Top 10 "New" Los Angeles bands of 2016

Here's my annual list of the Top 10 "new" bands I came across in 2016. I always use quotes as sometimes I'm late to the game and a band I'm listing might have been around for awhile.

#10: Sextile. This band will leave you in a trance.

#9: Alyeska. Teen angst to the maximum and you'll love them for it.

#8: Bloke and Bird. This band is from Sweden. Luckily, they're based out here in Los Angeles.

#7: Mondo Cozmo. They were a "surprise" guest at The Hi Hat. Former lead singer from Eastern Conference Champions. I'm so happy I saw this surprise appearance.

#6: Drinking Flowers. They glitter bombed my camera during their set. Oh well, I forgive big time.

#5: Beginners. High energy band that will get you jumping.

#4: Transviolet. I saw this band twice during their The Satellite residency. I don't usually see a band twice during their residency as I jump around to catch the various residency bands.

#3: Machineheart. Love this band. I know bigger bands like Warpaint were playing Music Tastes Good. And I love Warpaint, but I have to say that one reason I wanted to hit up Music Tastes Good was because of Machineheart.

#2: Starcrawler. Remember The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Those ultra-cool teenagers. Yep, that's Starcrawler.

#1: Cellars. This band got into my head. Amazing set. I can't wait to catch them again.

Teen Sex and Phlask at The Smell

So I had to stick it at home for a few days. My annual December cold hit me. Yes, I figure when I've gotten sick three Decembers in a row one has to consider it an annual event. I finally started feeling better and decided I just needed to get out of my apartment. I headed off to The Smell.

I stuck around for two bands: Teen Sex and Phlask. Teen Sex, they demand an orgy of mosh pits and sex. Their lead singer was dressed in a red spandex suit. The set ended with their bassist showing her yoga skills on the stage floor. Phlask ended the short night out for me. The megaphone made a brief appearance. They have a cool calm appearance.

[Naomi] and Friends at The Satellite

This was a bang bang bang situation. [Naomi] was putting on an event to raise money for various non-profit groups. She had a number of musicians in support. Many only had a 3 song set. The musicians I saw included: Emma Dewing, J Mac Hanson, Rozzi Crane, Ruslan Sirota, LIZ
and [Naomi] herself. Emma Dwing did the event even with a broken arm. The big find was Ruslan Sirota. He's a jazz musician with a Grammy win, as well. What a wonderful -- and way too short -- set. LIZ got the crowd dancing. A number of her fans were pressed up close. J Mac Hanson gave us some sad songs. Rozzi Crane gave us some covered. [Naomi] gave us three different looks -- she had three different bands with her fronting all three. Yep, three quick stage changes. Pretty cool.

Feather Wolf and The Loyalists at The Smell

So much time has passed since the last time I went to The Smell. It was time. Feather Wolf was up first with their post-punk sound. The Loyalists came in from Oakland with their energizing punk.

Both bands ended up playing on the floor vs the stage. It was a pretty quick turnaround between bands as both played in different parts of the backroom area.

The Loyalists mentioned the disaster that happened in Oakland.

For the first time in a long while, I used my flash. The Smell has low lights to begin with, but with both bands playing off the stage the lights were essentially non-existent.

ExSage with Blood Red Shoes, Bones and Twin Temple at the Bootleg Theather

A little late for the post, but then I had some computer issues.

The first two bands, Blood Red Shoes and Bones came in from the UK. Wow. Both bands kicked it. I loved how the drummer for Blood Red Shoes was right up front at the stage edge. This two piece band has a high pitch sound that is as fast as a rocket. One thing I did was wait for the drummer to break one of his sticks. Close, but didn't happen. Bones went all out with the girl power punk. They had no trouble taking total control of the stage. Simply wonderful. Buzzbands wondered why they didn't just move to Los Angeles.

ExSage is the December residency band. They use a whole lot of stage fog. So much that those in the audience couldn't even see a foot in front of me. At one point, I wanted to go to the other end of the stage to take photos. I stayed put. I was worried I might bump into someone.

Twin Temple makes you think that they're a death punk band. They dress in black. The lead singer wears a black veil. Nope. I'd say they have a mellow soul sound -- maybe a touch of goth.

Starcrawler, No Girlfriends and Spare Parts for Broken Hearts at Resident

Well, I knew it was going to be a solid line-up at the Resident. Two of the bands: Starcrawler and Spare Parts for Broken Hearts are on my lists of bands to catch. Starcrawler opened up the night. I just have this feeling that this band is going to break out. The lead singer makes you think of an R rated version of a Dr. Seuss book. This band is young and will make you feel like you're in the middle of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I suspect their guitars are borrowed. At the end of their set, the lead guitarist took his guitar up high like he was going to smash it on stage. He then looked over to the side at what I'm guessing is their manager and gave a sly smile. Note: I'm not sure I'd want to shake the lead singer's hands after their set.

