Rock Picks: Al Kooper, Year Long Disaster, Steven Severin, the Phenomenal Handclap Band

Eagle Winged Palace at the Redwood Bar & Grill
In photos of the freaky folk group Eagle Winged Palace, leader Cashew (formerly of the Prix) is usually surrounded by a coven of foxy women as if he were some kind of nouveau-hippie reincarnation of Hugh Hefner (or perhaps a kinder and gentler Charles Manson). Of course, neither Hefner nor Manson ever sang such sweetly mellow folk-pop songs as Cashew and his gang do on their recent EP, Hand of Doom (Park the Van Records). “Light up a fire and shed out a tear/while a wild wind knocks a desperate ghost into gear,” he croons softly on “The Mansion on the Hill” amid acoustic guitars, piano, violin and a chorus of shimmering, heavenly voices, which includes Michelle Vidal, Meegan Michel, Karma Velasquez and Cashew’s wife, “Uncle” Rhea Harding. There’s a haunting glow to those soothing voices, as Mr. Cashew strums such gauzy, pastoral reveries as “The Ballad of the Red-Legged Hawk’s Fountain” and the playfully sensual “By God, Let’s Make Sure That We Do It Tonight.” (Falling James)

Also playing Saturday:

Merrill Garbus, aka Tune-Yards, offers her digital folk jams at the Natural History Museum.

The wild, untamed Ruby Friedman Orchestra gigs the Hotel Café.

Location Info

Map

McCabe's Bar & Grill

2455 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Santa Monica

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THE GLITCH MOB at El Rey Theatre; MELLOW MAN ACE, FUNKDOOBIEST at the Roxy; RUFUS WAINWRIGHT at the Long Beach Terrace Theater; STEVIE B, LISA LISA, COVER GIRLS, C&C MUSIC FACTORY at the Nokia Theatre; COWBOY MOUTH, JUNIOR BROWN at House of Blues; THE LYMBIC SYSTEM, HELIOS, THE ONE A.M. RADIO at the Bootleg Theater; DICK DALE at the Canyon; MALAKAI, FREZ at the Dakota Music Lounge; RAILCARS, TAN DOLLAR, ITALIAN INDIANS, OTHERS at the Echo Curio; DEATH VALLEY HIGH, MADLIFE, ELEMENT A440, OTHERS at the Good Hurt; TOM RUSH at Largo at the Coronet; JEREMIAH, JULIE CAIN, DUKES & GANNON at Taix.

Sunday/January/10

Zola Jesus, Pocahaunted, Sissy Spacek, Dean Spunt (DJ Set) at the Smell
Nights at the Smell don’t come better stacked than this. Headliner Zola Jesus, aka Madison’s no-fi chanteuse Nika Roza Danilova, deals in dark miniature epics whose moods play out in waves of pretty fuzz, echoing drums and haunting Ian Curtis–like vocals. As grating as her compositions can be at times, they’re spurred onward by a genuine pop sensibility, evidenced by her work with Xiu Xiu’s electro-oriented spinoff group, Former Ghosts. Zola recently contributed a track to the excellent My Estrogeneration vinyl compilation, released on the label run by Pocahaunted’s two principals. When Amanda and Britt Brown aren’t tending to the workings of Eagle Rock’s Not Not Fun Records, they specialize in a winning combination of tribal rhythms and spooky melody. Sissy Spacek, on the other hand, is about as harsh as they come — a spazz-happy grindcore quartet led by L.A. noise fiend John Wiese — but you’d be hard-pressed to find an outfit better at what they do. To top it all off, No Age’s Dean Spunt plays DJ into the night. (Chris Martins)

Also playing Sunday:

TRAINWRECK, KIDNEYS, ARI SHINE at the Viper Room; MY DADS, PUSSY COW, NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW at the Echo Curio; THE TERRAPIN, THE HECTORS, SEASONS at Spaceland.

Monday/January/11

Year Long Disaster, Fatso Jetson, It’s casual, others at Spaceland
There are so many hard-rock bands in the world, but few of them have anything new or intelligent to say. Yet the L.A. trio Year Long Disaster have a lot on their collective minds on their second album, Black Magic: All Mysteries Revealed (Volcom). Singer-guitarist Daniel Davies (who happens to be the son of Kinks lead guitarist Dave Davies) explains the ambitious scope of his new lyrics, which are about “traversing schizophrenia interspersed with graveyard seductions, Pontius Pilate ... 6-foot-tall cats with pistols, at least four songs about the sensuality of blood, two songs concern turning over a car and riddling it with bullet holes while screaming random obscenities at the top of my lungs to every passing motorist ... ancient sexual rites of the Celtic goddess Agrona ... observations of a bloated man standing before a jukebox and, of course, a song just about wondering how my clothes got soaking wet, covered in kerosene, and why I was in a storeroom behind a riverfront Waffle House in Mississippi ... desperate to find a hacksaw to free my shackled legs.” Such fascinating back stories aside, Black Magic is a richly satisfying combination of Southern-rock power, doomy Sabbath-y riffage and Davies’ mournfully eloquent singing, which ranges from snarling rockers like “Show Me Your Teeth” and “Venus at the Crossroads” to such strange and trippy tunes as “Foggy Bottom” and the acoustic idyll “Seven of Swords.” Year Long Disaster continue their free January residency, billed tonight with the similarly monstrous (and musically expansive) hard-rock jammers Fatso Jetson. (Falling James)

Also playing Monday:

JESCA HOOP & MARK GROWDEN, MARIA TAYLOR, BRANDON WALTERS, NICOLE SIMONE at the Hotel Cafe; THE NORTHSTAR SESSION, CLOCKWORK, REGAL at the Bootleg Theater; THE FRENCH SEMESTER, LETTING UP DESPITE GREAT FAULTS, THE SPIRES, THE HEALTH CLUB at the Echo; ODAWAS, DOMINIQUE LEONE at the Echo Curio; THURSTON MOORE IS A FAGGOT, TENIONS FORT at Pehrspace; BLIND BOY PAXTON & FRANK FAIRFIELD VARIETY SHOW at the Redwood Bar.