Home

Beatique

  • Jeff Copeland on His Memoir Love You Madly Holly Woodlawn

    Jeff Copeland author of Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn press photo
    Jeff Copeland tells his Hollywood story in Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn (photo courtesy of Jeff Copeland)

    Jeff Copeland was, maybe, 12 drafts deep into Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn when he took a step back and reflected on one particularly awkward dinner scene. There is no shortage of awkward meals in Copeland’s memoir. After all, it’s Hollywood at the turn-of-the-‘90s and the writer is a broke twenty-something with big screen ambitions who befriends a middle-aged former Warhol star. On this particular night, though, Copeland and Woodlawn meet up with a neighbor, Maila Nurmi, you might know her better as Vampira, and her friends. An elderly theater director hijacks the conversation, steering it into dark, and, tbh, hysterical, terrain. Copeland’s younger self is mortified. His present self, though, has an altogether different take.

    “Fame was fleeting! Money dwindled! And so what if their youth and beauty was gone forever. It was their ebullience that remained, and it was as bold and incandescent…and as bright and vivid as any theatre marquee on Hollywood Boulevard,” he writes.

    (more…)

  • The Cords Channel Classic Indie Pop and Shoegaze Sound on Debut Album

    The Cords press photo
    Photo of The Cords by Marc Tedeschi

    It’s not every band whose first gig is opening for the Vaselines. The Cords, though, did just that at Glasgow venue Mono two years ago, not long after sisters Grace and Eva Tedeschi had formed their duo. 

    “We had just made social media, so I think someone there might have seen us on Instagram or something, a video,” recalls Eva. 

    “It was busier than I expected it to be,” adds Grace, the elder sister by two years. “It was scary. It was like, oh my god, there’s like a million people here. I was just nervous.”

    The two banter back and forth about how many people might have been in the venue when they played. “It was full,” says Eva, who plays guitar. “I don’t remember. I was so nervous I think I just stared down at my drum kit,” says Grace.

    (more…)

  • Suede Goes Goth on New Album Antidepressants

    Suede Antidepressants album cover

    It’s all about the title track on Antidepressants, the latest album from Suede. The tension is thick and the song vacillates between death rock verses and the boisterous punk chorus. Brett Anderson’s voice takes on a ominous as he digs into bourgeoisie paranoia. “I look in my house, it’s a luxury design, but there’s shit on the walls that I’m hiding behind,” he sings. “There’s a room at the back in case you get scared. Prisoner.” 

    Antidepressants is the 10th album from the English band and touted as their “post-punk” collection. After my first listen, I took that to mean that Richard Oakes leaned harder into the John McGeoch influence and Simon Gilbert lays into the drums with more of a doomy, tribal, Budgie feel. So, you could also maybe say that this is Suede’s Siouxsie and the Banshees album. Since this review is written by someone whose teenage bedroom boasted both Suede and Siouxsie and the Banshees posters in it, you should consider that a recommendation. 

    (more…)

  • Klub Nocturno Is On 9/26 + More Happening in L.A. 9/25-10/02

    Flyer for Klub Nocturno at Catch One in Los Angeles on Friday, September 26, 2025

    Klub Nocturno is coming up again this Friday, September 26, at Catch One. It’s four rooms this time around, plus, just to mix things up a bit, I’ll be in Room 1 playing rock en Español and cumbia. I’ve got the bangers on deck for you so, get your tickets on Dice before it sells out.  

    As for the rest of your weekend, and early next week, here are my recommendations. 

    (more…)

  • Moviola Captures the Difficulty and Absurdity of American Life on ‘Earthbound’

    Moviola press photo by Carrie Klein
    Credit: Carrie Klein

    In the video for “Slage Wave,” the first single off Moviola’s recently-released eleventh album, Earthbound, the employees of Don’s Tiny Weenies toil over the grill as they dish out Doge Dogs and Pigs on a Golf Course.  “You’re a wage slave, from the cradle to the grave,” the song goes, “you don’t work, you don’t get paid, you don’t get nothin’.”

    Fate- or, rather,  the labor movement- intervenes in the form of a customer in a Johnny Paycheck, who hands over a “Take This Job and Shove It” sticker. A Pete Seeger-like musician follows, sliding a union handbook across the counter. It’s a video that almost has a happy ending, until the hot dog vending machine arrives.

    “We debated on how to end it,” says Jake Housh, who plays guitar and piano/keys in Moviola and also shot and edited the video, “but it seemed kind of realistic maybe that the machines will win.”

