Home

Search results for: “confidence man”

  • Kneecap, Pulp, Confidence Man and More of What You Heard at Underground on 12/05/25

    Kneecap "H.O.O.D." (2025 Remix) cover
    Frankly, I’m impressed by how many of you know all the words to “H.O.O.D.”

    Thank you to everyone who made it out to Underground last night and for all the birthday wishes. I’ve always been pretty low maintenance about birthdays just because mine competes with Christmas parties (and competed with finals back when I was in school). So, I learned the best thing to do is book a DJ gig the weekend of my birthday and say, “I’m playing here, if you want to come by and say hi.” I’m always pleasantly surprised by who I see. Anyhow, outside of this playlist and one really short and shaky video for the ‘gram, I don’t have much documentation, so you’ll just have to trust me when I saw it was a vibe. 

    As usual, the set list is below. Songs released in 2025 are in bold and link back to other references to the band on Beatique. And, before I sign off, tickets for New Year’s Eve at Club Underground are already available on Dice and Eventbrite. Two floors of indie, Britpop, darkwave, post-punk dancing all night. Get your tickets asap. 

    (more…)

  • Confidence Man and Jade “Gossip” + Everything Else You Heard at Club Underground on Friday, August 29

    Cover of "Gossip," single by Confidence Man with Jade

    IDK how much I should explain here, but I’m just going to assume that we don’t have the same timeline and don’t hear all the same music in our scrolls. Confidence Man is an Australian dance-pop group with a weirdo KLF sensibility. If you go to my DJ gigs, you’ve probably heard “Angry Girl” many, many times, often with The Rapture “House of Jealous Lovers.” Jade Thirlwall is a British singer who I don’t really know much about outside of the Wikipedia entry I read. Last month, they released a song called “Gossip” that’s fire. It’s very Basement Jaxx-meets-Princess Superstar. I finally got around to playing it last week at Underground and it did pretty well. This week, it did even better.

    Most of the new tunes turned up early in the set: Alison Goldfrapp “Find Xanadu,” Pulp “Got to Have Love,” Ora the Molecule “Nobody Cares,” etc. I don’t even know what really constitutes “new” anymore, but we’ll save that rant for another day. Thanks to Larry G. for having me play Underground last night and thanks to everyone who hit the dance floor, especially those of you who stuck it out until the end of “My Girls.” Set list is below.

    (more…)

  • The New Eves, Confidence Man and More of What You Heard at Underground on 8/22/25

    The New Eves album cover The New Eve Is Rising
    Album cover of The New Eve Is Rising by The New Eves

    Earlier this month, I read a review of The New Eves album The New Eve Is Rising, which referenced The Slits and The Wicker Man, on Bandcamp and promptly bought the album based on my love of post-punk and the original 1973 The Wicker Man, which is the only version of the film that matters and, yes, I’m including that overhyped waste-of-time Midsommer when I say that. But, back to The New Eves. The album is killer and I’ve been wanting to play “Highway Man,” but haven’t because it seemed like the first play should be for a very specific crowd. That brings us to Underground on Friday night. I was playing upstairs. It wasn’t packed or anything, but there were a handful of goths in flowing skirts dancing to “Christine,” the Siouxsie and the Banshees song, and, I thought, if anybody is going to get The New Eves, it’s them. So, I played the song and every single one of them stayed on the dance floor for the whole three minutes and 43 seconds. 

    I finally got around to playing Confidence Man’s new track, “Gossip,” as well. It did pretty well and someone came up to the booth and asked about it, which is a good sign. The same person then mentioned a mashup that I played way back in the day that was Ladytron and Kylie Minogue. I love that one, but, I said, I literally only have it on vinyl. There’s a story behind that record too that I’ve been meaning to post, but you’ll have to wait for it. 

    Anyhow, the set list is below.  New/ish tunes are in bold.

    (more…)

  • Beatique Mix May 2025 Feat. Ora the Molecule, Sally Shapiro, Sextile, Confidence Man and More

    Ora the Molecule live at El Cid in Silver Lake on May 15, 2025 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    Ora the Molecule live at El Cid in Silver Lake on May 15, 2025 was an inspiration for the first half of this set. (Pic: Liz O.)

