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Note from Keith: As much as possible I linked all the bands Rolo is talking about to pages where you could actually listen to some of their tunes.

Hello readers, my name is Ronan, and I am a vagrant. Also, I only speak in autotune, actually that’s not true (anymore). I am actually an old friend of the guys behind this website and also an L.A. resident (well L.A. suburbs but we don’t need to get technical). I moved out here a few years ago to get my Masters in lighting design, and being here gives me an opportunity to see some pretty amazing stuff.

I also work as a freelance Editor and media designer here in L.A. What is media design you ask? Well check out my blog if you want, after all this article isn’t supposed to be about how awesome my name is, or why my job is cool. It’s supposed to be about cool bands, movies or stage shows I have seen (in this case at the FYF Fest), and why you should check them out if you can. Anyhow, FYF.

So this weekend I got a chance to go to FYF or Fuck Yeah Fest! FYF is this big hipster music festival in a park near downtown L.A. I went last year because a band I had gotten in to was playing, so I figured it was worth checking it out again. Last years FYF turned me on to a ton of cool bands, and it was a fantastic experience. I knew I had to go back this year, and when I saw the lineup this year I didn’t have much of a choice.

The main reason I was going was for Explosions in the Sky, but once again there were a ton of bands that I had never heard of, so I was very excited to find some new music, and again I was not disappointed.

So the first band I saw was the Pink Mountaintops, They had this incredibly eclectic sound, that although was good, was kind of bizarre. Their first song was very mellow and chill, then the next song was very upbeat, but still had a kind of psychedelic feel to it, and then they sounded like the Doors. They had a good sound but it seemed borrowed from all their influences.

Then I wandered over to the comedy tent (FYF has a tent where comedians do stand up) where to my surprise Emo Phillips was doing stand up. I am not going to go in to great detail on this, but if you don’t know who Emo Phillips is look him up, like right now. Go, its ok I can wait…

After that I chilled in the beer garden while listening to the Cold War Kids and then Broken Social Scene. It was nice to sit on a hill drinking over priced beer, while listening to these guys rock out. BSC did a good cover of the World at Large, by Modest Mouse. The timing while they were playing the song was something awesome. It was right at sun was setting, so all the cool lights they had set up on the stage could actually be used. It was kind of magical; also the cover was good too.

After that it was Yacht. This was the first of three acts that really impressed me. The music is like a combination of 80s new wave, synth pop, and crazy, but like crazy in a good way. If you are into bands like Chromeo, or MGMT you would probably like these guys. They have an incredible stage presence, and don’t take themselves seriously, and their music is super uplifting, fun and silly (like me on a good day). I would highly recommend these guys, if you can catch a show in your area, or if you just want to watch their videos on youtube. They are highly entertaining. I would say they were my second favorite act at FYF this year.

After that I was going to catch Guided by Voices, but fate steered me towards this band called Glass Candy. Glass Candy, besides sounding like a dangerously delicious treat, was a very cool group. Much like Yacht they had a cool, new wave, synth pop sound, except they were much more down tempo, very chill but at the same time still fun to listen to, with a very good rhythm. Their music was so catchy I picked up their album right after their set, and I am listening to it right now. As I said before with yacht, if you enjoy the sounds of Chromeo or MGMT, you will probably enjoy these guys.

So while Glass Candy was wrapping up their set, I noticed on the stage next to them an L.E.D wall being set up, as I am always intrigued by cool lighting technology I decide to stay and see who was going to be playing. So this brings me to the most impressive act at FYF this year: Simian Mobile Disco.

 

The video does not do this justice, no video will, you had to be there. If you like techno or cool light shows, or both, find where they are playing next and go . Listening to these guys brought me back to my youth; growing up on bands like Orbital and Underworld. Their sound was very similar to that old school techno that I loved in my youth. The guys on stage had such a good energy, the music they were making was incredible, and the guy they have doing the lights clearly had worked with these guys before. Later I found out they brought their own lighting guy which was good because the rest of the lighting people at the fest didn’t seem to know what they were doing.

The night wrapped up with Explosions in the Sky, this was the reason I was going to FYF to begin with. The only reason they weren’t my favorite act is because I fully expected them to be amazing and they were. Listening to them live is a difficult thing to explain, but I will try. You know that feeling you get when you are into someone, and then you find out they are in to you, and you start to spend much more time together, that wonderful feeling you get in the pit of your stomach that sends chills all over your body when they touch you, and you kiss for the first time? Well that’s what it’s like to listen to Explosions in the Sky live. So if you are a soulless monster who has never known what its like to feel love, you shouldn’t listen to Explosions in the Sky. For the rest of you humans, Explosions in the Sky is currently on tour, so you know what to do.

TL;DR: If you have chance to go see any of the bands I mentioned (see the tags): you should. Or if you find yourself in the LA area next year around Labor Day check out FYF: for the past few years they have introduced me to some awesome new bands.