Bleached

Bleached played at Tommy's place September of this year. The blonde duo was previously two fifths of LA's own Mika Miko. Jennifer Clavin also toured with Cold Cave during 2010, but left to come back to the west coast and team up with her sister Jessica for some sisterly song-writing collaboration. 

The girls' history in the music world made for a lot of pre-Live Show buzz around the station. The girls delivered a solid set with their popular songs. 

These two girls are really two of the leaders in the formation of this west coast lo-fi music that could almost be described as post-pop-punk- even though they are chronologically following the pop-punk acts like Green Day or Boys Like Girls, their sound draws much more from the older acts like the Ramones, with a layer of lo-fi fuzz on top. 

Seeing them live for me was really interesting because it made me realize how strongly the band is centered around their aesthetic style. Bleached is cool because they are Bleached. Even their name reflects that- they are taking something and washing it out beachy blonde and what they've done to it makes it undeniably cool.

As a fan of grittier, original punk acts, I think that Bleached has a lot of influence in the scene right now, and I hope that they latch on to some more substantive ideas in their work and transcend being a style band. However, you've got to admire what they've done for California lo-fi, and for the punk world in general. I always love a good girl-punk act.

Death Kit

Eyes Lips Eyes

The track "Pretty" by Eyes Lips Eyes opens up with the line "Come to the party". This pretty accurately describes their show in Tommy's- they put on an incredibly fun show, with Tony Hello completely cutting loose, dancing his heart out, and jumping around stage with his tambourine. They also do a great cover of "Psycho Killer." The chorus then comes with "Make my pain your delight, I won't put up a fight." Taking sadness and turning it into catchy dance grooves seems to be their jam. Check out their video for the song Lumiere: 

While sunshiny on the surface, the verses actually draw you into the story of Tony Hello's experience taking care of his gravely ill father. As Spencer Peterson said to Spinner earlier this year, "Sometimes a casual portrayal of sadness can be far more unsettling than overt dramatics."