    Earlier this month, I caught Ora the Molecule play at El Cid in Silver Lake. It was such a fun show. The crowd grooved throughout the duration of her set and, by the end, had formed a conga line that snaked around the small dance floor. Ora the Molecule is Norwegian DJ Nora Schielderup’s Italo disco alter, a theremin-playing intergalactic Raffaella Carrà whose songs are simultaneously cheeky and sincere. My favorite off her latest album, Dance Therapy, is “Nobody Cares,” a sentiment I find more liberating than depressing. 

    (more…)

  • Klub Nocturno, Confidence Man, Pump up the Volume and More Happening in L.A. March 7 – 12, 2025

    Klub Nocturno March 8, 2025 flyer at Catch One in Los Angeles

    Klub Nocturno is back at Catch One on Saturday night with five rooms for one cover price. This month’s lineup: Rock en Español vs. Cumbia, New Wave vs. Darkwave, System of a Down Night, Sad Bunny Night (old school vs. new school reggaeton) and Disco. I’ll be dropping the bangers in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room, so drop by if you want to dance to Molchat Doma, French Police, Boy Harsher, The Cure, Depeche Mode and more. Click here to get your tickets for Saturday, March 8 at Klub Nocturno. It’s 18+ and the party starts at 9:30 p.m. Catch One is at 4067 W. Pico 90019. 

    As for the rest of the week, Molchat Doma and Sextile at the Palladium and The Altons and The Sinseers at Belasco, both on Friday night, are basically sold out, unless you feel like paying over $100 for resale tickets. Still, there’s a hell of a lot going on this weekend and next week that isn’t sold out. Confidence Man, who you’ve definitely heard in my DJ sets, plays the Fonda on Thursday night. Over at Catalina Bar on the same night, Mink Stole (!!!) And Peaches Christ will be debuting “Idol Worship” in L.A. 

    On the movie front, Alamo Drafthouse launches its month of David Lynch programming this weekend with Blue Velvet and Eraserhead and Brain Dead has a bunch of Wes Anderson films on the calendar. Meanwhile, Allan Moyle has three films screening in L.A. this weekend. The Rubber Gun, from 1977, plays Los Feliz Theater on Thursday and Friday is a double feature of Pump Up the Volume and Times Square. He’ll be doing Q/As for both those events. 

    For more info on these and more events, keep scrolling. 

    (more…)

  • A Christmas Banger from Confidence Man and More of What You Heard at Splash! Sundays

    "Santa's Comin' Down the Chimney" Confidence Man single art

    Confidence Man dropped a Christmas banger last week, called “Santa’s Comin Down the Chimney.” It has a late-‘90s electro-techno thing going, like Dopplereffekt or Miss Kittin and the Hacker, which is really weird for a Christmas song and something that I, a person who is extremely picky about holiday tunes, can appreciate. If you were at The Mermaid for Splash! Sundays last night, you might have heard it sandwiched in between Del the Funky Homosapien and Crystal Castles. 

    Splash is an open format night, so, really, anything goes as far as the music is concerned. Since this was the Sunday before Christmas, and The Mermaid has its “Siren Who Stole Xmas” pop-up going on right now, I brought a few of my favorite holiday jams, like Charo’s disco-fied “(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus?” and a really specific remix of “El Burrito de Belen” that took one holiday season of heavy Googling to find. 

    Still, I could have kicked myself for forgetting to download Los Bitchos’ holiday EP before the gig, but all their songs are good for a party, so “Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie,” from the band’s latest album, Talkie Talkie, made it into the set. Male Tears’ new one, “Little Doll,” which landed in Friday night’s set at Catch One, made a reappearance. A handful of 2024 faves— Fontaines D.C., Pet Shop Boys and La Femme included— turned up in Sunday night’s set too. It’s a real mixed bag, but I swear, if you were there and heard the set, which lasted from 8 p.m. until about 10:30 or so, it totally made sense. Keep scrollin’ to see what else was heard at Splash! Sundays on December 22. Next gig is New Year’s Eve at Underground. See you there.  

    (more…)

  • On 3 AM (La La La), Confidence Man Offers a ’90s Throwback With a Twist

    Confidence Man 3 am La La La album cover

    I was on the treadmill the first time I listened to 3 AM (La La La), the latest album from Confidence Man, walking at 3.5 miles an hour, a brisk pace, but not quite enough to keep up with the strobelight pulse of songs like “I Can’t Lose You” and “Control.” Maybe I could have stepped up my own speed to a run, or at least a jog, but I didn’t feel like it, so I kept walking off beat, waiting to see if the vibe would shift somewhere over the course of an album that, four songs in, was  starting to sound a little too much like a late ‘90s Eurodance throwback. 

