Crystal Antlers

If you study the recent history of California underground rock, say the last 15 years, you’ll spot these four trends: 1) arty farty post-hardcore in all its many guises, from Gravity Records to Total Shutdown and the Locust; 2) the hard psych renaissance spearheaded by Comets on Fire and including megaton jammers Mammatus and Residual Echoes; 3) Zach Hill’s freak rock cottage industry – ’nuff said; and 4) vintage lo-fi madness a la No Age and Wavves. Fusing all this stuff into a pan-Californian aesthetic is why Crystal Antlers is wicked-sweet. Plus, the Long Beach outfit writes some wonderfully thrashy pop. When you get the chance, sample the anthem “Dust,” off Tentacles, the Antlers’ debut full-length, released on Tough & Go. Another chestnut is “Andrew.” It unloads some really sharp hooks. With I Was A King, Hey Marseilles, the Constantines. Photo courtesy Malia James.
Sun., June 14, 8 p.m., 2009