Jesse Miller meets Jean Don’t of The Franks (a.k.a. Hit City U.S.A. co-founder Colin Stutz) THIS FRIDAY at the Improv Comedy Lab at 10pm as the JMTS returns to its regular time and venue after a special one-off featuring Vice Cooler. This month’s other guests are Jon Daly (Human Giant), Melissa Villasenor (America’s Got Talent) and Scott Gairdner (Funny Or Die). $5. On Facebook.
The Franks with “Neon Politik”:
In honor of the seven-night, 14-band spectacular going down at the Downtown Independent in honor of The Scenesters screening, we’ve got an album’s worth of songs for you — one from every artist on the bill.
Tickets here. Or, pay $15 at the venue to come back all week.
DOWNLOAD: The Scenesters Run L.A., the Album [zip file]
Or, here: via Mediafire.
Stream the entire thing after the jump.
We at Funny Ha Ha like SoundCloud almost to a fault (we may actually have three free accounts), but our indulgence is your guilt-free gain. In honor of our very own music + film festival (basically) that kicks off THIS FRIDAY at the Downtown Independent, we’ve assembled a playlist featuring music from each of the announced artists on the 14-band bill.
Almost every track can be downloaded, excepting the two offered up via the L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly (links to those here). Dig in:
Also, watch the most recent trailer for The Scenesters, featuring Wallpaper’s “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted,” after the jump:
The Scenesters Run LA: 14 bands, 4 dead hipsters, 1 hilarious whodunnit.
14 bands, 4 dead hipsters, 1 hilarious whodunnit.
>>BUY TICKETS HERE<<
>>LISTEN TO THE BANDS<<
FOR AN EXTRA $5 AT THE DOOR, COME BACK ALL WEEK!
The Vacationeers and Funny Ha Ha (music journalist Chris Martins) are proud to announce the lineup for a week-long film + music series at Los Angeles’ Downtown Independent theater starting Friday, August 20.
We’re dubbing the event “The Scenesters Run L.A.” because: one, this is the seven-night theatrical run of the award-winning film, The Scenesters, a music-inspired black comedy/murder mocumentary set in Silver Lake; and two, the talent amassed for this 14-artist bill does, indeed, run L.A.
Both L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly have previewed the event, giving away exclusive MP3s from bands set to attend (Spirit Animal and PAPA, respectively). They also shared the news that rising L.A. beat scene star Baths is Sunday’s secret headliner.
Each night, the film voted “Best Comedy” of the Hollywood Film Festival and “Most Interesting” of Slamdance will show at 8:00 p.m., followed by two live performances — from acts as diverse as the Franks, Captain Ahab, Glamorous Pukes (members of the Airborne Toxic Event and M83), Jeans Wilder, Le Switch, Big Search (Matt Popieluch of Foreign Born), and many more, including secret special guests.
Tickets to see both the film and the music are $10 and can be purchased in advance through the Downtown Independent’s website. A handful of the bands are actually featured in the film, and many plan to use the setting to their advantage, which means a big-screen audio-visual feast.
WATCH THE TRAILER ON YOUTUBE
RSVP TO THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK
The full schedule:
DAY 1: FRIDAY, AUGUST 20
A secret special guest of the funkiest persuasion (hint: IT’S WALLPAPER!) headlines with support from Sister Mantos, lo-fi mutant disco from the City of Angeles. Expect video galore.
DAY 2: SATURDAY, AUGUST 21
Spirit Animal, the band fronted by former rapper and epicurean blogger Gray Kid, bring the live soul, while Le Switch — who’s name ties into one of the film’s murders — specialize in loud folk and earnest indie rock.
DAY 3: SUNDAY, AUGUST 22
San Diego’s sun-damaged tropical chillwave beacon Jeans Wilder opens for L.A. beat scene star Baths, who will be playing from his nothing short of mind-blowing Anticon Records debut, Cerulean.
DAY 4: MONDAY, AUGUST 23
Slang Chickens, of Los Angeles, provide the garage rock grind and some purty folksy notes, while their cross-coastal brother band (literally) New York’s PAPA grace us with some epic-flavored mini anthems.
