What do you get when you mix 50% of Cold War Kids, one-third of We Barbarians and the writings of a Trappist monk? You get French Style Furs, the new trio featuring singer Nathan Willett, bassist Matt Maust and drummer Nathan Warkentin. This week, FSF revealed the first three songs from its full-length, “Is Exotic […]
We Barbarians, the Long-Beach bred rockers who released a full-length and three EPs over six years, are disbanding after this weekend’s shows in Los Angeles. They open tonight’s shows with their longtime friends Cold War Kids at the Wiltern and on Friday night play an art show (featuring the work of Cold War Kids bassist […]
We’ve followed We Barbarians since their days in Long Beach when they first started shaping their gritty, arena-ready indie rock. They were scrappy cousins to Cold War Kids, releasing a roof-raising album “There’s This There’s That” (2009) and a couple EPs that represented a great start to realizing their grand vision. They moved to New […]
If you’re like us, you dropped a few bucks to help out those affected by Hurricane / Superstorm Sandy (probably by texting “REDCROSS” to 90999, although there are myriad other ways to help). But if you have it in your hearts and wallets to assist some old friends, the SoCal trio We Barbarians – who […]
The few new songs L.A. heard from We Barbarians when they swung through town in September were impressive, but the indie-rock trio, which moved from Long Beach to NYC earlier this year, aren’t done promoting 2011’s “Headspace” EP yet. In Arms Race’s cool video for the anthemic “Chambray,” We Barbs take a licking from the […]
Saturday’s spread: ‣ The Roots do a Pre-Emmy Jam at the sold-out House of Blues. ‣ Lobsterfest continues at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro with a full day of music, including the Damselles & the TC 4 (1 p.m.), Judson McKinney (2), Deap Vally (3), Light FM (4), Eastern Conference Champions (5), […]
[They Left L.A. for the Other Coast, but We Still Listen, Part II:] In February, Long Beach-bred trio We Barbarians gave L.A. something of a going-away present the great single “Headspace.” Since they relocated to New York, David Quon, Derek Van Heule and Nathan Warkentin have finished up an EP with that name, their first […]
If the stars would have aligned, Castledoor would be touring on its second album about now, building on the momentum they had back in 2007. Instead the band bade farewell early last year, its members scattering and its songs echoing (still lovingly, it should be pointed out) in the iPods of veteran Silver Lakers. As […]
Excellent shows to tout for a Sunday: ‣ Scottish rockers Broken Records [check out “A Darkness Rises Up”] bring their arena-sized music to the U.S. for the first time, hitting the Satellite on a show that also features Washington, D.C., quartet U.S. Royalty. That’s U.S. Royalty’s video for “Equestrian,” above, and you can download the […]
Tonight’s musical menu: ‣ It’s the final L.A. show for We Barbarians before the Long Beach trio relocated to New York City – they have a new single and big plans. San Diego’s Lesands and O.C. rockers the Union Line support. ‣ There’s a formidable lineup for the first night of Shadow Shadow Shade’s residency […]
