Providing yet another excellent event at Milk to occupy your Thursday plans, Epic Sauce will once again be presenting a fantastic line-up. This time around sets will be provided by locals Skeletal System and Melted Toys alongside Woodsman and Craft Spells. Make your way up on the Haight around 8 for this night of great music.

Start the weekend off this Thursday at the Rickshaw where local phoenix Blackbird Blackbird will be opening for Candy Claws and Chain Gang of 1974, 8pm.

Wander out to the Mission on Friday and check out Lazarus with Benoit Pioulard at Amnesia, 7:30pm.

Saturday make your way to the Hemlock for a line up featuring two Artist of the Month winners, Foolproof Four and Ash Reiter, alongside The Trophy Fire, 9:30pm.

Finally, close out your weekend with another Artist of the Month at the Hemlock, the Thralls, with support by Spiro Agnew and Portland’s Reverse Dotty, 8pm.

 

–Ada Lann

With a week full of elections results and baseball winnings one might forget that there are several exciting shows on the calender. Here are a few selections.

Tonight to 111 Minna will host a free barrage of bands featuring sets by Maus Haus, My First Earthquake, Shortkut, Trackademicks, Ghosts on Tape, DLRN, Electric Sunset, King Most, Prince Aires, and A-Ron, 9pm.

If you can’t stomach the bridge traffic, out in Oakland our friends at Bay Area Bourgeois have put together a free show at Era Art Bar and Lounge with Swanifant, Spiro Agnew, and a DJ set by Business 80, 8pm.

Thursday night former Artist of the Month winner Honey will be playing with Wet Illustrated and Burnt Ones at Amnesia, 9pm.

Head out to the Uptown in Oakland on Friday for another free Maus Haus show with Birds and Batteries and James and Evander, 9pm.

Saturday, back out at Amnesia, Songbird Winter Series and Con Brio will host the Music to Freak to Series Preview featuring sets by Sioux City Kid, Con Brio, Juliet Strong, and Kris Gruen, 9pm.

 

–Ada Lann

In spite of being along side the various Halloween festivities the show schedule this weekend still seems quite busy. Here are a few selections.

Tonight the Knockout will play host to one of the most exciting Future Night Presents to date. A monthly showcase featuring the newest in dance music, this month’s Future Night line-up will feature the suddenly sensational Blackbird Blackbird, fresh of their appearance at CMJ, with DJ sets by residents J. Kick, Danny Glover, and The Pope. Make your way out into the mission for this hump day dance-party, 9pm.

Thursday at Bottom of the Hill The Hundred Days will be playing with The Dig and The Henry Clay People, 9pm.

On Friday out in Berkeley, the ever enigmatic folk band Burbank International will be playing at Mama Buzz with Nick Sinetos, 8pm.

Saturday make your way out to the Hemlock for a special Halloween covers show entitled Secret Satan with Love is Chemicals, The Dont’s, HIJK, Jake Mann and the Upper Hand, and The ’86 Mets, 9pm.

Otherwise, enjoy your Halloween weekend.

 

–Ada Lann

“That’s the cool thing about art, it can transcend things,” mused San Francisco based singer-songwriter Emily Jane White, when I sat down with her in the recording studio to discuss her music. “Everything I write is from my perspective, so it’s filtered through my body, my lens,” White explained. She went on to say that although her viewpoint is one of the white middle class, political statements expressed through music can go beyond the original meaning they had to the writer, and reach out to other people while still giving voice to the songwriters experience. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately—what makes music political, how is it political. It is automatically, music has to be political, because the personal has a political nature to it. When it’s a big issue, then you are one amongst many expressing yourself. But when it’s something specific, like a catastrophe, then I try to be more subtle and suggestive about it.”

[read the entire article after the jump]

Catch Emily Jane White perform tonight [Friday, October 22] playing with The Northrn Key and many fantastic comedians at Snob Theater presented by Kata Rokkar. $10 located at The Dark Room at 2263 Mission Street, between 18th and 19th San Francisco, CA

There seems to be a burgeoning movement of early 60s garage-inspired neo-surf rock developing around us of late. Locally with Sonny and the Sunsets, Hunx and his Punx, and the Royal Baths, and nationally with acts like Harlem and Vivian Girls, there is a wave of kitschy low-fi rock innocence crashing upon the music community. Riding high on this wave, and taking the best traditions of The Kinks, The Dashing Suns debut album Really Like You is an exciting jovial explosion of good old-fashioned rock and roll.

