Congratulations to the Bay Area based punk band, Unstrung for winning The Deli Magazine San Francsico Artist of the Month Poll! It was a very close competition but Unstrung, with their fuzzed out punk pop style wooed the voters. We’re incredibly happy to see them enjoy success and wish them the best on their future musical endeavors.

Unstrung Upcoming Shows:

1/21: Brick & Mortar Music Hall in SF w/ Vision, O Presidente & Cobalt Cranes
1/31: Butter Dungeon in Berkeley w/ DTCV (ex-Guided By Voices/on tour), Twin Steps & Sad Bitch

Something sweet has landed at our feet, in the form of San Francisco based group, New Cadence. Reminiscent of San Cisco’s cheery vocals and Phoenix’s smooth, saccharine melodies, their sophomore EP includes six tracks, all of which are bursting with emotion and musical talent. “Hummingbird,” features smile-inducing vocals by Hilary Hanselman and an overall feeling of carefree gaiety, as well as a flute and ukulele cameo. “Changing Tide” shows off the group’s more lyrically melancholy side, while still maintaining a hopeful, positive sound and showing off their skilled utilization of slide guitar. A delightful breath of fresh air and a source of some much needed positivity in the modern world, New Cadence has produced an EP that will leave you begging for more. –Kat Collins

Whoever said psych rock should have stayed in the ‘60s? Certainly not us. The newest split between San Francisco’s own Electric Shepherd and  Fox and The Law is a musical collaboration that has definitely caught our eye. At over 7 minutes, Electric Shepherd’s side featuring “ Glass Devil Blues is epic. The heavy, psych-infused garage rock track is powerful in its execution. Like many psych bands, the song wouldn’t be complete without getting a sludgy jam session or two in. The guys in Fox and The Law may know a few things about heartache, as indicated by its song Drops of Water. The bands portion of the split rings in as loud yet fuzzy, with gut wrenching blues vocals layered over. Needless to say, we’re digging this split.

Give this free download courtesy of the Funk Farm music collective a listen! –Erin Dage

Don’t have any plans yet for New Year’s? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. From small rock clubs to thousand seat theaters, here is a quick guide to the best New Year’s Eve concerts around the Bay Area.

Everyone is Dirty – The Night Light – $10
Oakland’s Everyone is Dirty bring their grunge influenced indie-pop to The Night Light with local bands El Elle, Light Thieves and Electric Magpie. Lead singer Sivan Gur-Arieh’s haunting vocals and violin playing are strangely mesmerizing—imagine Jenny Lewis’s evil twin.

The Melvins and Redd Kross – Great American Music Hall – $40
The seminal Seattle sludge metal band, The Melvins will be performing at the GAMH along with power punkers Redd Kross. King Buzzo and company will definitely be playing the heaviest music going down anywhere this New Year’s

The Devil Makes Three – The Catalyst – $35 in adv / $40 at the door
The stomp-folk string trio will perform their whiskey soaked brand of americana at a New Year’s run at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz. Known for their raucous live shows, The Devil Makes Three are the perfect house band for a night of drunken revelry.

The Fresh & Onlys and Vetiver – The Chapel – $25 in adv / $30 at the door
These two local indie favorites are booked for a double bill along with local opening acts Sun Araw and Pure Bliss. It’s been a while since Vetiver has performed in SF and this New Year’s show will be the perfect homecoming.

Danny Brown – The Mezzanine – $45
If you’re looking to get truly ‘effed up to ring in the New Year, then this is the show for you. The audacious, drugged-out rapper has a reputation for his insane live sets and this New Year’s at The Mezzanine should not disappoint.

The Brothers Comatose – Slim’s – $30
The Brothers Comatose is a local string band who combine their legit bluegrass chops with an infectious folk-rock energy. The band treats each show like a house party and is sure to make the Slim’s dance floor feel as intimate as their living room.

Calexico – The Fillmore – $65
The desert rock troubadours will be performing at the sacred ground of The Fillmore Auditorium with LA’s Las Cateras. Fresh off the release this fall’s Algiers, the band has added to their catalogue of epic ballads of the southwestern borderlands.

Glitter Wizard – Hemlock Tavern – $12 in advance / $15 at the door
The intimate Hemlock Tavern is one of the coolest local music venues in the city. Psychedelic glam warriors Glitter Wizard along with fellow rockers Pins of Light and Ovvl look to melt your face at this tiny rock club.

The Generationals – Bottom of the Hill – $22 in adv / $25 at the door
Hailing from New Orleans, The Generationals combine jangly guitars and synth sounds to craft immediately catchy indie-pop songs. They’ll be performing with local opening acts The Frail and Nova Albion.

Primus – Fox Theater – $65
Primus and the Frog Brigade Ensemble explore the music of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Enough said.

Tonight at San Francisco’s Brick and Mortar Music Hall, you’re in for an evening of heavy rock that’s going to float over your holiday season with a psychedelic and soulful haze. Down Dirty Shake has an experimental soul sound that is unique, dirty and sensually garagey. If you’re into The Doors and dark soulful rock, you’ll totally get into their music. Down and Outlaws swing more to the country spectrum in regards of their soulful southwestern style ballads that are creative and a bit chilling. Finally, opening the show is Psychic Jiu Jitsu, a new face melting psych rock outfit. They play their instruments loud, fast and heavy, permeating more of a classic psych sonic atmosphere. They put on a great live show. 

We totally recommend you make it out to Brick and Mortar to check out this awesome line up. –je

Creepers are a band to watch. Formed out of members of fellow Bay Area bands Deafheaven, White Cloud and Golden Drugs, the group sounds like psych rock with a progressive rock twist. Formed in 2011, the band recently released its first EP in October 2013. The recent self-titled EP contains two songs – Forked Tongues and Drug Vision. With shallow vocals and instrumentals that gravitate between blistering and subdued speeds, the first (and longest) song Forked Tongues is an epic, and is more reminiscent of psych rock. Drug Vision is an up-tempo tune, where Creepers’ prog-rock influences are more apparent. In the end, the two songs come together to create a cohesive and dynamic release. –Erin Dage

Be sure to catch Creepers at the Hemlock Tavern with Wreck and Reference and So Stressed December 22.

When one thinks of Nina Simone, immediate visions of strikingly beautiful, heart wrenching messages accompanied by somber jazz melodies are called to the forefront of one’s mind, and when one thinks of San Jose-based experimental group Xiu Xiu, their radically innovative style isn’t one that is necessarily pegged in the same category. Nevertheless, the band’s album Nina offers a mind-blowing interpretation of the late songstress’ classic tunes. Xiu Xiu’s cover of Don’t Smoke In Bed maintains the same somber, melancholy theme it was originally created with, but with an added eerie twist of Jamie Stewert’s dramatic, breathy, stark and masculine vocals . Pirate Jenny bursts in with leading jazz lines (thanks to saxophonists Tim Berne and Tony Malaby) and a seemingly endless supply of hypnotic experimental sounds, only to wind back down as Stewart delicately whispers Nina’s masterfully crafted tale down the listener’s necks. Every component of this cover album fits together beautifully like a bluesy, emotion- laden puzzle of a homage. Nina offers a portal to a world of new possibilities for a revival of classics. -Kat Collins

Come celebrate the holidaze with resident Bay Area psychedelic rockers, The Electric Magpie and The Spiral Electric tonight at The Chapel! They’ll be opening for the dreamy beach-rock trio, The Black Tapes. Having evolved to a lineup of bass, primitive drums and guitar, this new instrumentation gives front man and founding member Matt Adams a new stripped down sound to explore. Songs like “Coast to Coast” and “Holly Roller” from this year’s release, Vacation benefits from this new approach, allowing the group’s endearing vocal harmonies to really shine.  

Be sure to stop by The Chapel to check out this awesome line up tonight. -Ethan Varian

Congratulations to the Americana-soul rock group, Vandella for winning The Deli Magazine San Francisco’s Artist of the Month Poll! Vandella worked particularly hard on promoting their nomination, and even made a youtube video to let their fans know they were the right band to choose to win this month’s poll! Not only did Vandella win because of their promotional creativity, but their mixture of Motown soul and homespun Americana style could coax anyone into supporting them. We wish them the best of luck on their future musical endeavors!

Stream. The word immediately conjures up feelings of smooth, slick deliverance; with cool intros, calming vocals and a seemingly endless supply of layers. Stream’s music does exactly what their name proposes. Their four-song debut EP contains a variation of sound, ranging from a slow buildup of emotion to an immediate introduction of power. Calming vocals deliver poignantly beautiful lines in "Slide Surfing (Antiquity)," as levels of soothing melodies and good vibes build upon each other, resulting in a lush, all-encompassing experience. "Waltz In The Park" may lead to an artist double take, as sounds reminiscent of Tame Impala usher in an extended intro and poetically simple lyrics (far from here and far from there/this is nothing like anywhere). With a new spin on a revived style, we can only expect great things from Stream. –Kat Collins

The super talented bubblegum pop group, The Younger Lovers, has recently released its latest album, Sugar in My Pocket on Southpaw Records. As a project of Oakland garage rock stalwart, Brontez Purnell, the band mixes lo-fi vintage style riffs with ’60s pop flair. The album is short and sweet, cramming in 12 songs in just over 20 minutes.The Younger Lovers use vocals that blur the line between poetry and banter, similar to Television Personalities with simplistic instrumentals to support this experimental vocal vibe. They have certainly polished their sound to near perfection within their last three albums. We’re very into this new release!

Sugar in My Pocket covers themes of love, heartbreak and existential crisis all in a short period of time. Some tracks that stand out are: Hey Now, The Man From Orange, the cleverly titled I Can’t (Kim) Deal With It and the last song on the album, My Tears Are Wasted (So Am I). Even as some of the song’s subject matter can appear bleak, Purnell maintains his popcentric composure throughout it all.

The Younger Lovers play TONIGHT at the Night Light in Oakland with Mattress, Dubais and Gray Lawns. –Erin Dage

Come check out local garage-psyche rockers The Spyrals who will be sharing the bill with Cool Ghouls, Unstrung and the L.A. based band, Santoros this Friday at The Brick and Mortar Music Hall! If you’re a fan of vintage rock and roll, psychedelic guitar freak-outs and an intense amount of reverb, then we implore you check out this heavy garage rock line up. The Spyrals are bringing a new batch of tight, melodic garage rock songs reminiscent of 60’s acts like The Sonics and 13th Floor Elevators. No strangers to a good old-fashioned feedback jam, The Spyrals also know how to bring raw energy to a live performance and are sure to put on a kick ass show. –Ethan Varian