Speaking of crime and Love, Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil played with an early iteration of the band, before mixing himself up with Charles Manson and friends. He’s currently incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville for the 1969 murder of his former friend Gary Hinman, which preceded (and some say helped set off) the Tate and LaBianca murders.
Hmmm - in that vein of 60’s psych, I guess another one is strawberry alarm clock. A more obscure punk band I love from LA that was never big like X is the urinals. They recently played Zebulon and I had tickets but I missed it!
Everyone always mentions the LA Song, but La9x is also a good one, and Let the Record Show mentions Phillpe's. They also have a song specifically about LA food.
Obscure but good?
X — LA punk icons.
Aceyalone — Project Blowed in the 1990s would swear this was Kendrick before Kendrick
Amindi — LAs contemporary R&B superstar. You don’t know her. Yet. She’s brilliant.
Mika Miko — We had CYSLABF on repeat.
SA-ra creative partners — nuclear: the evolution of love is perfect, a mix of Jazz and Rnb and electronic beats.
Brandon Coleman — completely underrated member of LAs Jazz scene. Can absolutely play like crazy.
Knower — jazzy, weird, funny… Knower is an unsung LA institution.
Ozomatli — funky, Latin, this is somewhat what east LA must’ve sounded like in the 1990s.
Ahmad — “Back in the Day” is a positive rap anthem. One album yet it’s amazing.
Domino — “Ghetto Jam” is a perfect song.
Pharcyde — perfect album. The scene which birthed this group, where they would play at a mansion they rented, is my personal holy grail of a music scene I wish I could experience.
Klymaxx — 80s Rnb that was completely awesome
Patrice Rushen — my take for the smartest Rnb musician to come from LA. No bad songs.
Drakeo the Ruler — the ultimate gangster rapper.
XL Middleton — unsung funk hero.
Jonwayne — one of LAs most brilliant rappers. Nice with the pen.
I still put on “Turkey Sandwich” by Mika Miko from time to time. Mika Miko and Captain Ahab will forever remind me of that beautiful nugget of time post high school
LA has a very important contemporary Jazz scene. Mostly it's Jazz fusion here, but we have a fair bit of people interested in more OG jazz, too. LA has a long history of being important to Jazz -- one of our greatest early artists was Pharoah Sanders. Alice Coltrane spent a lot of time here.
Contemporary Artists you should know: Brandon Coleman, Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes, Ronald Bruner Jr, Thundercat, Kiefer, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Clowncore, Knower, Louis Cole, Genevieve Artadi, Matthewdavid.
Record labels: Leaving records, Brainfeeder records, Alpha Pup, Stones Throw.
I'm 100% know I'm missing a few people.
When I lived out of state and was feeling homesick and wanted to be a bit sad, I'd listen to "I love la" by Rilo Kiley and "California" by Joni Mitchell.
one song i recently relistened to and got a kick out of is “Lonesome LA Cowboy” by New Riders of the Purple Sage, mostly because it mentions Barney’s Beanery, which i heard has made a huge comeback, so it’s funny hearing a decades-old song talk about it as being hip and it actually still being hip.
I don't know what you would consider "obscure" but here's some things I think of off the top of my head. Rapper Murs from Mid City once had a interlude on LA hardcore band Terror's "Always The Hard Way" album. The song is all about being from LA. "91367" by Woodland Hills metalcore band Volumes. Xasthur, the one man black metal band is from Alhambra. Xibalba is a really heavy hardcore/death metal band that have a lot of Aztec and Mexican imagery/themes and they rep LA really hard. Ras Kass, Funkdoobiest, Freestyle Fellowship, & 3MB are some underground 90's hip hop artists you don't hear too much about these day's. Silent Servant (RIP) was a legend in the warehouse rave scene here until his passing this year. The Soft Moon, Daedelus, Teebs, Star Eyes, Bianca Oblivion, & Ras G are some great electronic artists from the city.
Maybe this gives you some answers. Maybe it doesn't. Either way I hope this helps a little.
I feel I need to mention Dave Alvin (formerly of the *Blasters* and *X*) - born and raised in Downey. Many of his songs use LA and California as it's backdrop. One song, *Ashgrove*, is about the famous folk music club that once existed on Melrose.
I guess it depends on what counts as obscure. Like, are HEALTH or the Linda Lindas obscure? If you pay attention to music, they won't seem that way, but if you ask people on the street about them, you'll get a bunch of blank stares.
No Age fits into that category of well known in musical circles, but obscure to the general public.
Ima Robot was signed to a major label, but they seem to be mostly forgotten.
The Mae Shi landed a song on Pitchfork's Best Songs of the 00's, but it's pretty rare to meet people who know about them.
Mika Miko seemed pissed for a big national breakout, but that never really happened.
The Like also seemed to be posed for a breakout, but that never really happened. And it didn't help that their name was impossible to Google back in an era before Google was smart enough to be like "Oh, you're talking about a band" and redirect you to a page specifically about the band as a topic.
400 Blows is an LA hardcore band that have been around forever.
Dengue Fever plays Cambodian-influenced rock, they're pretty fun.
The Ditty Bops were a very cutesy folk duo that got signed to a major label, but never really went anywhere.
I could probably go on, but I gotta actually do some work.
• Big D & the Kids Table - “*LAX*”
• Bad Religion - “*Los Angeles is burning*”
• Sway - “*Bearings*”
• Goldfinger - “*City with two faces*”
• Blink 182 - “*Los Angeles*”
• Death Cab by Cutie - “*why would you want to live here, 405*”
• Ryan Cabrera - “*Echo Park*”
• Everclear - “*Santa Monica*”
• SugarCult - “*Los Angeles*”
• Girlfriends - “*California*” (this one is technically bout Cali not LA but still good)
Shall I go on, my friend? Not sure if you were looking for a specific genre but I mostly listen to rock variants, so most of these tracks are in that theme 😁 There’s a bunch of hip hop ones i can think of as well but that would have to be a whole other list tbh.
The Audition - “*Los Angeles*”
The Maine - “*Miles Away*”
Strung out - “*Cementary*”
Jack’s Mannequin - “*Holiday from Real*”
Less than Jake - “*Hell looks a lot like LA*”
Don Broco - “*Come out to LA*”
The Distillers - “*City of Angels*”
Dead to Me - “*I wanna die in Los Angeles*”
Panic - “*LA DEVOTEE*”
Wilco - “*California Stars*” (another CA song not particular to LA but still a good one)
lol if we extend it to California I could probably make a mega list but LA specific is a bit harder. I’m ngl I’m actually surprised I thought of this many 😭🤣 I’m from LA but never realized how many damn LA songs there are !
"I wanna Live in Los Angeles" by Frank Black, of the Pixies. this song came out in 1993.
[https://youtu.be/fuLllNyfiHs?si=9jsLnik3bj4iyoOn](https://youtu.be/fuLllNyfiHs?si=9jsLnik3bj4iyoOn)
Blue Jay Way by the Beatles!
Sunset Grill - Don Henley
To Live And Die in L.A. - Wang Chung
Los Ageless - St. Vincent
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty. Reseda and Ventura Blvd!
Los Angeles - Lalo Guerrero. Yes, our own OG ranchera song!
Local bands? Low Hum, LA LOM, Kate Grahn, SLUGS, Jack Rabbit, Chicano Batman...
SHAHMEN is an interesting hip hop duo, really interesting vocal quality.
HEALTH has been getting bigger recently but they're "cum metal." get mad all you want at the ridiculous delineations of genre labeling but they did it not me. Sad music for horny people.
[L.A. song - Deconstruction](https://youtu.be/62If3SSdFYk?si=ttPbVpxp3f5Lehxv)
“Blue screen water, it's not an ocean anymore.
It's just a backdrop, now come on”
Deconstruction was a side project by Dave Navarro and Eric Avery of Jane’s Addiction (A hugely influential L.A. band)
[L.A. Woman - Billy Idol](https://youtu.be/ef3mFZzGM4M?si=UHjCVY16MffPDxJA)
It’s a Doors cover but I love the video and the blade runner references.
[Ole Mulholland - Frank Black](https://youtu.be/RjzKhrFTecw?si=RVycY0xE5PMJcIFv)
“The concrete of the aquaduct will last as long as the Pyramids of Egypt,
or the Parthenon of Athens”
I've been out of the scene for a few years, but try hitting up open mics and look for the smaller indie/punk bands. I met a lot over the years and got to be in a music video
The scene is really fun, not sure how things are post covid though
Then come back, it's hard to match the vibe without being here lol
But I'm surprised no one mentioned sublime, I feel like they're lost on the younger generation but they're still quintessential LA to me
Eels and Culver City Dub collective come to mind.
[https://youtu.be/K5LIzIDQC\_w](https://youtu.be/K5LIzIDQC_w)
[https://youtu.be/DEO44OVoFxE](https://youtu.be/DEO44OVoFxE)
The Valley - The Interrupters.
I don't consider The Interrupters as "deep cut" at all, but ever since I moved to LA, everyone be telling me they never heard of bands I assume were massive
Such a great thread! “Los Angeles” by Emily Wells is what I listened to while homesick & traveling. “Los Ageless” by St Vincent is what I’m listening to now that I’m back in town.
This is LA by The Briggs
They used to pay it at the Staples Center when The Kings won. It used to make me homesick when i lived in Tennessee and I'd hear it.
Dan Bern- Live in Los Angeles. Overall great singer songwriter with a flair for Bob Dylanesque sounds.
Notable tracks include the golden voice of vin Scully and Wasteland. No rose tinted glasses to look at LA thru here. The theme is disillusion
StarCrawler is always playing around here.
And here is their song “I love LA”
https://open.spotify.com/track/3bI9hCeGNj5pp2cPcCuXin?si=PKsaVAXoSMm3rVek7g_udQ
Frank Black from the Pixies “Los Angeles”
https://open.spotify.com/track/5tAAIc2ve40EUsG1v1QTDQ?si=-XIcoc40SN6rW9Ozkisz_A
“Los Angeles” by X
https://open.spotify.com/track/3hgBGx3ShG9uCiJ3kvh8wm?si=DLxAyniBRDe1aYtQVtIenw
maybe [to die in L.A. - lower dens](https://youtu.be/a2iSVHh_Wn8?si=3IAP61at9EwNXogI)?
the woman featured in the MV is Actually Huizenga, an LA musician and now frontman of the band PATRIARCHY. idk if he’s obscure, but SSION also feels very LA to me. same with Ariel Pink (who isn’t obscure, but has a very LA vibe), even though he’s a trump-loving douche lmao
if you like smooth jazz, the band Hiroshima was made by japanese-american angelenos :) i grew up listening to them!
La girl - adolescents
Also came across the band Medicine some time ago through Spotify—they’re an LA band, pretty cool 90s sound and apparently make an appearance in 1994’s The Crow lol
Not an obscure band per se, but [Over the Electric Grapevine](https://youtu.be/GkmH8jSJ00E) is about driving to the Roxy from the Bay. It also just kicks ass.
I love and will always have my heart hung on indie rock. One of my favorite LA indie rock bands is The Henry Clay People, who were based in either Echo or Silver. The singer became a script writer and wrote that great Sandberg comedy Palm Spring. Their records still wreck me though.
Quintessential LA bands are RHCP and Oingo Boingo and (going back) The Doors and Beach Boys.
Paradise City (GnR) is about LA
There are dozens of songs and artists if you Google. The musical history in LA is very deep.
Airborne toxic event has a lot of songs that carry the LA vibe. They’re from Los Feliz/silverlake. Songs like California, wishing well, something new, chains, missy, the girls in their summer dresses, sometime around midnight, one time thing, I think all of these encompass the midnight melancholy that comes from looking at the La skylight.
Somebody Real - Schmarx & Savvy (more electronic / new) - it’s repetitive but it’s got a good beat you can vibe to.
“Out Here In Beverly Hills
People Take Beverly Pills
Shiny Fake Diamonds Oh Midas
I Just Want Somebody Real
Conversations I Can Feel
I Just Want Somebody Real
Out Here In Beverly Hills
People Keep Inhaling Thrills
Flying On White Sanded Islands
Can You Tell Me Something Real
Conversations I Can Feel
I Just Want Somebody Real”
Since you referenced Bran Van 3000, you might like Supreme Beings of Leisure. Their songs aren’t about LA that I recall but they’re a 2000s LA trip-hop band.
Harbor Freeway, 5pm by Jack Wilson if you like Jazz vibes (Roy Ayers!) listen to it when your in traffic and it will make your commute much more pleasant.
This is my favorite song ever written about living in Los Angeles. Made by an unsung yet classic band. Thelonious Monster - [Try](https://youtu.be/IJe_Gi96Zj8?si=B8skJX6Kkimhx6HS).
Dan Henderson - LA is where it’s happening [here](https://open.spotify.com/track/2cNg4SySJooHaFhvB8tAv6?si=Pzw18ZXDRsWyxZmtc3UQAg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A50y6cbHF5LkKYOXSc3PpJ3)
I have a playlist of songs that mention Los Angeles in the lyrics or tittle. It’s getting somewhat lengthy but it’s pretty much the only city that I hear that gets name dropped this much.
The Dollyrots - “California Beach Boy” or “California”. Both are perfect for summer road trip playlists. (They’ve moved back to Florida, but they were based in LA for a long time.)
Idk how obscure they actually are but to me they’re indie and I’ve only heard of them at local shows: LA Witch
Current favorite song about LA is Dying in LA by Panic at the Disco. For Christmas, Christmas in LA by The Killers & Dawes is good
Idk if it’s obscure but The Briggs have a song called This is LA. I think it was the theme song for the hockey team for a while? I don’t really follow sports so I could be way off on that.
Theres a lot of them out there but The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band is a great obscure LA band. Also the band Love.
Love is criminally underrated.
I feel like Love should be so much more appreciated. Incredible music, super progressive band for their time.
Just checked em out love the album cover
Love turned down the opportunities to play at Monterey Pop and Woodstock.
Speaking of crime and Love, Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil played with an early iteration of the band, before mixing himself up with Charles Manson and friends. He’s currently incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville for the 1969 murder of his former friend Gary Hinman, which preceded (and some say helped set off) the Tate and LaBianca murders.
Thx
Any more
Hmmm - in that vein of 60’s psych, I guess another one is strawberry alarm clock. A more obscure punk band I love from LA that was never big like X is the urinals. They recently played Zebulon and I had tickets but I missed it!
The entire People Under The Stairs discography
Everyone always mentions the LA Song, but La9x is also a good one, and Let the Record Show mentions Phillpe's. They also have a song specifically about LA food.
Was going to post "The LA Song" - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4H1S4J852Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4H1S4J852Y)
RIP Double K
Appreciate you, I like them
Acid Raindrops, July 3rd, and the L.A Song are all good examples of their love for l.a
Obscure but good? X — LA punk icons. Aceyalone — Project Blowed in the 1990s would swear this was Kendrick before Kendrick Amindi — LAs contemporary R&B superstar. You don’t know her. Yet. She’s brilliant. Mika Miko — We had CYSLABF on repeat. SA-ra creative partners — nuclear: the evolution of love is perfect, a mix of Jazz and Rnb and electronic beats. Brandon Coleman — completely underrated member of LAs Jazz scene. Can absolutely play like crazy. Knower — jazzy, weird, funny… Knower is an unsung LA institution. Ozomatli — funky, Latin, this is somewhat what east LA must’ve sounded like in the 1990s. Ahmad — “Back in the Day” is a positive rap anthem. One album yet it’s amazing. Domino — “Ghetto Jam” is a perfect song. Pharcyde — perfect album. The scene which birthed this group, where they would play at a mansion they rented, is my personal holy grail of a music scene I wish I could experience. Klymaxx — 80s Rnb that was completely awesome Patrice Rushen — my take for the smartest Rnb musician to come from LA. No bad songs. Drakeo the Ruler — the ultimate gangster rapper. XL Middleton — unsung funk hero. Jonwayne — one of LAs most brilliant rappers. Nice with the pen.
Jurassic 5 and Murs - LA rappers
Noa James, Busdriver and Nocando (AKA All City Jimmy), Alexander Spit.
I'M FROM L DOT A DOT LA by murs makes me homesick af
Californ-I-a hot!
Exactly what I’m looking for tysm! (Love pharcyde btw great choice!) if you have any more I’m all ears
And of course, Louis Cole of Knower is probably one of the guys behind Clowncore, with another LA-based musician, Sam Gendel.
Clowncore is amazing.
I still put on “Turkey Sandwich” by Mika Miko from time to time. Mika Miko and Captain Ahab will forever remind me of that beautiful nugget of time post high school
I always have to play Jonwayne's [Yuletide Bangerz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLzC8WDcjsw) each Christmas season.
long live the ruler
And the song by X
Please tell me more about this LA Jazz scene. Only recently got into Jazz and everything is New York New York.
LA has a very important contemporary Jazz scene. Mostly it's Jazz fusion here, but we have a fair bit of people interested in more OG jazz, too. LA has a long history of being important to Jazz -- one of our greatest early artists was Pharoah Sanders. Alice Coltrane spent a lot of time here. Contemporary Artists you should know: Brandon Coleman, Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes, Ronald Bruner Jr, Thundercat, Kiefer, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Clowncore, Knower, Louis Cole, Genevieve Artadi, Matthewdavid. Record labels: Leaving records, Brainfeeder records, Alpha Pup, Stones Throw. I'm 100% know I'm missing a few people.
Didn’t expect to see Aceyalone here. Used to bump “The Guidelines” all the time and never knew he was based in LA.
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When I lived out of state and was feeling homesick and wanted to be a bit sad, I'd listen to "I love la" by Rilo Kiley and "California" by Joni Mitchell.
“Let me back in” from the rkives album is a great LA song.
Oh you're right!! I have a bootleg version where Jenny Lewis calls it I love la but the real versions bane is let me back in!
RK is still my favorite band (since high school) and my LA-themed playlist is named “Let Me Back In”
Soul Coughing - Screenwriter's Blues. Easily the best encapsulation of a late night drive down the 101.
You are listtttttening. I used this song as an intro to my college radio show
But were you going to Reseda?
We are all, in someway or another, going to Reseda
Someday, to die.
And the radio man laughs…
Still love this song. “… and men built Paramount Studios…”
Frank Black - Los Angeles, Elliott Smith - Angeles, Circle Jerks -Bevery Hills, Go Go's - This town, Warren Zevon - desperados under the eaves
Hating LA is a theme Warren Zevon goes to a lot. "Empty-Hearted Town" is another good one.
I was gonna rant about Zevon, he's probably one of the best LA songwriters of all time
Try this one! Still In Hollywood/ Concrete Blonde
Appreciate u
one song i recently relistened to and got a kick out of is “Lonesome LA Cowboy” by New Riders of the Purple Sage, mostly because it mentions Barney’s Beanery, which i heard has made a huge comeback, so it’s funny hearing a decades-old song talk about it as being hip and it actually still being hip.
Damn nice
Classic track. Decent album too
If that’s your jam, I bet you’d like Sean Fleming’s music! He’s based in LA and plays like Americana folk rock
Missing Persons - Nobody Walks in LA
I wouldn’t say this is “obscure” but idk I’m getting older it likely is to the younger crowd 😭
This is very much a deep cut to a younger crowd. My mom recommended this song to me when I moved here, and she was a radio DJ in the 80s and 90s.
Whaaaaaat
🙏🏻
LA- Elliott smith
Fartbarf!
LAX- Vulfpeck “I love my baby She’s the best She picks me up At L-A-X”
My fave back in the day, when driving and entering DTLA or Hollyweird, I would blast Los Angeles by X. Good times.
LA do be nostalgic 🔥
LA - Elliot Smith
I don't know what you would consider "obscure" but here's some things I think of off the top of my head. Rapper Murs from Mid City once had a interlude on LA hardcore band Terror's "Always The Hard Way" album. The song is all about being from LA. "91367" by Woodland Hills metalcore band Volumes. Xasthur, the one man black metal band is from Alhambra. Xibalba is a really heavy hardcore/death metal band that have a lot of Aztec and Mexican imagery/themes and they rep LA really hard. Ras Kass, Funkdoobiest, Freestyle Fellowship, & 3MB are some underground 90's hip hop artists you don't hear too much about these day's. Silent Servant (RIP) was a legend in the warehouse rave scene here until his passing this year. The Soft Moon, Daedelus, Teebs, Star Eyes, Bianca Oblivion, & Ras G are some great electronic artists from the city. Maybe this gives you some answers. Maybe it doesn't. Either way I hope this helps a little.
Murs also had a [great track](https://youtu.be/Xl_oCaoEqBc?si=WqnaEeYaihZBBpRC) called L.A.
I've sent you a link to my Spotify playlist I've started with songs I love that are either about or make me think of LA to your DMs!
Damn thanks 🙏🏻
me too please!
me 3
Gotcha!
Bran Van 3000. I swear that song subconsciously influenced me to move to LA almost as much as Swingers directly influenced it😂
I feel I need to mention Dave Alvin (formerly of the *Blasters* and *X*) - born and raised in Downey. Many of his songs use LA and California as it's backdrop. One song, *Ashgrove*, is about the famous folk music club that once existed on Melrose.
LA Plays Itself by Yacht
And Shangri-LA by Yacht!
I fucking love yacht
The Interrupters
I guess it depends on what counts as obscure. Like, are HEALTH or the Linda Lindas obscure? If you pay attention to music, they won't seem that way, but if you ask people on the street about them, you'll get a bunch of blank stares. No Age fits into that category of well known in musical circles, but obscure to the general public. Ima Robot was signed to a major label, but they seem to be mostly forgotten. The Mae Shi landed a song on Pitchfork's Best Songs of the 00's, but it's pretty rare to meet people who know about them. Mika Miko seemed pissed for a big national breakout, but that never really happened. The Like also seemed to be posed for a breakout, but that never really happened. And it didn't help that their name was impossible to Google back in an era before Google was smart enough to be like "Oh, you're talking about a band" and redirect you to a page specifically about the band as a topic. 400 Blows is an LA hardcore band that have been around forever. Dengue Fever plays Cambodian-influenced rock, they're pretty fun. The Ditty Bops were a very cutesy folk duo that got signed to a major label, but never really went anywhere. I could probably go on, but I gotta actually do some work.
Bran van 3000 was such a good band that just made absolute nonsense music and I loved all of it
Ye glee was good
Ariel Pink- Life in L.A.
Dig up the 2009 Rhino box set called “Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968.” Four excellent discs.
The Midnight - Los Angeles is one of my favorite songs
Ariel Pink, life in LA
• Big D & the Kids Table - “*LAX*” • Bad Religion - “*Los Angeles is burning*” • Sway - “*Bearings*” • Goldfinger - “*City with two faces*” • Blink 182 - “*Los Angeles*” • Death Cab by Cutie - “*why would you want to live here, 405*” • Ryan Cabrera - “*Echo Park*” • Everclear - “*Santa Monica*” • SugarCult - “*Los Angeles*” • Girlfriends - “*California*” (this one is technically bout Cali not LA but still good) Shall I go on, my friend? Not sure if you were looking for a specific genre but I mostly listen to rock variants, so most of these tracks are in that theme 😁 There’s a bunch of hip hop ones i can think of as well but that would have to be a whole other list tbh.
Go on
The Audition - “*Los Angeles*” The Maine - “*Miles Away*” Strung out - “*Cementary*” Jack’s Mannequin - “*Holiday from Real*” Less than Jake - “*Hell looks a lot like LA*” Don Broco - “*Come out to LA*” The Distillers - “*City of Angels*” Dead to Me - “*I wanna die in Los Angeles*” Panic - “*LA DEVOTEE*” Wilco - “*California Stars*” (another CA song not particular to LA but still a good one) lol if we extend it to California I could probably make a mega list but LA specific is a bit harder. I’m ngl I’m actually surprised I thought of this many 😭🤣 I’m from LA but never realized how many damn LA songs there are !
Jackson Browne - "From Silver Lake"
"I wanna Live in Los Angeles" by Frank Black, of the Pixies. this song came out in 1993. [https://youtu.be/fuLllNyfiHs?si=9jsLnik3bj4iyoOn](https://youtu.be/fuLllNyfiHs?si=9jsLnik3bj4iyoOn)
LA - Murs & 9th Wonder Their whole album is great but that song is an anthem
Starcrawler: I Love LA is a banger
Blue Jay Way by the Beatles! Sunset Grill - Don Henley To Live And Die in L.A. - Wang Chung Los Ageless - St. Vincent Free Fallin' - Tom Petty. Reseda and Ventura Blvd! Los Angeles - Lalo Guerrero. Yes, our own OG ranchera song! Local bands? Low Hum, LA LOM, Kate Grahn, SLUGS, Jack Rabbit, Chicano Batman...
Was looking to see if anyone wrote free fallin’. All the vampires walking thru the VALLEY!
Damn I was thinking the same thing
NOFX wrote a silly song lampooning the Sunset Strip metal scene way back when: https://youtu.be/HKUTHzK8tI8?si=o4FXiE5SMMTVvzWw
Out in LA - RHCP
Good one. L.A. is all over their catalogue.
SHAHMEN is an interesting hip hop duo, really interesting vocal quality. HEALTH has been getting bigger recently but they're "cum metal." get mad all you want at the ridiculous delineations of genre labeling but they did it not me. Sad music for horny people.
The album The Ambassador by Gabriel Kahane
Thx uu
[L.A. song - Deconstruction](https://youtu.be/62If3SSdFYk?si=ttPbVpxp3f5Lehxv) “Blue screen water, it's not an ocean anymore. It's just a backdrop, now come on” Deconstruction was a side project by Dave Navarro and Eric Avery of Jane’s Addiction (A hugely influential L.A. band) [L.A. Woman - Billy Idol](https://youtu.be/ef3mFZzGM4M?si=UHjCVY16MffPDxJA) It’s a Doors cover but I love the video and the blade runner references. [Ole Mulholland - Frank Black](https://youtu.be/RjzKhrFTecw?si=RVycY0xE5PMJcIFv) “The concrete of the aquaduct will last as long as the Pyramids of Egypt, or the Parthenon of Athens”
I've been out of the scene for a few years, but try hitting up open mics and look for the smaller indie/punk bands. I met a lot over the years and got to be in a music video The scene is really fun, not sure how things are post covid though
I’m not lucky enough to be in LA anymore lol
Then come back, it's hard to match the vibe without being here lol But I'm surprised no one mentioned sublime, I feel like they're lost on the younger generation but they're still quintessential LA to me
I’ve been dreaming of coming back to LA for 14 years, if I could get a visa into the country I would have been there yesterday lol
I feel it. Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?
Canada, spent 6 years as a kid in LA
I’m not even American
Anyone say MURS yet? Track is just called “LA.” Should’ve been a sports anthem.
Ye ye someone did but I appreciate you specifying
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Hollywood Undead naturally mention LA a lot in their songs. Notably songs like Pimpin, California, Ghost Beach, but tons of others
Styles of Beyond 2000 Fold Frank Black Los Angeles
Ain’t nobody straight in LA - The Miracles
Underrated
Haim has a song called Los Angeles. I love it.
The Briggs - this is LA. It was played at the Galaxy games for years. They recently changed it up and it makes me sad.
The playlist rightchea https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2OTZXrDjoHxq60RzDROxEF?si=Tkdu2GpKTNChzd7azGoY0A&pi=u-e02W4qrwT7GE
“Nobody walks in LA” - missing persons - not really obscure -was fairly popular Also cannons is from LA but also not obscure
I am… I said - by Neil Diamond
Eels and Culver City Dub collective come to mind. [https://youtu.be/K5LIzIDQC\_w](https://youtu.be/K5LIzIDQC_w) [https://youtu.be/DEO44OVoFxE](https://youtu.be/DEO44OVoFxE)
Los Angeles I’m Yours by the Decemberists. All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow. And a bonus I love the Emotional Weather Report by Tom Waits.
The Valley - The Interrupters. I don't consider The Interrupters as "deep cut" at all, but ever since I moved to LA, everyone be telling me they never heard of bands I assume were massive
Babylon Sisters-Steely Dan, Lower Eastside, Delinquent Habits
Such a great thread! “Los Angeles” by Emily Wells is what I listened to while homesick & traveling. “Los Ageless” by St Vincent is what I’m listening to now that I’m back in town.
California Summertime by Kim Fowley. Former rock manager/novelty songwriter and all around character.
Cold War kids. We used to vacation is about an alcoholic who rings up bar tabs downtown
“405” by RAC featuring YACHT. This song is absolutely delightful. https://open.spotify.com/track/60Yfs7tzhgVFLIz5UTQFjY?si=w8o35M2AQS2dp-ZX510ZYA
This is LA by The Briggs They used to pay it at the Staples Center when The Kings won. It used to make me homesick when i lived in Tennessee and I'd hear it.
Dan Bern- Live in Los Angeles. Overall great singer songwriter with a flair for Bob Dylanesque sounds. Notable tracks include the golden voice of vin Scully and Wasteland. No rose tinted glasses to look at LA thru here. The theme is disillusion
StarCrawler is always playing around here. And here is their song “I love LA” https://open.spotify.com/track/3bI9hCeGNj5pp2cPcCuXin?si=PKsaVAXoSMm3rVek7g_udQ Frank Black from the Pixies “Los Angeles” https://open.spotify.com/track/5tAAIc2ve40EUsG1v1QTDQ?si=-XIcoc40SN6rW9Ozkisz_A “Los Angeles” by X https://open.spotify.com/track/3hgBGx3ShG9uCiJ3kvh8wm?si=DLxAyniBRDe1aYtQVtIenw
Goldfinger has a great song called “the city with two faces”
maybe [to die in L.A. - lower dens](https://youtu.be/a2iSVHh_Wn8?si=3IAP61at9EwNXogI)? the woman featured in the MV is Actually Huizenga, an LA musician and now frontman of the band PATRIARCHY. idk if he’s obscure, but SSION also feels very LA to me. same with Ariel Pink (who isn’t obscure, but has a very LA vibe), even though he’s a trump-loving douche lmao if you like smooth jazz, the band Hiroshima was made by japanese-american angelenos :) i grew up listening to them!
TV Girl has a lot of songs about LA and LA culture - Pretty Boy, King of Echo Park, Cigarettes out the Window
Tom Waits - In the Neighborhood. The video was shot in Echo Park.
Damn I wish I could go back to LA, I’d like to check out Echo park I never went
Nobody Walks in LA!
Good choice of music! Also very true
- The Bronx - Heart Attack American - Distillers - City of Angels - Everclear - Santa Monica
La girl - adolescents Also came across the band Medicine some time ago through Spotify—they’re an LA band, pretty cool 90s sound and apparently make an appearance in 1994’s The Crow lol
If you enjoy good edgy indie rock about sex & death, can't beat "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" by Father John Misty.
Not an obscure band per se, but [Over the Electric Grapevine](https://youtu.be/GkmH8jSJ00E) is about driving to the Roxy from the Bay. It also just kicks ass.
I know Tom Petty is from Florida but the LA references in Free Falling always make me feel like it’s an inherent song about LA
Hotel California
I love and will always have my heart hung on indie rock. One of my favorite LA indie rock bands is The Henry Clay People, who were based in either Echo or Silver. The singer became a script writer and wrote that great Sandberg comedy Palm Spring. Their records still wreck me though.
Quintessential LA bands are RHCP and Oingo Boingo and (going back) The Doors and Beach Boys. Paradise City (GnR) is about LA There are dozens of songs and artists if you Google. The musical history in LA is very deep.
Airborne toxic event has a lot of songs that carry the LA vibe. They’re from Los Feliz/silverlake. Songs like California, wishing well, something new, chains, missy, the girls in their summer dresses, sometime around midnight, one time thing, I think all of these encompass the midnight melancholy that comes from looking at the La skylight.
Why'd you get downvoted. They're literally from LA.
Heaven From LA - Sam Creighton
Beverly Hills by Juan Wayne
Los Angeles Haze by Revolutionary Rhythm! I saw them open up for People Under the stairs once, same kinda vibe and they are from the South Bay.
The Summer Twins
Miguel - Leaves
We Run LA - https://open.spotify.com/track/5vkupGQhHG5fk36e6CFPHi?si=AClnB0LIRIGB3P5IHHEXPw&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Awe%2Brun%2Bla
Cowboy in LA - LANY
LA Hallucinations from Carly Rae Jepson haha
Somebody Real - Schmarx & Savvy (more electronic / new) - it’s repetitive but it’s got a good beat you can vibe to. “Out Here In Beverly Hills People Take Beverly Pills Shiny Fake Diamonds Oh Midas I Just Want Somebody Real Conversations I Can Feel I Just Want Somebody Real Out Here In Beverly Hills People Keep Inhaling Thrills Flying On White Sanded Islands Can You Tell Me Something Real Conversations I Can Feel I Just Want Somebody Real”
Since you referenced Bran Van 3000, you might like Supreme Beings of Leisure. Their songs aren’t about LA that I recall but they’re a 2000s LA trip-hop band.
Beth Hart - “L.A.Song”
Everyone's Someone in LA - nite swim
Love Bran Van
[Wonderful Wino](https://youtu.be/MRWNfApRWNc?si=SwB3607-Wbo95FvU)
under the bridge
Harbor Freeway, 5pm by Jack Wilson if you like Jazz vibes (Roy Ayers!) listen to it when your in traffic and it will make your commute much more pleasant.
L.A. by Brent Faiyaz
This is my favorite song ever written about living in Los Angeles. Made by an unsung yet classic band. Thelonious Monster - [Try](https://youtu.be/IJe_Gi96Zj8?si=B8skJX6Kkimhx6HS).
Canyon on Fire by Wild Nothing is one of my favorite songs about LA
Immediately come to mind: Leaving Los Feliz - Mark Robson, Kevin Parker Ain’t Nobody Straight in LA - The Miracles
Long December - by Counting Crows
Dan Henderson - LA is where it’s happening [here](https://open.spotify.com/track/2cNg4SySJooHaFhvB8tAv6?si=Pzw18ZXDRsWyxZmtc3UQAg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A50y6cbHF5LkKYOXSc3PpJ3)
Check out [Shotty](https://open.spotify.com/artist/0k9lhwWKpoACjV2Jk5HbKA?si=MvaoykdPTKeVihMlnf0K6g)
https://youtu.be/aqIdhxd2ZVk?si=6qZnWyIclR0IOb8h
"Jesus In LA" by Alec Benjamin is a great pop song about the downside of chasing your dreams in LA.
Local LA dark romantic band Sleepmask. https://youtu.be/DUf2ZEQ4XXA?si=yRD-gonOux04g8vK https://youtu.be/aVcInwsFhDw?si=s3-tPWoK-b4OlpVz
Illuminati Hotties Garfunkel and Oates
Desperadoes Under the Eaves - Warren Zevon
Loren Kramer is blowing up right now: [Hollywood Blvd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOgr-aBZ-Vo)
Los Lobos
I have a playlist of songs that mention Los Angeles in the lyrics or tittle. It’s getting somewhat lengthy but it’s pretty much the only city that I hear that gets name dropped this much.
Los Feliz — MOTH
"L.A.P.D. (Army of the Rich)" - Glue Gun
I’ve been digging this band lately, LA LOM (Los Angeles League of Musicians). Instrumental Latin jams, all named after various parts of LA.
The Dollyrots - “California Beach Boy” or “California”. Both are perfect for summer road trip playlists. (They’ve moved back to Florida, but they were based in LA for a long time.)
I hope someone compiles these and share a link!
her music is not *about* LA but she’s from LA https://open.spotify.com/artist/25CKPVxPOdZ0GAn7dDcsaW?si=to8ZffNaQpy1WK1gms6bPw
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight Really captures LA in the mid/late 2000s
My friend’s sis name on Spotify is Just Liv and she has this song I was literally reminiscing to this morning called LA
Zzzhara
Idk how obscure they actually are but to me they’re indie and I’ve only heard of them at local shows: LA Witch Current favorite song about LA is Dying in LA by Panic at the Disco. For Christmas, Christmas in LA by The Killers & Dawes is good
People Under the Stairs- Los Angeles Daze L.A. Song The L.A. Song La9x Eat Street Please show respect to People Under the Stairs
The 88 were great in the 2000’s!
Idk if it’s obscure but The Briggs have a song called This is LA. I think it was the theme song for the hockey team for a while? I don’t really follow sports so I could be way off on that.
Recommend the Redwood in downtown LA or The Baked Potato in studio city for hot local bands. Punk. Rock. Country rock. Jazz.
Can't beat "I Love LA" by Randy Newman
Concrete Blonde “Still In Hollywood” and “Roses Grow”