Since the '60s, Los Angeles has served as home to several of the most eccentric-sounding and influential acts in the history of American pop. The Sunset Strip was the psychedelic rock capital of Southern California, giving birth to bands like the Doors and the underappreciated proto-punk group Love. Above the Strip looms Laurel Canyon, where musicians like Joni Mitchell, British bluesman John Mayall, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash hung out together and developed their folk-rock sounds (author Michael Walker wrote about the Laurel Canyon scene in his 2006 book,
Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood). Over in East L.A., a Chicano rock scene arose (and has been kept alive by the likes of the Plugz, Los Lobos, and in more recent years, Ozomatli).
The next two decades for L.A. saw the emergence of punk (X, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies), modern rock (the Go-Go's, Oingo Boingo, Jane's Addiction), metal (Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, the more funk-influenced Red Hot Chili Peppers) and the short-lived "paisley underground" sound—a psychedelic revival movement that begat the Bangles and Mazzy Star. Meanwhile, over in South Central L.A.—where the area's most noteworthy pre-'80s contribution to pop was the funk band War—the gangsta rap scene exploded, thanks to acts like Ice-T, Cypress Hill and N.W.A., whose gritty, profane albums angered media watchdogs and politicians but sold like pancakes (remarkably without any airplay on top 40 radio). Two N.W.A. members—Ice Cube and Dr. Dre—grew disenchanted with the group and found greater success as solo artists. The laid-back "G-funk" sound of Dre's solo albums redefined West Coast mainstream rap. Alt-rock also grew to prominence at the same time as gangsta rap's explosion. Singer/songwriter Beck, the now-defunct, politically conscious metal group Rage Against the Machine and critics' darling (and music supervisors' favorite) Rilo Kiley are examples of popular alt-rock acts who hail from L.A. —Jimmy Aquino
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America's first Buddhist rock band. |
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This indie rock band has played over 700 shows in six countries without help from a booking agent or major label. |
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This punk duo comes from New Orleans, where a local magazine called them 'Hüsker Dü meets the Runaways.' |
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This Latin band performs what they call 'California rumba,' mixing roots with Argentinean folklorica. |
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This indie rock band has turned up on 'That '70s Show' co-star-turned-DJ Danny Masterson's Indie 103.1 show.
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This rock band describes its sound as 'Turbonegro/Motorhead/Misfits/KISS/Motley Crue getting into a bloody, drunken bar fight.' |
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The members of this industrial rock band have a passion for experimentation and psychedelia. |
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This Orange County punk band, which is led by St. Louis-raised drummer-turned-vocalist Gene Louis, impressed Social Distortion's Mike Ness so much during their tour with Social D. that he extended their shows. |
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This punk-pop band's songs have been featured in episodes of MTV shows like 'Meet the Barkers' and 'NEXT.' |
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This emo quartet formed in Venice Beach. |
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This death metal quintet has received underground praise for their 2005 CD, 'The Cage of Existence.' |
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This folk rock singer/songwriter fronts the Courtney Chambers Band, which cites Patty Griffin, Juliana Hatfield and Elliott Smith as among its influences. |
This lounge singer does Vegas-style covers of rap and alt-rock tunes. He and his band appear frequently as the guest house band on 'Last Call with Carson Daly.'
Buy Richard Cheese's 'Tuxicity' CD |
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This rock band wrote the theme song for Ryan Reynolds' 2005 cable TV movie 'School of Life.' |
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Hailing from the L.A. area, The Colour is an indie rock group that puts on energetic performances. Retro and modern rock come together on their albums including the full-length 'Between Earth and Sky.' |
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The members of this acoustic rock quartet are native Californians who formed their band when they were students at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Though their songs contain Christian themes, they don't consider themselves a Christian band. |
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Comedian Dan Finnerty and his backup singers do foul-mouthed covers of female pop anthems like Helen Reddy's 'I Am Woman' and Kelis' 'Milkshake.' The Dan Band is best known as the wedding band that sang Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' during the Will Ferrell movie 'Old School.'