Ripped right from the Smiley Smile playbook, "Good Bad Vibrations" opens the album in a psychedelic swirl that would make Brian Wilson proud. By far the odd ball out on the album, “Good Bad Vibrations” (interesting and exciting as it is) differs greatly in style from the rest of the songs. Perhaps its strangeness is its purpose; quizzically opening the listener for the explosion of gritty rock that follows.

Taking off like a rocket, “Sally Moore” fires away from the eerie loops that proceeded it and really sets the mood of the album: youthful exuberance in brief volatile intervals rarely exceeding three minutes. The grittiest song on the album, and one of my favorites, “Sally Moore” is a thunderous wall of distorted guitar with a fabulous, mostly two-note solo that really highlights potential for perfection in pure simplicity.

Along with its high level of energy, Really Like You’s simplicity is one of it great strengths. Lyrically, the themes don’t extend much farther than adolescent notions of love and relationships, simple rhymes, and straightforward metaphors. This could seem incredibly superficial but in a world of such weight, unassuming levity is something of a breath of fresh air.

There is a particularly unique sort of depth to what can otherwise be termed shallow music. Shifting focus from technical aspects towards the expressive often better highlights the basic emotive value of a song; rawness that can be as deep as a magnum opus. Think of the depth in the pure expression of punk rock. Achieving greater accessibility to the fundamental feeling of the music by stripping the pretense of the form can codify a system of complex ideas that is expressed intangibly. For The Dashing Suns the energetic sound of fun can be just as loaded and invigorating as the most complex of soundscapes.

Catchy and exciting, Really Like You is highly recommended. Firmly rooted in the traditions of Herman’s Hermits and The Troggs, Really Like You is a twelve track adventure into some fantastic rock and roll. Rising with the tide of like-minded 60s garage inspired groups,The Dashing Suns Really Like You should have no problem reaching the crest of this wave.

 

–Ada Lann

While many may still be musically burnt out from Treasure Island, another week presents us with another round of selections from the calender.

Thursday night at Milk Epic Sauce will be putting on one of it’s biggest shows to date. With French Miami headlining along side Religious Girls, Copy, and Guidance Councler, the later two both of Portland, this should make an excellent night to be up on Haight St, 8pm.

Friday night head over to the Rickshaw for Bare Wires and the Burnt Ones opening up for Pierced Arrow, 8:30pm. 

Saturday take yourself to Thee Parkside for Budget Rock 9 featuring Skipper, Shannon and the Clams, Tropical Sleep, Larry and the Angriest Generation, and Midnite Snaxxx, 2pm.

 

–Ada Lann

While surely most people will be spending their weekend over on Treasure Island at the festival of the same name, for those without the finances to acquire tickets or were denied credentials (as apparently was the case with the Deli, sigh) here are a few show selections from the calender.

On Thursday the Phantom Kicks will be bringing their soothing brand of electronic-rock to Club Waziema with Doubledouble, 9pm.

Offering up competition in the same area, The Actors will be putting on a free show at Milk with Spiro Agnew and Portland’s Vanimal, 8pm.

Friday night head out to the Rickshaw for a Popscene Presents show with My First Earthquake, Blood Red Shoes, and Sky Larking, 8:30pm.

Spend Saturday having your mind blown at the psychedelic festival Frisco Freakout. In it’s third year, this weekend’s line-up boasts heavy-hitters Wooden Shjips with Young Prisms, Sic Alps, Howling Rain, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, Greg Ashley, Carlton Melton, White Manna, Glitter Wizard, Strangers Family Band, Jeffertitti’s Nile, and Mass at Dawn. Doors at 1:30pm.

Finally, close out your weekend with Rank/Xerox at the Hemlock with the Fleshies and Toys That Kill, 9pm.

Otherwise, if you’re headed to Treasure Island, enjoy!