    (more…)

  • The Divine Comedy Is Back With Rainy Sunday Afternoon

    The Divine Comedy Rainy Sunday Afternoon album cover

    Neil Hannon is a genius. The Northern Irish force behind The Divine Comedy has been writing albums full of poignant, literate baroque pop since the 1990s. On Rainy Sunday Afternoon, his first full-length in six years, Hannon bestows another 11 gems upon us, including the masterful dunk on MAGA, “Mar-a-Lago By the Sea.” 

    The song itself is drenched in oceanic kitsch, stylistically reminiscent of mid-20th century exotica albums. Against a backdrop that evokes images of sandy beaches and coconut cocktails, Hannon croons recollections of past holidays as if he’s singing to a supper club full of seniors. “Mar-a-Lago, dare I dream/That someday I will be/Within your walls again,” he sings. Then, he drops the bombs. 

    (more…)

  • Decoder Is the Punk Sci-Fi Film, and Soundtrack, You Need in Your Life

    Christiane F. and F.M. Einheit in Decoder
    Christiane F. and F.M. Einheit in Decoder

    Sometime during lockdown, I stumbled upon a movie called Decoder via Tubi and streamed it not knowing what to expect. By the time I reached the end, I wondered, how did I not know this film existed? Released in 1984, Decoder is a German sci-fi film with serious counterculture cred. It stars F.M. Einheit, then a member of Einsturzende Neubauten, and Christiane F. and also features appearances from Genesis P-Orridge and William Burroughs. P-Orridge composed the film’s main theme with Dave Ball of Soft Cell, whose song “Seedy Films” is featured prominently in the movie, alongside music from Neubauten, Einheit and The The.

    The Decoder soundtrack, which was just re-released on CD via U.K. label Cold Spring, is killer, which one might expect with that caliber of contributors. The movie, though, is even better. In it, Einheit plays a young man who realizes that the muzak playing in the fast food restaurant is a form of mind control and that he can manipulate the sounds to elicit a completely different response from the public. 

    (more…)

  • ‘Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass’ Author Aug Stone Releases New Single of His Own

    Aug Stone musician and author of Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass and Sporting Moustaches "Rachel on the Rooftops" video still.
    Aug Stone in a still from the video for “Rachel on the Rooftops” (Photo courtesy of the artist)

    Aug Stone has been making music for decades, but it wasn’t until last week that he released his first single under his own name. “Rachel on the Rooftops” is power pop-tinged rock jam that showcases the musician and author’s knack for narrative. The single also features backing vocals from Rachel Love, best known for her time in Dolly Mixture, the seminal British indie pop band that would later sing backup on Captain Sensible singles like “Happy Talk.” 

    “They’re one of my all time favorite bands,” says Stone of Dolly Mixture. “It’s punky in attitude, but it’s like all the great girl pop of the ‘60s. I love all those songs.”

    (more…)

  • Twin Peaks: The Return, Tomata du Plenty Art and More Happening in L.A., 9/18 – 9/24/2025

    Inside MutMuz Gallery in Chinatown, Los Angeles for the opening of Tomata, a retrospective show of the art of Tomata du Plenty
    Inside MutMuz Gallery for the opening of Tomatâ

    Remember the Tomata du Plenty art show that I wrote about here on Beatique back in August? Tomata, the retrospective of work from the late artist and frontman for seminal L.A. punk band the Screamers, closes at MutMuz Gallery in Chinatown on Friday, September 19. There will be a closing party on Friday night, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. If you haven’t seen the show, or you want to see it again, I highly recommend going to the closing event. 

    After the closing party, hit up Club Underground at Grand Star Jazz Club, which is right across Hill Street from MutMuz. (The gallery is on Chung King Road, Grand Star is in Central Plaza, Hill Street runs between the two plazas.) I’m not DJing this week, but it’s still going to be a vibe with Larry G. on the decks all night playing indie, Britpop, post-punk and more. Tickets are available at the door, or in advance via Dice or Eventbrite.

    As for more of what’s happening this weekend and early next week, keep reading.  (And my next gig, in case you’re wondering, is Nocturno at Catch One on September 26.)

    (more…)

  • Beatique Mix, Sept. 2025 with Music from Gorillaz, Bob Vylan, Heaven 17 and more

    Heaven 17 "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" 45 RPM vinyl single (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    Heaven 17 “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”

    Over the weekend, I realized that it’s been a few months since I made a mix, so this is a quick set with some dance tunes and some rock tunes. It’s mostly new music, but I threw in a couple oldies that fit my mood. There’s no real adherence to genre because that’s not how I listen to music at home. All of the artist names on the set list below link to where they’ve been previously mentioned on Beatique. 

    (more…)