The U.S. expat Mr. Jones sews up album of the year honors by track one, after jogging barefoot through hell to conclude "Stains are my nationality." As kickoffs go, it’s as dramatic as the The Queen is Dead‘s title track — apt, since he name-checks Morrissey. From there, Chatterton traverses Cure-like goth, Marley Marl-ready rap, contemporary Euro techno … and Fleetwood Mac? "The Cockpit" is a Cabaret Voltaire-meets-Giorgio Moroder minimal epic from the perspective of a plane crash’s ungrateful sole survivor. The final lines of "Pompadour" are genius.
My favorite Jan Jelinek endeavor since 2005’s Kosmischer Pitch (~scape), which inspired this 200 GB "live" collaboration. It all grows wonderfully spooky with "Great Art Where You Least Expect It" and "Anyone Care for a Drink?" Yes, Groupshow has a way with a song title. The overall conceit’s as strong as Jelinek’s discovery of Ursula Bogner, though not as labored.
Text and photos by Ariel Soto. Read Marke B.’s take on Boy in Static’s single “Young San Francisco” here
Alexander Chen
Newish to the San Francisco music scene, Boy in Static already has a fledgling following. Only one of the duo could make it, but Bottom of the Hill on Wednesday, May 6, Alexander Chen used everything from a violin, ankle bells and a toy piano to play pieces that expressed both joy and melancholy.
Oh, the transient grunts and groans of the dance floor: Just got word yesterday that the eagerly awaited appearance of disco progenitor Nicky Siano at Paradise Lounge has been cancelled — my deep throat tells me there were sound and venue concerns (although I love the ‘Dise!). In any case, there’s plenty of other things to hold your ear-nterest and get you bangin’ this weekend. Besides my rundown in this week’s Super Ego column, below are some more earth shakers and affairs.
———–
He loves me, he loves me not
Wanna spoon?
I had absolutely no idea that those little plastics coffee spoons from McDonald’s were banned because of illicit uses (or perceived one, anyway.) You’d think after all this time, plastic + noses = OK. But no. In any case, snort in luxurious style with the unveiling of a perfect publicity stunt: renowned hip mens’ clothiers and artists Ju$t Another Rich Kid, Nice Collective, Terence Koh, and more have designed cute, exclusive, and most likely expensive little Bolivian helpers (watch that terrorism funding!). They’ll be giving the dish at Harput’s from 6pm-9pm tonight (expect beautiful people), and then there’ll be a kiki afterparty at Triple Crown. Don’t try to force your way into the stalls. It’s all called “He loves me, he loves me not” which brings to mind a kinky game somehow.
Local future blap fave raves Lazer Sword are back from their whirlwind Euro tour with an uptempo live set to get you moving, supported by Bay man of intrinsic deep dance knowledge, Mophono at, yes, the Paradise. Put ’em up and get down, child — and let’s see if those speakers still work.
Why, yes, I DO host a wet jock strap contest. Come down to Bus Station John’s retro bathhouse disco monthly, The Rod, at Deco this Friday around midnight and see me and Hunky Beau scare up a willing and wet bevy of gorgeous, unclad alternaqueer boys — and see who’ll win $100. (No muscle queens need apply, thanks.) Then stay and dance until 3am to the best disco you’ve only ever heard sampled in other songs before. It’s fun and a little scary: frisson alert!
Fri/8, 10pm-3am, $7. Deco, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com
In addition to making music, Christopher Willits is a guiding force behind the art and experimental music site Overlap (www.overlap.org). In conjunction with Overlap’s next event, I caught up with him by e-mail.
SFBGWhat was it like to collaborate with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Ocean Fire (12k, 2008)?
Christopher Willits It was surreal. We fell into an oceanic trance, and a bunch of music suddenly emerged. Then a Godzilla-like sea monster morphed out of his piano and he vaporized it with his max patch.
SFBGYou’ve also worked with Brad Laner of Medicine. Are you an admirer of that (ahead-of-its-time) band?
CW Medicine [had] a mind-splittingly original sound — it was a soundtrack to many high school adventures. Now it’s an absolute joy to be friends with Mr. Laner. Together we are the varsity band members (guitar I and II) of the North Valley Subconscious Orchestra. We’re aiming for nationals next year.
