The Hectors 4/05/11 - LaBrie's, Glendale, CA.

(Photo: The Hectors Facebook)

Earlier this month, The Hectors shared the bill with The Lonely Wild and Radars To The Sky for the former's Radio Free Silverlake Tuesday night residency this month. We have seen The Hectors before (at last year's "Undercovered" show), but this will be the first time we have made a post about them. Their music has been described as "smart, edgy pop" with "a sense of humor to go along with their pop chops, which is only natural when you consider the L.A. quartet has influences ranging from the syrupy to Fugazi."

Tonight's setlist was mostly new songs, including "Your Favorite Year" (read the story behind the song here)and has been described as "swing[ing] in orbit around more than just a few of the band’s favorite years, spinning as it does from the lovely gauze-pop of late-’80s 4AD to the meticulously ‘gazed Creation Records crunch of the early ’90s to the sprightly indie rock and pop of the last decade–essentially, a three-and-a-half minute love letter to some of dream pop’s best and more ear-pleasing elements." Whew. Fun show, and we are definitely looking forward to their upcoming full-length album.

1.) River MP3
2.) Normal MP3
3.) Tracker MP3
4.) Human MP3
5.) Nature MP3
6.) Sleeper MP3
7.) Your Favorite Year MP3
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(Recorded by Mark P.)

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

George Glass 5/30/10 - All-Star Lanes, Los Angeles, CA.

Awhile back, George Glass played as part of the line-up for "Undercovered II," (more info about the show here) which featured Seasons, Rademacher, The Hectors, and One Trick Pony at All-Star Lanes. George Glass is a relatively new band, which boasts former members of other local band Death To Anders (who were part of Undercovered's debut night last year). Currently a three piece featuring Nick Celigo on vocals/guitar, Peter DiBiasio on bass, and Nathan Kondor on drums, their live shows have been described as having "fabulous vocals and guitar, real, true bass work, and terrific drumming all tied together so well" and "erupting on into the night as they deliver the goods to us once again song after song."

This set of covers was a broad one, paying note to such local luminaries (and bill-mates that night) Rademacher ("Courtesy Call") and One Trick Pony ("Loose Talk" - which was also covered by Death To Anders last year) An interesting selection was a song by Arthur Lee's band "Love," along with a cover of local's The Primos "Cookbook." However, the most impressive feat of the evening was a melody of songs by local bands (the only one I recognized was a snippet of The Happy Hollows "DeLorean"), which was a Nick solo effort.

Update: Thanks to the band for filling in the blanks on the setlist!

1.) "East-Side Melody": Another Earthquake (The Transmissions) -> A Million Fingers (The Hectors) -> The Weight (Seasons) -> Well Rehearsed Last Words (Les Blanks) -> Killer Bees (The Henry Clay People) -> Delorean (The Happy Hollows) FLAC MP3
2.) Happiness Right Where You Are (Amnion) FLAC MP3
3.) Loose Talk (One Trick Pony) FLAC MP3
4.) Gazing (Love/Arthur Lee) FLAC MP3
5.) Courtesy Call (Rademacher) FLAC MP3
6.) Cult Of The Underground (Die Rockers Die) FLAC MP3
7.) Cookbook (The Primos) FLAC MP3
8.) Where the Wild Things Go (The Black Apples) FLAC MP3
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Seasons 5/30/10 - Undercovered II, All-Star Lanes, Los Angeles, CA.

( Photo: Eliot Glass via Season's Myspace )

(First and foremost, I want to apologize for my longer-than I thought hiatus/lack of posting on the blog. "Real life" got kind of busy for awhile, and show-going/posting fell by the wayside. I hope to get back on track and try to remedy that for the time being.)

Last month, Seasons were part of the line-up for Undercovered II (where Los Angeles-area bands cover other Los Angeles-area bands)at All-Star Lanes, which included Rademacher (Malcolm Sosa solo), George Glass, The Hectors, and One Trick Pony. As the reader might recall, we fully covered this event in it's inaugural outing last year, and were looking forward to this year's presentation. In addition to an expanded number of bands playing, this event also served as an benefit for Huntington's disease research.

First up to play this evening was Seasons. Much has been written about the Highland Park band, ranging from being "one of the more ubiquitous bands in the L.A. scene. Their sound is a pure product of their influences, a fusion of indie rock, 80's synth, folk rock, and garage blues -- so if you're thinking Beck, you're in the right neighborhood" to "[they are a glorious mess.The seven- or (sometimes) eight-piece makes lovingly off-kilter neo-psychedelia full of palpable energy and exposed nerves, startlingly pretty one moment and earplug-worthy cacophonous the next. When these guys nail it they are calamitously good." Their set covered a range of beloved L.A.-area bands, including previously-posted The Movies, Castledoor, and The Monolators.

For an more in-depth report, check out Lord Growing's post about the night at The 704.

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) Energy Trade ( The Health Club ) MP3
3.) Get Your Macho Out ( The Movies ) MP3
4.) Remember When ( Castledoor ) MP3
5.) Ambulance ( Manhattan Murder Mystery ) MP3
6.) Eagle Fighting Zebra ( The Monolators ) MP3
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FLAC (lossless) files available upon request.