[Contributor Todd Martens checks in with tonight’s headliners at the

Echo:]

It took a concept that was borderline gimmick to inspire Bishop Allen to complete a second album.

After selling a few thousand copies of its 2003 debut, "Charm School," the

playful New York indie-pop act spent more than a year recording and discarding a

follow-up.

It turns out that all the band needed were some deadlines. The five-piece, led by

Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who met while attending Harvard University in the late

’90s, opted instead to craft four-track EPs for every month in 2006. The EPs were to be

named for the month in which the songs were recorded, and there would be no turning

back.

"The hardest months were April and May," says Rice, who starred in the 2005

indie flick "Mutual Appreciation." "It just felt like we still had a ton

in front of us. But we believed if we were constantly giving people new music, the EPs

would sort of be like a postcard from a friend."

Of the 48 songs recorded, nine were heavily reworked for Tuesday’s release of

"Bishop Allen & the Broken String." On the 12 finished tracks, Rice’s

scruffy vocals are softened by buoyantly relaxed guitars and a dash of orchestral

trimmings. It’s a pleasant-enough frame for lyrics that deal with the twentysomething

concerns of middle-class bohemians, such as begging a rich uncle for cash.

"There’s truth in that," Rice says. "The kind of music we make is not

about virtuosity. It’s about sincerity."

||| Bishop Allen performs tonight at the Echo, with Castledoor and Page France opening.

||| Download: "Click Click Click

Click."

Other recommendations for Tuesday, July 31

Mercury Music Prize nominee Bat for

Lashes headlines Spaceland tonight while a performer with a very different

sensibility — M.I.A. — holds forth a couple miles

away at the Echoplex. … The Peter Bjorn

and  John show at the Fonda Theatre is sold out. … Maxeen closes out its string of Tuesday night

performances at the Key Club on a bill that includes Carina Round. … And a strong bill of

power-poppers plays tonight’s installment of International Pop Overthrow at Molly

Malone’s, including Chris von Sneidern, Kenny Howes and the Eugene Edwards Band.

Somehow we didn’t get the memo that the Gray Kid

was releasing a new album, but there it is, "Vultures," out today on iTunes.

The man born Steve Cooper says on his new work’s MySpace page that the

album was inspired by Sarah Kane’s play "Phaedra’s Love," and if you’re

familiar with the Gray Kid’s debut "… 5, 6, 7, 8," you know that Cooper

never met a naughty nihilist he didn’t like.

The Gray Kid joins Austin, Texas, ex-pats Oliver Future for a double-barreled

record release show at the Troubadour tonight. Oliver Future is celebrating the proper

release of "Pax Futura," the quintet’s debut album of glam-inspired

agit-pop.

The Music for Robots blog has a download of

the new Gray Kid number "Death of a Boy," along with what seems to me to be a

very valid reference to Dntel.

Blip, blip.

Photo of the Gray Kid performing at Little Radio in early 2007 by Kevin Bronson /

LAT.

Eskimohunter puts its July residency on

ice with one final performance tonight at Spaceland, and if you’re the kind who likes a

bit of cinematic spectacle stirred in with your rock music, this is probably about as

good as a club gig can get. The band’s carefully crafted stage lighting and projections

– not to mention its straight-outta-the-tundra white "uniforms" — form a

rather devious mind-meld with the distortion- and effects-laden rock.

The quintet is the brainchild of visual artist Jason71, who gets my vote for designer of the coolest

gig posters in town (visit his website to see them all). If only Eskimohunter’s musical

output were so copious — the band has released two EPs in its nearly five years of

existence. In a strange way, it’s often occurred to me that Eskimohunter is as much a

venue for 71’s visual talents (and a badge of distinction in the artistic community) as

it is a musical mission. Does that make it somehow less worthy of a star in the L.A.

constellation of shoegaze rockers? Not a bit.

If you miss them tonight,

Eskimohunter will be playing the Sunset

Junction Street Fair on Aug. 19. Presumably, the projections and light show won’t

work as well for the band’s early-afternoon set, but you never know.

◊ ◊ ◊

The Spinto Band, in Los Angeles to

record its new album with producer Dave Trumfio, has been added to the bill tonight at

the Silverlake Lounge. Light FM, playing

the final night of its July residency, goes on at 11. The Spinto Band plays at 10. …

Zen Sushi is back in business as a live venue, and the walls will be shaking tonight

when the Alchemist Element and

Leviathan Brothers play. … The Stevenson Ranch Davidians,

who have a Wednesday night residency this month at the Echo, are among the bands playing

Indie 103.1’s "Check … One Two" night at the Viper Room. … Hello Dragon had to cancel its set

tonight at the Echo because singer-guitarist Julie Chadwick cut her hand in a kitchen

accident. … Jesse Harris‘ new album

"Feel" is a feel-gooder; he plays an early set at the Hotel Cafe tonight. …

And the International Pop

Overthrow festival continues with an eight-band bill at the Cat Club.

Photos: Jason71 by Kevin Bronson / LAT; the Spinto Band from www.spintoband.co.uk

Eastern

Conference Champions have returned to the scene of the crime. Forgive the

Philadelphia trio if they are treading lightly on this trip to Los Angeles.

ECC had taken up part-time residence in L.A. last winter, pulling a successful

residency at the Silverlake Lounge, only to

have their van burglarized and all their gear stolen in late February. They

regrouped, replenished (thanks partly to the largesse of some equipment suppliers) and

hit the road. "It’s funny," singer-guitarist-pianist Josh Ostrander says,

"but through our gear getting stolen, our live show actually got better."

Then, two weeks ago, when "Ameritown" was released on Suretone Records, a scheduling

snafu forced the band to move a record-release show from CineSpace to Silverlake at the

last minute. Suffice to say the mood will be more celebratory when ECC headlines Safari

Sam’s on Monday.

"Ameritown" may surprise anybody who witnessed those garagey club shows in

February. The album, produced by Owen Morris (Oasis, the Verve), is a charmer, with

Ostrander’s pinched vocals twined with his languid piano lines and the pressing beats of

drummer Greg Lyons and bassist Vern Zaborowski.

The album includes material from the band’s two well-received EPs, but the rest was a

rush job. "When we signed" in late 2005, Ostrander says, "I thought,

‘Omigod, I have no songs.’ " He took three months off to write, all but

sequestering himself to come up with material: "I shut everything off to try to

write something original. No cable TV, no radio — maybe a little Marvin Gaye in the

morning to get us going."

He’s proud of the final product, which he says sounds "really big, without being

overproduced or glossy."

||| ECC performs tonight at Safari

Sam’s.

||| Download: "The

Box."

Photo by Jason Odell

International Pop Overthrow

turns 10 today. Light some candles; have some cake; bust out that old Raspberries

record.

Founded in

Los Angeles by promoter David Bash as a

way to celebrate and showcase the strains of power pop that trace their lineage to ’60s

and ’70s radio, the festival (two weeks-plus of shows at rotating venues, featuring as

many as eight bands a night) once attracted acts to its summertime soirees from all over

the globe. Then Bash turned IPO into something of a franchise — and now you can get

your annual dose of power pop in places like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville and

Liverpool. In fact, after the L.A. event ends Aug. 11, IPO moves to San Francisco, then

Seattle, then Vancouver, B.C. It’s kind of a traveling road show of power chords.

All of that has watered down the Los Angeles event considerably, turning it into a

much more locals-only affair. There are 21 shows featuring 162 bands this year, and

overall, the venues have gotten smaller (remember when IPO had a night at the El Rey

Theatre?). But there is still a strong pop underground here, and still a healthy number

of fledgling bands that make this sound their starting point (as well as an equal number

of veterans who’ve made power pop their sonic dwelling).

This year’s edition offers a mix of young and old. I’ll try to toss out some

recommendations as IPO progresses over the next two weeks; catching at least one IPO

show is almost mandatory, if only because attendees receive a three-CD compilation that

the festival issues every year. Invariably, it contains a handful of gems that’ll make

you think, "Why ain’t that on the radio?"

This weekend at IPO

Friday: Raucous Anglophiles the Procession and clear-eyed

power-popper Steve Bertrand are the best

picks for tonight’s opener at Molly Malone’s. The Procession’s "Musique

Magnifique" is out on Nude/V2 in the U.K. Bertrand, ex-frontman of the beloved Tories who moved on to front a band called Avion for a while, released a solo

album, "Pain Is a Megaphone," earlier this year — a record that again shows

his affection for big melodies, soaring choruses and, somewhat regrettably, shiny

production. His live show does not disappoint.

Saturday: The matinee show at Fitzgerald’s in Huntington Beach features

vaudevillian popper Jeffrey

Scott, and the evening show boasts tuneful veteran Walter Clevenger playing

an early set and newcomers the New

Fidelity playing late. Clevenger has been making amiable, flannel-shirt pop-rock for

over a decade, and the New Fidelity’s "Tiny Slivers" offers a dose of jaunty,

faintly retro pop with teeth.

Sunday: Newcomers the

Monte Vista, which features Orion Samprini from the Orion Experience, anchors the

evening lineup at the Joint on Pico. And we’ve written about the Letter Openers, who are as sharp as

their name.

Full IPO schedule (with addresses, times and cover charges) here.

Elsewhere Friday night

The single "Girls Who Play Guitars" has been rooting around in my head

since I got the promo copy of Maximo Park’s new

album, "Our Earthly Pleasures" — the U.K. outfit plays the El Rey tonight

with the Oohlas and Monsters Are Waiting supporting. … Steve Barton and the Oblivion Click

celebrate the release of their new album, "Flicker of Time," with a show at

the Scene in Glendale. [Full disclosure: Casey Dolan, a Times employee and

San Francisco band Translator.] Moris

Tepper also performs. … Vancouver, B.C.’s, the Awkward Stage brings its wry

pop to El Cid. … And the Melvins perform

"Lysol and Eggnog" at the Troubadour.

Photo: L.A. Ari Shine performs at this year’s International Pop

Overthrow festival at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England.

[Bronson’s back from a little time off. Not that he’ll get any rest tonight

…]

Tonight might be the busiest show-going night in recent memory. So before I post my

piece from today’s print edition on a group I consider one of the most underrated bands

of the 1990s, Buffalo Tom, here’s a rundown on what’s going on:

Bodies of Water plays a show

celebrating the release of their joyous new album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will

Blink" at 8 tonight in Pershing Square downtown. It’s free. … The material from

Patrick Park’s forthcoming album

"Everyone’s in Everyone" (due Aug. 7) gets a full-band treatment when the

singer-songwriter (pictured) finishes up his July residency tonight at Spaceland. …

The aforementioned (two items down on the blog) Service Group show also features the

wildly fun Henry Clay People.

… Speaking of fun: Say Hi to Your

Mom — L.A. native Eric Elbogen, et. al. — has relocated from New York to Seattle,

and tonight they are back in Hollywood, playing at the Knitting Factory. … The Rapture

rock the Mayan, with a little help from from local lads Foreign Born. … Portugal the Man plays the Troubadour. …

Another new L.A. quartet exploring  Anglophile rock, Buckfast, hold forth at the gig. … Chromeo, along with Flosstradamus,  plays

the Hell Ya! night at the Echo. … Sea

Wolf (8:30 p.m.) and Midnight

Movies (9:30) play the free festivities at the Hammer Museum. … Tegan & Sara

harmonize at the Malibu Performing Arts Center. … Suki Ewers heads the bill at Tangier. … The By and By play the Silverlake Lounge.

… And Filter is sponsoring something at the

Roxy called Revenge of the Sunset Strip headlined by J*DaVeY, and while I’m not sure what about this

constitutes revenge I’m sure somebody who goes to the Sunset Strip will write and tell

me.

Is that enough? I surely missed some things.

◊ ◊ ◊

And now a few words about Buffalo

Tom:

Without a trace of nostalgia, Bill Janovitz is talking about how the

passing years have thinned the hair, added lines to faces, changed relationships and

rearranged priorities. “All of that hopefully becomes the stuff of songwriting,” the

Buffalo Tom singer-guitarist says. “You still want to tap into the same interpersonal

and emotional places.”