    Confidence Man is the Australian four-piece fronted by Janet Planet and Suga Bones and backed by the veiled and cloaked individuals Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie. I first heard them during lockdown when someone DMed me Yuksek’s track “Gorgeous,” which features Confidence Man. Two years later, the band released Tilt, their second full-length, which quickly became a personal favorite. “Angry Girl” is the song that has appeared most often in my sets since 2022 because it has a dance punk vibe that works very well at L.A. clubs and it mixes seamlessly with The Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers.” But, the thing that made Tilt one of my favorite albums of that year was that it was super cheeky and the music was all over the place, kind of like a cross between Bis and Chicks on Speed back at the turn of the millennium. Given the new album’s title, which definitely alludes to both KLF (“3 AM Eternal”) and maybe also references ATC (“Around the World (La La La La La)”), it seemed like Confidence Man would continue that vibe. Fifteen minutes into 3 AM (La La La), though, I started to think that the spirit driving TILT was lacking on this album. 

    If I were tuned into Spotify, I would have just skipped through tracks or moved on to another album, but I actually purchased 3 AM (La La La) and downloaded it without hearing more than a couple preview Reels on Instagram. I had to stick it out for the whole album. 

    (more…)

  • Eraserhead Screening at Greystone Mansion, Gwar Art Show and More Happening in Los Angeles September 11 – September 17

    Mike Meyers So I Married an Axe Murderer coffee House screenshot
    So I Married an Axe Murderer is playing this weekend too. Friday night at Vidiots.

    If you’re not still recovering from Oasis-mania, there is plenty to get you out of the house and away from your screens this weekend. Thursday’s Desire and Johnny Jewel show at Hollywood Forever is already sold out, but there will be an afterparty at Gold-Diggers. Friday night is packed with concerts, including Anamanaguchi at The Wiltern and Cold Waves XIII at The Mayan. Retrospective exhibition Let There Be Gwar opens at Beyond the Streets on Saturday, while Jaws: The Exhibition debuts at The Academy Museum on Sunday. Plus, Eraserhead screens at Greystone Mansion on Saturday night.

    Heading into next week, Swans play three nights at The Lodge Room, one of which is already sold out, and generative Brian Eno documentary, Eno, heads to Philosophical Research Society. There’s more too, so keep reading for the details on what’s happening in Los Angeles between Thursday, September 11 and Wednesday, September 17. 

    (more…)

  • On Birds of Paradise, SAADI Reflects on Human Nature and Digital Lives

    Press photo of Boshra AlSaadi as SAADI by Laura Moreau
    (Photo: Laura Moreau)

    The urgency in “Cowboy in a Ghost Town” is potent. A galloping beat drives the song and the whip-slap sound of the snare comes in as SAADI sings, “You are a cowboy in a ghost town/You leave a dark legacy.” When I first heard the song, from the L.A.-based singer/multi-instrumentalist’s recently released sophomore album, Birds of Paradise, I thought it was about social media. There are references to shadowbans and people living in an “alternate reality.” 

    “It’s about Gaza, actually,” Boshra AlSaadi says when meet up for a video call.  AlSaadi has written a number of songs about Gaza, but “Cowboy in a Ghost Town,” she says, is her most overt. Listening to it again, I’m struck by the poignancy of it, from the mix of anger and helplessness that’s in AlSaadi’s voice to the protest-like chorus that rises near the song’s end to the clear references to social media. AlSaadi captures not just the horror of watching a genocide unfold on your phone, but the frustration of knowing that you can’t stay silent, even when you’re posting into a void. 

    “Seeing it unfold on your phone is horrific,” she says. “It’s unprecedented also.” 

    (more…)

  • Fever Ray Refreshes Classics and More on The Year of the Radical Romantics

    Fever Ray The Year of the Radical Romantics

    The only time I’ve seen Fever Ray live was at Coachella in 2010 and, even then, I only caught part of their set sometime on the first night of the festival after I had already decided that I was over Coachella and the only thing that might ever get me back is The Smiths reunion that I estimated would be announced the day after hell freezes over. All that said, I don’t really have a true concert experience to compare to The Year of the Radical Romantics, the new, live-ish album from Fever Ray, but that’s probably for the best. 

    (more…)

More posts