Up next was No Girlfriends. Four gals who rock it. The drummer flings her hair back like the best of them. The lead singer controls the stage. They had one humorous moment. The lead singer put the microphone in front of the guitarist. This was obviously some insider joke. The guitarist looked befuddled and refused to sing.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts showed how a set should be done. The lead singer bassist/guitarist never let up for a moment. Then the other bassist/guitarist (the two switch) was just so cool on stage. Then their drummer just sweated out the set. This band leaves it all out there on stage.

Jhey and The Whee and Midnight Cities at the Silverlake Lounge

Jhey and The Whee had the comment of the night, "We're half vaudeville. Frank, catch up." They're a jamming country rock band. The coolest moment of their set was when the saxaphonist blew stage fog out of his horn. Interestingly, their set list were in plastic covers.

Midnight Cities is a four piece band that had that flannel Seattle look. Well, two of the members had the look. The other two went with the t-shirt look. Hey, where's the uniformity?

Banny Grove at The Hi Hat

It was a free night at The Hi Hat so I decided to head out to catch a band. I got to see Banny Grove. She's quirky in style and quirky in sound. Intriguing. She was dressed in white and had glasses that sort of reminded you of a combination of characters from 60s sitcoms: granny glasses blended with The Monkees flare. She was like a mesh-up of youth and age.

With her was a friend who didn't mind playing his guitar with one leg held above the ground.

Alina Bea with Danke and Brit Manor at the Bootleg Theater

A diverse night at the Bootleg Theater for Alina Bea's November residency. Danke started up the night with a Fifth Element genre. Pink hair. Long finger nails. Choker. Painter robe. A very artistic music set. Brit Manor danced it up even though she mentioned that she hurt her back a few days prior. It was interesting how her band was set up. She was off to the side, letting her co-singer being stage center. Alina Bea set was a beautiful mixture of sound and lights. It was like she was playing with the lights throughout her set.

Fatal Jamz with Leon Else and Starcrawler at The Echo

Off to The Echo to catch another residency night. Leon Else opened things up. He's a Brit invader. He gave a sweat filled set -- not used to the warmer weather of SoCal? He wore black, looking a bit like the black clad bad guy in American westerns or maybe a Johnny Cash who likes to dance.

Starcrawler was amazing. The set started with the band jamming. Suddenly, someone came rushing up behind me. He was carrying the lead singer who was in a straight jacket. He deposited her into the stage. Oh yeah, I knew this was going to be a solid set.

Fatal Jamz gave a Bowie-style dance set. The lead singer sure knows how to stage a look Zoolander style.

Air Traffic Controller with Bleu and Mercies at The Satellite

I got an invite to see Air Traffic Controller at The Satellite. After taking a listen to their songs online, I was sold.

First up was Bleu who was still dealing with the election blues. His set was a mixture of joyous music and sorrowful commentary about the Trump/Clinton results. Then came Air Traffic Controller. Their music is intricate and intriguing. They have some powerful tunes. I'd say half their songs were anthem sounds that just washed over you like a refreshing waterfall. I was just so into their set. They're from Boston and I hope they make it back to Los Angeles soon. Mercies closed out the night for me. It was their first set in 1.5 years. It sure didn't feel like it. They just rocked out the audience.

King Washington with Nathan Kalish and Night Talks at The Satallite

It was a rare Sunday night for a residency band. Due to a special event at The Satellite on Monday, the first November residency was pushed to Sunday.

Nathan Kalish was first up. He has been on constant tour for the last 6 years. His Americana started the night off on a solid footing. I say footing, because he said, "A cactus came right up my boot. I don't trust these boots no more."

Night Talks came up next. Their first two songs were epic. It was if they were saying, "We deserve a residency at The Satellite.

King Washington is the residency band. They came out with hair swinging. Hair swung so much that hair got caught in the guitar strings. Their set was a mixture of music and dead pan comedy. During breaks, there were some amusing comments that I'm pretty sure were written in advance.

Ramonda Hammer with Kamikaze Girls and New Evil at The Hi Hat

It was the day after Halloween. It felt like a good time to head on out to catch some music. It was off to The Hi Hat, which had a short Halloween maze to go through to get into the venue. It was actually a touch spooky as it was unexpected and there were a couple dead corpses hanging out.

Kamikaze Girls hit the stage first. They're from the UK. They had their Halloween gear on. The drummer looked like Jason from Friday the 13th series. They disagreed, saying that he looked like Charles Manson. Their set was psychedelic magic. They had some amusing tales from their US tour. The lead singer hates spiders so when she saw one she had someone spray it with hair spray.

New Evil was up next. The New Evil was also showing Halloween spirit, but then I looked through their Facebook page and it appears that the lead singer is always in skeleton face makeup. It was a fun set. For the final song, the lead singer put a sheer blindfold over her eyes. This band is evil fun.

Ramonda Hammer is the residency band for November. The lead singer was dressed as a hung over witch. She even had tattoos "inked" over her body. One band mate was dressed in a punk version of The Joker.

Yep, the day after Halloween was a fun filled music day.