With the release this month of “Three Easy Pieces,” its first album in nine years, the

Boston trio — whose bristling, exuberant guitar pop made them alt-rock favorites in the

early- and mid-1990s (think of them as the Shins of their era) — find those places, some

18 years after issuing the first of their six albums.

Janovitz and bandmates

Chris Colbourn and Tom Maginnis never broke up after 1998’s “Smitten,” but fatherhood

and their professional lives relegated Buffalo Tom to the back burner, except for

occasional hometown shows. Old anthems such as “Taillights Fade” and “Soda Jerk” gave

those college-rock fans a buzz, but the trio discovered during “very organic” recording

sessions that they still had more music in them.

Read Full Story

[Correspondent Frank Farrar subjects himself to some of Tokyo Police Club’s

tactics:]

A couple of years ago, these guys couldn’t get arrested. But on the strength of a

couple of EPs and singles, and a slot at Coachella this year, Tokyo Police Club quickly sold out its Wednesday

night Troubadour show and had the place abuzz.

Actually, it took awhile for things to catch fire. Going for the obvious with “Cheer It

On” as the opener, with its hook based around a “Tokyo Police Club” chant, the Canadian

group sounded proficient but somewhat staid for a unit channeling dance punk and nerd

rock. Twenty minutes into the set, though, the band tore through its smash-worthy new

single “Your English Is Good” — and Graham Wright’s throbbing keyboard line, Josh

Hook’s guitar blasts and bassist-vocalist David Monks’ campaign-ready chorus of “Give us

your vote” brought things to a peak, igniting the party for the rest of the night.

Monks is the focal point, with Hook stepping out of the shadows only for an

occasional shout vocal — which, in the best communal moments, is met with a shout right

back from the crowd. There’s a Weezer-like winning spirit of high schoolers playing a

backyard garage party, but the precise, energetic delivery takes TPC to another level.

(Note: For an encore, described by Monks as “the first cover song we’ve ever played,”

they chose the Rentals’ “Friends of

P.”)

The wrapped it all up in 45 minutes, but that was enough time for plenty of tunes.

These guys know the value of brevity and most songs clock in at way under three minutes.

(Their first EP, “A Lesson in Crime,” churned out seven songs in about 16 minutes.) Last

week, the group signed to Saddle Creek Records, but a full-length CD isn’t expected

until February. For fans who can’t wait that long: After spending the next couple of

months trekking across the U.S., Canada and England, they’ll be back here at the El Rey

on Oct. 23.

Photo from tokyopoliceclub.com

[Contributor Casey Dolan with his dollop of pop:]

Dylan Hay Chapman, lead singer-songwriter for local popsters Service Group, tells me that the origin of the group’s

name lay in a high school student contingent assigned to work in the cafeteria

("the kids that weren’t into athletics"). I wasn’t far wrong in guessing that

it sounded like a catering firm for high schools; either that or sex trade camp

followers for the military (but, no, wait, that was Joy Division).

Chapman is a breezy fellow with a band that has patiently slogged it out in the rock

‘n’ roll toilets of Los Angeles for the past several years. Now, their brand of altered

retro-pop may get a boost from their second album, "Principals of Electronic

Circuitry," being released Sept. 25 on their own label, Squid vs. Whale.

"We’re all happy with the album," says Chapman. "It’s been kicking

around for two years, so [we’re well practiced]. We know we have a lot of playing and

promoting to do. The second album is the same sensibility as the first, only the fast

songs are faster, the slow songs are slower. It’s a little more refined; the corners are

sharpened."

Read Full Story

The full press release will go out later this week (and the info will be on the

website by Monday), but a sneak peek at F-Yeah-Fest

IV reveals a hefty lineup spanning several genres of underground music. The

festival, curated by Keith

Morris and Sean Carlson, goes off Aug. 25-26 at various venues in Echo Park.

Saturday’s lineup includes Boston punk quintet the Explosion’s last West Coast show and

American Steel’s first L.A. show in seven years, as well as performances by: Lavender

Diamond, Dillinger Four, Busdriver, Boom Bip, Entrance, the Mae Shi, the Fleshies, Bobby

Birdman, Residual Echoes, Imaad Wasif, Times New Viking, Hit Me Back, Thee More

Shallows, Greg Ashely of Gris Gris, Partyline (members of Bratmobile), Brother Reade,

Wooden Ships, Love or Perish, Devon Williams, Sabertooth Tiger, Sleepover and more.

On Sunday: Deerhunter, Indian Jewelry, No Age, Midnight Movies, Jay Reatard, Foreign

Born, Pissed Jeans, xBxRx, Darker My Love, the Nice Boys, Langhorne Slim, Great

Northern, Triclops, Red Fang, Best Fwends, Vultures (San Diego), Luke Top, Moonrats,

Rumspringa, the Strange Boys, Abe Vigoda, Bad Dudes, Jail Wedding and others.

Carlson says one "special guest" won’t be announced until the week of the

(all-ages) festival, which also includes comedy acts and an art show. Tickets will be

$12 for a single day or $22 for a two-day pass. Stay tuned.

Photo of the Explosion by Nigel Crane.

Ah, California. Sometimes it’s best viewed as a mirage. “Darlin’ darlin’,

we’re movin’ out to California / where the weather’s warmin’ and there is no attitude,”

Josiah Mazzaschi writes in his song, “Save the Drama.” It was a couple of years ago, and

the Light FM front man was making a mark in

Chicago, where his quartet’s Moog-heavy power pop was earning comparisons to the Cars,

Weezer and the Rentals.

“I was definitely wrong about the attitude,” Mazzaschi says now, a bit sheepishly,

“especially now that I’ve worked in Hollywood.”

Not that he regrets the good vibrations that induced him to head west. He remembers

meeting Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza in Chicago, “and he was all for me moving out here,”

Mazzaschi says. “I ended up working in the studio right next to his studio.”

Mazzaschi spends his days working for producer Dave Trumfio as an engineer at Kingsize Soundlabs (neighbor to

Espinoza’s studio the Ship). And he

spends some off-hours at Kingsize too, working on the follow-up to Light FM’s

unfailingly catchy 2004 album “This Is the Beginning of My Golden Age.”

“Just being around some of the [musicians] I’ve been around is inspiring,” Mazzaschi

says. “I’m the kind of guy who tweaks stuff forever; I need to figure out when something

is finished.”

For now, the reconstituted (from its Chicago days) Light FM, with Brian Barbier, Kim

Haden and Harry Trumfio, is playing the Monday residency this month at the Silverlake

Lounge.

||| See Light FM tonight (with the Amateurs, among others, opening) and next Monday

at the Silverlake Lounge (no cover charge on

Mondays).

||| Download a new song from the band, "Save the Drama."

Photo of Light FM (from left, Josiah Mazzaschi, Kim Haden, Brian Barbier, and Harry

Trumfio) by Drew Reynolds.

◊ ◊ ◊

Touts for Monday, July

23

Snow Patrol brings

its sweet Britpop to the sylvan Greek Theatre for the second of a two-night stand

–  on Sunday night, front man Gary Lightbody was good for some laughs as well some

sugary melodies, eulogizing the insect who alighted on the band’s setlist and, alas,

gave its life for rock ‘n’ roll. Well, you had to be there. Get there early if you want

to see openers Hot Hot Heat play a set that

includes material off its forthcoming album "Happiness Ltd." The Canadians

were onstage already at the doors time listed on the tickets, 7:30. … Slint plays "Spiderland" at

the Fonda Theatre. … Division Day

heads a strong lineup for the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room …  Glacier Hiking plays a no-cover-charge

show at the Troubadour. … Mezzanine

Owls join Eskimohunter at the

latter’s residency at Spaceland. … Princeton joins 5 O’Clock Somewhere for the

latter’s residency at the Echo. … And the exuberant Castledoor opens for Aushua at its residency at the Detroit Bar.