Andrew McMahon on Returning to the Studio with Something Corporate for Upcoming Release

We have more good news for fans stoked about seminal Orange County alt-pop act Something Corporate reuniting for the first time in five years to headline the second day of Bamboozle on March 28. The band, which blew up in 2002 with the smash “If You C Jordan,” spent last week in a Santa Monica …

Q&A: Canvas, a Santa Ana-based Indie Rock Band You Should Totally Check Out

Santa Ana-based indie rock quartet Canvas (formerly Streetlight Affair) turned in a memorable performance marked by fresh material and maximum verve January 29 at the District at Tustin Legacy. Doll Knight and Keila Morris are the main vocalists, George Bernal plays guitar, and Piper Michelle handles keys and bass. Drummer Gustavo Peraza joined the four-piece …

Local Natives, Originally from Orange County, Debut Video 'Airplanes,' Check It Out!

Local Natives are based in the Silver Lake but singer/keyboardist Kelcey Ayer, guitarists/singer Ryan Hahn and guitarist/singer Taylor Ricer are from Orange County, where the band originated.  The quintet plays stirring, organic indie rock marked by close vocal harmonies. They're touring Europe in support of their debut disc Gorilla Manor, which will be released in the U.S. …

Playlist: Coping with OC Commute that 'Impacts Country's Worst'

​My coworker over at our Navel Gazing blog recently posted “OC Impacts Some of Country's Worst Commutes.” The shit gets real thick and nasty on the Hollywood Freeway in Los Angeles, where speeds average 14 mph during the most congested times. But sitting in the CA-55 on my way home from Costa Mesa to Newport Beach …

Today in Music News: “Runaways” Rocks Sundance, Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger Blows, Wilco, Jack White

Watch Dakota Fanning (as Cherie Currie) “snort drugs” in Runaways–“the movie, about the all-girl teenage rock band of the same name co-founded by Joan Jett in the 1970s, debuted here at the Sundance Film Festival late Sunday to solid reviews, and it hits movie theaters this coming March.” Like we reported yesterday, the unholy union of …

Q&A: Comedian Pablo Francisco Says “Just Keep it American”

​Editor's note: Sandeep Abraham is an OC Weekly intern studying literary journalism at University of California, Irvine.  Chilean-but-very-much-American funny man Pablo Francisco is probably best known for his spot-on impressions of the “movie preview guy,” which are all over YouTube, where you can also find the comic's 2004 special Bits and Pieces: Live from Orange County, posted in five 10-minute segments. …

Today in Music News: Vampire Weekend Hit No. 1 with More “Graceland;” Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, John Mayer

Contra–Vampire Weekend's second remake of Paul Simon's Graceland—“is No. 1 album.” Sorry, but I'm pretty sure everything on Graceland bests anything Vampire Weekend has done.  As if the world really needed the dead, highly talented creep jumping out that them, Grammys “to show Michael Jackson 'Earth Song' 3-D movie.” Amy Winehouse makes court appearance, which is no big …