Well it’s the July Fourth weekend and surely a tough one for those playing shows. So, for those of you sticking around this three day weekend, and interested in some live music, here are few suggestions.

For what is sure to be a fuzz-tastic show, head down to The Bottom of the Hill, Wednesday the 30th for White Cloud playing with Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles, 9pm.

Head out into the Mission on Thursday for a double release party at El Rio. The visual-heavy Red Blue Yellow will be celebrating the release of an EP along side Business 80 (celebrating the release of their debut album Strangers with Me) and Spiro Agnew, 9pm.

Friday night Strange Dogs, the bi-monthly all-ages noise/shoegaze show curated by the boys from Weekend, will be featuring Honey, Dadfag and Wax Idols at The Widowmaker Warehouse, 8pm.

Head down to Serra Bowl in Daly City this Saturday, where our friends at The Bay Bridged will be presenting Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps and The Fresh & Onlys. Free and all-ages, what can be better then bowling and live-music?

That about covers us for this week. Enjoy your Fourth of July weekend, and try to avoid blowing yourself up should you choose to play with fireworks.

–Ada Lann

Our most recent Deli SF Presents show began with a slight setback after we heard the unfortunate last-minute news that Meta would have to pull out of the line-up. In spite of that announcement, and with an air of laissez-faire for how the evening would unfold, Tokyo Raid and the Dashing Suns went on to deliver wonderful performances.

Summoning all the dark and brooding post-punk they could muster, Tokyo Raid took to the stage for an enthusiastic audience. A immensely powerful three-piece band, Tokyo Raid pounded out an impressive set that fused the pulsing drone of Joy Division with blues-inspired psyche rock. Layered with aptly placed shrieks of feedback, Tokyo Raid bludgeoned the crowd with their wall of sound that eagerly awaited dissection. An intricate tableau of tones and frequencies, Tokyo Raid is certainly a band for those with an inquisitive ear.

Closing out this fairly laid back evening were Oakland’s The Dashing Suns. Combining the power of punk rock with the youthful jubilance of 60s pop, The Dashing Suns exploded onto the stage in an exciting contrast to the preceding act. While similarities to the Kinks and The Troggs definitely jump to mind, perhaps an apt contemporary comparison would be the Austin punk band Harlem. Both groups exude an almost dangerous level of energy while maintaining something akin to childlike innocence in their sound. They have recently signed with a label in New York, and we’ve heard rumors of a new album soon to be released; lets all look forward to following the Dashing Suns on what should be a promising musical career.

With such intricate and fascinating music, this show suffered no disappointment in the face of a last minute cancellation. I thoroughly encourage you to check out Tokyo Raid and The Dashing Suns at the next opportunity you get; and stay tuned for the announcement of our next Deli SF presents show at the end of July.

-Words and Photos by Ada Lann

In places you should probably be news, tonight local Blog Kata Rokkar will presenting the second round of their series Snob Theater. Hosted by Kata Rokkar’s Shawn Robbins, at The Dark Room in the Mission (9:30 Doors), this months line up features acoustic sets by Stomacher and Judgement Day, as well as comedians Red Scott, Melanie O’Brien, Alex Koll, and DJ Real. For more information check out Kata Rokkar’s blog post. Tickets can be purchased here.

–Ada Lann

Summer is officially upon us, and for it’s first weekend here are a few shows you may well want to attend.

With a lot of this weekends action centering itself around the Rickshaw, start off by heading down there this Thursday the 24th for Man/Miracle, Mist and Mast, and Radar Brothers, 8pm.

Friday will see a double CD release party, again at the Rickshaw, with Minipop and The Trophy Fire celebrating their latest releases alongside Chasing Kings, 8:30pm.

A relatively light weekend this time around, finish off down at Bottom of the Hill on Sunday with a thoroughly packed line-up featuring Ty Segall, Grass Widow, Sonny & The Sunsets, and The Baths, 8pm.

Otherwise, let’s hope to see some summer weather a head (especially for Pavement’s reunion tour stop in Oakland on Friday… I think i just heard the Mission squeal in unison).

–Ada Lann

Bay Area record label Parks and Records is throwing in an extra bonus to pre-orders of the new album from Silian Rail [above]. Anyone who orders the instrumental duo’s latest release, Parhelion, can choose between getting a Shuteye Unison self titled CD or a Carcrashlander self titled CD for free – all for the very reasonable price of $8.

Parhelion is filled with the kind of adventurous [yet, melodic] instrumental wandering that has become the signature sound of guitarist Robin L. and multi-instumentalist Erick K. Together they manage to make songs that feel like a narrative; tenuously shifting enough without overindulging in an avant-garde sonic masturbation of sorts [which is sometimes my least favorite part about instrumental bands]. If you close your eyes you can almost see a short film unfolding.

The offer ends June 30th and as a bonus to your conscious and the earth, a portion of all sales at Parks and Records go to statewide and national non-profit park organizations.

Preview snippets of Parhelion below:

You Need to Download Flash to Listen to this MP3

-Nicole Leigh

In an effort to bring a little levity to these final (seemingly endless) workweek hours, the Deli SF would like to share with you this wonderfully silly fan-made video for a song off of My First Earthquake’s latest EP Crush (available for free here). Hopefully you’ve already got yourself a copy, and made it out to their release show last night, but if not enjoy a taste of Crush below (as well as the shocking special effects a little over a minute in… yikes!) with this video for the song "Neon for You".