SFBG What do you like about the Bay Area’s close proximity to the ocean?
CW The smell of fresh wind, and dreams of flying great white sharks.
SFBGI saw a fave list of yours once that had Magma, the Carpenters’ "Close to You" and Sun Ra’s Lanquidity on it. Who is inspiring or obsessing you at present?
CW That is a timeless list — can I say them again? Let’s add Morton Subotnick, Wild Bull (www.merlindarts.com), all Eliane Radigue, all Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, and that band that plays at El Rio on Sunday night.
SFBGYou recently toured in China, including a performance with images on ice. What did you discover?
CW I discovered a resilient community of artists and experimental musicians pushing against the grain (and firewall) of this mammoth country or force. They understand my history and what I’m doing — another win for Chinese bootlegs? I also found some of the best food ever: huajiao (flower pepper) with asparagus! But hold the boiled big brains. Those I’m definitely not into.
LISTEN/VISION 06 With Christopher Willits, Taylor Deupree, and Classical Revolution. Sun/10, 8 p.m., $10. Café Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016. www.overlap.org.
Quality bangover: the gloriously painful aftermath that results after a night of heavy headbanging to brutal bass drum runs and diabolic guitar solos, characterized by roaring tinnitus, aching neck muscles, bruises and scrapes from slamming and stomping into others, as well as stiff hands from gratuitous handing and devil horn-throwing.
This was my condition when I woke up the next morning, ringing ears and all, after witnessing the merciless onslaught of the Kreator and Exodus show at Slim’s on Tuesday, April 28. Except I wasn’t brave enough to enter the roiling whirlpool of 200-pound man-bodies, because a lot more than bruises and scrapes would have gone down, especially as Kreator vocalist-guitarist Mille Petrozza repeatedly and ravenously commanded the audience to “kill each other in the mosh pit.”
In a rhapsodic homecoming performance that surely sated the entire pantheon of thrash metal gods, San Francisco’s legendary sons Exodus played faster and harder than any band half their age and challenged their fans, both young and old, to act accordingly.
What can I say? I’m cute and often clueless — and as attested below I’m perpetually on Spring Break. In the print edition of my Super Ego column in this week’s Guardian I mistakenly put the DirtyBird Pajama Jam down for Saturday, when in fact it’s Friday at Mezzanine. Full and correct preview below. Somebody spank me!
Wig out to J. Phlip on Friday night, download her 2008 !@#$%^& mix (which I’m still wrapping my head around) here.
DIRTYBIRD PAJAMA JAM
Ha ha ha, I feel so spring break. Famed local techno label Dirty Bird matches its goofy sensibility with a no-slumber party, bunny slippers and all. DJs Claude VonStroke, Worthy, Justin and Christian Martin, and up-and-comer J. Phlip bring the post-minimal hijinks, you bring the stripy drawers and stuffed E.T. dolls.
In the 1960s Booker T. and the MG’s served as Stax/Volt’s house band, much like the Funk Brothers were for Motown. Playing alongside Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and the Staple Singers, among others, they beat Love and also Sly and the Family Stone to the racially-integrated rock-band punch. It was 1962’s "Green Onions" on the Memphis-based soul label that put them on the map. The song’s recent omnipresence at sporting events has given it a bit of a "jock jam" tag, but it isn’t tarnished completely.
Today Booker T. Jones is letting his signature Hammond organ sound sing alongside "the Great Lady of Soul," Bettye LaVette. After hearing her humbling rendition of the Who’s "Love Reign O’er Me" at that group’s Kennedy Center Honors, I knew LaVette’s tag was legit. Even Barbra Streisand — in attendance that night — recognized it. She turned to Pete Townshend in disbelief, asking if he’d really written that song.
Bettye Lavette, “Love Reign O’er”
LaVette gives the rock opera ballad a gut-wrenching, soulful treatment. She owns it.
For most of her career, the Detroit native has struggled, but she’s steadily built an audience, touring with late legends including James Brown and a young Mr. Pitiful along the way. LaVette’s had one-off singles released by Atlantic and Motown. It seems she is finally getting her due, having had the honor of dueting on a song at President Obama’s inauguration ceremony — even if it was with Jon Bon Jovi.
