BUZZ BANDS

Sharp dressers on stage

Credit drummer Mark Vasapolli with the sartorial sense displayed by quirky newcomers the 88. “He wanted us to look sharp when we played, like it was a special event,” songwriter Keith Slettedahl says. “When we were young we wanted to be the Band; I wanted to be Robbie Robertson.” For now, the five are the Monday-night residents at Spaceland, hawking “Kind of Light,” their debut album of little-bit-retro, little-bit-warped pop anthems. Two weeks ago, the quintet pulled double duty, opening for Frou Frou at the Roxy early in the evening, then trekking to the Silver Lake set. Then, Monday, actor Kiefer Sutherland emerged from the after-show throng to offer kudos and buy a CD. “Everything’s been positive,” Slettedahl says. “It’s been a slow, steady progression for this band.” And like the Monday-night acts preceding them, the 88 haven’t had to worry about attracting a crowd. Says Slettedahl: “I think [Spaceland] is the hangout place on Monday nights.”

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Rocker in the garden

You only have to look as far as his day job to find the flip side of Isaac Golub, singer of one of the Southland’s premier hard-core straight-edge bands, A 18 (Amendment 18). The Anaheim resident spends his days working in quiet solitude -- or close to it -- at the Armstrong Gardens nursery in San Juan Capistrano. Golub, 30, along with bandmates Anthony Tetrow, Tom Stretton, Mike Hartsfield and Regis Guerin, will be playing the Cobalt Cafe in Canoga Park next Thursday. A hard-core John Muir? Maybe. But Golub’s vocal style, reminiscent of former Flesheaters and Divine Horsemen vocalist Chris D. (Desjardins), is to a walk in the woods what Krispy Kremes are to healthful snacks. A 18’s new album, “ForeverAfterNothing,” is due Tuesday from Victory Records, and the band plays March 1 at the Showcase Theater in Corona.

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Fast forward

Let there be ... strings! Andrew Sandoval -- just Andrew on his records -- marks the release of an album, “Happy to Be Here,” and an EP, “Happily Ever After,” when he performs, backed by a string section, tonight at Highland Grounds.... A tribute album saluting the British band Teenage Fanclub is in the works, thanks to Southland pop stalwart Ken West. The album, due this summer, features tracks from local bands such as the Steven McDonald Group, the Gigolo Aunts, the Andersons, Chewy Marble, Walter Clevenger and Sparklejets UK.... Explosive up-and-coming punk band the Bronx has signed to Island Def Jam.... Darnell Perez thanks everyone who contributed to her benefit concert Jan. 31 at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. “God bless ‘em all,” says Perez, wife of Missiles of October’s Jimmy Perez. About $25,000 was raised for Darnell, who has lymphoma and enters the hospital this week for stem-cell procedures.

-- Kevin Bronson, with Erik Hamilton

E-mail us at buzz bands@latimes. com.