It’s been a minute since I’ve DJed at The Mermaid, long enough where I hadn’t seen how the corner near the DJ booth now looks like an underwater cave (see pic above). It’s super cute. Anyhow, last night was an open format set, so you heard everything from new Alison Goldfrapp and Tyler the Creator to oldies from Brenton Wood and Creedence Clearwater Revival to everything in between. Set list is below.
If you’ve been paying attention to the singles that Alison Goldfrapp has dropped this year, then you have an idea of what to expect from the singer’s new album, Flux. It’s a pop-minded album that does, at least at times, recall her work with Goldfrapp, the duo that bears her name. Still, “Reverberotic” and “Find Xanadu” aren’t the only jams on this album and, if you’re a fan of those two songs in particular, definitely get Flux in your queue asap.
Flux is Goldfrapp’s second solo album. Two years ago, she released The Love Invention, a dreamy disco collection that was one of my favorite albums of 2023. With Flux, the sound is a little more rooted in the singer’s legacy while maintaining a contemporary sound.
Good things take time and Nuovo Testamento is a band that’s keenly aware of that. About a year after releasing their 2023 full-length, Love Lines, the L.A.-based trio returned to the studio and, just last month, they released the result, a five-song EP called Trouble. In the context of recorded music’s history, two-and-a-half years isn’t much of a gap between releases. Still, singer Chelsey Crowley says, during the in-between time, the band heard, “you guys haven’t put out music in so long.”
It’s an extension of the art vs. content debate. How often should bands be releasing music? Should you pump out the jams to satiate the platforms or wait until the songs you want to make are ready? Crowley offers a definitive answer. “We prefer to have songs that we like,” she says. “We’ll let them marinate for a second.”
It’s an attitude that’s reflective of the band’s roots too. While Nuovo Testamento’s music is steeped in late 20th century pop influences, they’re still punk to the core. They tend to tour extensively and are proponents of physical media. “It’s not just about this digital space,” says Crowley.
See Monday Nights: L.A.’s Scene of the Century and make your own buttons on Saturday, August 16, at leiminspace in Chinatown
I’m not DJing this weekend, but have a pretty good amount of recommendations for shows, dance parties, movie screenings and more. Keep reading for my top picks of events happening in L.A. between Thursday, August 14 and Wednesday, August 20.
Jeffrey Runnings’ final solo album is out now on Independent Project Records (Pic: Liz O.)
In the extensive liner notes by Camilla Aisa, Jeffrey Runnings says that it wasn’t his intention to release the music that he was recording on a thrifted 8-track machine. But, in a tragic turn of events, Piqued would be Runnings final solo album. Last fall, the musician, known for his work as bassist and singer of For Against, learned that he had advanced stage cancer. Over the course of the next few months, he was able to finish up the collection of songs and work with Independent Project Records, who had previously released For Against albums, to begin approving the artwork. Runnings died on March 3, 2025 at the age of 61. Piqued was released posthumously in July. It is both a testament to Runnings’ creativity and a loving tribute to the musician.
HLLLYH live at The Smell on Saturday, August 9, 2025 (Pic: Liz O.)
I’m trying to think of the last time I had been to The Smell. It was so long ago that I nearly forgot to enter through the alley in the back. Maybe I haven’t been here since before the pandemic? The last show I remember seeing at the venerable L.A. DIY space was that dog and Graham Coxon. It was a night hotter than this one, sometime during the summer before the timeline went awry. A lot has changed since 2019. That The Smell still exists says a lot about the venue. I probably should go to shows here more often, but the thing is that, once you hit a certain age, hanging out at an all-age punk venue with no specific purpose can be a little awkward. Like, do I really need people to assume that I’m a mom keeping an eye on her weird kid when I’m still, mentally, the weird kid?
Tonight, though, I have a specific, age-appropriate purpose. I’m going to see HLLLYH, which is the new band spawned from The Mae Shi, who I saw at The Smell more than once back when I was young and downtown was still a ghost town after dark.
View from the DJ booth: Vilevo live at Nocturno (Pic: Liz O.)
Vilevo played live last night at Nocturno and their set was fire. I watched from the DJ booth, both above and behind the stage, so I really could only see the backs of the musicians, but I saw the way the crowd lit up when they played and that was really cool. Anyhow, I bought their album, Recopilación, this morning and am listening to it right now. Give it a listen when you have a chance.
Alice Glass dropped a new single a couple weeks ago, “Catch and Release,” and it slayed last night. Instant banger. You’ll definitely be hearing this more in the coming weeks/months. Other new tunes in the set include “My Love” from Lebanon Hanover, which turned up pretty early in the set, plus “Everything We Thought We Knew” from N8NOFACE and “Rearrange” by Sextile, both of which I started playing at Underground in the past few weeks. Then there are the new-ish songs that I’ve played at Nocturno previously this summer, but are definitely getting more people out on the dance floor now: French Police “Sugar Killer,”Mareux “Nonstop Romance” and Ultra Sunn “Wrong Floor.” Set list is below.
If you already have the new, deluxe reissue of Crashing Dream, the 1985 sophomore album from Rain Parade, jump ahead to “Gone West.” Tap your foot to the steady beat and tune into the guitar jangle and spectral voices. Listen closely and you might hear an L.A. band that is steeped in ‘60s psychedelia, yet foreshadows the sounds that would emanate from the U.K. by the end of the decade, from The Stone Roses to Primal Scream to Ride to Teenage Fanclub.
“We’ve always been hermits. We didn’t really know this until we started playing again in about 2012, but, at that time, we started running into these people, like Mani from the Stone Roses,” says Rain Parade co-founder Matt Piucci. “He contacted me on social media and was like we love you guys and we wanted to be you guys.” Piucci heard something similar Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love. And, several years ago, he attended a Ride show and heard a Rain Parade album playing before the show.
Nocturno is back at Catch One (4067 Pico Blvd. 90019) for five rooms of dancing on Friday, August 8. You’ll find me in the darkwave vs. indie sleaze room, which is also where Vilevo is playing live. On top of that, I’ll be playing an extra dose of She Past Away tunes for you throughout the night. Tickets are available now on Dice for this 18+ night. Check out my set list from last month’s Nocturno and make plans to join us on Friday night.
Here’s what else is happening this weekend and early next week.
As soon as Annie and the Caldwells took to the stage at Zebulon, I felt a sense of levity. It was early June and the mood in Los Angeles was heavy. ICE raids had triggered protests, which led to an overreaction that landed downtown, where I live, under an 8 p.m. curfew. Meanwhile, in nearby neighborhoods, like Frogtown, where Zebulon is located, it was business as usual. At least, that’s how it looked inside the club. The room was full and completely alive. As Deborah Caldwell Moore belted out the heartfelt lyrics of “Wrong,” we caught the groove and kept it going throughout the set. The tempo ebbed and flowed as they played, but the energy remained high. Hands were thrown in the air during “I Made It.” It wasn’t just a good show, but an uplifting one.
