New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Don’t stop believing in free downloads: Help yourself to fresh electro created in the old San Francisco music studio that birthed before-your-time rockers Journey. Featuring the synth, bounce, and bass that only three 24-year-olds can muster, Pance Party is giving away (donations welcome) its new EP "Rainbow Road" here. Dance your pance off live at Vessel on April 29 and Rickshaw Stop on May 20. –Whitney Phaneuf
Shedding much of the drone-y Joy Division-esque gloom of Skeletal System, Andy Peterson (of the aforementioned band) recently debuted a Solo EP under the name Ander. Embracing a minimal electronic approach Ander’s three song EP is a pensive ambient set of songs that beckons comparisons to Plaid or Boards of Canada. Download a free copy here or have a listen below.
-Ada Lann
Another week unfolds before us which brings with it a new round of selections from the calendar.
Thursday up at Kimo’s on Polk St Religious Girls will be putting on a show with Organ Trail, Saything, and The Shrine, 8:30pm.
Friday head down to Bottom of the Hill to see Nodzzz, The Art Museums, and Gun Outfit, 10pm.
Finally on Saturday, back out at Bottom of the Hill, catch Super Adventure Club with OONA and Dogcatcher.
–Ada Lann
Bay Area transplants, by way of Asheville NC, and current Artist of the Month winners Fist Fam have announced the release of their new record Posted. It wil be available digitally through Bandcamp and on vinyl through their own record label, Fist Family/Reflective Flesh Records. The crew will also be celebrating the release of this album tonight at the Rasselas Jass Club. Check out a video of one of the tracks below.
Well the government may shut down this week but it looks like the Bay Area’s shows won’t. Here are a few selections from the calender.
Tonight out in Oakland Bay Area Bourgeois will be presenting a free show at Era Art Bar with Safe, Summer Glaciers, and stevedood, 8pm.
Friday, out at Bottom of the Hill, Battlehooch will be playing with Danielson and Half-handed Cloud, 10pm.
Back in Oakland on Saturday the Uptown will be hosting Somehow at Sea, James and Evander, and Parentz, 9pm.
-Ada Lann
Another week another set of shows picked from the calender for your consideration.
Tomorrow night the Knockout will be presenting Weapons of the Future alongside Tokyo Raid and Knives, 8pm.
Thursday out in Oakland, The Soft White Sixties will be laying down some sweet rock and roll at The New Parish with Poor Bailey and Manatee, 8pm.
Saturday at Bottom of the Hill, Hunx and his Punx will be celebrating their album release with Shannon and the Clams and Grass Widow, 9pm.
-Ada Lann
Melted Toys’ debut EP Washed & Dried presents itself as a double-edged sword. Every track on the album, without fail, delivers to it’s full potential of psychedelic hazy-bliss. By creating such a well-rounded debut that may give any listener the false notion that these guys have been around forever, Melted Toys sets the bar high for subsequent releases.
The young bay area trio delivers the ideal amount of laid-back yet catching guitar and bass lines coupled with synths and drum machines to create delicately crafted misty pop songs. Tracks like “Come on” and “Washed & Dried” are perfectly complemented by guitarist Steven Harkins quiet vocals, reminiscent of Anthony Gonzalez on M83’s Saturdays=Youth. But, what makes Melted Toys stand out from a slew of other young bands placed in similar genres, is that these guys possess the ability to create a sound and style that is entirely their own. Though this notion rings true in their EP, it can most easily be seen in their live shows.
Pacific Northwest music media project Into the Woods recently filmed the band performing “Portals” at their house in San Francisco. The fog machines and grey sky outside their window perfectly emulates the bands subtle yet haunting performance-one that would be hard to forget.
–Anna Oseran
Well after SXSW may have taken the wind out of those of us who went down, back here in the Bay Area the music life continues. Here are a few selections from the calender.
Thursday at Milk head up to see Exray’s, fresh off their SXSW trip, with Adventure, Phantom Kicks, Yalls and the Epicsauce DJs, 8pm.
Friday at Sub-Mission Here Come The Saviours will be playing with Burbank International, Spiro Agnew, and Bad Bibles, 8pm.
Finally on Sunday, rounding out the previous three day Burger Boogaloo take over of San Francisco at Thee Parkside, Nobunny and Apache will be playing with Wild Thing, Midnite Snaxxx, and Egg Tooth, 8pm.
-Ada Lann
With this years buzz bands Wild Nothing and Beach Fossils already in their stable, Captured Tracks’ newest addition, The Soft Moon, seems like yet another step in establishing the Brooklyn based label as a force in the indie record scene. The music of Luis Vasquez, otherwise known as The Soft Moon, has been identified by some as post-punk, but that narrow categorization fails to recognize the unique elements of his work. He has created a modern sound that is uniquely his own by crafting a highly textured series of songs that relentlessly build to create an overwhelming mood, albeit often somber in nature. At times the debut self-titled album almost seems to serve as an homage to the 1980’s Goth music movement, with beats that closely resemble that of early Joy Division albums.
The tracks are, for the most part, fast-paced yet with a persistently dark and foreboding feel. Vasquez’ vocals are often overwhelmed by the heavy synthetic background. This is not to say that the album is sloppy–quite the opposite, actually. Each song maintains a systematically ordered progression, with each note carefully constructed, in its right place, building to a coherent whole.
The tracks on the album seem to fulfill a pattern of build up and release, with whispers that sound like chants building to the emergence of a powerful sound. The first minute of the song “Dead Love” is spent building anticipation with a fast paced drumbeat and an even faster bass line. Vasquez’ vocals kick in as we hear him whining, “don’t leave me alone.” The song maintains it’s beat as Vasquez’ lyrics continue until a break when the song starts to build once again.
In the first 20 seconds of the song “We Are We” there is an even more obvious progression of sound and feeling as the volume itself actually increases as the song progresses. These songs feel like expressions of emotion or more precisely, emotional discovery.
“When it’s Over,” arguably the standout track on the album, breaks from the pattern we see in his other songs. Vasquez’ vocals seem higher and stand at the front of track, creating a dreamlike aesthetic with a softer, slower, drumbeat and an overall less unsettling quality. The song stands out as a comforting break from many of the dark tracks on the rest of the album.
The Soft Moon has delivered a solid but unique debut, one that shines through the mass of bay area bands with a new take on an old sound.
-Anna Oseran
Noise Pop has come and gone, SXSW is on the horizon but so here in the Bay Area we press on. Here are a few show selections from the calender.
Tonight be sure to head over to the Rickshaw to catch the Actors last show before a brief hiatus. They will be playing with Altars and Kisses, 9pm.
Wednesday out in Oakland at the New Parish see il gato with Con Brio and Cannons and Clouds at the New Parish, 9pm.
Thursday, back in the city, at Cafe Du Nord Ash Reiter will be playing with Wave Array and Buckeye Knoll, 8pm.
Finally on Sunday wander over to the Hemlock to catch the Royal Baths with The Twerps and Lilac, 9pm.
–Ada Lann
We Shore is Dedicated have annouced they’re releasing an album. Here’s what they have to say about it.
This band, keeps on rolling, this band. This band don’t take no smokers, no midnight ramblers, no late-night tokers, this band. No satellite pissers, no two-lip salesmen, no chumba-wumba listening play-dough aliens, this band. No seventy-five words limiting description writers, no bed-ridden disaster maggot fighters, this band don’t take no body this band!CD release at Amnesia March 5th(opening for Stan Ridgway from Wall of Voodoo!)
As always feel free to post about your band on the Deil’s open blog and perhaps it could find it’s way to the front page.
Well Valentines day has come and gone, but for those whose true love is music there is still much to be celebrated.
Tomorrow night Wiretap Music will be hosting a show out at El Rio with Dominique Leone, Mist Giant, and Schande. This show will be a benefit for The Holdout, an events and community organizing space opening in West Oakland later this year, so trundle out to the deep Mission and send your money to a good cause, 8pm.
Friday head up to the Cafe Du Nord to see Lloyd’s Garage alongside Blackstone Heist and Whiskey Pills Fiasco, 8:30pm.
Finally, make your way back out to El Rio Saturday to see Here Come the Saviours with Gliss and the Spyrals, 9pm.
–Ada Lann