Now LaVette’s career has paralleled Booker T’s. Both are signed to Anti- Records. Booker’s new album for the label, Potato Hole, features Neil Young and includes a playful version of Outkast’s "Hey Ya," Expect covers aplenty — and some surprises, too — from this bill’s soulful one-two punch.
BOOKER T. AND BETTYE LAVETTE Fri/8, 8 p.m. Independent, 628 Divisadero, 415-771-1421. www.theindependentsf.com
Rain-day women, overcast men – it’s drizzling all over SF, but the music keeps coming. Here are more worthy shows than we could drip into print.
Brilliant Colors
The SF trio surfs the latest wave of girlish lo-fi pop with sweet, primal punchiness. With Abe Vigoda, High Castle, and No Babies. Wed/6. 8 p.m., $7. 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakl. www.21grand.org
Myka 9
Everyone seems to be borrowing from the rapid-fire Freestyle Fellowship fella, who has lent a hand to performers like Busdriver and Prefuse 73. Thurs/7, 9 p.m., $15. Independent, 628 Divisadero, S.F. (415) 771-1422.
Wherein Marke B. does go on about dance music past and present. View the previous Nite Trax here.
In the current issue of the Guardian, I have a little devilish fun with white labels and tell a few possibly apocryphal tales of foundational electronic music label Warp Records‘ genesis. Before I multimedially augment that article a bit, here’s a spectral white label that really calls up the toe-tingling ghost of the unknown in my third ear:
Reese, “Power Bass”
The 1990 white label rumbler above, whose B-side apparently played inside out, was produced by Detroit techno god Kevin “Master Reese” Saunderson — he later released it under his E-Dancer guise. (When I hung with Kevin at last year’s Detroit Electronic Music Festival, I believe he was drinking Black Label, however.)
My own former prize possession white label turned out to be “The Green Man” by Shut Up and Dance that I snagged from Detroit’s amazing Buy Rite Records in ’round 1991– somehow an unlabelled test press had found it’s way from London and into my bin. Below is a vid of a promo copy version. Warning: Never, ever, let go of your records. I could retire a bit if I had this slice of vinyl on me now ….
Shut Up and Dance, “The Green Man”
Thank you, magic of youtube. OK, then … Warp Records. It’s their 20th this year, and in a typically nifty yet slightly desperation-whiffy marketing gimmick, you can vote online for your favorite Warp tracks to be included in their forthcoming anniversary comp.
Talk about an unrelenting burst of creativity: San Francisco indie rock band Loquat will be going for broke with its May residency at Cafe du Nord. Vocalist-guitarist Kylee Swenson told me the group is attempting to make each show special, with visuals arranged by the mysterious Kernel Panic, special guests like Raul Sanchez of Penny Arcade, and special DJs like Ted of BAGel Radio. “I just hope it works!” she said by phone. “It could be a total disaster!” As we spoke, Loquat was still tweaking the blend of performers and stage sets.
The group hasn’t been slacking on working on music, either: it has 20 songs written for its next full-length – though don’t expect Loquat to share its latest tunes yet. “We’re still in the incubator stage,” Swenson explained.
A legend in his own right, Ian McLagan was an integral part of the 1960s British mod band Small Faces. In 1965, shortly after the group’s inception, he was brought in as a keyboardist. Before an inevitable move towards full-blown psychedelia, (see 1967’s classic “Itchycoo Park” and “Here Come the Nice”) the East Londoners were Britain’s answer to Stax and Motown’s hard-driving soul and R&B. They did straightforward, no-frills covers of Otis Redding (“Shake”) and Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (“You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”) for Decca before a move to more experimental territory at ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate label.
Since 1977, McLagan’s played with his Bump Band, starred on Austin City Limits (in a town he now calls home), opened for the Stones on one of their latter-day tours, and perhaps more notably, performed as part of Billy Bragg’s band. To be young and fashionable in swingin’ sixties London. McLagan lived the life.
