Changing seasons have seen changing sounds in Let's Drive to Alaska, but Christopher Garcia's electronic post-rock outlet remains as verdant as it did in 2005, when it was just a laptop project. LDTA has warped and whittled down, with only the ardent Patrick Haag (ex-Mississippi Men) on drums, percussion, and noise while Garcia multi-tasks synths, loops, and effects—they were a quartet at one time. But through the decade of production struggles and lineup changes, quiet releases and whispered tours, comes an official debut album that breathes new purpose in songs from A Bell and A Mirror (Muerte Pop) and "Indigo Children," and some new ones, to boot. The polyrhythmic blossom "Sejatski (Brother)" is the first released single from LDTA's 13-song LP In the Fifth House, set to release March 8, 2016. A syncopated beat and motif picks up wind, climbs and falls to the hum of pop-inflected waves—it's a reaffirmation of the duo's efforts, a taste of what's to come, and a resounding sign of life in the quietude of Whittier.

Join Let's Drive to Alaska for a release party on March 10th at Au Lac in Los Angeles with The Grigori Dance Company, as well as The Littlest Vikingand The New Octaves. - Ryan Mo, photo credit: Jacob Pulido

Facebook likes aren't everything; just ask Crown Dancer. Formed in 2013 somewhere in South East LA, the five musicians Fernando Nunez, Keith Hernandez, Jesus Barron, Marlow Coloma, and AJ Dungo were more interested in crafting wildly poppy songs from their prismatic and far-flung influences: outwards from Japanese post-rock math group Toe and the British jazz-punk King Krule, to the hip hop messiah Kendrick Lamar and late soul wonder Lee Moses.

What came out from hours in the studio was a sound consciously inflected by emotive synth, crash, and fuzz. With noisy-yet-catchy compositions and high-energy lives fit to open for acts like No Age, Future Islands, and The War On Drugs, it’s almost heinous that they're still infants in the social media scene.

But don’t take their sparse Internet presence as a sign of youth: Crown Dancer have performed with the finest underground acts in all corners of city, sounding off with the progpunk duo The Littlest Viking, glistening noise trio Take Pictures, and the Gutter Trunk hip hop muse Bizzart aka GOTHIC CHOLO.

Crown Dancer are currently working on their first EP “Leftovers”. Recorded and mixed by Dylan Wood (Pageants, Time of Wolves, ex- 60-Watt Kidd), this year-long labor of love is slated to finish by the end of June. They have plans to begin recording a full-length soon, and will make their last appearance (for a while) tomorrow at Young Lovers’ third night of residency with The Littlest Viking. Listen to the first three demos of “Leftovers” EP and see them live tomorrow night at Pehrspace! - Ryan Mo

Three years ago, The Deli caught a whiff of The Littlest Viking on their self-titled LP off Mountain Man Records. It was hairy. It was sweaty. It was 12 songs of start-stop rhythms and callus-inducing riffage that would make Pete & Pete beam with pride.

The labor and lust of Ruben "Emo" Cortez and "Metal" Christopher Gregory (first released in 2009) matches breakneck shredding and irregular time signatures that are as fun to play as they are to dance to, influenced by bands like Jawbreaker, Drive Like Jehu, and American Football. Fans of Giraffes? Giraffes! and Cinemechanica will feel right at home in TLV's whirlwind of perspiration and referential music jokes.

This year, Littlest Viking is setting out to do the near-impossible: work a new album with a well-thought out pop direction. Says Cortez:
 
"While the first album was a portrait of two young punks trying to play every lick and fill we knew with ridiculous speed and the second album was a more self-aware album where we were trying to sift through the previous work, this new album is a focused collection of songs that is more methodical and self-edited than previous. We joke around that it's going to be an emo Santana's "Supernatural" album, which will make sense once it's fully completed and we can finally get a callback from Michelle Branch."

And if you're itching to see, smell, and hear these guys perform, you're in luck: Littlest Viking will be joining Young Lovers for their third night of residency/music video premiere at Pehrspace on May 25th.

Not sold yet? Listen to "Lumpy Space Princess" off their self-titled LP below. - Ryan Mo

Here's one which just stepped right out of the lot. Early October, Whittier's The Littlest Viking released a second full-length, twelve tracks of a skilfully led exploration of structures, textures and rhythms, most of which are instrumental, made consumable by Ruben Cortez & Christopher Gregory's ability to turn a math-y extravaganza into a well constructed, cohesive ensemble. Oh, yes; there's only two of them. Meaning if that's what you can do with effect pedals and a little elbow grease, what is everyone else up to? Another thing, their tracks have the best titles. Some are straightforward, like Give Me Motorhead and its speed-thirsty cavalcade. Some playfully misleading. Like Puppies Forever and its on-and-off shred-machine intro. Some plain improbable. Like Mary-Louise Parker Has AIDS..A Lot. And so forth. You can catch them tomorrow evening (11.15) for their residency at Hungtington Beach's Shanghai'd Room, and then on December 7th at Kim'a Bar in Riverside.