The Monday Show Low Down (Or “Like Some Kind Of Reptile Brainiac”)

All apologies for the less than full week of updates last week. My day job got the best of me. No complaints though, because I love it. (I’m a producer on this PlayStation 2 game and I write dialogue and do level design for it, too.)

Our next Let’s Independent! night is coming up in a little over two weeks and it’s promising to be as much or more fun as the previous events. Probably the most satisfying part of the last show was that so many people said that they really enjoyed the hell out of all three bands, though they’d maybe only heard of a single act.

That’s fantastic because that’s why I’ve been both doing this site and putting on the night -- to help share music that I feel really passionately about. I try to focus on groups that I really believe deserve a larger audience and I’m extremely goddamn happy to hear that folks are enjoying the bands as much as I do.

Anyway, the next show is on Tuesday, November 28th at Boardner’s of Hollywood and begins with The Devils Romantics (they call their music “melodic deconstruction with victrola leanings and No-Wave angularity,” but perhaps could easier be described as “rad”), then The Spires (who The Santa Barbara Independent say are “unique and inviting”) will go on second, and Mezzanine Owls (aka “edgy love songs built on overdriven guitar melodies”) wrap up the night.

Go to our myspace page for Let’s Independent! and you can hear why I’m gushing about all of them.

As far as this week goes, there are some great shows happening here in LA that you’d really be sad if you missed...

One of the most promising picks is on Monday night at Spaceland, where pretty indie pop act Let’s Go Sailing is putting on a free residency night with The Western States Motel (one of my favorite LA acts), The Deadly Syndrome (who I’ve been meaning to check out for awhile now), and Hour of the Shipwreck.

The always fantastic Great Northern are also doing a free residency at The Echo, with Wolf Eyes, Raven Strain, and Sick Llama in tow. And also playing on Monday night are The Parson Red Heads and The Petes at The Knitting Factory, Sparta at The Avalon, Foreign Born at Safari Sam’s, and Race Track Babies at The Silver Lake Lounge.

On Tuesday, one of my favorite bands of my entire adult life – Austin’s instrumental rock giants Explosions in the Sky – are playing at The El Rey.

In a way that sucks because there are three other quality shows happening that night too: Thailand, The Trucks, and Castaneda at The Silver Lake Lounge, The Fcked Five, Obsolete Heart, and Ex-Paladins at The Scene, and Midnight Movies and The Grates at Spaceland.

This Wednesday? The Airborne Toxic Event just got added to the Club NME event at Spaceland with The Drones and Devasations.

Come Thursday, Irving, +/-, and Redcar are at Spaceland, The Couch is at Three of Clubs, and Jolie Holland and Vetiver will play The Ex Plex.

Friday night sees the Midnight Movies cd release event with Dead Ponies at Spaceland, The Deadly Syndrome at El Cid, and Frank Black at The House of Blues on the (blerf) Sunset Strip.

On Saturday, The Movies play Spaceland, Hot Chip will play The Henry Fonda, Midnight Movies head out to The Prospector in Long Beach, The Airborne Toxic Event hold a free in-store at Sea Level Records, Teddy’s Cheer Club scores at Mr T’s Bowl, and Sean Lennon at The El Rey.

And finally, These Arms Are Snakes perform at Spaceland on Sunday.

The following bands have also announced shows for LA: Pink Mochi, Teddy’s Cheer Club, Thailand, The Black Pine, American Music Club, Casper, Flight Orchestra, Derek Michael, DJ Olivia Arthur, The Couch, and Homesick Elephant. (See the right-hand column for dates and venues.)