–Ada Lann

Another week upon us as we trundle into the summer, and there are quite few shows ahead that surely would go to waste without your ears and attendance.

For some dark and brooding Joy Division-esque drone-rock head up to Kimo’s on Wednesday the 16th where The Sharing Type, newcomers to the San Francisco music scene, will be playing their first show with Portland’s brilliantly colored Pink Noise and Spiro Agnew, 9pm.

Thursday at the Rickshaw, get your best nerd-rock on with the forever bubbly My First Earthquake, who will be celebrating the release of their latest EP, with The Downer Party, and The Attachments, 8pm.  Should you desire, acquire yourself a FREE copy of My First Earthquake’s EP Crush here.

Close out your working week by loosing yourself Friday night in the swirling psyche sounds of the remarkably named LSD and The Search for God at the Hemlock.  They will be playing with The Meek and Fuxa, 9pm.

Lastly on Sunday, head back over to the Rickshaw to have your noise centers stimulated by Weekend who will be sharing the stage with New York’s thunderously loud A Place to Bury Strangers and Light Pollution, 7:30pm.

That about covers it for this week.  Enjoy your weekend, and if you still have some energy on Monday, Brian Jonestown Massacre will be playing at The Filmore.

–Ada Lann

It’s Wednesday and work blows.  What better way to stick it to the "man" (…man) then to go see some of that rocking and rolling music?  Well just for you, and the mid-week blues, the Deli SF has put together a wonderful show tonight, 9pm, at the Hemlock.  Come join us for the awesome sounds of The Dashing Suns, Tokyo Raid, and Meta.  You have no excuse!

–Ada Lann

Who still wants to write about a show that happened a month ago? This guy.

I’d heard locals Grand Lake were popular around these parts, and so I was surprised when there wasn’t more than 15 people at the Rickshaw Stop on that distant memory of a Thursday evening. It was a real shame, because they put on an amazing show opening for Casper and the Cookies and Aquasurge. Grand Lake’s performance was a crazy trip through an array of emotions, twirling the small audience from happy up-beat rock to anxious, swelling spaces of lyrical honesty.

Equally comfortable doling out dark, pulsing beats and minimalist bass lines (with long stretches of anticipation between excellent vocals) or exploding with sweet, hopeful alt-rock, Grand Lake is a wild ride. The entire act was very well put together; energetic throughout, with an ultimately optimistic vibe and enthusiastic drumming that would have excited a larger audience into bouncy dancing. Grand Lake really stole the show for me, and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Casper and the Cookies came up next featuring Jason NeSmith (formerly of Of Montreal) sporting a mustard yellow jacket that matched the mustard yellow bass guitar that kept switching hands. Casper’s talented 3-singer harmonies and relentless pop-rock dance-beat drumming actually did get some people moving by the very end of their set, a testament to the hyperactive fun pouring from their stage. Continuing the high-energy trend set by Grand Lake, Casper and the Cookies were impressive and downright jolly.

Last we had Aquaserge, who were interesting but a little bland. They were trying pretty hard to trip the audience out, with five yelping vocalists, sharp, dissonant keys, and driving drums under inflating guitar narratives. Their music was trying to put me ill-at-ease, with occasionally flat singing and repetitive, swelling noise, coming at any given time from the bassist, the drummer, or the keyboards. They succeeded in creating an interesting sound-scape, but failed at being particularly compelling for me. When I’m given an ocean of sound, I tend to fall asleep on my inner-tube, no matter how deep and mysterious the water is.

Here’s to a more regular schedule — I’m almost positive I have three and a half readers, and I’m sure they were worried about me. I’m touched, honestly.

–Kyle Wheat

Of course tomorrow you should find yourself at the show we’ve put together at the Hemlock, and while that is a quality show there are still others worth checking out this weekend.

On Thursday the 10th (((folkYEAH!))) will be presenting Sleepy Sun, celebrating their CD Fever’s release, at the Great American Music Hall with The Fresh and Onlys and Moon Duo, 9pm.

Head up the Haight to Milk on Friday for a night of shoegaze and post-punk with Here Come the Saviours and their good friends Everything Gone Green and 2;Frail, 9pm.

Round out your weekend by heading to the Independent on Sunday where the Young Prisms will be opening up for Real Estate and All Saints Day (feat. members of Vivian Girls, Cat Power and Delta 72), 8pm.

Don’t forget to check out our latest Deli SF Presents show at the Hemlock tomorrow (featuring The Dashing Suns, Tokyo Raid, and Meta) and, if you haven’t already done so, go vote!

–Ada Lann

This Wednesday! The Deli SF proudly presents The Dashing Suns, Tokyo Raid and Meta at the Hemlock! Come rock wih us and dance way the mid-week bluuughs. Wednesday, June 9th at 9pm $7. Do it!

In anticipation of their third full length release, Bulls & Bears, San Francisco blues-rock band The Stone Foxes have released a video and a free download for the song "Stomp." The video is pretty amusing and the concept, inspired by the Mattel View-Master toys of the 80’s, gives a context to offering the video in standard and 3D format which goes beyond the current trend of 3D everything as a means to market anything [have you seen the commercials for the new 3D HDTV? Ridiculous]. For those of you without two-toned glasses at home, the standard video is included in this post. Anyone wanting the full experience can go here.

Bulls & Bears is available in physical format on July 6th and digitally on iTunes June 29th.

-Nicole Leigh