DAY 5: TUESDAY, AUGUST 24
The insane two-man techno-rap wrecking crew Captain Ahab headline. Meanwhile, an all-star lineup of the country-western Misfits cover band Glamorous Pukes will feature members of the Airborne Toxic Event, M83, Mariachi El Bronx, Learning Music, Saul Williams’ band and more.
DAY 6: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25
Foreign Born singer and Fools Gold guitarist Matt Popieluch makes hi-fi layered bedroom folk as Big Search. With a secret special guest SWEATERS, who hail from L.A.’s storied underground.
DAY 7: THURSDAY, AUGUST 26
Show-stoppers The Franks present a ripping array of raw, hook-laden econo jams, and Lord Huron sound something like Paul Simon on glo-fi drugs singing inside of My Morning Jacket’s grain silo.
The Franks, all dolled up for death
The Vacationeers and Funny Ha Ha are proud to announce the first fully confirmed night in a week-long film + music series taking place at L.A.’s Downtown Independent theater starting Friday, August 20. Ironically, naturally, the inaugural booking is for the event’s closing night.
Each evening, the Vacationeers-produced feature, The Scenesters, will screen at 8:00 p.m. sharp. There will be beer on hand, and you will enjoy it. The movie itself is an indie-music-inspired black comedy / murder mocumentary set in Silver Lake, with a sound track compiled by L.A. music journo Chris Martins (L.A. Weekly, Spin, The Onion).
Phase two of each night will (ideally) comprise a double-bill of live music played either by artists featured in the flick, or by bands with local significance. The ticket price, for movie and music, will be a non-whopping ten bones ($10), and reservations can be made via Brown Paper Tickets.
HUZZAH!
With no further ado, we’re proud to announce (for real this time) the lineup for Thursday, August 26. Rising Echo Park garage-punk trio The Franks will headline with a ripping array of raw, hook-laden econo jams. Meanwhile, the lesser known but hotly tipped Lord Huron will provide something akin to Paul Simon on chillwave drugs singing inside of the My Morning Jacket grain silo. Needless to say, we’re very excited.
Meet the bands after the jump.
N.E.R.D. kick it with Clifford (so Team Jacob)
We’re finally, truly all caught up on two weeks of intense blogging for West Coast Sound. We’ve saved best for last — here’s the highlight reel expressly designed for your reading (and viewing, and listening) pleasure.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* Can a Yeasayer RMX save the Virginia Beach-born, Hollywood-bred band from it’s nearly decade-long obsolescence? “Hot-N-Fun,” featuring Nelly Furtado, is neither of the things that its title suggests.
The Franks, 'Duh' EP
New tunes in the INCHES column! Get over there already!
Gratuitous exclamation point usage, I know, but a handful of my favorite things came together on Saturday night when photographer Andrew Herrold and I walked out of The Echo following Young Veins’ early set (which we covered for Spin). Two doors down at the excellent record shop Origami Vinyl, lo and behold, The Franks were tearing through a spirited set of angular econo-punk. To enhance matters further, shopkeeper Neal Schield tossed us a couple of Colt 45 tallboys as we walked through the door, and was kind enough to let Andrew fire off a few shots. The place was about as jammed pack and jammed pack can be — further evidence of the rise of this exceptional East Side three-piece.
More photos after the jump.
The Franks thrash from on high. (Andrew Herrold)
I’ve been neglectful. Terribly so. Below you’ll find some recent bloggins from the L.A. underground. Click on the links to get the full story, each of which hails from LA Weekly‘s growingly excellent West Coast Sound blog.
Some old school Tonalism.
My dear friend and colleague Colin Stutz, a.k.a. Jean Dont, has a damn good East Side punk-rock band called The Franks, which is celebrating the pending release of its second EP, Duh (the first was called Un), on Sunday at the Echo. Le Face also plays, and Part Time Punks presents. Go there.
Here’s the flyer. Vids after the jump.
Chris Writes Things 