L.A. WeeklyLos Angeles is a hotbed of live music, and L.A. Weekly is here to help navigate this embarrassment of riches. From Brockhampton to the inimitable Wednesday 13, veteran European death-metalers Behemoth and At the Gates, GAS and Wet & Reckless, here are the 12 best music shows in L.A. this week!
fri 11/23
GAS
THE REGENT THEATER
Like many if not most electronic music producers, Wolfgang Voigt chooses to release his work under an assortment of pseudonyms. Hard techno and acid tracks might be attributed to Mike Ink or Vinyl Countdown; minimal techno and ambient productions may appear as M:I:5 or Love Inc. But it is as GAS that the Kompakt label boss (Voigt runs the storied Cologne, Germany–based imprint with Michael Mayer and Jürgen Pappe) is most revered, and rightly so. Albums such as 1998's wintry Zauberberg and 2000's bittersweet Pop have aged gracefully and become touchstones not just for ambient and minimal but for all of electronic music. —Matt Miner
sat 11/24
Holiday Sidewinder, Wet & Reckless
THE HI HAT
“We're humans, we make plans and machines,” Emily Wilder announces on “Machinery,” from Wet & Reckless' 2015 self-titled debut album. “Stone walls around hearts keep them cold/Keep in flaws and keep out what we don't know.” Bassist Jessica Gelt, guitarist Ashley Berry and drummer Jalise Woodward surround Wilder's declarations with energetic but melodic backing throughout the record. Wilder's lyrics are smart and romantic without being overly sentimental, and the Echo Park indie-rock band pump up such tracks as “Confetti” with punky energy and a power-pop tunefulness. “Cemetery” is a strangely ebullient walk through the graveyard, while “Rope Me In” is a more introspective and spacey jangle. Former Bridezilla singer Holiday Sidewinder headlines with a set of glitzy Australian electro-pop. Plus Slugs and Superbloom. —Falling James
The Aquadolls
THE SMELL
The Aquadolls started out with an appealing mix of garage rock, girl-band harmonies, punk-rock drive and surf-guitar riffs on 2014's Stoked on You but the SoCal group have expanded their sound further with their latest release, The Dream and the Deception. Lead singer Melissa Brooks and her band attempt to broaden their appeal with less-retro, mainstream-style pop songs such as “Euphoria” while still mixing in occasional punk blasts like “I'm a Star.” Brooks' starry-eyed quest for fame crops up in the lyrics for the latter song and such tracks as “Hollywood,” but The Aquadolls still stand out from the numerous other bands in this town chasing the often-illusory ideal of celebrity. Brooks' vocals continue to charm on such pop idylls as “Ruby Eyes” and the softly glowing “Perfect.” Plus The Grinns, The Gems and Pleo Shaman. —Falling James
Meat Puppets
PAPPY & HARRIET'S PIONEERTOWN PALACE
Fourteen years after bassist Chris Kirkwood served 21 months for striking a post office security guard with his own baton, getting shot in the process, the Meat Puppets are a solid hardcore cowpunk unit. Along with frontman/brother Curt Kirkwood, and reunited with original drummer Derrick Bostrom for the first time since '96, the Puppets are touring regularly. The 2013 album Rat Farm, their 14th full-length studio effort, was a solid piece of dusty alt-folk, though every fan is waiting with eager anticipation for the next one, which will be their first with Bostrom since 1995's No Joke! This show will be a cool opportunity to see the band in an intimate setting, and the fact that I See Hawks in L.A. also are on the bill makes it all the more special. —Brett Callwood
Behemoth, At the Gates
THE WILTERN
This one isn't for the faint of heart. Veteran Polish blackened death-metal band Behemoth join forces with Swedish death metallers At the Gates for a tour that will rattle rib cages thanks to the pure, unbridled ferocity. Expect a whole lot of lyrics about blood, ancient rites, the Dark Lord, murder — all of that stuff. Don't expect power ballads, or sing-along lyrics. Seriously, though, both of these European heavyweights have been at this game since the start of the '90s, and they know exactly how to get a room full of sweaty metal-heads moshing like lunatics. Death metal — it's not subtle, but it gets the job done. Washington black-metal troupe Wolves in the Throne Room also play, which only dials up the intensity. —Brett Callwood
Wednesday 13
WHISKY A GO GO
As the 1990s gave way to the new millennium, Slipknot were among the biggest and most exciting metal bands on the planet. So when, in 2002, drummer Joey Jordison decided to pick up a guitar and start a side project called Murderdolls, scores of Slipknot fans, or “maggots” as the band liked to call them, were paying attention. The singer in that band was Wednesday 13, who had made a name for himself in the horror-punk underground with his gender-bending zombie crew, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. Now solo, Wednesday 13 has been putting out quality horror punk under his own name since 2005's Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying and the Dead, although last year's Condolences has more of a metal edge. Whatever he does, he does it well and with a spooky grin. Davey Suicide, Fate DeStroyed, Darling Dead, The Rhythm Coffin, Dusty Mitchell, Mortis and Eminence also play. —Brett Callwood
