BUZZ BANDS

The choice of DJs in the know

File it under unlikely: Mighty Six Ninety is an L.A. rock band named after a 50,000-watt AM radio station in San Diego. The quartet’s less cryptically named EP, “MMIV,” is a six-song affair, self-released. And the vocalist, who goes by the name Richard Gardner, is a studio musician whose experience as a performer doesn’t go much further than coffeehouse guitarist. So how has M690 reached No. 1 on the specialty charts -- earning airplay on radio shows (like Rodney Bingenheimer’s on KROQ-FM) that are programmed by individual deejays?

“I certainly didn’t expect it to do all this,” says Gardner, a San Diego native. “We were just happy to get music out there, and to have a band and play.” Exposure on Bingenheimer’s show didn’t hurt. Yet songs such as “With You,” “Believable” and “The Saved,” which reflect the influence of the Smiths, have cropped up on new-music programs on the East Coast. The sound reflects a metamorphosis from Gardner’s intended early concept, which was “to create something that was kind of cheesy and AM-radio sounding,” he says. He and bandmates Jeremy Castillo, Phillip Jordan, and Brian Monte, have progressed to something Brit-poppy, says Gardner, who credits manager Chris Baca (Save Ferris) with helping to get the EP finished. “I can’t believe how it’s taken off.”

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Fast forward

Oslo, the atmospheric rock band that includes longtime No Doubt collaborator Gabrial McNair, continues its residency at the Derby with shows tonight and next Thursday.... Red-hot Coheed and Cambria, sold out Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Troubadour, have been added to Spaceland’s free Monday lineup with January residents Go Betty Go.... Rilo Kiley could have its new album out by summer. Performing as a trio on an acoustic tour, the group earned raves for a fluid show, which included a drawn-out cover of Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible,” with Blake Sennett taking lead vocals and Jenny Lewis singing harmonies.... And Sennett’s side project, the Elected, will tour in March with Azure Ray, he says....

Ex-Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson closes out a six-date solo tour tonight at the Viper Room.... Ex-Damone frontman Shane Alexander celebrates the release of his solo EP on Tuesday night at the Hotel Cafe.... San Francisco shoegazers the Stratford 4 have hooked up with Elektra and will record an album in February and March with Ric Ocasek producing.... Cupcakes and a Monkees tribute band? Those are on Tallboy Records’ menu Sunday night at the Bigfoot Lodge, along with local favorites the Sugarplastic and a trio of other groups.

The Kite-Eating Tree, with ex-Hyphen singer Mike Hunter and ex-Skiploader guitarist Tom Ackerman out front, showcased its angular hard-core rock last week at the Scene in Glendale. KET plays the AlterKnit Lounge on Jan. 30; its album, “Method: Fail, Repeat,” is due in March.... Then there are the Willowz, three teenagers from Anaheim, whose album of noisy garage rock was released this week on local imprint Dionysus Records. The trio plays an all-ages show tonight at Zen Sushi.

E-mail us at buzzbands@latimes.com