 

–Ada Lann

Short, to the point, and swimming in reverb, the Phantom Kicks’ first EP concisely demonstrates the promises of their sound. Fusing electronic concepts with the looped and layered melodic tendencies of post-rock, the Phantom Kicks have created a soothing and fascinatingly intricate soundscape.

“Cut From a Different Clay” opens the album with a hypnotic driving high-octave guitar melody – a feature of each song on the album – supported by an unobtrusive electronic drum track and omnipresent synthetic bass tone. As the layers of the song build it’s almost two minutes before any vocals are heard. Distant and charming, it’s as if the singer is calling from another plane, perhaps the one the music is building towards. Crescendoing and abruptly ending this ascension, the song makes an abrupt change to a brief and more abrasive rock sound, before dwindling out in delicate vocal harmonies.

Rapidly building back out of the brief lull, “Eyes Familiar” bursts open with a second wind of energy. Powerful syncopated guitar strikes bolster the melody lines as the song takes a sharp turn dragging the listener on its ride. As with the song before, and the one after, the Phantom Kicks’ music is defined by its dynamic richness. Tempos and environments change rapidly and there is a rich texture to each of the song’s compositions.

Lyrically the songs on this EP live in a space of blissful innocence with amenable differences, late nights transforming into tender mornings and peaceful inquiries into another’s patience become song topics. Juxtaposed against the complexities of the music, this functions as a welcome foil. The vocals serve as an additional instrumental layer instead of a competing distraction, and with such awe-inspiring harmonies their function is well served.

“Coming Home” closes out the EP building yet another hypnotic set of melodies. For a song built around the patience of waiting for someone’s return, it is fitting that with a little patience comes the most stunning portion of the album. The song reaches its peak and with a temperate reverence; a beautiful set of harmonies float the ears out of the album.

All in all as debuts go, Phantom Kicks’ EP illustrates a great amount potential. It ebbs and flows in intricate and captivating motions that maintain attention throughout. It will be interesting to see how they develop their electronic-infused muted post-rock sound in what I’m sure will be a successful full-length release.

 

–Ada Lann

Named after our only Vice President forced to resign in disgrace, guitar and synth duo Spiro Agnew explore dark, politically charged social commentary through their new experimental rock album OH What Model Citizens We Be. The album is both compelling and inconsistent, with undeniably forceful moments but songs that vary wildly in quality. Some aspects of Spiro Agnew’s sound are better developed than others.

OH What Model Citizens We Be is angsty and nostalgic. Many tracks are introduced by (and sometimes layered over) audio clips from political rallies and interviews from the 70’s, mostly consisting of diatribes against hippy culture by political figures. Vocals are sung over electronic beats, simple keys, and distorted guitar. The album is at its best when these elements come together in ways that grab the listener’s attention and subsequently expand into emotional payoff. “John Kennedy’s Dead” has compelling tempo changes in-between verses and a more complex beat, and the following track “Guns in Town” has some of the best singing on the album, strangely muted and in contrast to the sharp, swelling sounds of the guitar and keyboard.

However, the album suffers from a lack of cohesiveness. The vocals range from compelling to bland, as do the lyrics. I found myself sometimes unable to tell if the vocalist’s under-emotional performance was thematic or an inability on his part to flow with the crescendo and climax of his songs – tracks like “Waste My Time” and “Fly With Me” attempt to draw out feelings like frustration and consolation respectively, but both just come off as lyrically juvenile. I found the keyboards overly repetitive and not very interesting throughout most of the album, which was detrimental to the composition of many of their songs.

Spiro Agnew’s eschewing of emotional crescendo in general could be purposeful, but if that’s the case it isn’t done well enough to hold my attention all the way through the album. In contrast, the title track is probably one of their best songs partly because the lyrics have some real feeling behind them while still managing to flow with the rest of Spiro’s sound. By the end, I found that I had enjoyed OH What Model Citizens We Be, but the inconsistent elements in performance and song quality keep Spiro Agnew’s first album from being great.

 

Oh What Model Citizens We Be by Spiro Agnew

–Kyle Wheat

OH What Model Citizens We Be can be purchased here.

It has been a while since The Deli SF has done an interview so, in an effort to bring you something a little different this week, The Deli sat down with Jerrod from Stomacher to discuss their development as a band, the state of the music industry and their plans for the coming year.

