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Local band updates: BenSimon, Charm Offensive, Jesse LaMonaca, Dude Cervantes & more
New music & videos from a half dozen San Diego acts
Phillip BenSimon is a San Diego Music Awards winner for Best Americana
Producer and singer-songwriter Phillip BenSimon is a founding member of Whiskey Tango, The Hideaways, and Tornado Magnet. A multi-year San Diego Music Awards nominee and winner for Best Americana, his music is rooted in storytelling folk tradition, infused with rock and roll muscle, and driven by hook-centric power pop sensibilities. A new single called “Smuggling Contraband” dropped this month, set along the lonely lost highways stretching from the Pacific coast through San Diego County, Tecate, and the Imperial Valley. "Having grown up and spent my life along the Southern California border region," he says, "I've watched this landscape evolve for decades. 'Smuggling Contraband' is a snapshot of a place, a culture, and a stretch of highway filled with stories that most people never see. It's part folklore, part reality, and entirely rooted in the desert Southwest."
Charm Offensive is a new band featuring singer Matt Rhea from Manganista, Kelly Wells (guitar), Vipul Joshi (drums), and Josh Valle (bass). Citing influences such as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, XTC, The Cars, The Replacements, and Sloan, the band draws from power pop, new wave, and post-punk, crafting melodic guitar songs that find humor, humanity, and memorable hooks in uncomfortable truths. The group writes, records, mixes, and masters every release independently at Central Processing Unit, Kelly Wells’ home studio. Their debut single “Apathy” dropped earlier this month. "As of now, we’re just focusing on releasing singles," Rhea tells the Reader. We tracked drums for five songs so far. I think our next single will be a song called “Next to You”. I wrote that song a long time ago and was beginning to think it would never see the light of day." The band plans to pay particular attention to visuals. "We’ve been playing around with collage art and trying to figure out interesting ways to pair each single with imagery that really ties in with the lyrics...we’re going to try to keep the collage art/lyrical tie-in theme going for all of our singles as a way to encourage people to pay closer attention to what the song and artwork are saying."
Wavves' collaborative album with emo stalwarts Say Anything, Cherry Soda, is due September 18 via I Surrender Records, preceded so far by lead single, “Deathx1k,” and its accompanying music video directed by Stephen Coad. The album, produced by Aaron Rubin (Blink 182), features ten new songs, co-written by Max Bemis and Wavves frontman Nathan Williams. Speaking on the origins of his partnership with Bemis, Williams recalls that “He was Wavves adjacent. He’d been on tour with our drummer (Ross Traver) and our friend Justice Tripp (Angel Du$t). I’m a very curious person creatively, and somehow, Max told me he was a fan. After really digging into his catalog, I was kind of in shock. His records are really interesting. I wanted to see what an early 2000s Wavves emo record would sound like. That was the idea. To make a mall emo record.”
Singer-songwriter Jesse LaMonaca's journey as a solo artist began in Philadelphia and has taken him to Sweden and then to his 2007 arrival in Pacific Beach, where he founded his Americana soul outfit the Dime Novels. That band earned a Best Americana Album nomination at the San Diego Music Awards in their debut year, and won the award in 2012 for The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk. He spent the subsequent 14 years writing, performing, and camping and moving through the landscapes of the American West — the ocean, the mountains, and the desert, all places that found their way into songs. LaMonaca recently dropped a new single for his track "The Way," in advance of a new EP, Montana Snow, his first new release in over a decade. The EP was recorded in Nashville with longtime friends producer Ben Simonetti and brothers Brandon and James Conway. He calls the sound Western Indie Country Club. The songs are rooted in heartfelt storytelling and emotional honesty, delivered through cinematic Western Americana by a voice that sticks with you, made for windows-down road trips into the golden fading light. A single for "Green Flash" is due in August. He appears at the Casbah on September 4, opening for Alex Bergan and Sutton James.
Bart Mendoza (The Shambles, Manual Scan) landed four songs in the new movie Water Park Shark, released on Amazon Prime over the fourth of July weekend and officially premiering at Shark Con in Florida on July 18. Two songs are recordings by The Shambles ("I Can't Don't Want To" and "Brilliant") and two are by True Stories ("Can't Seem to Make You Mine" and "Comet's Tomorrow"). According to Mendoza, "I watched it with Donna tonight and it's a fun film. It's directed by Anthony C. Ferrante of Sharknado fame, I had previously played a big Comic-Con panel in 2023 where Manual Scan backed him performing the Sharknado theme."