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David Garner, the frontman of this emo band, moonlights as a high school teacher in Compton. |
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This classic rock cover band performs at weddings and corporate functions. |
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This jazz artist and bandleader has played the bass, the trombone and the tabla on several indie jazz recordings. |
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This band describes their sound as 'Southern garage rock.' |
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This Goth rock band provided music for the 2006 B-movie 'Dracula's Curse.' |
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This blues band performs jump blues, Texas boogie and more. |
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This dub band consists of 'New Yorker refugees hiding out on the left coast.' Drummer Ahmed Best provided the voice of the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks in the 'Star Wars' prequels.
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This psychobilly band describes their sound as 'urban hillbilly truck-stop lullabies.' |
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Rock.
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Frontman John Parker formed this L.A. blues band during lunchtime jam sessions with other musicians on the set of the TV show 'JAG.' |
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This classic rock cover band performs at birthday parties, corporate functions and weddings.
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This L.A. rock singer/songwriter hails from Rock Hall, Maryland.
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Siddhartha, the frontman of this alt-rock band, counts legendary Bollywood playback singers like Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar as among his influences.
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This Venice Beach trio describes their sound as 'surf punks meet the Grateful Dead.' |
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This seminal '80s metal band paved the way for the industrial rock era and reformed with a new lineup in the 2000s.
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This rock trio is fronted by singer/guitarist Jon Gus.
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Guitarists Rustee Casanova and Tristin D. formed this glam rock band in the late '90s, from the ashes of the L.A. bands Shotgun Wedding and Sexsick.
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This metal band calls their sound 'part Eastern world and part Western metal.'
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This jazz instrumental band lists Roy Hargrove, John Schofield and Herbie Hancock as among its influences.
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This alt-rock band, which formed in the L.A. suburb of Agoura Hills, scored their biggest hit in 2003 with 'The Reason.'
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This alt-rock singer/songwriter co-founded Don't Call Us Tori, an indie showcase for female singer-songwriters.
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This punk trio appears frequently as the guest house band on 'Last Call with Carson Daly.' |
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This Redondo Beach ska band is formerly known as the Ska-Shank Redemption. |
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This funk/rock/comedy band from Westminster wrote theme songs for the indie comic books 'Mac Afro' and 'Gone South.'
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This L.A. rapper runs the indie rap label Gamestaz Ink Records.
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This L.A. alt-rock band lists John Mellencamp and Pearl Jam as among its influences.
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This six-piece blues band is fronted by musician Kelly Zirbes, who's known for her Hepatitis C charity efforts.
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This Christian hip-hop collective claims their sound 'more accurately represents the city of Los Angeles than the thug'd out, over done, over hyped, gimmicky and most of the time sensationalized violent story telling [sic] rap that the city is famously known for cultivating.'
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This alt-rock band describes their sound as 'Sisters of Mercy meets Franz Ferdinand.'
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This all-female metal band was featured at the 2006 Vans Warped Tour.
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This 'black metal' band named itself after the dubbed American version of the 1972 Lone Wolf and Cub movie 'Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma.'
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This alt-rock group was one of many indie bands that submitted 'Snakes on a Plane' theme songs to New Line Cinema in 2006 for a 'Snakes' song contest (Louden Swain's contribution, which was the runner-up, can be heard during the enhanced portion of the 'Snakes' soundtrack CD).
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This Alaska-raised singer/songwriter cites Miles Davis, John Lennon and Bob Dylan as his influences. |
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Several songs by this Orange County indie rock quintet were featured in the 2002 Christian Bale sci-fi flick 'Reign of Fire.' |
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This singer is known to his fans as 'the Voice' because of his four-octave range. |
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This alt-rock singer/songwriter lists Crowded House and Texas as among his influences. |
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This rock band based their song 'Human' on the classic 'Twilight Zone' episode 'To Serve Man.'
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This alt-rock quartet from Juarez, Mexico formed in 2000.
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This skate punk band hails from Corona and often wears whiteface makeup onstage as a homage to one of their favorite groups, the Misfits.
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This classically trained singer/songwriter has written music for several short films and indie movies.
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This soul group's motto is 'Olio: Where rock, R&B and funk collide.'
