Cool LA Bands
The Like
This is an all female trio that plays straight alt-pop-rock. The suprising thing is that these guys are all under 20. The songs are really well written, the arragements are tight, and the lyrics are meaningful and accessible. Their sound reminds me of early Bangles, that is when the Bangles were playing rock songs instead of the Top 40 junk. I don’t get why The Like don’t have an album out yet, but in the meantime, you can buy their self-produced EPs at their website. Buy these EPs or at least download the samples, trust me, you’ll like it.
a.i. (artificial intelligence)
This is a really interesting and exciting group made up of a guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer. a.i.’s mix of electo-alt-rock is similar to N.E.R.D., though not as much on the hip-hop, sex-you-up side. It also sounds like these guys are influenced by Jane’s Addiction, but in a mellow way. There’s even a song that sounds like its straight out of a Prince album. Anyway, they do have a major label release, though its almost a couple of years old and now at little hard to find. The cool thing is that this album still sounds fresh and you can get it on their website. While there, check out their remix of the Beastie Boys tune, Ch-Check It Out.