BUZZ BANDS

It’s their Secret for now

Dirty Little Secret is what you might get if space aliens got the urge to whup the Strokes in a battle of the bands. The new L.A. foursome, which has attracted label scouts to club shows, is bound to elicit comparisons with pop’s most highbred garage band, if only for the megaphonic effects on frontman Louis Castle’s vocals. But if one of Castle’s neck-snapping screeches doesn’t set Dirty Little Secret apart, then Ariel Rechtshaid’s galactic keyboard work will. And for as much range as they can demonstrate on stage in only a half-dozen songs, it’s hard to believe that Castle, Rechtshaid and bassist James Bairian were bandmates in the Hippos, ska-punkers who released albums in the late ‘90s on Vagrant and Interscope. “The Hippos were the kid thing that we did,” Bairian says. “We just grew up, basically. Now we’re taking from other influences.” In addition, the band -- performing Wednesday at the Silverlake Lounge -- offers a head-turning stage show, thanks to a homemade strobe set up by friend Ross Richardson. As if Dirty Little Secret needs a gimmick. “It’s great to have the [industry] interest,” Bairian says, “but we’re self-sufficient at this point, so we’re kinda going at our own pace.”

Day job’s benefits

The Ray Makers have become an increasingly visible part of the L.A. soundscape. Since releasing its debut EP, “Phantom Third Channel,” on Transistor Records last year, the electronic duo of Lance Rock and Chris Curtis can often be found DJing individually or performing at the Echo (opening Saturday for DJ Unknown of Fischerspooner). By day, though, the two, who moved here separately from St. Louis three years apart, work at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. According to Rock, there is a tightknit artistic family there that they are hoping to put on display on the Ray Makers’ full-length debut (due late this summer). Co-worker Benjamin Barnes directed a recent clip for Rock and Curtis, who share a desire to bring warmth and melody to an electronic scene they felt was becoming increasingly cold. And Rock hopes to get singer and fellow co-worker Savoir Faire, whom he calls “an amazing talent,” to lend her gifts to the album. Rock is grateful for support from his Amoeba bosses. “They’re letting me do an interview on a Saturday afternoon, which is one of our busiest times,” he says from work. “How great is that?”

Fast forward

Those purveyors of mayhem from the Inland Empire, the Rattlesnakes, should be at full slither Monday night for the second show in their residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Not only that, the Bronx opens.... “Desert Center,” the first album by Felt, features some polished rock, and the Southland quintet supports the release with shows Friday at the Coconut Teaszer in Hollywood and Feb. 20 (opening for Dada offshoot Butterfly Jones) at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

-- Kevin Bronson, with Steve Baltin

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