Eastern Conference Champions have operated comfortably under the radar since co-founders Josh Ostrander and Greg Lyons forsook their native Philadelphia for Los Angeles three years ago.

That was about the time ECC divorced its label, Suretone, which had released the band's 2007 debut Ameritown, and bassist Vern Zaborowski, who passed on the L.A. life. But singer-guitarist Ostrander and drummer Lyons slowly retooled, bringing on guitarist Melissa Dougherty, releasing the new Santa Fe EP last year and edging away from the Radiohead-informed aesthetic fans found on their debut.

As with many bands these days, ECC kept the gas tank full by having songs placed in film and television, and earlier this year the trio broke through, becoming the only unsigned act to land a song — the brooding rocker “A Million Miles an Hour” — on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack.

Now, armed with a batch of new tunes that range from clamorous folk-derived anthems to beat-driven agit-pop, the trio is finishing up a new album, SPEAK-AHH, and test-driving some of the material this month at their Monday residency at Spaceland. The Color Turning and Death Kit support at tonight's Week 2.

Elsewhere: Australian prog-rock quintet Karnivool visits to headline the Troubadour. … Vanaprasta and Pacific Hurt continue their co-residency at the Echo. … And Everest and Lemon Sun play Bardot in this week's edition of the RSVP-only It's a School Night.

Also: Family of the Year, the Lonely Wild, Wires in the Walls and LA Font at the Silverlake Lounge; Kevin Earnest at the Hotel Cafe; the Ruby Tigers and Lotan Baba at the Viper Room; James Kenney at the Mint; and Steel Panther and Damato at the Key Club.

Note: The author's blog is co-presenter of the ECC and Vanaprasta residencies, although no financial considerations are involved.

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