Pehrspace is a weird little place hidden at the end of a parking lot in Echo Park, stuck between a thai restaurant and a chicken place, and quite difficult to find the first time you get there. It looks like a unit of an apartment building, a sort of office space where local bands can perform in a really DIY and underground sort of way, with a very modest entrance fee for the public.
This is the place where the Monolators were celebrating the release of their new double EP ‘Silver Cities/Ruby I’m Changing My Number’ this last Saturday, and it was a Silver and Ruby Gala event, as they were dressed up in silver and red.
Two other bands were opening the show and among them BoxViolet, another 4-piece band from LA that describe themselves as a hybrid of boy and girl.
The Monolators songs are happy, funny and light like gentle pop tunes which suddenly turn into crazy punk pop with bright guitars and fierce keyboard as if the Kinks were always happy. Their songs blend 50’s rock (they even cover a Buddy Holly’s song) with 70’s-80’s punk, but they always have hooks, they actually have tons of them!
The vintage guitar riffs mixed with the soothing keyboard melody always convey a crazy and irredeemable optimistic tone to the songs even when they sing about anxiety, and the band enthusiasm give to their live performance a real appeal.
Eli Chartkoff on vocals and guitar has the energy of a rock legend, constantly jumping, climbing on drums, rolling on the floor battling his guitar, and not taking himself seriously for a second, which makes the whole thing really enjoyable and a lot of fun. Their live show rapidly becomes a chaotic event where he rushes towards the crowd, then falls on the floor over some excitement after playing the funny ‘Ruby, I’m changing my number’ or the very demented and comforting ‘You look good on the train’
The Monolators are an unsigned band from LA who has been performing for 8 years in Silver Lake and Echo Park, and I had kept such a good memory of their performance at the Silver Lake jubilee early this year, I wanted to check them out again.
Eli and his wife Mary Chartkoff (on drums) formed the group in 2002, and they now play as a five-piece band with Ray Gurrola on guitar, Ashley Jex on bass, and Jillinda Palmer on keyboard.
They have been putting out their record (vinyl), entirely paying for the cost without a label support.
Listen to ‘Anxiety’: