Northern Tier

I saw Boy Phase, Koka, and Brute Fact play at Artbar LA. Yet another show put on by Ears 4 Hats which has been doing great work in the West LA area.

Since around the time venues have opened back up there has been this vague, undefined attempt to revive the independent music scene. A confluence of factors led to it receding a bit. For one, the pandemic kept us all inside so bands – the real bands that were about that gig life – took to doing livestream shows if they could afford the set up and the headaches of coordination. When things reopened all the midsized venues were dealing with a brand new world no one recognized. I can spare a lot of the economic details but basically bands were utilizing social media to a much further extent than they were before. The need to gig, fight for spots and stage space, had essentially been marginalized. That and only the big acts could afford to play in places anymore. A smaller note: a lot of people took up solo music as their misbegotten covid hobby and now they’re taking up all the open mics and small stages.

So, it’s refreshing when you can still find small spots that have regular nights featuring live music that bands don’t have to pay to play in. Especially bands you’ve never heard of. They work hard to get to these stages, the least we can do is pay attention.

Boy Phase runs a pretty good rendition of bands you might have heard in the early years of Myspace. There’s a keyboardist. There’s a guitar. There’s happy major scale pop punk sentimentalities and harmonized vocals. The band looks, and sounds, like they have fun making the music and I don’t mean that in a disapproving parent kind of way. The songwriting is tight. The sound is coherent and the small missteps and mistimings I can forgive because monitors were scarce. More practice and they’d kill whatever show they show up to. Another note, it was wild to see a band I’d never heard of bring a crowd where people knew the words to their songs.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Koka is one of the best working bands in the LA area right now. They’re hardcore for an indie act and real professionals. They practice and get together before the gigs then disappear to their respective private lives. When summoned by the goddess of gigs they appear and leave a stage smoldering with a crowd wondering where the merch is. Then they dip without so much as asking for a social media follow. When asked by a friend what I’d categorize their genre as I simply named bands that could fit the mold while giving the ‘indie’ label. The cover of ‘Money’ by The Drums definitely sells it. But just imagine Selena by the beach. Or Gwen Stefani and No Doubt if they were from East LA and spent more time in backyard barbeques hosted by your neighborhood Auntie. Throw in a little bit of late ’00 surf rock and shake it up in a garage. Best I can do for you.

You like Parquet Courts? You into intricate rhythms and talented musicians who can actually play a set? Brute Fact delivered. Wholesale rockery from back to front. I didn’t really know what to expect. The lead guitarist is a member of another band I gigged with a few months ago named Sheep Eyes and they kill too. For a set that started late they actually managed to retain a good bit of the crowd and actually emptied the bar. They’re that kinda rock.

Overall a very good show and I’m looking forward to seeing more sets from all these groups or at least sharing a stage with them.

If we’re going to bring the scene back we have to create more spaces like this that draw crowds. Especially in a city like this. We want more live music but we don’t want to hit another dusty open mic with samey vibes or go see the band that has a hit on TikTok but can only do a 15 minute set. These are the shows we should be building the scene around if there is going to be one long term.