BUZZ BANDS

Techno gloom and power-trio royalty

Earl Greyhound bring searing, hairy classic rock back, and 120 Days gets as chilly as their brooding techno-pop.

March 29, 2007

Greyhound runs with the '70s

Singer-guitarist Matt Whyte of Earl Greyhound doesn't flinch when you suggest his Brooklyn power trio might be among the bands riding the crest of a rock 'n' roll revival.

"You got a real tangible sense of that at South by Southwest," Whyte says of the music industry's spring fling in Austin two weeks ago. "There's something remarkable and special about what's going on. We played six shows, and sometimes the bands we were sandwiched between made us do more than just walk the walk."

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FOR THE RECORD:
Earl Greyhound: A photograph of the band Earl Greyhound that ran with the Buzz Bands column in Thursday's Calendar Weekend misidentified its photographer as Darren Ackerman. The photographer's name is Darren Ankenman. —

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Whyte, bassist Kamara Thomas and drummer Ricc Sheridan can do that. Friday's show at the Troubadour marks the band's third L.A. show in the last four months, each displaying the soulful, Zeppelin-inspired squalor on the trio's Some Records debut, "Soft Targets."

It's another in a line of formidable releases — a list that might include, for instance, the fragmented blues of the Cold War Kids, the heavy-metal stomp of Wolfmother and the dark psychedelia of the Black Angels — indebted to the classic sounds of the '70s, and before.

For his part, Whyte says Earl Greyhound's music is not a response to this decade's onslaught on indie rock. "I don't think this music is reactionary, at least not on our end," he says. "This is the kind of music we've been making in New York for four or five years. It's the kind of music a lot of people are making right now, and [fans] are just reacting positively to it."

Earl Greyhound spent this week in L.A. — where "Soft Targets" was recorded two years ago — to work on material for a follow-up. "It's a showbiz town," Whyte says. "It's always nice to play here."

A primal scream for 120 Days

The swirling, beat-heavy rock of Norwegian quartet 120 Days is made for arenas, where the layers of electronics and atmospherics won't induce audio claustrophobia. Not that sensory overload detracted from their visit to the Echo in November.

"We got a warm reception in Los Angeles, even though for most people it's the first time they are experiencing our music," singer-guitarist Adne Meisfjord says of the band's efforts to get U.S. audiences dancing, which continue Monday night at the El Rey Theatre (opening for the Daft Punk-informed Ratatat).

"I think Norwegian crowds have got to be the worst in the world," Meisfjord says. "You know, Norwegians, we're known to be introverted and cold."

Though not without a sense of humor, apparently. 120 Days did one media photo session in the buff — no matter that, symbolically, the foursome's pasty white behinds couldn't possibly be more oppositional to the band's Primal Scream-meets-Kraftwerk stylings.

That sound, captured on "120 Days" (released in October on Vice Records), "was really a group effort," Meisfjord says, with he and bandmates Jonas Dahl, Arne Kvalvik and Kjetil Ovesen "just jamming it out in a rehearsal room until we find something that works."

Fast forward

Touts: Mike Watt and the Missingmen and the BellRays are two of more than a dozen bands on the bill Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. at Safari Sam's. The occasion is a benefit for vibraphonist Richie Hass, who recently was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. Details: www.myspace.com/forbenefit.... Ex-Luscious Jackson singer Jill Cunniff plays the Hotel Café tonight behind her new album, "City Beach." ... TV on the Radio's shows at the Fonda Theatre on Friday and Saturday are sold out, but ticket-holders will want to get there early to see the Noisettes, who just released a great new album "What's the Time Mr. Wolf." ... The Outline plays on Sunday at the Troubadour, where the Little Ones and Sea Wolf team up on Wednesday night.... And Wires on Fire (Silverlake Lounge) and the Minor Canon (Spaceland) kick off their April residencies on Monday.

— Kevin Bronson

Recommended downloads

Download "Come Out, Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone" by 120 Days (plus two remixes) at www.vicerecords.com/mp3blog.php

Download Earl Greyhound's "S.O.S." at some.com/mp3/S.O.S.mp3

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