High fives all around! Let’s get stoked for summer! Its really close! Here in LA we’re currently experiencing what they call ‘earthquake weather’. Honestly, I’m not sure what that is. Is it weather that rocks? If so, then Batwings Catwings are the perfect sound for the season. (Thats like a terrible dad joke, isn’t it?) Anyway, born from the ashes of two other LA bands, Puppy Dog and TPF!, this troupe is fierce and friendly, punk and refined, happy and angry and all those contradictions that add up to the rock n’ roll spirit.

Batwings Catwings – Gold to Black

These guys used to be on meth or pcp or something and must have opted for a more chemical solution to kicking the old habit, cuz they have been on the slo-road to sloop-gaze for a few years now. Their latest is slicker than ever, and the spell cast will make its way up your vulnerable spine with ease. Slime bubble toms and gurgling tadpole vocals are ready to seduce you into the murk. Wear scuba gear. Knight Rider love you on glug side of the bloodbow.

Knight Rider – Advanced Talking

Canadians are not known for their anger, but Montreal must be a tough place to live or something. The home of AIDS Wolf now has spawned another intense fuck-you band for you to love but never tame. Dead Wife. Are they your friends or will they make you cry in public? Oh wait, maybe these kids are just having fun?!!?! In any case, you get what you deserve. Try to enjoy it and be thankful they gave you anything at all.

Dead Wife – Gentlemen Rapist

If you want to hear more, their new 7″ is on Psychic Handshake / No Vacation. And the sweet drawing of the band by Lisa Czech.

Just to make sure you are fully rocked out for summer, here is an epic fizzer from No Age. Everything you know them for, distant dreamscapes, uplifting currents, and punk peace twirls all exist here in a single gentle hurricane. This track was released a couple years ago as a split cassette w/ Abe Vigoda (like two cute otters holding hands) on the Deathbomb Arc Tape Club. Long OOP, this track is too awesome for people not to hear. So not hear it no longer.

No Age – Brett Shultz Himself

HEALTH are playing one out of three dates in Brighton tonight, and the mighty Cold Pumas support. 20jazzfunkgreats shall we playing some records in between the shows. Get down to Audio, it’s going to be one of the shows of the year. More info here.

Now over to Brian Miller, say thanks to him in the box below!

Love 8 Skull7

Bel Biv Devoe described their fashion sense as MENTAL… which basically means wearing all your favorite items of clothes at once with no regard to color matching, style matching, or any common notion at all. What really makes living in LA, as a DIY music fan, is that everything is straight up MENTAL here. That’s not really that way the press normally describes “The Smell scene” though. Which is too bad, cuz it is the way that tons of crazy different shit comes together in just a few spots, like the Smell and Pehrspace and Echo Curio and WOMEN, that really makes LA fun. While I absolutely love HEALTH, No Age, Mae Shi, and all the amazing noiserock bands that carry the torch for the valley of smoke, the true energy driving everything is a passion for something maybe too nonsensical for most journalists to want to latch on to. So here begins a series of posts to help give a larger census of this Smell thang.

Starting with Ravesploitation.

Every major city has its own answer to underground dance music. Here in LA we call it Ravesploitation.

Punk kids making lofi beats, theaudience moshes (seriously), and the scene even has its own superstar known as Captain Ahab (that deep 20JFG readers will be familiar with).

In 2008 though the queen of Ravesploitation was definitely IE (which stands for Inland Empire, the same the Lynch made his own lofi homage to). Her swan song is ‘Party in the 909.’ The plight of a jnr high princessa loving her new found world.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/2432269[/vimeo]

If you want to chat about this video, come join everyone in IE’s video chat room!

The cast sums up the everything MENTAL about LA. Dan and Grace from noisedrum troop Foot Village, Erik and Elijah from the accapella outfit E&E, and Jessica and Dana from acoustic poppunk trio Puppy Dog.

Jessica, Dana, and Puppy Dog third Vanessa don’t use an ounce of electricity to scream to the sky. They know that sharing time is vital though, and when they let LA electro rappers Kid Infinity ride their Pegasus around one day, the payoff was essential. I have a soft spot for dance remixes of punk tracks, but even for a push over like me knows that this is tops.

Puppy Dog- Pegasus (Kid Infinity Remix)

Harder is better? Insaner is better? Yes. Of course. Tleilaxu Music Machine knows this too. Totally charismatic through all the anger. Totally feisty, cute beats and a body slammed against the audience. LA is one hyped town. Fight for your right to party is a cosmic political stance, and don’t believe the hype. All enlightenment is premature enlightenment. So rock on, raver.

Tleilaxu Music Machine- I Never Know