BUZZ BANDS

Pursuing good fun

Let you in on a little secret: “Feed Me, Pet Me,” one of the catchy songs on the Dollyrots’ album “Eat My Heart Out,” is not a lover’s entreaty. “I work with small animals -- it’s about them,” says singer-bassist Kelly Ogden, a biology major with a day job at the California Science Center. That might not seem very punk, but it is fun, and exuberance is what the Dollyrots are all about.

The trio, which grew out of a middle-school friendship between Ogden and guitarist Luis Cabezas (drummer Josh Valenti signed on after the pair relocated to L.A. from Florida), are anti-indie rockers. “We’re not as serious about ourselves as some bands we’ve seen around,” Ogden says. “People come to our shows to have fun, to see bands that are really lively.”

The Dollyrots’ lickety-split licks and bratty, throwback charm embody the acts that have coalesced at Kiss or Kill, a weekly showcase of power-pop bands at Zen Sushi. “If we hadn’t found Kiss or Kill, we’d have gone nowhere,” Ogden says. Instead, the Dollyrots have the album, due Sept. 21 on Panic Button/Lookout! Records, and a national tour (beginning Wednesday at the Troubadour) with another Kiss or Kill staple, Bang Sugar Bang, whose own album, “Thwak, Thwak, Go Crazy”

is also due this month.

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Da return of da funk

If you’re one of the dance-floor disenfranchised, listening wistfully to your Parliament/Funkadelic and longing for the halcyon days of Prince’s purple reign, the time has come to “get up off of that thang.” L.A.’s Plant Life on Tuesday releases its debut album, “The Return of Jack Splash.” Masterminded by singer-songwriter Jack Splash and veteran producer Panda One (the Animal Pharm, Buffalo Daughter), the album offers modernized funk that encompasses everything the genre has to offer -- booty-shaking beats, politicized lyricism and a deep bass bedroom grind.

“I love all kinds of music,” Splash says, “but soul and funk hits deep. We need to put aside our differences and start dancing again.” Managing to be pleasantly imitative and wonderfully inventive, the Plant Life rides high on Splash’s sensual falsetto, injecting the band’s soul music with electronica and hip-hop swagger.

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Fast forward

Orange County’s Trespassers William has signed with Nettwerk, with the dreampop quartet’s second album, “Different Stars,” getting studio retooling and additional tracks for re-release on Oct. 19.... Fader won’t be lacking for quality gear the next time it plays. The L.A. rock quartet bested two other unsigned acts in the Gibson a Go-Go battle of the bands last week at the Whisky, earning a prize package and an endorsement deal from the guitar maker.... More on some of these later, but a few September residencies not to miss: Silversun Pickups, Tuesdays at the Echo; Mere Mortals, Mondays at the Silverlake Lounge; Clear Static, Tuesdays at the Key Club; and the High Speed Scene, Mondays at Spaceland.