BANDS

On the upswing

Moving to Los Angeles can earn you an advanced degree in hard knocks. Singer-guitarist Matt Docter of the Lift went to that school in the late ‘90s when he moved to L.A. from the Midwest to pursue a film career after the breakup of his indie band Suede Chain.

“I realized how hard it is to write a screenplay -- and that nobody gave a darn about the fact I’d worked at a PBS station in Champaign, Ill.,” Docter says with a laugh. And the rock industry wasn’t much kinder. The band Doctor started with his twin, Jason, and Todd Beeson had a major-label flirtation that fizzled.

But life went on, and now the trio, plus Josh Quirk on drums, has made “Road to Hana,” a do-it-yourself affair recorded in the Docters’ downtown loft. “We had to decide our own fate, so we took our time, made a record, and now we’re trying to get it legs,” says Matt Docter, whose band performs tonight (with new drummer Chris O’Brien) at King King in Hollywood.

The Lift’s debut, though detouring toward “Bends”-era Radiohead in a few places, adheres to the straight-ahead, irony-free tenets of anthemic rock. “We realize it might not be punk rock enough to be indie, and not slick enough for a major label,” Docter says. “But when we started the Lift we got back to our influences -- U2, early R.E.M., things like that. This project is closer to what we’re all about.”

Raising cane

L.A. garage-rock trio Bang Sugar Bang gives you a lot of X attitude to go with the Buzzcocks-style numbers on its latest release, “Thwak Thwak Go Crazy!” But swagger turned to surprise two weeks ago in San Francisco when the group won the Independent Music World Series sponsored by the CD manufacturing company Disc Makers. When it was announced Bang Sugar Bang had bested five other finalists, including three acts from Northern California, “our mouths were hanging wide open,” frontwoman Cooper says.

Bang Sugar Bang won $35,000 in equipment and services. “Now I actually have a backup guitar,” Cooper says. “Plus we have new amps, a new drum set and equipment that’ll make it easier for us to demo and record.... It was pretty cool.” Oh, and the band has a nice gig coming up -- next Thursday opening for the Dead Kennedys at the House of Blues Anaheim.

Modeled after Cars

It was just what we needed. “Substitution Mass Confusion -- A Tribute to the Cars,” recently out on indie label Not Lame, features standout efforts from East Coasters the Bravery, Damone and Spiraling, as well as contributions from Southland artists such as Jason Falkner, the Gigolo Aunts, the Andersons and Sparklejets UK. But the ear-bending track comes courtesy of Butch Walker, the solo artist and producer for artists such as Avril Lavigne and the Donnas. Walker marries two Cars songs, “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Magic” into “My Best Friend’s Magic Girlfriend.”

“That one seems to be a lightning rod,” says Peter Kuehl, a 37-year-old rock photographer who was executive producer of the tribute. “He thought it’d be a cool idea to make the songs a medley because of their similar chord progressions. I like the way he cut it to its core.”

Fast forward

* The second album from L.A. rockers Tsar, “Band-Girls-Money,” will finally be released in late spring or early summer. Tsar, which recorded the album in early 2003 before departing Hollywood Records, has hooked up with TVT Records. So expect a party atmosphere when the band performs next Thursday at the Viper Room and Feb. 25 at El Cid.

* The latest collection of pretty pop from Australian wunderkind Ben Lee, “Awake Is the New Sleep,” comes out Tuesday. It was recorded in producer Brad Wood’s L.A. home; Lee will play Tuesday night at the Viper Room.

* And, hey, will whoever stole Jim Bianco’s guitar Saturday night after his Hotel Cafe gig please return it? (Or come out to his next show Wednesday at the Cahuenga Boulevard venue and help him buy a new one.)

*

-- Kevin Bronson

Contact us at buzzbands@latimes.com.