sun 11/25
The Fruit Flies
THE LOVE SONG
On their Facebook page, The Fruit Flies' Danni Parpan and Molly McCormick describe their music as “one part musical talent, one part sassy charm and two parts inappropriate behavior.” Such breezy indie-pop ditties as “Summer in the City” demonstrate the first two parts of that equation with unabashedly joyful melodies that are characterized by the local duo's cheery harmonies and simple acoustic-guitar backing. It's not clear when the inappropriate behavior starts to occur, but Parpan and McCormick have the range to segue into more solemnly moving and glassily beautiful soundscapes such as “06 Lullaby” alongside sunnier, folk-style reveries like “Golden,” which are graced by the pair's lilting harmonies. This evening's free set at the Love Song offers a prime opportunity to fall for The Fruit Flies' deceptively simple musical spells. —Falling James
Cornelia Murr; Credit: Rachael Pony Cassells
mon 11/26
Cornelia Murr
BOOTLEG THEATER
Cornelia Murr was born in London and lives in California but she's lived all around the United States, and her latest album, Lake Tear of the Clouds, was inspired by her time in New York's Hudson Valley. Produced by My Morning Jacket's Jim James, the new record is an aural travelogue through various mellow states of mind, ranging from the dreamy ethereality of “Billions” to the organ-steeped breathiness of “Cicada.” The album even includes a version of Yoko Ono's “I Have a Woman Inside My Soul,” which Murr has transformed into a moving R&B ballad that's distinguished by her soulfully soothing vocal delivery. The recording features such guests as vocalist Lola Kirke and My Morning Jacket keyboardist Bo Koster, but ultimately it's a showcase for Murr's uniquely restrained and low-key ruminations. This show is part of a Motor Sales residency; Mike Viola also plays. —Falling James
tue 11/27
Richard Lloyd
BOOTLEG THEATER
Best known as a founding member of pioneering New York CBGB's house band Television, Richard Lloyd recently also has been a member of re-formed Cleveland punks (and Dead Boys/Pere Ubu precursors) Rocket From the Tombs. He's been a solo artist of note, though, since 1979's Alchemy, which arrived shortly after the initial breakup of Television. His most recent solo album, and his seventh in total, is 2016's Rosedale — a wonderfully insightful, poignant and honest record at this stage in his storied career. Live, he tends to veer toward career-spanning sets, so expect a bit of everything. His own renditions of Television tunes can be fascinating, to say the least. But, whatever, he's an underrated guitarist and any opportunity to see him is well worth grasping. —Brett Callwood
wed 11/28
Brockhampton
SHRINE Expo Hall
Brockhampton are the rap version of your favorite boy band. Coming up as a collective led by Texas native Kevin Abstract, the hip-hop group relocated to Los Angeles and successfully broke from the underground into the mainstream light. In the group, which is approximately 14 deep, each member brings their own style and flare to the table, whether it's rapping, singing, entertaining … you name it. With the release of their debut studio album, Saturation, in summer of 2017, fans flocked to their signature sound — which cannot be boxed into any type of genre — and hard-hitting production. Following a deal with RCA Records earlier this year, the group dropped their fourth studio album, Iridescence, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Also Thursday, Nov. 29. —Shirley Ju
thu 11/29
Georgia Anne Muldrow
LODGE ROOM
Georgia Anne Muldrow has been all over town lately. She was a spotlighted guest during L.A. Philharmonic's CicLAvia spectacle back in September, and more recently she was one of several featured vocalists when the orchestra presented a rare performance of John Cage's Apartment House 1776 at Disney Hall. But the local singer is best represented by her own music on such albums as 2018's Overload, in which she roams ambitiously through soulful balladry and funky R&B interludes. Many of her original songs are intercut with hip-hop embellishments, and there are hints of jazz and psychedelia in Muldrow's wide-ranging approach. Overload also includes contributions from Shana Jenson and Dudley Perkins, but it's Muldrow's restless, ever-changing personality that remains at the center of it all. —Falling James
Elvis Costello
THE WILTERN
Much like a David Bowie or even a Bob Dylan, how much you enjoy Elvis Costello in 2018 depends on how prepared you have been to evolve with the artist. This isn't the same quirky, bespectacled new-waver who charmed the world with punk-ish anthems such as “Oliver's Army,” and “Pump It Up.” Today's Costello is far more subtle a singer-songwriter. A storyteller. The Look Now album, released last month, is glorious proof. It's also his first studio album in five years, and finds him writing with the very un-punk likes of Carole King and Burt Bacharach. Hey, one could argue that his determination to do exactly what he wants is the very definition of punk. Whatever — the new album is a banger, and he'll inevitably be wonderful at the Wiltern. —Brett Callwood
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