Local LA rockers the Rolling Blackouts will be playing a $5 show this Saturday with Micaela Bastidas and Die Rockers Die at L'KEG Gallery (1170 Glendale Blvd.). You know... over there by Echo Park....

Love Pretzels? Love Indie Rock? Often find yourself torn between these two passions like the protagonist in some kind of terrible 80s R&B song about adultery and not wanting to be right? If that's you, then your tactile sensations love triangle is over. Tonight, Classical Geek Theatre and LA Underground are bringing together the sweet sound of indie rock and the soft salty goodness of some of LA's best Pretzels. It's at the Scene bar......

The Kooks and The Morning Benders showcase a plateful of indie pop rock goodness at The Echo on February 8, 2008....

Grizzly Bear, via Grizzly-Bear.net Of all the indie bands with some sort of animal in their title, Grizzly Bear might be the top dogs. After all, can Deerhoof, Deerhunter, Caribou, Panda Bear or even Animal Collective claim they are co-headlining a show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic? Nay. It is just the Brooklyn-based quartet who will share a stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall for a one night only performance with the L.A.......

It's uncommon that a rapper takes the name he used for over 6 years and transforms it into an indie-rock band, but founder Yoni Wolf is known for breaking the rules and getting great results. Operating within the Anticon collective Why?'s sound is self described as "smart, shimmering, sweetly soured" and front man Yoni's delivery as a "candytime-dissonant, singsong-suicide style". Anyways, this is a special intimate performance previewing material from the band's forthcoming album,......

It's the biggest dance club night in Los Angeles over at The Vanguard and tonight is a special one -- GIANT is having its eighth-anniversary party. Join Steve Aoki, Glycerin and others along it 1500 clubbers. Metromix has the low down. And speaking of anniversaries, the monthly Dragstrip 66 at Safari Sam's is celebrating its Quinceanera! 15 years ago, January, L.A.'s queer/mixed underground have been eagerly descending upon the club night every second saturday......

We once knew Captain Automatic lead man, Josh Kamensky, as the public relations guru for the popular councilman Eric Garcetti and one of the very few at City Hall that was hip to new media. Back in October, Kamensky left the job to pursue other goals, part of that being music. Last night, the band of of three and a half jews sent us a clip of their holiday song, "(We Used To Have A)......

Vampire Weekend, decked out in polo shirts and loafers, played their blend of indie rock meets afro-pop to a packed house at The Echo last night. The show was sold out and the band did not disappoint despite singer Ezra Koenig’s ailing vocal chords. Armed with enhanced energy and a couple of new songs since the last time they were in LA, Vampire Weekend proved that they are very deserving of the buzz currently surrounding......

It's a dream date for fans of Canadian songstress Feist and Austin's Spoon. Feist is just now making her break on the world stage, with a little help from Uncle Steve. But anyone with an ear to the Toronto indie rock scene could hear her coming ever since her solo debut, Monarch, was released on the heels of By Divine Right's "Bless This Mess" Tour (she was their rhythm guitarist). For most of this......

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2007 Recap from Super!Alright! on Vimeo. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of Texas's only feminist bookstore. Throughout the week, they interviewed a bunch of indie fashion designers and D-I-Y websites—Etsy, Ornamental Things, 31 Corn Lane, and Aorta Designs—for the upcoming Stitch Fashion Show. They also did......

When Low vs. Diamond's lead singer Lucas Field sauntered on the stage and meekly opened the show with "Life After Love," I knew immediately that despite the head bobbing and dancing from a few, LvD’s live act would neither expand upon its sound nor translate to the crowd what exactly they were trying to do....

LA Times staffer and Buzz Bands blogger Kevin Bronson's story "Taking the L.A. indie rock scene personally" hit stands last Thursday. By means of an intimate portrayal, Bronson set forth his pick of indie rock up-and-comers for L.A.'s indie rock scene in 2008. While I completely admire that he would put his neck out there for three rather small, entirely worthy bands (The Airborne Toxic Event, Castledoor, and The Deadly Syndrome) at the forefront of......

Yesterday commenced with an LA bang. I started off at the Indaba music loft again because they have been hosting a plethora of good (free!) shows. There's something comforting about watching bands from someone else's living room. I showed up around mid-day to catch one of my favorite LA bands Division Day. Front man Rohner Segnitz and the boys ran through a pleasant acoustic set. With drummer Kevin Lenhart on shakers, Division Day sounded......

I have an occasional habit of going to get coffee with a friend on weeknights at the 101 Cafe (6145 Franklin Ave, right across from The Hollywood Tower). It's just so darn comfortable. And of course, it's open till around 3am, so it's a perfect Late Night Eats spot. Attached to a mighty fancier than normal, even kind of hip, Best Western hotel, the 101 Cafe has a true retro feel, complete with a......

Nearly two weeks ago, I traveled eastward on an excursion to the Lone Star State. I expected Texas to be a hostile experience filled with unnecessarily aggressive, booze-fueled behemoths. You know the truck driving, cowboy kind. My weekend trip proved it to be quite the opposite. I arrived at LaGrave Field, home of Ft. Worth's AAA baseball team, bright and early for the 3rd annual Wall of Sound Festival. Considering all of our Spector......

