Here’s the deal. The homegrown DirtyHippieRadio platform is curated internet radio for today’s global independent music community, which to date features an unknown number of artists from far reaching corners of the USA, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, England, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Serbia, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Russia… and probably a few rad countries we’re forgetting. But, the sickening reality and fantastic beauty is: we could wander endless circles ‘round our very own backyard in Los Angeles and still never, ever be on top of all the killer bands popping out records like dandelion seeds caught in a hurricane on steroids! So here’re a few from the LA Underground we think you ought to know.
Children – Great River LP, 2015
Based in Long Beach, specifically, Children sally forth with whispers and echoes of their predecessors The Growlers, but not without successfully carving out their own distinct flow. Children’s approach is a bit cleaner than that of their forebears (who always seem to be flirting with fire along the brink of impending doom); it’s an ethereal surf-pop with the vaguest hint of indie form, completely engulfed by the cushion of being not too dirty, but never quite clean. It’s uplifting, but downshifted at once altogether. A fruitful balance. Stark attention to detail coupled with a fine decor of ornamental nuance sets this band apart from being just another surf-psych outfit squeegeeing sludge through an amp with echo delays.
They refer to their output as “Psychedelic California Dream Blues.” We like to describe it as roadtripping across the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in a 1960 Chevy station wagon cruising in neutral while waving to mermaids as we pass on by… Music video? Duh.
CD and limited edition cassette available at http://childrentheband.bandcamp.com/. Listen to Great River on DHR at http://dirtyhippieradio.com/?playAlbum=1034#!Great River+By+Children.
Levitation Room – Minds Of Our Own, 2015
Born in East LA, Levitation Room represents the happy, hippy-dippy side of the kaleidoscope where smooth nastiness rides like feathers caught in a dripping draught escaped from a floating garage. Well wait, maybe just imagine hearing this wonderful infectious sound coming from a garage – you approach, open the door and find this band literally floating aimlessly about the interior while playing, only to then whisk away with the sudden shift in air and temp created by your disturbance; and off they go into the ether, still playing like wind kissing the cheeks of flowers.
They call it “Sun-dried roots, psych rock.” We’d suggest it’s uptempo pop slurred on heavy downers…
Digital album available at https://levitationroom.bandcamp.com/. Listen to Levitation Room on DHR at http://dirtyhippieradio.com/?playAlbum=1009#!Minds Of Our Own+By+Levitation Room.
Triptides – Colors EP, 2014
And then there’s Triptides. Formed in Bloomington, Indiana, now happily situated in Los Angeles, they’ve a similar feel if not sound to both aforementioned outfits — at least, insofar as this seeming shimmer of glowing buoyancy submerged beneath the sea of swirled psychedelia beaming with a delicate balance between delighted, dejected, and brilliant youth.
They coin it “Sunshine Warped Psychedelia.” However, awash with fuzz, phasers, echo delay, and what sounds an awful lot like mellotron, Triptides seem to have taken a wrong turn at Jupiter, and while other bands may be floating around the extremities of Earth’s atmosphere, this sunshine may not be of locally terrestrial proportions… The arousing fantasy comes to mind of an orgiastic orgasm shared between The Byrds, Gong, Hawkwind, and Beck, fertilizing a passing comet who’s wearing headphones and is destined to groove throughout the cosmos with a serious smile. Well, at least we think their sound’s a bit spaced out, which always puts a serious smile on our dome.
Digital album and limited edition tape cassette (sold out) available at https://triptides1.bandcamp.com/album/colors-ep. Listen to Triptides on DHR at http://dirtyhippieradio.com/?playAlbum=1027#!Colors+By+Triptides. New album coming July 10. DZ
