, White Car and Hype Williams. Snag White Car’s CYP2 mixtape (the second one) for the event below as well. Tickets for tonight are right here.

FULL GALLERY HERE

TRUST

BLOOD ORANGE

OH LAND

White Fence-  “A Hermes Blues” (MP3) From Vol. 1

It’s a darn good time to be a fan of Tim Presley’s brand. Following his recent SXSW stay (9 shows), the Bay Area musician is in the midst of a few-months tour alongside friends/conspirators The Strange Boys and as his solo project, White Fence. There’s also new music coming: late next month, Hair, a collaborative album with guitar slayer Ty Segall will drop but as for the homespun psych pop of the WF tag, the first part of a recently-announced double album, Family Perfume is available now via Woodsist. Known for lending his hands playing with both Darker My Love and The Strange Boys and formerly The Nerve Agents, Presley’s WF output has always managed to fit comfortably in between all the aforementioned band’s vintage obsession- skuzzy and paisey-popped to perfection.

Existing since 2010, the third WF offering (or second-and-a-half if you will) follows last year’s Is Growing Faith with marginally much of the same content and style. The set is stirred up between three sorts of tracks: wayward acoustic wains, thinned-out, rabbit-hole psych bouncers and rocky, garage blisters. At 14 tracks, Vol. 1 does it duty to the grandfathers in the record collection Presley likely has- The Beatles (late), The Pretty Things, The Kinks, The Seeds, The Count Five, etc.- and stays sticky enough on the attentions of those lurking among many of the records Woodsist and In The Red are dropping these days. A scene is a scene because of like minded folks and there’s a reason Presley has a place at that (fairly long) lunchroom table. Songs like “Swagger Vets and Double Moon” and the craggle-rocking “Down PNX” sound fit nicely in the Segall collaboration mindset, while slower wayward picks like “Do You Know Ida Know” and “Hope Servatude I Have No” ooze with the sort of carefree comfort like you’re sitting right there in the living room, Presley jamming along.

There’s not much to Vol. 1 and it’s hard to take it too seriously; there’s recording fuzz and pops and the occasional “mistakes” or mis-strums, but as in his last set, the White Fence tag seems to succeed as being more of an outlet rather than fully-formed conception- a shelf that promotes (what certainly sounds like) Presley’s ideas, leftovers and meandering odds and ends. By no means a cohesive set, I imagine that once Vol. 2 drops (May 15th) and Woodsist issues the entire thing on 2xLP (still TBD) Presley’s latest decently-stirring homage to pop gone by will sit nicely with your crew and foster a appropriate soundtrack to dazed days and stoned nights.

Smog City’s best garage duo is a now a trio. Kicking off another stint of dates supporting his pleasing and powerful debut, When the Guns Come Out, Hanni El Khatib has just added a third member on organ and second guitar and judging from the exciting results of Friday’s sold-out Satellite gig, I suggest you get darn prepped about the eventual (and deserving) success that this former SF-based creative director has got coming to him once album two, just announced to be produced by Black Key’s Dan Auerbach, drops.

OC surf rock trio and recent Coachella addition, Tijuana Panthers supported.

FULL GALLERY HERE

Tijuana Panthers

Hanni El Khatib

Yesterday I was listening to Howie Pyro’s fantastic Intoxica radio show. Mixing the best and rarest 60s garage, rockabilly, punk and more, Pyro’s massive record collection (30,000+) has become stuff of legend. I assume that this new 7″ from Kind Turkey records would fit right in in Pyro’s crates. The Madison, WI band The Lonesome Savages feature Dead Luke and an ex-Zola Jesus member and produce a roaring mixture of The Cramps and The Gun Club all mashed around inside a purrin’ hotrod engine. Hear the slammer “All Outta Love” below and snag the entire 7″ here and here.

The Lonesome Savages- All Outta Love (MP3)

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Mixing heyday 60s psych steppers with sloppy, roaring garage spazz, OC act Cosmonauts come outta the gate, sweat-stained and blistered.  Their sophomore longplayer, If You Wanna Die, Then I Wanna Die is set to drop April 27 via Burger. Hear the track, “Flowerbomb” below.

For those in LA, tonight (yeah, the notice is short, apologies) Cosmonatus, The Abigails and Lovely Bad Things will help debut the new showcase night, Globos Globos Globos at Los Globos in Silverlake. Info here.)

Cosmonauts- “Flowerbomb” (Stream)

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San Diego Mary Chain-obsessed skuzz punks Crocodiles are set to drop their third album, Endless Flowers on June 5th via Frenchkiss. Recorded in Berlin, it’s the first they’ve made “to feature” the full quintet. Snag the surfy tune “Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) below.

Crocodiles- Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) (MP3)

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Two years ago, I went on a tour with Writer and Tape Deck Mountain from SD to SXSW, photographing and writing. We played bars and stages unfit for cover bands but I quite enjoyed the hustle as both San Diego bands are totally nice and gracious guys. I’m really happy that the brothers Writer are finally getting some love. Hear their new 7″ below.

Writer- Family Dinner 7″ (Full Stream)