BUZZ BANDS

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles. But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.” There’s plenty of that on “We Are Le Switch,” the debut album due this month on Autumn Tone Records (a local imprint run by Justin Gage, the man behind the Americana-leaning blog Aquarium Drunkard). Le Switch’s sound, which nods to Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle, above center, fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano, left, in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals), far right, joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney, second from right, and bassist Christopher Harrison came on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ‘60s and ‘70s music -- there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with. The whole dance-pop thing went right over my head. . . . It’s the older stuff that gets in my soul.” Live: Le Switch plays free shows every Monday in May at the Echo. Also: Voxhaul Broadcast celebrates the release of its “Rotten Apples” EP with shows tonight at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa and Friday at Swing House Studios in Hollywood. . . . Jr. Juggernaut’s debut album “Ghost Poison” gets christened with a show tonight at Spaceland. . . . Other recommended May residencies: Mezzanine Owls (Mondays at Spaceland), the February Fifths (first three Mondays at Tangier), Porterville (Mondays at the Silverlake Lounge), and Camp Freddy (Thursdays at the Roxy).

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-- Kevin.Bronson@latimes.com