BUZZ BANDS

Some bold moves from the Shys

First, you should know a couple of things about the Shys: The quartet turned some heads in L.A. as the Gun Shys but dropped the “Gun” because an artist had already laid claim to the moniker Gun Shy. Then there is the misdirection; the Shys are anything but bashful.

Having stormed out of Orange County in 2004 and signed to Sire Records last year, the Shys boldly shelved many of their songs when they recorded their debut, “Astoria,” in January. Singer-guitarist Kyle Krone explains: “We wrote seven or eight new songs, recorded everything live in two weeks, on vintage equipment, with hardly any overdubs and never more than two or three takes. We did what was striking a chord with us.”

What “Astoria” is, then, is less a full portrait of the band as it is a snapshot of a magical, musical month in the lives of four rockers, the eldest of whom is 22. Revealed are snippets of the Shys’ classic influences -- the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Stooges, the Stone Roses, Oasis and the Hives. Because of the band’s youth, the label opted for a “soft launch” rather than a splashy release; “Astoria” is available at the band’s shows -- including tonight’s gig at the Troubadour with label mates the Subways.

“We left a lot of songs on the back burner,” says Krone, who with keyboardist Alex Kweskin, bassist Chris Wulff and drummer Mike Walker parlayed old-fashioned swagger into club buzz last year. “What we didn’t want to do was just make the same old glossy crap you hear a lot of. Who knows, our second record could even be the beginning of the band.”

Division Day

is ever restless

The intersection of Division Day’s disparate influences isn’t always a mellifluous place. But on the L.A. quartet’s self-released debut “Beartrap Island,” it makes for compelling art, even if Pavement-meets-Beach Boys or Deerhoof-meets-Jesus and Mary Chain sound more like car crashes than sonic stew.

“For better or worse, we can’t seem to write two songs that sound alike,” singer-keyboardist Rohner Segnitz says. “But I think there’s a special thing that happens when our four sensibilities meet up.”

It’s a restless energy the source of which is never quite revealed -- maybe it’s Segnitz’s stream-of-consciousness lyrics, or Ryan Wilson’s stabbing guitars, or Seb Bailey’s bass, or drummer Kevin Lenhart’s rhythms.

Segnitz, who concedes the singing duties kind of fell to him, performs while surrounded by as many as three keyboards -- sometimes seeming as if he is trying to coax more than music from them. “Actually, I’m just trying not to look like a dork,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a battle. It’s me saying, ‘Keyboards, why aren’t you a guitar?’ ”

Division Day, supported by the Movies and Golden Arms, finishes up a monthlong residency at the Echo on Monday.

Catch these SXSW acts

Our scouts saw plenty of impressive music last week at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas -- the Rakes and Devotchka and Editors and the Boy Least Likely To and Tower of London and Tapes ‘n Tapes and Silversun Pickups and Mates of State and KT Tunstall and ... well, you get the idea. Their tours take them to L.A., many this week. Recommended: the Reputation tonight at Chain Reaction, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders on Friday at the Viper Room.

Then there is Jim Bianco’s Austin story: The L.A. songwriter was invited by a dancer named Tijuana Trixie to watch a burlesque troupe perform a striptease to one of his songs. Though dancers from as far away as Paris have taken a shine to Bianco’s music (no surprise, thanks to the horn arrangements on his record “Handsome Devil”), he accepted the invitation, bringing a posse of buddies to watch the Kitty Kitty Bang Bang troupe perform to his song “Goodness Gracious.” After all, he describes the song’s lyrics as “filthy, totally over the top, and shamefully rooted in the loins of the male libido.” Besides, Bianco says, “I’m always excited by strange, sexy women from distant cities who take their clothes off to my music. Call me crazy.”

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Recommended downloads

* Listen to the Shys’ “Never Gonna Die” at www.myspace.com/theshysmusic

* Listen to Division Day’s “Colorguard” at www.myspace.com/divisionday

* Listen to the Reputation’s “Some Senseless Day” at www.myspace.com/thereputation

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-- Kevin Bronson, with Jeff Miller