The Monday Show Low Down (Or “Insert Flippant Comment Concerning Recent Tragedy”)

You know, catching The Afternoons – the new side-project from several members of Irving – at El Cid last Friday was nothing less than fantastic. You know that a band’s onto something when they get the crowd dancing the first night they ever play out. That was some damn good indie pop there…

It reminds me of a discussion I had with Octavius on KXLU 88.9’s Demo Listen show earlier that night: I’d been considering splitting town, but I just can’t leave LA. The music scene is too good here right now. I mean, I’m blown away by some band’s live performance at least once a week these days.

Por ejemplo, just look at how this week’s shaping up:

MONDAY
- The Movies, The Happy Hollows, Rademacher, & Tigers Can Bite You @ The Viper Room
- Simon Dawes, Sabrosa Purr, & The Intervals @ The Echo
- Eastern Conference Champions & I Make This Sound @ The Silver Lake Lounge (Free)
- Division Day, Peter Walker, Canon, & Love of Diagrams @ Spaceland (Free)

DECISION:
I’m a big fan of The Movies, The Happy Hollows, Rademacher, and Tigers Can Bite You’s live performances, separately -- but all four bands playing together at one show? It’s like they’ve combined to form some unstoppable Transformers/Voltron indie rock robot that’s demanding your presence on, gasp, The Sunset Strip tonight.

(You might still be able to get on the unlimited free guest list by emailing your first and last name w/ a subject header of “Viper Room” to thehappyhollows@yahoo.com.)

TUESDAY
- Foreign Born, Molecules, & The Hectors @ Boardner’s of Hollywood
- Death to Anders, The Henry Clay People, Downtown/Union, & Unbusted @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- In Waves, Black Palms, & Mezzanine Owls @ El Cid
- Corazon County, The Curbhounds, Dime Box Band, & Good Ol’ Country Railroad @ Molly Malone’s
- Nels Cline & Glenn Kotche (From Wilco) @ The Echo

DECISION:
Well, it’s probably no surprise that I’ll be attending the show that we’re putting on at Boardner’s of Hollywood with Foreign Born, The Hectors, and Molecules. And you should too because it will be more fun than fun has ever been before. (I’ve also just gotten Foreign Born’s new album and dub it “ossum.”)

WEDNESDAY
- French Kicks & Scissors For Lefty @ The Troubadour
- Castaneda @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Nightfur, The Karabal Nightlife, & Rocking Horse People @ Zen Sushi (Free)
- Astra Heights, War Tapes, & Buffalo Roam @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Idyllists @ Club Moscow at Boardner’s of Hollywood

DECISION:
I think I’m going to check out this show over at The Troubadour that Rock Insider is putting on with NYC’s French Kicks and SF’s Scissors For Lefty.

THURSDAY
- Josh Ritter & The Submarines @ El Rey

DECISION:
Based on my half-hearted research, this appears to be the only show going on this night… but catching The Submarines at The El Rey seems like a pretty nice proposition.

FRIDAY
- Bodies of Water & The Spires @ The Echo
- Kind Hearts and Coronets @ The Refugee
- Sincere Parody @ Tangier
- Ghostland Observatory & Matmos @ The Natural History Museum
- Alexi Murdoch & Midnight Movies @ El Rey
- Clinic & Sea Wolf @ The Troubadour
- Snow Patrol, The Silversun Pickups, & OK Go @ The Gibson Ampitheatre

DECISION:
People really seem to think very highly of UK act Clinic and I think very highly of local indie folk act Sea Wolf (and the secret surprise opener), but I have plans to see Ventura’s rad sad/happy/sad pop band The Spires with Bodies of Water at The Echo.

(And wow. Silversun Pickups at The Gibson Ampitheatre. Good to see local kids make good like that.)

SATURDAY
- Snow Patrol (Acoustic) @ The Troubadour
- The Annuals & Aqueduct @ Spaceland
- Moving To France & The Cheat @ The Roxy
- Weird Science, Har Mar Superstar, Some Girls, & The Willowz @ The El Rey

DECISION:
I've been meaning to check out Moving To France live.

SUNDAY
- Teddy's Cheer Club, The Swallows, & Squab @ Mr. T's Bowl
- The Spinto Band, The Changes, & Dios Malos @ The Troubadour
- Brightblack Morning Light @ McCabe’s
- The Henry Clay People, Enid the Dowl, Service Group, & Codpiece @ The Cocaine at Live Jazz

DECISION:
That line-up at The Troubadour is more than solid, but I’ve meaning to see The Henry Clay People for something much akin to forever now. (And, geesh, there’s this really good Japanese restaurant right next to The Cocaine…)

That's it. Did I miss anything? Lemme know. (Oh, and you can hear that radio show I did on KXLU 88.9 FM with Octavius here.)

Here are a few bands that I’ve added to the show calendar: The Deadly Syndrome, Cosio, To Live and Die in LA, The Cassettes, Cavil At Rest, Charlie Wadhams and The Harmony Brothers, Ivy Walls, Fairmona, Thao Nguyen, Troika, Anni Rossi, Radars to the Sky, Wires on Fire, The Antarcticans, Sabertooth Tiger, DJ Godzilla, Adem, Big Search, Fools Gold, Bedroom Walls, Xu Xu Fang, Green Heat, In Waves, The Movies, The Monolators, The Western States Motel, The Thermals, Them Hills, Wet Confetti, Moving To France, The Cheat, Sincere Parody, The Curbhounds, Dime Box Band, Good Ol’ Country Railroad, US Mail Band, Gwendolyn, Mike Stinson, and The Natural Disasters. (See the right-hand column for dates and venues.)