LA Vampires - Dem Passwords - 8/3/11

Ethan Higbee

LA Vampires

Better than...Um, wine?

LA Vampires is the latest project from Amanda Brown, who was formerly in Pocahaunted with Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino. She performed last night with her husband Britt Brown and Nick Malkin, the trio doing a truncated set at Dem Passwords, an art gallery below a hydroponics store on Santa Monica Blvd. that's only accessible through the alleyway.

So, yeah, there were about fifteen people there, who were drinking and smoking in the alley when I arrived, finally summoned inside by a loud burst of microphone feedback. PA trouble shortened their set -- which consisted of maybe four songs that were about six or seven minutes each -- but it was fucking good.

The hundred foot long, twenty foot wide space was entirely dark except for a pair of bulbs, one green and one blue. They illuminated Nick and Britt hunched over a cardboard table performing the tracks Amanda had composed, Nick on a little Alesis keyboard and Britt using a four track as a mixer and also utilizing effects pedals. Amanda did the singing, and though it was hard to hear her words over the enveloping electronic sounds, she was something of a vision, dancing to her songs in platform sandals.

My vocabulary in describing any sort of "wave" music is limited, so I won't embarrass myself too much, but in any case I heard elements of both the "new" and "chill" variety, but much more meaty and substantial than either. Maybe better to call it a giant celestial electro wash, baptizing the crowd and absolving it of its hipster sins.

Personal Bias...I'm a sucker for super compelling music that makes me feel alive.
The Crowd...People way more fashionable than I, pretending to be way more schlubby than I.
Overheard in the crowd... Not much, but Amanda did advise Dem Passwords curator Sebastian Demian on a technique to keep his kicks extra white: Scrub them with bleach, using a toothbrush.
Random notebook dump: L.A. rules

Set list below.