Moondog Orchestra

Moondog Orchestra

REDWOOD BAR & GRILL

As their name implies, part of Moondog Orchestra are looking up at the stars while the other half just want to jump on your sofa and chew it to bits. There's a boundless, puppy-dog energy as the East L.A. band tear into the alt-rock instrumental "High Hopes" with scattershot drums and ricochet guitars. But there's also the soaring, euphoric way the chords rise through their own murk and the guitars, bass and drums fuse into a glowing celestial lava. Far from being a typically rootsy rehash, "Chicken Leather" combines bluesy guitars with droning post-punk chords and yearning vocals to weirdly dreamy (and yet fully rocking) effect. Meanwhile, "Daniel & the White Lions," with its trudging blues tempo and fat and pulverizing slide guitar, effectively splits the difference between the old Rolling Stones and the early White Stripes. —Falling James - LA Weekly - Falling James

The Sunday night lineup featuring Los Angeles-based acts Santoros, Them Howling Bones, and Moondog Orchestra was originally set to be another Wreck Hall event at Downtown SanTana's Proof Bar on May 15th. Promoter Jorge Garcia, who organized the show under the banner, dropped out of working with the establishment before then--Sunday live performances have since gone under spoof-like names such as "Rock Hall" and "Wreck Fish"--but the bands and owner Joey Mendes wanted to continue on. For Santoros, it was the first time they were set to play in SanTana, an opportunity that still awaits them. - OC Weekly - Gabriel San Roman

Check out Moondog Orchestra, an LA neo-soul band. We featured their song “Daniel and the Lions” today on Uprising. - Uprising Radio - Chris Bennett