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Formed by Richard Shehane and Luigino Lobello, this Santa Monica acoustic rock band plays frequently in SM and Las Vegas.
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This trio describes their sound as experimental and ambient. |
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This L.A. musician plays funky surf-rock.
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Songs by this Toronto-raised singer/songwriter have been used on 'The Real World' and 'Road Rules.'
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This alt-hip-hop group from South Central L.A. scored their biggest hits with 'Passin' Me By' in 1993 and 'Runnin'' in 1995.
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This indie soul singer/songwriter lists Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, Ray Charles, Bradley Nowell and Marvin Gaye as among his influences.
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This punk band formed in 2002 and has been compared by fans to groups like the Lunachicks and the Vandals.
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This 'experimental/surf/metal' band describes their sound as 'fax machine big band, breathy doo wop fuzz, giggling, heavy metal bumble bees, a large pile of instruments getting knocked over at once, continually, for about 40 minutes.'
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This alt-rock band, which lists Depeche Mode as one of its influences, covered DM's 'But Not Tonight' for the DM tribute album 'Goth Tribute to Depeche Mode.'
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This singer/songwriter/session musician runs his own label, K-Town Records.
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This New Age composer has received tons of airplay on KCRW.
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This punk band received local buzz in 2004 for their breakup song 'What You Wanted.' |
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This all-woman folk-rock band has opened for bands like Third Eye Blind and Lifehouse and won a fan in comedian Jim Breuer, who invited them to perform on his Sirius Satellite Radio show, 'Jim Breuer Unleashed.'
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The members of this Van Nuys hardcore punk band describe themselves as 'the band our 'friends' wish would go away... We're here to wreck your good time and Christian fellowship type mentality. Do you want punk rock or do you want Good Charlotte?'
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This trio lists the Doors and Phil Collins as among their influences and plays a mixture of jazz, rock, funk and R&B.
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Songs by this Latin pop artist have been featured on the Showtime series 'Resurrection Blvd.' and ABC Family's 'Knock First.'
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This band describes their sound as 'modern rock with an emphasis on jazz, blues and international flavors.'
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This Santana tribute band covers the legendary guitarist's signature tunes, as well as songs by other acts like the Champs and Malo.
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This rock/ska quintet has had its songs featured on 'Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.'
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This band fuses power pop with glam rock.
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This trio plays bluesy hard rock. |
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This rock band's tagline is 'Part big rig trucker. Part truck stop waitress. All band.'
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This rock band formed in 1995 in Columbus, 0hio.
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This Chicago-raised blues guitarist lists the '70s rock band Redbone, Santana and Jimi Hendrix as his influences.
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This electro-pop band is fronted by Rami Perlman, the son of Itzhak Perlman.
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Fronted by singer Sara Saffery and drummer Tom Gomes, this rock band's evolving sound is reminiscent of acts like Muse, Dredg, and A Perfect Circle.
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This rap-rock band lists Run-DMC, Public Enemy, the Sex Pistols and Slayer as some of its influences.
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This rock singer/songwriter was formerly the frontman for the Seattle band Brad.
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This guitarist does acoustic covers of songs like Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and the Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows.'
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The 'BNX' in this reggae band's name stands for 'Blue Nile X-Press.'
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The tagline for this death metal quintet is '666% pure f***king evil.'
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This rock band describes their sound as ' a gritty, swaggering brand of rock and roll that recalls the visceral punch of punk, the anarchic energy of turn-of-the-70s garage bands and the monster hooks of such vaunted outfits as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks and the Clash.'
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This lounge/exotica quintet describes their music as 'RetroFuture Pop Exotica.'
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This rock band consists of members from both America and Australia and once served as a backing band for the infamous William Hung when he made a guest appearance on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'
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This SoCal jazz pianist/keyboardist is a Detroit native.
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This rock band, fronted by singer/songwriter Damon Pipitone, garnered some indie buzz in 2005 for its third CD 'Low Ceiling,' a diatribe against the music industry.
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Established in 2002, this group performs at weddings, corporate functions and private parties.
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This new wave band cites Joy Division, the Cure and early U2 as among its influences. |
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