IAN MCLAGAN AND THE BUMP BAND
Tues/5, 8 p.m., $20
Red Devil Lounge
1695 Polk, SF
(415) 447-4730
"The music on this CD is fully 100 percent Analog — NO COMPUTER BULLSHIT PROGRAMS." With this liner note proclamation, Detroit’s Omar S makes a strong case that, here in the 21st century, analog is the new acoustic when it comes to authenticity. His contribution to the Fabric mix series is all-original, just like Ricardo Villalobos’. Would it be sacrilege to say that, save for a wack vocal two, it smokes the Villalobos? Motor City techno still rolls.
What role do labels have in the world of music today? I recently put that question and four others to a number of people, including Chris Manak (aka Peanut Butter Wolf), of the hip-hop mainstay Stones Throw Records, and Joakim Haugland of Norway’s Smalltown Supersound, home to Lindstrøm and to S.F.’s Tussle. The fact that their answers could be so different yet not in opposition or disagreement says something about the versatile love of music that powers smaller labels.
SFBGWhat meaning do you think a label has today? CHRIS MANAK, STONES THROW A label definitely means something different now than it did before, but people seem to attach a certain meaning to my label, so we’re still doing OK. There are some artists who have played on big stages at Coachella without having a label, and others who’ve been on the cover of magazines (or cover of MySpace) with no label or not even more than a song or two recorded, so it goes to show that some artists can achieve “success” and get fans on the strength of having a strong image and a catchy song. JOAKIM HAUGLAND, SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND I think labels today are even more important, as one needs to be more creative these days and a creative label can be very important for a band or an artist. In my opinion, running a label is an artform. I am in general a label fan and have read most books available about the good indie labels like Elektra, Impulse, Creation, Rough Trade, Factory and so on. When you read these books you also understand that it’s all about the music and that there are strong and creative personalities behind these labels. Most of the time they’re crazy music- obsessive people. Amid all the chaos of drugs and madness at Creation Records, they also put out some of the best albums ever.
With digital distribution and illegal downloading, I think it is important for labels to be creative. It is easier and cheaper to reach out to your audience now with the Internet, but one also has to be smart.
Peanut Butter Wolf as a wolf The cover of Lindstrøm’s Where You Go I Go Too, on Smalltown Supersound
The debut full-length from the Portland, Ore., ear-splitters is at least 80 percent familiar to ‘Fang fiends who own the band’s EPs. No matter: tracks like “Bird on Fire” and “Prehistoric Dog” are blistering rock ‘n’ metal jams that never get old.
Ancient Canadian glam-slam heroes Anvil, the touching Spinal Tap of our times who have a critic-ecstatic doc about them (Anvil! The Story of Anvil) out at the moment, will be PERFORMING LIVE at the Bridge Theater this Sunday after two sure-to-be-raucous screening of said doc. Here’s Cheryl Eddy’s review of the film:
Screw you if you compare Anvil to Spinal Tap. Yeah, there are moments of eerie similarity (and Anvil’s drummer is named Robb Reiner — how’s that for a coincidence?), but this heartfelt doc (first seen locally at last year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival) doesn’t mock. Friends and bandmates since the early 1980s — when Bon Jovi-level success seemed nearly possible — Reiner and vocalist-lead guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow have been chasing the rock god dream their entire adult lives, toiling at day jobs and raising families but leaping at every chance to capture glory, be it a poorly planned European tour or an emotional trip back to the recording studio. Even if you scoff at hair bands, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in this tale of success, failure, and power chords. And with no less than Lars Ulrich calling Anvil “the real deal,” there’s no need to, uh, smell the glove.
This week’s Guardian features a trio of stories devoted to the state and meaning of music labels today. In compiling my piece, I contacted a number of labels who put out music I love, and asked them five questions. Below, find answers and jokes from Mike Schulman, head of the Bay Area indie pop mainstay Slumberland Records, and David Thrussell of Omni Recording Corporation, a reissue endeavor that sports a handsome pic of silver fox incarnate Lorne Greene on its homepage. I’ve long loved the trend-defying Slumberland and am happy to see it riding high thanks to acclaimed albums by Crystal Stilts and Pains of Being Pure at Heart (whose “Young Adult Friction” is in the running for my favorite song of 2009). As for Omni, it has brought the underrated electronic pioneer Bruce Haack to new generations of listeners, put out a drop dead gorgeous Anita Carter collection, and recently released the compellingly dodgy compilation Plantation Gold.
