The Monday Show Lowdown (Or “No Moral To The Story. Just A Buncha Stuff That Happened.”)

Last Friday night, Thailand and Radars to the Sky celebrated album and EP self-releases, respectively, at El Cid and were really great. And Signal Hill played an EP release show at Pehrspace on Saturday that completely and, like, utterly blew me away…

If you get a chance to see any of these acts live in the future, do it. Now, let’s take a look at how this week's shows are shaping up.

MONDAY:
- Simon Dawes, The Abe Lincoln Story, Common Hours, & Strangers Smile @ The Echo (Free)
- Eastern Conference Champions @ The Silver Lake Lounge (Free)
- Rolling Blackouts @ The Viper Room
- Division Day, Great Northern, The Happy Hollows, & Peter Walker @ Spaceland (Free)

DECISION:
I was really glad to see that The Happy Hollows’ appearance at Spaceland was pushed back to this week, since I had to miss the show last Monday. I don’t know Peter Walker’s music too well, but Division Day and Great Northern are two of my favorite bands in LA.

So, three excellent bands playing at one place for free? Man, we’re pretty spoiled living here…

TUESDAY:
- The Lights From Here & Half Mantis Group @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Luke Paquin @ Tangiers
- Lo-Fi Sugar @ The Lava Lounge
- Totally Radd! & Anavan @ Cinespace

DECISION:
I’m a big fan of local post rock act The Lights From Here… If you like Austin’s Explosions in the Sky, you will be, too.

WEDNESDAY:
- Paleo @ The Scene
- Astra Heights & The Parson Redheads @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Idyllists @ Club Moscow at Boardner’s of Hollywood

DECISION:
I don’t know any of these acts too well. Some of the other blogs speak really well of The Parson Redheads.

THURSDAY:
- Rob Crow of Pinback @ The Troubadour
- Josh Haden, A Minor Canon, The Chapin Sisters, & The Pity Party @ The Echo
- The Octopus Project @ The Knitting Factory
- Imarobot & The Grand Marquee @ The Roxy
- The Good Listeners, Mezzanine Owls, Cavil At Rest, & Tandemoro @ The Scene (Glendale)

INDECISION:
I’m torn between seeing Mez Owls and Tandemoro out at The Scene and braving The Knitting Factory to see Austin’s The Octopus Project, who are pretty zany and rad. I also like the new album by The Minor Canon a lot, too.

FRIDAY:
- The Autumn Defense @ Spaceland

DECISION:
Our counterparts at Radio Free Chicago seem to like the retro pop sound of The Autumn Defense.

SATURDAY:
- Family Tree Analog, The Studio Fix & The Loose Ties @ Zamakibo
- Sparta, The Movies, & The Press Fire @ The Echo
- The Happy Hollows, Rademacher, & Chase Frank @ Que Sera (Long Beach)
- Signal Hill, Skyscraper Foundation, & Elba @ The Prospector (Long Beach)
- Bennystrange @ The Verity Room (Canoga Park)
- Hearts of Palm UK @ Pehrspace
- Camera Obscura & Portastic @ The El Rey

DECISION:
Those shows in Long Beach both sound pretty great and I like what I’ve heard from Hearts of Palm UK… (They remind me of Portland's The Blow.) But my friend Jed swears by Camera Obscura.

SUNDAY:
- Adeline, The Davin Givhan Band, El Haru Kuroi, and The Natural Disasters @ The Live From Little Tokyo record release show @ All-Star Lanes
- Yes Me To Death @ The Scene

DECISION:
The event at All-Star Lanes is a record release show for a cd called Live From Little Tokyo, which features songs from local acts like The Happy Hollows, The Natural Disasters, The Devils Romantics, and more. The Yes Me To Death residency at The Scene is also worth checking out.

That’s all I got. Did I miss anything? Please write me, if so.

By the way, it looks like Sea Wolf had to pull out of playing the Division Day residency show at Spaceland on Monday, Feb 26… Incidentally, that’s the same night that The Movies, The Happy Hollows, Tigers Can Bite You, and Rademacher play The Viper Room. I can’t say enough good things about all four bands. That should be an incredibly fun time.

Here are a few bands that I’ve added to the show calendar: Voxtrot, Bedroom Walls, Apples In Stereo, Great Northern, El Perro Del Mar, The Happy Hollows, The Pity Party, Rademacher, Hearts of Palm UK, Final Fantasy, Essex Green, The Like, Skyscraper Foundation, Elba, Sondre Lerche, Signal Hill, you.may.die.in.the.desert, Kelly Stoltz, Panther Attack, Soundtrack Symphony, Beware of Safety, The Distants, Midway, Calla, The Mulhollands, The Sirens, Snow Patrol, Califone, Castaneda, The Airborne Toxic Event, Death To Anders, Youth Group, Ghostland Observatory, Matmos, Wet Confetti, The Prix, Kind Hearts & Coronets, The Diggs, Bennystrange, Au Revoir Simone, Ratatat, Razorlight, and Panther. (See the right-hand column for dates and venues.)

RELATED LINKS:
- Mini-Interview: Division Day
- Mini-Interview: Great Northern
- Mini-Interview: The Octopus Project
- Mini-Interview: Rademacher
- Mini-Interview: The Movies