LOS ANGELES, CA- Earlier this year, the Los Angeles, garage rock outfit The Paranoyds released their debut album, Carngage Bargain. After releasing a series of well-received EPs, Lexi Funston, Lakila Hashemi, Staz Lindes and David Ruiz signed with Suicide Squeeze Records and have put together a raucous collection of songs of mostly new songs (a handful of the tracks were re-recorded for the new album like “Rat Boy” and a more chilled-out version of “Heather Doubtfire” that was original off their 2016 EP AFter You) that really highlights their wild riffs and punk attitude.
In my opinion, the cuts on Carnage Bargain really lets the vocals of the band shine more than their prior releases. Clean studio production and a really solid vocal mix allow the band’s vocals to take center stage which allows the lyrics to shine on this album. We get to hear all of the themes that give rise to their nom de plume. When they aren’t warning us of materialism and societal deficiencies (i.e. “Hungry Sam”) that give them pause, they also sing about female empowerment and agency (“Courtney”). The whole album goes hard and is filled with the kind of wild energy that you’d expected from a quartet of rebellious souls.
After touring the country throughout the year, The Paranoyds came back home to play the Bootleg Theatre and stacked the line-up with a bunch of bands fronted by equally fierce females.
Kicking off the music was the band Strawberry Army. Oh, to be young again. This band’s vivacity is endless. It seems like every … and I mean EVERY … weekend they are playing a gig or two. If you wanted to keep up with Zoe, Rio, Eric, and Darren, you’re going to need a Red Bull just to keep up.
Having seen them perform earlier this year, I noticed that their performance this time around was even more polished and confident than before. It’s not like they were lacking in the confidence department the first time I saw them, but I think that they are more aware of the crowd and the space in which they play, and that makes the performance that much more free-flowing and organic. I suppose playing something like fifty shows in a year can do that for a band, but given that these rockers are still in their teens is simply remarkable to me.
Kevin is a band that I had been trying to catch perform live for the past year. After two failed attempts (failed via parking and traffic respectively), I was finally able to catch them here opening for The Paranoyds. I guess the third time’s a charm, right?
Kevin is Quincy Larsen, Kimi Reco, Julian, and Walker. Each musician plays, or has played, in other bands, but, like Voltron, when they come together, they create a force of musical nature that really slays and is terrific fun. Watching them perform, you really get a sense of their friendship on stage. The dynamic between Kim and Quincy is tangible, and though they don’t sing every song together when they do, it’s a full-on party. As I watched this performance, I imagined all of the other Kevin parties I missed out on, and felt a bit bummed.
They may have had some technical issues, even joking how all their equipment just kinda stopped at the same time, but even the technical issues couldn’t temper the joy when they got it going. Any sense of regret that I may have had was immediately wiped from my mind when Kimi and Quincy jumped into the crowd to rock out with the fans. This was the highlight of their set, and though it’s something they do often, I couldn’t help but feel the adrenaline pulse through veins, and a smile creep onto my face.
I’ve only seen Sabrina Is Not In This Chat live twice, but it’s always a good time. They haven’t performed much in the Los Angeles area, so I was excited to see them rock at this gig. In fact, the last time I saw this trio rock a stage was a couple of years ago. But Olivia DeBonis on vocals and guitar, Siena LaMere on drums and Maddie Calderon on vocals and bass brought all of the fun, garage/punk swag that I first enjoyed in August of 2017.
This year, they dropped their debut album Not Recommended For Sensitive Skin. I’m kind of Iate on the draw as I didn’t realize that they had an album until I was writing this copy. I guess my social media algorithms don’t want me to know such awesome things. I’ve only listened to the album a handful of times, but I got some serious hints of early Mr. Bungle vibes (if Mr. Bungle only used three instruments and had a female vocalist) from it.
Their performance was solid, but it was their bassist Maddie that had me feeling the good feels throughout it. There’s something mischievously endearing about her and her bass playing that put me a pretty chipper mood. As she sipped her PBR between songs, and as she shred/slapped her bass, she was all smiles with a kinetic warmth that was hard to resist.
Here’s hoping that they book more L.A. gigs in 2020.
The evening’s female-fronted line-up conluded with The Paranoyds’ headlining set and wow … it was a wild one.
They featured cuts from Carnage Bargain in addition to some older cuts and a few covers (My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” was a pleasant surprise.
It was an underage crowd, but don’t let age fool you that the crowd wouldn’t get wild. With the first chords of “Face First”, bodies started to move, and the frenzy commenced.
It’s funny because as someone who has been around the block a few hundred times, I feel like I know proper pit etiquette. You go wild, but you mind your space and the space of others. If there’s no room to kick, don’t kick. If there’s no pushpit, don’t push. I’m a pretty chill dude, and will willfully take a beating in the pit if I know it’s coming, but apparently the kids these days have no chill, and I was pretty close to throwing an elbow to the kid who left a few bruises on my back the following day. I was especially worried about the young (most likely underage) girls standing next to me and told them that if someone gets too rowdy to let me know.
Apparently, someone else in the audience go the memo and shouted to the stage between songs that the room needed to chill out in order for it to be “safe”, to which the band urged the crowd to be nice to each other. The over-aggressive, out-of-place mosher, was then tagged by security to chill out, and the party continued, and by the end of the show, there was still hair flying and stage divers aplenty.
The Paranoyds play a special free show at The Cinema Bar in Los Angeles tomorrow night with Sadgirl. I think you can still RSVP at Dr. Martens Presents. We’re pretty sure it’s going to be a rowdy, good time.
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