Eulogies Eulogies Dangerbird Records Release Date: 09/11/07 Peter Walker did the right thing when he decided to ditch the solo career for his band Eulogies. For some reason or another, his solo career didn't interest me, but Eulogies' self-titled 2007 release has proven otherwise. The new album is a striking and addictive indie rock endeavor, the antithesis of Walker's previous Wilco-compared work. Eulogies is built upon deceivingly poppy premise. The band name, lyrical content,......

With indie rock mainstays Devotchka, Oh No! Oh My!, Foreign Born, Snowden, Illinois, The Black Angels, St. Vincent, and Thee More Shallows, how can one really go wrong? Well, quite simply by not publicizing your festival enough. My experience swerving was a little disconcerting, mainly because of the poor turnout. It's my turn to take a stab at this whole Swerve Festival. Everything seemed perfect on paper (the music, the art, the film, and the......

"Yeah, I do think this one sounds grittier, but the songwriting on both are kind of dark. On the first album, some of the songs are immediately catchy, where some of the people don’t realize it’s dark and on the second one, the music can be a bit darker, immediately."...

If you keep walking west down Hollywood Blvd past the nonsense of Hollywood & Highland, past the tourist and super heroes at the Chinese Theater and down the next block, you will find the Knitting Factory, tucked away beneath what was once a movie theater. Boasting three stages and tons of bands every night, the Knitting Factory comes to us via New York and has hosted some shows this year that LAist had a great......

Quote of the week: 'Who are YOU?" said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I - I hardly know sir, just at present - at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.' – from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Good Benefits The Players Toast Awards at the......

With three full length albums under their belt, and lyrics that often run the emotional gamut of life in Los AngelesRilo Kiley is as much a fixture on the L.A. music scene as anyone. While their newest album, Under the Blacklight, won't debut until August 21, they are getting ready to kick things off at All Star Lanes for a "secret" show in Eagle Rock in a few hours. After, Rilo Kiley will leave the country and return to Los Angeles, playing the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium October 15. Blake Sennett took some time to sit down with LAist...

Artist: Dappled Cities Release Date: June 2007 Album: Granddance Label: Dangerbird Records The Aussie band Dappled Cities (formerly Dappled Cities Fly) are often compared to the Flaming Lips and I just don't get it. The Dappled Cities produce measured indie rock that has marching highs and Sigur Ros-like lows but none of the crazy, out-there solos or fantastical weirdness of the Lips. Their release, Granddance, on LA's Dangerbird Records, is 11 tracks of well-crafted......

One of Indie rock's rising stars, Ferraby Lionheart, is out with his new full length eleven song album Catch the Brass Ring and is playing Hotel Cafe tomorrow night. Before we go see this folksy pop singer songwriter, LAist interviewed Ferraby about his name, his love for Judy Garland, and where he hangs out in LA. Ok, so is your real name Ferraby Lionheart? If not, how did your come up with it? Its sounds......

LA is home to dozens of classic, independent, badass rock clubs. Many of these clubs helped launch most of your favorite groups. But those bands would have never made it on stage if it wasn't for the booker, the person who actually hires the bands to play the show on the particular date. Wednesday we introduced you to Patrick from Safari Sam's. Today we are very happy to share with you the all caps......

Hot Hot Heat have been added to the Sunset Junction bill. I know you know Sunset Junction, the festival spread along Silverlake's streets in late August. It's sweltering, and us indie rock fans could never quite understand how old-skool Silverlake gay men could promenade in their leathers all day long. The days of gay old Silverlake are mostly gone now; heck, the 4100 Club took over Detour years ago. Anyway, I reminisce: no matter......

Movies like Once, happen ...well, just once in awhile. A 2007 Sundance darling, Once is a unique love story set in Ireland. The film is a departure from the regular summer blockbusters and yes, it is a musical- thats right, a musical, but not the break out into song with jazz hands type musicals we're used to. If there were to be a mellow indie rock musical where the songs fit into the story......

Rilo Kiley's new video for 'The Moneymaker', their new single off of their upcoming album, Under the Blacklight....

We're pretty stoked this summer to be on an ultimate frisbee league team with the Los Angeles Organization of Ultimate Teams, or LAOUT (get it? LAyout?). This week was the first week for the summer league where games are played at Balboa Park in Encino and Oakwood Park in Venice. It's fascinating to see a group of strangers from all over LA get together, play, win (of course, go Team Tan!) and hang out......

So Sports Guy and I have been seeing each other quite a bit these days, I’ve met his friends, he’s met mine (they all highly approve, or at least that’s what they say), we’ve gone out on the town, over to dive bars, to the movies and stayed in together. He even taught me a little about the Indy 500 and why the guy who won isn’t JUST Ashley Judd’s husband. He brought me to......

I collected baseball cards growing up. Baseball cards taught me math (ER*9/IP=ERA!!). Baseball cards taught me the art of negotiation ("I'll give you a Griffey Upper Deck rookie for that McGwire '84 Olympic card"). And, perhaps most importantly, baseball cards taught me last names. From Assenmacher to Zeile, I know 'em all. While I typically forget someone's first name 30 seconds after meeting them, their last names always seem to stick with me ("Wait, your......