by Amanda DK

It should be made an official rule: If you have never heard of (or even heard) The Parson Red Heads, you cannot consider yourself a fan of the local Los Angeles music scene.  I’d even wager that 75% of the people living in the Silverlake, Los Feliz, and Echo Park know one of the past or present members personally.  Of course, considering that at any one time they could have as many as 15 members on stage (though there are 6 core members of the group), that’s not as great of a feat.  And with that many members, chances are even if you haven’t seen The Parson Red Heads as a whole, you will definitely have seen a past or present Parson out and about performing at different times with other LA bands like The World Record, The Idaho Falls, The Ghost Kings, Hungry Birds and up in Portland, Houndstooth, Old Light and Denver.  They’ve even got a new side project, Dome, kicking into gear soon, which I’m told “will be heavy”…but I digress.

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“Bar in Amsterdam” is the opening track on Katzenjammer’s debut album Le Pop, released in September 2008 in Norway, and nominated for a Spellemannprisen (the Norweigan version of a Grammy), before it made it’s way to the US in 2010. Three years later though, these ladies are still not getting the recognition they deserve.

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RIYL Mixtapes: Because sometimes the best way to get to know a new artist is to use them in a sentence.

Chances are that if you owned a television or went to the movies in 2010 you know of Florence + The Machine.  Songs from her debut album Lungs have been used in trailers for Eat, Pray, Love, on TV in ABC Family’s Wild Child, Saving Grace, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, V, So You Think You Can Dance, Covert Affairs, Glee, and on the big screen in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Jennifer’s Body.  Dizzee Rascal and The xx have remixed her tunes.  She performed all over the place, including Coachella 2010, Glastonbury 2010, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with David Letterman, the MTV Music Video Awards 2010, and the 2010 Brit Awards among many other venues.

In other words there was no way to miss the London native.  

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One of the biggest gaming conundrums ever: why does paper beat rock?  Sure, you can wrap a rock in paper – but if you really wanted to get serious try throwing that rock.  I promise you paper will not win that fight.

It looks like 10,500 people have already beaten me in taking a stand against this nonsense, and I think we can really make a difference.  Rock, Dynamite, Scissors forever guys!

Roshambo: Rock Should Beat Everything by tadpolopoly

Nada Surf has TWO shows at the Troubadour this month, on May 25 and 26^th.  The 25^th is already sold out so get your tickets now!

Olin and The Moon will be at Spaceland with The Parson Red Heads, Or The Whale and Whispering Pines on Friday May 28, so get your fix before fleeing town for the long Memorial Day weekend.  Tickets here.

And you better already have your tickets for this band’s next stop in LA on June 3 and 4.  Tickets are still available for the June 3^rd show at the Fonda, but probably won’t be for long…