Artist: Liars

Hails From: Brooklyn, Los Angeles

Musical Style: Art Rock, Punk, Experimental

For Fans of: Gang of Four, Sonic Youth, Radiohead

Scissor

Why you should check them out:

If the apocalypse were slated to begin tomorrow, Liars would very well be the band to sing us out, offering a challenging omen of darkness to come.  Their at-times-blistering yet always atmospheric sound captures all the grit and decay that surrounds us.  However, while the joy may at first seem difficult to discern, the seizure they induce may well be mistaken for a raucous, celebratory dance, straight into the afterlife.

Background Check:

In 2000, Los Angeles art students Aaron Hemphill and Angus Andrew relocated to Brooklyn, NY where they joined Pat Noecker and Ron Albertson to form Liars.  Less than a year later, the incredibly named debut They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top was released, instantly tagging them with the experimental post punk rock label that would follow them for years.

Liars went on to release three more albums as a trio (Julian Gross replacing Albertson and Noecker), each one expertly crafting thumping bass and roiling guitar around pre-recorded programmed drum beats and vicious pockets of noise.  Their most recent effort Sisterworld landed this past March.

Sisterworld finds them back in a Los Angeles that has been permanently stripped of its Hollywood sheen. “No Barrier Fun” is a carnivalesque death march blending chimes and strings with an eeriness that leaves you sinking, while “Proud Evolution” buries within it a warning to be careful.  Liars throw a lot at us with Sisterworld and while they may lack the immediacy of many bands today, their unique blend of spit-personality punktronica burrows slowly underneath and will get you in the end.

– Eric Quist

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

Myspace

Official Website

On Tour:

Jambase



Artist: The Bronx 

Hails From: Los Angeles, CA

Musical Style: Punk, Hardcore, Metal

For Fans Of: New Bomb Turks, Queens of the Stone Age, Rocket From The Crypt, Turbonegro

Slave Labor

Why You Should Check Them Out:

The Bronx – ironically not from New York – are one of the hottest and rocking-est acts to come out of LA in years. Known for their punishing sounds and kinetic live shows, the band can know add acting to their resume, as they perform a cameo as the legendary Black Flag in the impending biopic of Germ’s lead singer Darby Crash.

Background Check:

The Bronx are sort of like George Foreman: they insist on uniformity when naming their offspring. Whereas Foreman named each of his sons ‘George,’ The Bronx dubbed each of their three albums The Bronx. This propensity for eponymous titles varied – slightly – with the release of 2009’s mariachi-themed album, Mariachi El Bronx.

The band’s stock and trade is an aggressive brand of hardcore punk mastered by bands like Drive Like Jehu: adrenaline-fueled bombast and high-voltage, in-your-face vocals. Each subsequent release retains the group’s energy while adding ever more catchy choruses and hooks to the high-octane mix.

The Bronx are now back where they began on their own White Drugs label after a foray on a major. And as they approach almost a full decade of existence as a band, there’s no better time to catch them perform in either their original incarnation or as their alter-egos, Mariachi El Bronx. One word of advice: if you go see the former, bring some earplugs.

–Matthew Dube

Where You Can Find Them In Cyberspace:

myspace

thebronx.com

On Tour:

jambase: The Bronx

jambase: El Mariachi Bronx



Artist: Titus Andronicus

Hails From: Glen Rock, NJ

Musical Style: Rock, Punk, Classic Rock

For Fans of: The Clash, The Replacements, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bruce Springsteen

A More Perfect Union

Why you should check them out:

Titus Andronicus is a band that comes fully prepared. Armed with a raucous collection of sprawling barroom brawling punk rock and the shout-out-loud mentality to go with it, these New Jersey boys are the hardest working band this side of Ashbury park.

Background Check:

Formed in 2005, the assembly of guitarist Amy Klein, drummer Eric Harm, keyboardist David Robbins, and vocalist/guitarist Patrick Stickles took their moniker from Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy, Titus Andronicus. Their heavy distortions and loud presence caught the attention of XL Recordings, who picked up their debut LP, The Airing of Grievances, in 2009. The record displayed a ferocious raw energy and quizzical pop culture references (from Batman to Seinfeld), adding another dimension to the group’s prowess, a metaphoric and lyrical maze accompanying the fiery rhythms.

Titus Andronicus then set about an ambitious sophomore effort, upping the productions and enlisting the help of a small army of collaborators, including members of Vivian Girls and The Hold Steady. The result is the universally acclaimed The Monitor. With many of the lo-fi constraints of their previous efforts abandoned, the group delved into deeper musical waters, simultaneously reviving the bar band ethos of the likes of The Pogues, and encompassing the hard working pathos of the Boss himself, Springsteen. Already hailed as one of this year’s standout records, The Monitor is a uniquely skewed work that encompasses a recurring theme of the Civil War, eschews pretension, and resonates in its honesty long after it’s heard.

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

MySpace

titusandronicus.net

On Tour:

JamBase