California:

FIDLAR

CITY: Los Angeles
SONG TO DOWNLOAD: "No Waves"
WEBSITE: http://fidlar.bandcamp.com/

After two years of championing California beachy-blonde sunny-day girl-pop in “50 Bands, 50 States” (Puro Instinct in 2011, Best Coast in 2010), we almost went that same route with Bleached in 2012. But the more we debated, the more the conversation shifted back to the dry gutters of SoCal. Scuzz-pop crew FIDLAR (who narrowly beat out Trash Talk and Terry Malts in our longest state debate of 2012) are what would have happened if the Pixies grew up as skateboard rats on the other side of the country: a jangly, drunken romp along the rock gardens and pavement, coating harmonies in phlegm and fast-food burger wrappers. On tour with the Hives this summer and at Lollapalooza in August, FIDLAR’s brand of wart-pop is antsy and aggro without losing its melodic edge. This one’s for the down-and-out bros who are broke and cheap, and DGAF.

_Michael Marotta

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Record Label You Should Know: Slumberland Records

Though it started in DC in 1989, the Oakland-based label has remained an indie-pop haven, with recent releases by Crystal Stilts, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Veronica Falls keeping it at the forefront of underground sounds.

_Michael Marotta

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