The Molochs at Berlin

Lucas Fitzsimons was born near Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was raised in Los Angeles, California. As a youth, he learned guitar chords on the internet, even though he had no guitar. He returned to Argentina at age 12 and found an old classical guitar in the basement of his family's home. He played it constantly on that trip, and upon his return to Los Angeles immediately bought his own guitar. He played in various bands until in 2013 he formed the garage rock band he called the Molochs. The Molochs' second album, America's Velvet Glory, was released on January 13, 2017. The band presently consists of Fitzsimons on vocals, Ryan Foster on guitar and keyboards, Mateo Leonardo on rhythm guitar, Derek Cowart on bass and Cameron Gartung on drums.

At Berlin, the Molochs played garage rock that sounded like it knew nothing of anything past 1965. Fitzsimons sang and snarled tight mid-tempo pop songs backed by a crude and simple organ and guitar-led accompaniment. It sounded downright primitive, capturing the basic essence of jangly rock and roll melodies with a lazy, hazy thrust. Ten songs later, the listener was forced to return to the 21st century, still humming the catchy melodies that five minutes earlier felt like 50 years ago.