Photo by Anna Norward, courtesy Devious Planet
Originally from San Diego before relocating to Nashville, Daniel “Dude” Cervantes is a guitarist for bands such as Mrs. Henry, Howlin’ Rain, and Chest Fever. A singer-songwriter, record producer, and label owner, he's also a solo recording artist known as Dude Cervantes. An upcoming album called Dude Cervantes and the Panchos is due October 2 via Blind Owl records, preceded by a single for “Billion Dollar Art” that's driven by soaring twin guitars, expansive psychedelia, and classic rock swagger. According to Cervantes, “‘Billion Dollar Art’ was one of two originals we debuted on our first Southern California tour in 2023. The middle solo belongs to Dylan Donovan, who absolutely shreds it. We both come from the school of Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix when it comes to classic rock solos, but the ending jam is pure Panchos at its embryonic genesis, fountaining psychedelic fluorescents from our guitars in a room with no walls while the paint peels off the universe.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Local band updates: BenSimon, Charm Offensive, Jesse LaMonaca, Dude Cervantes & more
New music & videos from a half dozen San Diego acts
Local band updates: BenSimon, Charm Offensive, Jesse LaMonaca, Dude Cervantes & more
New music & videos from a half dozen San Diego acts
Phillip BenSimon is a San Diego Music Awards winner for Best Americana
Producer and singer-songwriter Phillip BenSimon is a founding member of Whiskey Tango, The Hideaways, and Tornado Magnet. A multi-year San Diego Music Awards nominee and winner for Best Americana, his music is rooted in storytelling folk tradition, infused with rock and roll muscle, and driven by hook-centric power pop sensibilities. A new single called “Smuggling Contraband” dropped this month, set along the lonely lost highways stretching from the Pacific coast through San Diego County, Tecate, and the Imperial Valley. "Having grown up and spent my life along the Southern California border region," he says, "I've watched this landscape evolve for decades. 'Smuggling Contraband' is a snapshot of a place, a culture, and a stretch of highway filled with stories that most people never see. It's part folklore, part reality, and entirely rooted in the desert Southwest."
Charm Offensive is a new band featuring singer Matt Rhea from Manganista, Kelly Wells (guitar), Vipul Joshi (drums), and Josh Valle (bass). Citing influences such as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, XTC, The Cars, The Replacements, and Sloan, the band draws from power pop, new wave, and post-punk, crafting melodic guitar songs that find humor, humanity, and memorable hooks in uncomfortable truths. The group writes, records, mixes, and masters every release independently at Central Processing Unit, Kelly Wells’ home studio. Their debut single “Apathy” dropped earlier this month. "As of now, we’re just focusing on releasing singles," Rhea tells the Reader. We tracked drums for five songs so far. I think our next single will be a song called “Next to You”. I wrote that song a long time ago and was beginning to think it would never see the light of day." The band plans to pay particular attention to visuals. "We’ve been playing around with collage art and trying to figure out interesting ways to pair each single with imagery that really ties in with the lyrics...we’re going to try to keep the collage art/lyrical tie-in theme going for all of our singles as a way to encourage people to pay closer attention to what the song and artwork are saying."
Wavves' collaborative album with emo stalwarts Say Anything, Cherry Soda, is due September 18 via I Surrender Records, preceded so far by lead single, “Deathx1k,” and its accompanying music video directed by Stephen Coad. The album, produced by Aaron Rubin (Blink 182), features ten new songs, co-written by Max Bemis and Wavves frontman Nathan Williams. Speaking on the origins of his partnership with Bemis, Williams recalls that “He was Wavves adjacent. He’d been on tour with our drummer (Ross Traver) and our friend Justice Tripp (Angel Du$t). I’m a very curious person creatively, and somehow, Max told me he was a fan. After really digging into his catalog, I was kind of in shock. His records are really interesting. I wanted to see what an early 2000s Wavves emo record would sound like. That was the idea. To make a mall emo record.”
Singer-songwriter Jesse LaMonaca's journey as a solo artist began in Philadelphia and has taken him to Sweden and then to his 2007 arrival in Pacific Beach, where he founded his Americana soul outfit the Dime Novels. That band earned a Best Americana Album nomination at the San Diego Music Awards in their debut year, and won the award in 2012 for The Lament of Tumbleweed Hawk. He spent the subsequent 14 years writing, performing, and camping and moving through the landscapes of the American West — the ocean, the mountains, and the desert, all places that found their way into songs. LaMonaca recently dropped a new single for his track "The Way," in advance of a new EP, Montana Snow, his first new release in over a decade. The EP was recorded in Nashville with longtime friends producer Ben Simonetti and brothers Brandon and James Conway. He calls the sound Western Indie Country Club. The songs are rooted in heartfelt storytelling and emotional honesty, delivered through cinematic Western Americana by a voice that sticks with you, made for windows-down road trips into the golden fading light. A single for "Green Flash" is due in August. He appears at the Casbah on September 4, opening for Alex Bergan and Sutton James.
Bart Mendoza (The Shambles, Manual Scan) landed four songs in the new movie Water Park Shark, released on Amazon Prime over the fourth of July weekend and officially premiering at Shark Con in Florida on July 18. Two songs are recordings by The Shambles ("I Can't Don't Want To" and "Brilliant") and two are by True Stories ("Can't Seem to Make You Mine" and "Comet's Tomorrow"). According to Mendoza, "I watched it with Donna tonight and it's a fun film. It's directed by Anthony C. Ferrante of Sharknado fame, I had previously played a big Comic-Con panel in 2023 where Manual Scan backed him performing the Sharknado theme."
Photo by Anna Norward, courtesy Devious Planet
Originally from San Diego before relocating to Nashville, Daniel “Dude” Cervantes is a guitarist for bands such as Mrs. Henry, Howlin’ Rain, and Chest Fever. A singer-songwriter, record producer, and label owner, he's also a solo recording artist known as Dude Cervantes. An upcoming album called Dude Cervantes and the Panchos is due October 2 via Blind Owl records, preceded by a single for “Billion Dollar Art” that's driven by soaring twin guitars, expansive psychedelia, and classic rock swagger. According to Cervantes, “‘Billion Dollar Art’ was one of two originals we debuted on our first Southern California tour in 2023. The middle solo belongs to Dylan Donovan, who absolutely shreds it. We both come from the school of Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix when it comes to classic rock solos, but the ending jam is pure Panchos at its embryonic genesis, fountaining psychedelic fluorescents from our guitars in a room with no walls while the paint peels off the universe.”
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