CAUGHT LIVE: TOMORROWS TULIPS & FREE ENERGY

On this muggy day in LA, let's revisit some of the most-recently caught bands on our radar, in a section we call CAUGHT LIVE.

TOMORROW'S TULIPS

Costa Mesa darling duo (they actually are dating- none of that White Stripes head-scratching) Tomorrow's Tulips were formed after Al Knost called it a day with his band of Vice-signed surf-rockers Japanese Motors and after his sweetheart Christina Kee had mentioned she always wanted to be in band. Kee picked picked up the drum sticks while Knost continued on with his SoCal lazy beach-baked croon (he told the crowd about how one of his favorite bands are "the grooviest" last night at Spaceland) and stony "Wipeout" guitar jangles onto the duo's debut cassette Yesterday's Demos. Their set was solid, as means to fill the (fairly empty) room with a fluid groove of background music. Let's hope they graduate from bedroom-cassette territory and hit the studio after their tulips become a full-fledged bouquet.

FREE ENERGY

A giant hoagie of Fonzie thumbs-up confidence, Superchunk bounciness, Ramones power-pop drive (Spector-produced years) mashed between slices of ZZ Top finger-riffin', DFA-signed, Philadelphia-based Free Energy might just be your new favorite head-bobbing, summertime jammers. Phew, and you were starting to wonder about what comes after the snow. Open-ended lyrics like “we’re breaking out this time” and “we’re going to start a new life,” the music is infections and makes me want to do nothing but shave a moustache and hop in the ‘Cuda, sixer under my arm while air-guitar-ing the entire way to your BBQ. The quintet are days away from embarking on a nationwide stint (pre-SXSW) with Local Natives before their James Murphy-produced (LCD Soundsystem and DFA head honcho) debut Stuck on Nothing hits shelves March 9th.

posted by MATT DRAPER