Best Up-And-Coming Los Angeles Bands To Check Out In 2016
Los Angeles is the birthplace of some of the most famous bands in the world. Bands like Guns 'n Roses, The Doors, The Go Go's, Incubus, Van Halen, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt (just to name a few) were all cultivated in Los Angeles. And the music scene in 2015 proved more were on the way. If you haven't been able to keep up what's happening in local music, here are five bands to watch in 2016.
L.A. Witch
lawitch.tumblr.com
L.A. Witch is a trio of girls who rock with a sound as if grunge happened in the 60s instead of the 90s. Drenched in reverb and inner turmoil, reminiscent of the Jesus and Mary Chain and L 7, L.A. Witch is already kicking off 2016 with shows at LA's Roxy and San Diego's The Casbah, making it easy to see them before the rest of the country discovers them. Songs like "Get Lost," "Haunting" and "Heart of Darkness" get under your skin like a slow burn and you know deep down you will never be as cool as Sade, Irita and Ellie. But that won't stop you from loving them or their music.
Wildwood Highway
www.wildwoodhighway.us
Take a little country, some California rock, throw in three talented singer/songwriters and you have the original sound of Wildwood Highway. Members Deanna Hurst, Bradford Lee Stanfield and Periel each take lead on various songs while harmonizing brilliantly on others. "24 Hours Worth of Forever" and "I Don't Need a Man" have that familiar twang country fans will love but enough bluesy rock to give it a wider appeal. Having hit the local club scene, outdoor venues and private events, Wildwood Highway has gone back into the studio to add more songs to their debut EP Garden of Love featuring Bill Payne of Little Feat on piano for an early 2016 release.
The Soft White Sixties
www.thesoftwhitesixties.com
If you're a fan of The Black Keys you'll love The Soft White Sixties. Catchy lyrics and bass lines with "Queen of the Press Club" and "City Lights" will make you a fan immediately. The sound is definitely tight and "When This All Started" has a groovy INXS meets U2 feel to it that will have you hitting repeat like an addiction. The Soft White Sixties have toured extensively from coast to coast and currently are on break. When TSWS come back around the charismatic live performances of Octavio Genera, Aaron Eisenberg, Joey Bustos and Ryan Noble will make them your new favorite band.
Rocket
www.facebook.com/thebandrocket
Janelle Barreto from Exploiting Eve, Eric Wibbelsmann, Bill Luna and Paul DePatie of The Pills came together to form the high energy band Rocket. While Rocket hasn't been on the scene very long, they're definitely ones to watch. With their breakout feel good tune "Hey Baby," Rocket has already played Sunset strip's infamous Whisky a Go Go with Puddle of Mudd and has been a supporting band for Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow and Gene Loves Jezebel. They've landed in the top five rock bands in LA on ReverbNation and were recently featured on AXS.com twice. Rocket is currently working on new material and will be hitting the music scene full throttle in 2016.
Cherry Glazerr
www.cherry-glazerr.com
If the CW had an indie rock band it would probably look and sound like Cherry Glazerr. Model/actress Clementine Creevy takes lead vocals and guitar, Sasami Ashworth handles drums and bass is helmed by Sean Redman to produce a sound that falls into the psychedelic rock/punk California category. The slightly off-key vocals of "Haxel Princess" and the moderately punk lyrics and beat of "Cry Baby" appeals to the under thirty crowd which seems to be taking over society. Unfortunately, they lost their drummer late last year and had to cancel a few shows. But they went back into the studio to work on new material which will be released soon.
Related: Top Bars & Clubs on the Sunset Strip
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