Sometimes it seems like the only people who actually eat at Taix are the musicians. Taix is kind enough to actually give the performing bands drink and meal tickets. I've never even eaten in the restaurant itself, but I've spent a lot of time in the homey wine bar, where I can listen to local bands while I dine. Whenever I cozy up in the warm brick-interior listening to the edgy jazz, I wonder......

Recently there has been an explosion of local bands that have burst onto the music scene, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids and Under the Influence Of Giants, to name a few. After touring extensively for the past year one of these bands returned home for the first time in about that long. Under The Influence Of Giants returned home to Los Angeles to the El Rey Thursday Night. More After the Jump.........

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Londonist wants you to know where......

Jana Pants is visiting our city from out of town. We have invited her to go to as many club-sized concerts as she could tolerate. She dipped her pinkie toe into the scene last weekend, and is returning tonight after a brief respite at Big Bear. This was her dispatch that should have been posted on Monday. Whoops. A weekend of music and drinking is aces in my book. What better way to ring......

LAist loves the Echo. They might have recently raised drink prices, a sure sign of Echo Park gentrification, but we still heart their ability to bring in good local bands, sponsor great theme nights, pack the house and show everyone how it’s done. This past weekend was no different with fans of local acts Yellow Sun, Silversun Pickups and San Francisco’s Film School. An important lesson to learn about the LA music scene is......

Fri 6/9 - Silversun Pickups / Film School @ the Echo ($10) – The Silversun Pickups drop their debut full-length, Carnavas, on July 25th on Dangerbird Records. The record is consistently strong and they're one of the handful of local bands with a really good chance of blowing up this year. Expect to hear a few Smashing Pumpkins comparisons in the reviews (classic Gish/Siamese Dream-era Pumpkins). San Francisco’s Film School frequently gets favorably compared......

Tues 5/30 - Bedroom Walls / Let’s Go Sailing / Lavender Diamond @ Troubadour ($8) – Catch three strong local bands on one bill. Bedroom Walls has a new, critically acclaimed album on Baria Records. Download “Somewhere in Newhall (string quartet version)” Let’s Go Sailing is Shana Levy with various members of Silversun Pickups, Tanya Haden and others helping her out from time to time. Lavender Diamond is Becky Stark backed by some other......

Fri 5/19 - Kelley Stoltz / Irving / The Little Ones @ the Echo ($10) – This is a very strong lineup for the indie pop fans. San Francisco’s Kelley Stoltz put out an overlooked album earlier this year on Sub Pop. He sounded great at the Echo in February, but his set was cut short by a DJ night. Hopefully he won’t be rushed tonight. He writes songs that are informed by all......

The Bellrays Have a Little Faith (Cheap Lullaby) – Local rock band with a powerful female soul singer. Catch them live at Sea Level Records on 5/2 at 7:00 PM and Safari Sam’s on 5/12. Listen to some tracks on their Myspace page. Pearl Jam Pearl Jam (J Records) – Critics are saying that this is Pearl Jam’s best record since Vitalogy. They even eponymously titled it. It seems like Clive Davis has once......

One of our favorite local bands, Irving, comes home after a month-long tour with Voxtrot. Welcome them back at Spaceland on May 7 with a pair of free tickets from LAist. Buy them drinks, clap loud, and remember to scream when they sing about wanting to take off all your clothes. This contest is now closed. The Fine Print: Affiliates of LAist, other -ist sites, and Spaceland Productions are not eligible to enter. Entries......

We think it's important to support local bands. That's why we went to two record release parties last week. Languis @ Spaceland on 3/26 Languis was celebrating the release of their new EP, Other Desert Cities, on Pehr Records. There was a really nice crowd for a Sunday at Spaceland (including lots of local musicians and some of the Plug Research crew). The band covered the backdrop of the stage in white and had......

Tonight at The Mint, Amoeba Records is hosting a Home Grown Showcase featuring four local bands. The show is one of several nationwide benefit concerts for Dax Pierson. Dax is a member of Subtle and was seriously injured in a tour bus accident back in February. Tickets for tonight's show are $7 and, lucky you, it is being hosted by local blogger, major music head, supreme hot stuff, and friend of Dax, She B......

We posted this once already, but we really want to reach as many bands as possible. Please pass on this call for submissions to anyone you know who is in a band in LA. The more, the merrier! We want to hear local bands! LAist is going to start reviewing local bands, so we need demos, CDs, tapes, MP3s or any other form of audio you can throw at us. If you recorded it,......

If you are in a band in Los Angeles, this post is for you. We want to know about you—and more importantly, we want to hear you. LAist is going to start reviewing local bands, so we need demos, CDs, tapes, MP3s or any other form of audio you can throw at us. If you recorded it, we will write about it. So, if you want your band covered on LAist, write to us......

While many might argue that Hollywood has gone to the dogs, there are those of us who’d rather look on the bright side. So that’s why we go to Hollywood to get some great dogs. The Los Angeles pantheon of beloved hot dog purveyors has recently welcomed Skooby’s at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard into the ranks. Though they’ve yet to earn longevity creds equivalent to those of Tail O’ the Pup or Pink’s, give ‘em......