Monsters & Local Stuff

[obiwankobe]

Monsters of new wave
*Punky revivalists Monsters Are Waiting lurk under the bed, and Rocky Dawuni blends reggae with Afro-pop flourishes.



Always like this

Monsters Are Waiting is no Halloween gag — really, insists singer-keyboardist Annalee Fery. The moniker is just the chorus of a song on the L.A. foursome's self-released debut EP. "Maybe we should be Monster in a Skirt — sometimes I feel like that," Fery says with a laugh.


There's not much scary about their sound, a punkier, if measured, take on New Wave, with Fery's breathy vocals suggesting an exasperated Pretenders, or a pretend Blondie, with a hint of the attitude that made '90s British acts Sleeper and Catatonia appealing.

Featuring the snaggletoothed guitars of Jonathan Siebels and Andrew Clark and percussion from Eric Gardner, Monsters took shape a year ago in an Echo Park rehearsal space. "We were mostly into the same kind of music, and we started jamming," says Fery, who writes the lyrics but points out the songwriting process is the kind of democracy she understands. After all, she adds, "I grew up with three older brothers."

After a gig on Halloween with L.A.'s Clear Static and the Adored at the Beauty Bar in Las Vegas, Monsters settles into a residency every Wednesday in November at Club Moscow at Boardner's in Hollywood.

Stream "Nobody" at http://www.myspace.com/monstersarewaiting.

Fast forward

Rocky Dawuni plays his first local show since May at Zanzibar tonight — it's also his first show since the release this month of his new album, "Book of Changes," a melting pot of reggae, dub, hip-hop, soul and Afro beats. Dawuni was in his native Ghana, West Africa, to promote the new recording....

Catchy set recently at Spaceland from Ryan Ferguson, the former guitarist for San Diego post-punks No Knife who just released his debut EP, "Three, Four." Catchy, you say? As Ferguson explained during a break in the power pop: "We're not ashamed of playing pop songs anymore." ...

The October residency at Tangier by singer-songwriter-producer Michael Andrews finished with a bang, with guests including Mark Lane and Inara George. Among the highlights: Andrews teaming with Gary Jules to play Jules' hit cover of "Mad World" and with James Combs for the title track off Combs' album "Nice Dream if You Can Get It." ...

Ex-Letters to Cleo frontwoman Kay Hanley will test-drive some new material — as well as revisit some of her Boston band's songs — next Thursday at Spaceland.... Lo Mass Republic has turned into Ella Mar, and the anthemic-rock quartet has a couple of dates coming up, including Nov. 7 at the Key Club.... J Records' re-release of Say Anything's debut, "... Is a Real Boy," has been postponed until early next year.... Tsar hits the Sunset Strip today with an in-store at Tower Records at 6 p.m. and an evening headlining gig at the Roxy.... Behind their new album, "Surgery," the Warlocks finish up a long tour with a date Saturday night at El Rey Theatre.