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HITTING IT BIG: Thanks in part to the fine folks at VH1 — and the speed at which the industry now works — it seems that in the lone week since I’ve last written, not one, but two Santa Barbara staples have hit it big. Subject A: A fierce and fiery young lass (and former Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara Christian School student) by the name of Katy Perry (katyperry.com). At only 23 years young, the fashion-crazed daughter of two one-time S.B. pastors has already released two singles (“UR So Gay,” “I Kissed a Girl”), signed a deal with Capitol Records, landed a coveted two-month gig on the Vans Warped Tour (warpedtour.com), and snagged herself a pretty high-profile boyfriend (at least as far as the power pop community is concerned) in Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy. Oh, and did I mention that Perry’s quirky, bubble pop meets Lily Allen-style street smarts have been name checked — and complimented — by the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna? Not too shabby for a doe-eyed girl who was originally picked up as a gospel artist. What’s next for Perry? She’ll be releasing her first full-length album, One of the Boys, this coming Tuesday, June 17, hitting the road with the Warped guys on Friday, June 20, and gracing the pages of both Santa Barbara Magazine and The Independent in coming weeks. Meanwhile, Perry is getting some serious in-print pushes from the likes of Penthouse, Women’s Wear Daily, and the current Nylon music issue. And as far as VH1 is concerned, the video for “I Kissed a Girl” has been creating quite the buzz since being pushed into heavy rotation on the channel early last week. Congrats, Katy.

Courtesy Photo

Katy Perry

Courtesy Photo

Thriving Ivory

And as for Subject B, well, allow us to (re-)introduce Santa Barbara City College and UCSB alums and former Isla Vista rock royalty, Thriving Ivory (thrivingivory.com). Since signing with Wind-up Records in 2007, the five-piece have been hard at work with music-making heavyweights Chris Manning (Santana, Third Eye Blind) and Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects). The result is their soon-to-be-released self-titled debut album, which will hit stores and Web sites Tuesday, June 24. What’s more, the band was recently named VH1’s newest You Oughta Know artist, putting the guys in the company of such recently discovered greats as Amy Winehouse, Feist, The Killers, Rise Against, and Snow Patrol. Currently, the band’s single, “Angels on the Moon,” has hit radio stations across the nation — including the boys’ hometown of San Francisco — and is sparking quite the hype on both YouTube and iTunes. The songs themselves, which compositionally haven’t strayed far from the band’s original sweet, melodic, and radio-friendly piano pop tunes of yore, now sound more lush, intricate, and, well, developed. Likewise, leading man Clayton Stroope has reached far beyond what we once thought he was capable of to create vocals that stretch from quiet and somber to rich, powerful rock ’n’ roll war cries. Stay tuned to vh1.com for the channel’s official unveiling of the band, and check in at your local Best Buy and rhapsody.com for exclusives when the album is released to the public.

THE SEA INSIDE: And in additional big-name news that hits a wee bit closer to home, S.B. favorites The Coral Sea (thecoralsea.com) will make their first in-town appearance in months this Friday, June 13, when they open up for indie electronica act The Helio Sequence (theheliosequence.com) at SOhO (1221 State St.) at 9 p.m. Rumor has it the guys have been hard at work on a studio album titled Firelight, making this show the perfect place to catch a couple of the new tunes live and in-person. Visit clubmercy.com or sohosb.com for tickets.

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