SFBG What meaning do you think a label has today? MIKE SCHULMAN, SLUMBERLAND RECORDS Well, it depends on the sector of music. For mainstream music, it’s clear that labels are struggling as artists seek alternate revenue streams, and as sales of music itself continue to dwindle. For non-mainstream music, though, I think labels are as important as ever. With the increasing fragmentation and atomization of genres/scenes/markets, consumers rely on labels as a curatorial enterprise, a shorthand signifier for what they’re into and a useful tool to help sort through the mountain of new music. DAVID THRUSSELL, OMNI RECORDING Please forgive me, I’m not trying to be contrary, but I just don’t care that much about record labels. They (ourselves included!) are just a means to an end. The end being the music.
At Omni, we are a bit nutty about fine but dramatically under-appreciated music. There is so much great music buried and/or hidden in the past, why bother with the present? It’s more fun to lift forgotten old rocks and see what slithers and slides underneath than bother with this week’s parade of the latest empty-headed posers.The cult of “new” always being best is a dangerous fallacy.
Cover of debut album by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, on Slumberland Records Cover of The Electric Lucifer by Bruce Haack, reissued by Omni Recording Corporation
SFBG What are your favorite labels for newer artists, and your favorites for reissues? SLUMBERLAND For new stuff: Mojuba, Siltbreeze, Perlon, Hyperdub, Sound Signature, In The Red. For reissues: Honest Jons, Soundway, Soul Jazz, Pressure Sounds. OMNI I’ve pretty much given up on contemporary music. I generally find it shallow and uninteresting (with the odd exception). Am I sounding grumpy today? Sorry.
I do have a lot of enthusiasm for quite a few re-issue labels. They include: Digitmovies, an Italian label releasing top-shelf Italian film scores from the 1960s-1970s — generally “exploitation” soundtracks, which as everybody knows, are the best; Avanz, a Japanese label filling a similar niche; Pet Records, which released the essential Soft Sounds For Gentle People series; Trunk Records, purveyor of strange artifacts from the back of Auntie’s closet — that’s how we like it.
Entertain whatever stereotypes you will about tango as a relic of an openly macho era: tango in San Francisco is alive. Okay, and kicking.
You might envision a wacky, tacky ballroom competition — but not so rapido says Tango No. 9’s founder and violinist Catharine Clune, whose explorations over the last decade have unearthed what she calls "the many faces of tango." With trombonist Greg Stephens, pianist Joshua Raoul Brody, accordionist Isabel Douglass, and newest member Zoltan Lundy singing the Argentine blues, Tango No. 9 revels in tango’s many approaches to music, to dancing, and to life. And it’s not alone. "There’s an underground squadron of tango dancers, ranging from their 20s to their 60s," Clune says. "You can dance tango every night in the Bay Area. It’s in these crazy little back rooms you didn’t know existed, and that’s where we’ve practiced our chops." As social dancing, which she notes hasn’t been a mainstream American cultural movement since the ’50s, tango is "something people seem to want."
Professional dancers will be on hand at Noe Valley Ministry to perform the sultry moves, but if you only ogle los bailarines, you’ll miss half the fun, or half the pain. "If you can lose anything, from a horse race to a heart, they talk about it," Clune says of the moving and theatrical side of tango’s songs — for listening, not just getting down at the local milonga. In a set that traverses the genre, from its roots to the obscure late works of Astor Piazzola, the group performs the first "sentimental" tango, Carlos Gardel’s inspirational rendition of Pascual Contursi and Samuel Castriota’s "Mi Noche Triste," which set fire to an international phenomenon mourning lost love and tragedy. Like, Lundy says, "being left by a woman who was also your prostitute."