Deli: So this may be old news for you and your fans but I (and perhaps many Deli readers) are somewhat in the dark about this: What inspired the name change from In Reverent Fear to Stomacher and does Stomacher have some special meaning or does i just sound interesting?

We were tired of it. Stomacher was the name of our last album. It does everything a name should; its snappy and is easy to use in design

Deli: I seem to recall seeing somewhere that In Reverent Fear dabbled more in the metal end of things. Is that the case, and if so was there an active push towards this newer sound or did it just evolve naturally?

Natural. We were 16 year old kids freaking out on coca cola and girls. we wanted to be freaking out constantly, thus metal. We got older, wanted to refine our music and make something good for once.

Deli: Can you describe in your own words what Stomacher’s sound is, and what your goals are for the type of music you’re looking to create?

We like to create moods and force those moods into good songs. We tend to feel best in the dark haze we conjure up.

Deli: What does Stomacher’s typical process for songwriting look like? Is it an organic evolution with songs growing out of sessions as a group or do members arrive with songs written in search of composition?

It works in several ways. Sometimes tunes are brought in, sometimes they are born out of playing together. Sometimes made in the studio, sometimes live. There is no way that works best for us. Sentimental Education was made virtually every way a song could be made. It was tedious shit. It made us completely crazy and made the group tense constantly. We don’t want to do that again.

Deli: As the paths to success rapidly change in this evolving modern music industry,being an independent artist can be trying. There was a time relentless touring in pursuit of a record contract was perceived as the easy avenue to notoriety, but in this time of responsible rock stars with firm day jobs and increasingly irrelevant record labels those waters seem muddier then ever. What do you define as success for your band in today’s industry? What do you see as the best possible strategy to obtain that?

We have no fucking clue. To be honest, it never really feels like we get anywhere. We want to be playing music constantly, but don’t want to trash the integrity of the group to do so. As much as we love straight pop music, we don’t gravitate towards it naturally. We want to make sure that what we are doing means something to the five of us first. That seems to help me sleep at night at least.

Deli: I’ve observed that in the past few years there has been a change in audience attitudes. It seems more and more people only show up for the band they know,neglecting the others and forsaking the opportunity to discover something new. Is this something you’ve noticed as well and if so what do you think has caused this and how do you try to get audiences to stay for your set?

I think we all have resigned ourselves to the fact that people could give a shit about the live experience nowadays. Especially in a music scene where the live experience is secondary. I couldnt say what the cause is; maybe bad live bands souring everyone on seeing something live. Who knows. For me, its because its too fucking loud. I can’t have a chat without screaming. As far as keeping people around during our sets who have not come to see us, we just try to present the music and hope for the best. I don’t expect people to stay. Everyone is trying to get laid and that is probably more important in the scheme of things.

Deli: Getting back to your specifics, 2010 saw you with a gig in Noise Pop and several other prominent shows around town. Is there much slated for the remaining portion of the year and what are you plans and hopes for the coming one?

The rest of the year is up in the air. I get married in October, so I’m out of the country until the beginning of November. I think we are looking to do some gigs in December, and maybe release some singles. We want to do another record next year and quickly. The hope is to record that shit live and be a little more reckless. It gets me off to play in a room with these guys, so I’m ready for that. We’ve also thrown around heading overseas, so we will see.

 

–Ada Lann

A quick look at the calender sees several shows of note for this coming weekend. Here are a few selections for your perusal.

This Thursday see former Artists of the Month Foolproof Four out in Berkeley at the Starry Plough, 8pm.

Friday head over to Sub-Mission for a jam-packed line-up and the brooding sounds of Dandelion War with Commissure, Clarissa Explains It All, Adventure Playground, and Not To Reason Why, 9pm.

On Saturday, at Bottom of the Hill, Felsen will be celebrating their CD release show with Bird by Bird, Kindness and Lies, and Scene of Action, 8:30pm.

Close out your weekend on Sunday with Hunx and His Punx, at the Rickshaw, alongside Shannon & the Clams and Mark Sultan (BBQ), 8pm.

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week for a "what to see if you’re not going to Treasure Island" edition of selections.

 

–Ada Lann