BUZZ BANDS

Time for some rock

Sounds as if the Movies were just getting warmed up. The L.A. quartet’s debut, “In One Era Out the Other,” featured a collection of shadowy, restrained vignettes that singer-guitarist Timothy James describes as “soft punk.”

“Now I think it’s time to make some rock,” he says. “The new songs are more upbeat ... maybe dance-rock meets dance-punk.”

Will the Movies’ local fans feel it in their feet tonight at Spaceland? Maybe. James and bandmates were encouraged at the reception they got in October in Spain (where their debut was first released on Houston Party Records, thanks to a connection they made through Beachwood Sparks) and then in a recent tour of the South with Trans Am. James says the new album’s working title is “Rock the Spot,” but release plans are unknown. “For now, we’ll just try to kick it in live,” he says. Included: a February residency at the Echo.

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Older and wiser

Kevin Sepriano and his bandmates in Star No Star aren’t kids anymore, as the demos the early-thirtysomethings have been sprinkling around the Southland indicate. Polished and passionate, the songs that are destined for the quartet’s debut (release plans uncertain) pulse with ‘80s influences such as the Cult and the Cure. “What we’ve recorded is probably a good cross-section of where we are stylistically -- dark yet poppy has been our MO,” Sepriano says. “We’re not going out of our way to be retro, we just love to play this kind of music. We’ve been in other bands and have slugged it out on the club scene. We’re a bit older this time, and at that point you have to ask yourself what you really want to do.” Star No Star performs at the Knitting Factory on Dec. 15 and Spaceland on Dec. 29.

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Fast forward

Alabama indie rockers Blue Epic bring their dense jangle to the Houses of Blues next week -- Anaheim on Tuesday, West Hollywood on Wednesday. The quartet’s “Love & Hate” EP is out on the TVT Records-backed Empathic label.... Supporting the October release of its latest album “... And This Is Our Music,” the Brian Jonestown Massacre concludes two months of hard touring, including U.K. dates with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, with a show Friday night at Spaceland....Actionslacks’ new album is due early next year. The band, along with young up-and-comers the Few, opens for Pittsburgh indie rockers the Modey Lemon on Saturday at Spaceland.... The Rocket Summer, the emo-pop project of 20-year-old Texan Bryce Avary, performs Wednesday at Chain Reaction in Anaheim; his do-it-yourself debut “Calendar Days” has gained him an earnest following.... Avion, the new band assembled by ex-Tories frontman Steve Bertrand, soared through the songwriter’s anthems in its first full-on show last month; the quintet takes off again on Friday night at the Gig Hollywood.

E-mail us at buzzbands@ latimes.com.