Summer Salt @ The Observatory OC [7/15/23]

Orange County, California: home to 40 miles of beaches, world-class surfing, and glimmering sunshine. What could be a better location for a Summer Salt concert? 2012 saw Matthew Terry (vocalist/guitarist) and Eugene Chung’s (drummer) introduction into the Austin, TX music scene, developing a sound reminiscent of bossa nova, 60s rocksteady, and surf psychedelia. Two years…

Pretty Sick @ The Teragram Ballroom [5/25/23]

Ripped fishnet tights, barely-there mini skirts, distressed t-shirts, the lowest of low-rise pants hanging loose from exposed hip bones. Grunge didn’t die in the ‘90s; it’s alive in “Pretty Sick” and I’ve never felt so simultaneously out of place yet at home.  It was 7:45pm; Thursday evening; and a line was already extending down Hartford…

Hippo Campus @ The Greek [5/14/23]

“album cycle tours? old hat, played out, over! ep cycle tours? IN, fresh, sexy. only the hottest bands tour on ep releases. catch us on the road dishing out the hits and subjecting you to only minimal new music!” Hippo Campus’ Instagram post @thehalocline 5/15/23 Hippo Campus knows why you’re at The Greek. Yeah, they…

Misty Midnights

Alfa Mist @ The Fonda, 5/4/23 by Harry Frahn (photos by Chloe Gonzales) In a dimly lit concert hall last Thursday night, around 11:30 pm, I watched someone standing barely two feet in front of me whip out their phone and, apropos of nothing in particular, type “Connect w people that was here – same…

Karly Hartzman on stage with band members Ethan Baechtold and MJ Lenderman

Wednesday @ The Teragram [5/5/2023]

Written by Lucas Chen Photos by Chloe Gonzales It’s a Friday night in Los Angeles, spring has sprung, and Wednesday’s sold-out show at the Teragram Ballroom is teeming with restless energy, camouflage clothing, and people who definitely order alternative milks in their coffee. Wednesday, signed to the independent label Dead Oceans (Japanese Breakfast, Phoebe Bridgers,…

Rediscovering Taylor Swift’s “reputation”

On November 10th, 2017, Taylor Swift released an album like nothing the world had heard from her before. A far cry from her clean-cut country days, reputation was enigmatic, glittering, and expansive. On the album’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do”, Swift leaves us an unapologetic voicemail: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t…

Kelela @ The Fonda Theatre

Photos by Sophia Russo If anyone can disrupt a scene and make it their own, it is singer-songwriter Kelela. Kelela debuted her experimental sound with her mixtape ‘Cut 4 Me’ in 2013, where she mixed R&B, house, electronic, and soul to establish her own sound and identity as an upcoming and unapologetically herself artist. Fast…