This is how I discovered them 4 hours before their only local show for a while as they head off on a European Tour.

I met Jon Pierce (of the newly formed The Drums) a couple summers ago at a lazy weekend afternoon party at his then apartment. I saw a lot of press recently around his new work (I love hearing that folks I’ve met are doing well, and hearing about the new stuff they’re working on. Watching growth is pretty amazing.), and this afternoon I finally sat down to listen to The Drums, which turned me onto the Rcrd Lbl site where I spent some nice time discovering new artists.

I happened to check out Local Natives’ myspace and saw they were playing a few miles from where I’m currently staying. $10 door for an all ages show.. that, or it being LA might explain the toxic smell of Fructis corn syrup shampoo in female hair.

They put on a nice show.. I mean, I was only 4-hours familiar with their music, but what I heard online got me to the door of the venue and a 40 minute line. The pace reminded a little of Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear or as one friend pointed out: XTC, but these guys are from the west coast (silverlake!). I found the consistent harmonizing endearing, and favored their more dramatic melodies.

The one thing I paid good notice to was that bassist Andy Hamm had the best style of anyone in the venue.. oversized deconstructed grey knit cardigan, and I believe drop crotch pants, something like tan boat shoes, and a baseball cap. Seeing personal style independent of the local culture is always a treat.

I’m glad I got to check out The Echo on my first night out in LA. I know of nowhere to go, so everything is new to me.

(As for their openers.. while Voxhaul Broadcast’s new songs aren’t *bad*, the older ones made me cringe for their flatness. The attempt at tormented screaming at the end of the set left an unerasable expression of horror on my face. I couldn’t stop thinking that their reference was THE VEILS THE VEILS THE VEILS. Oh The Veils, I appreciate you so much more now.)

Listen Here on Rcrd Lbl: “Sun Hands”

Edit on 2/5/2010: My love for Local Natives grows stronger by the month! so good!

For More Reading:

• Local Natives @ RCRD LBL
• Local Natives Myspace
• BBC: Introducing Local Natives
• Local Natives Best of the Decade Artist Survey

Temporary Famine Ship

Sorry for the poor quality. I’m new to all this video conversion stuff!

10/14/09 Show @ Glasslands was something I guess you really *had to want* to see. Meaning, there were audio problems almost the whole way through and they gave up and just played with instrument sounds missing. It was also a looser and.. wilder performance. Was it the same set? The band that went on before them was kinda fun.

Talk about a coincidental 1 yr ani. I never got around to sharing these pics, but somehow made a point to remember to post this late evening. So what happened in 2008 was that I missed them partying with SixSixSick the night before in NY because I was busy packing for a weekend photo job in Chicago.. so that night I got into Chicago, I went to see them play in Wicker Park (a farrr public trans ride from my part of town).

Original Show Date: June 14, 2008

I learned of them through the mashup track for Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme A/W 2007 – 2008 runway show.. I haven’t stopped loving that mix (I have it if you want it) and the collection (those opening outfits are hot and just as relevant as ever). Watch below!

-For more-

These Are Powers played tonight in Brooklyn.. too bad my camera was out of batteries. Luckily, with some clever battery maneuvering I got some photos. One of the photos is used for this article in the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts.