Festival season is upon us.

For the most part, the lineups I’ve seen so far all seem pretty enticing. I definitely wouldn’t mind catching the Motels reunion at Cruel World this weekend.

But Iet’s be honest: these days, going to a music festival really just means paying $400 to watch your favorite artist dance across a jumbotron screen from a half mile away, crouched in whatever little shade you can find, fending off a latent case of heat stroke with a lukewarm raspberry White Claw that you just payed $15 for. It’ll be fun, they said…

So for now, we’ll stick to the clubs. The warm-up gigs are always better, anyways. —Jackson Todd

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Automatic at The Observatory - Santa Ana, May 7th. One of LA’s fastest-rising groups. Think Suicide meets the singalong vibe of, say…. the Go-Go’s. Or better yet: Pleasure Principle-era Gary Numan with a dash of glitter.

The Hives at The Troubadour - Los Angeles, May 9th. Likely your only chance to witness the second coming of garage rock’s radio champs in an intimate setting before they hit the world circuit and make another few million. RIP Randy Fitzsimmons.

Danzig sings Elvis at The House of Blues - Anaheim, May 11th. Does Danzig’s latest album fall under the “post-ironic” category?

Hard to tell, honestly. I’m just curious to see if he can pull off that “Unchained Melody” crescendo.

New Buck Biloxi and Oog Bogo at Genghis Cohen - Los Angeles, 5/13. Out from the swamps of NOLA crawls Buck Biloxi, joining forces this time around with our pals Oog Bogo in what promises to be one of the best nights in rock and roll this year. Read our interview with Kevin Boog here.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers at Pappy and Parriet’s - Pioneertown, May 13th. While we’re happy that the whole psych-garage-punk-whatever-revival hasn’t lost any steam these last few years, it’s become evident that many of its major players aren’t too focused on pushing any boundaries, and instead have (mostly) taken to mimicking their heroes. But lately, watching Frankie and Co. develop their own sound has not only been exciting but affirming in a way; Turns out, people are still into weird shit.

Shannon and The Clams and Shana Cleveland at Pappy and Harriet’s - Pioneertown, May 15th. Listen to Year of the Spider. Then listen to Manzanita. If your third eye isn’t opened, it will be after this show.

Death Grips at The Observatory - Santa Ana, May 18th. The dark web speaks: Death Grips are back online.

Sounds like: Biggie Smalls freestyling over a torrented mp3 of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, featuring a hyper-caffeinated Buddy Rich on drums.

[Above Photo: Automatic by @fuckedfilm]