TANGO NO. 9 Sat/2, 8:15 p.m., $16-$18. Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez, SF. (415) 282-2317. www.tangonumber9.com
“Fuck macarena, we sun dance on that ass.” Absolutely digging the breezy flow, witty U-turns, and stellar executive production by Big Dan on the Oakland rap quartet‘s new release (pronounced “brown buffalo” if you didn’t know). The Jay-Z-like undertow brings some lush instrumentation and vibrant, retro-feel samplescapes into the mix, but these Latin lowdowners aren’t afraid to screw around with some electro-wacky nintendo samples (“Big Sir”) and even some Swisher-tips to hyphy. Best of all, though they ride hard on Chicano culture props and a dash of welcome positivity and humor, the exhilaratingly versatile skills of Giant, Jacinto, Somos One, and Big Dan launch this one out of the identity-rap rut into the “that shit’s smokin'” stratosphere. The disc is plainly a labor of love; live they should be something else. The new album officially drops on 5/5 (Cinco de Mayo, natch) — details about this weekend’s big release party below.
BRWN BFLO, “The Reappearance” sampler
BRWN BFLO
Album release party
Sat/2, 9pm, $8/$13
The Uptown
1928 Telegraph Ave www.uptownnightclub.com
In the mid-late 1990s there was a mini-movement in Northwest punk and indie rock of bands keeping it together by seeing therapists. The trend reached Cali crossover status or lameness — depending on your perspective — when Metallica made a whole movie about the value of their shrink. Now SoCal noise vets the Locust have brought some new life to the idea by a consulting a novel counselor: Jerry Springer.
I’d tell you more about these Jerry Springer Show clips if my work computer was capable of showing them at something other than Ben Hur epic length. For now, I’ll have to go with second-hand info from my friend NB, who told my other half that the theme is gay-or-bi-on-tour shenanigans. Prank, truth, or prank with some grains of truth? Depends on who you ask. The Locust: giving new meaning to the term San Diego Zoo!
Babes in Ty land: Ty Segall messes with ya as part of Total Trash Weekend.
By Kimberly Chun
Bay rap vets and raucous rock sprats – it all goes splat this week. I’m guessing you’ll find plenty of trouble to get into – and musical artistry to appreciate – when you’re not busy downing scrump-dilly-icious (and cheap!) pastor tacos at the Gallo Giro taco truck at 23rd and Treat.
Goapele
Oakland’s own draws the curtain on new music: check her site for the spanking, sinuous “Milk + Honey.” With Cody Chestnutt. Fri/1, 9 p.m., $27. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1422.
Zion-I
This is the weekend Bay hip-hop stages The TakeOver. The local twosome takes it to another level in honor of its new long-player. With Kev Choice Ensemble and Trackademicks and the Honor Roll. Fri/1, 9 p.m., $19-$23. Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF. (415) 522-0333.
One of my favorite clubs, Afrolicious, the afro-beat/Nuyorican/Brazilian/funk/disco/global weekly hosted by cute (very cute) brothers Senor Oz and Pleasuremaker, is celebrating two years of sterling service to the eager dance floor community with a double-header this week featuring NYC’s Nickodemus and Nappy G. of the legendary decade-old Turntables on the Hudson party — a formidable happening that every year I cry my eyes out for not being able to make. My East Coast friends then laugh in my face. Well, ha ha to them, I’ve got Afrolicious every week, now with Nick and Napp.
Nickodemus, “Give the Drummer Some”
As per usual, there’ll be smoking live percussion (man, I love me some bongos on the dance floor — old EndUp RIP) and a room packed with beautiful — but not that icky kind of beautiful — people not afraid to get sweaty and down. (Check out the tunes and vids here if you want a taste.)
Won’t you join me, shantytown butterfly?
AFROLICIOUS TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Thu/30: DJ Nickodemus and Smash, live drums by Nappy G
Fri/1: Pleasuremaker Live Band, DJs Nickodemus, Chris Nicholson, and Nappy G.
9pm, $7/$10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
The Norway-to-our-Bay connection is strong in this group, which bridges Bergen and San Francisco. No cosmic disco, though: Simone Rubi plays chanteuse over pop arrangements. The result never reaches the Cardigans’ sublimity, but it matches the warmth of Lois and Marine Girls.
"Less is more" sucks; "more is more" rules. Maybe that’s just the indulgent kid in me talking, but it hasn’t stopped me from incessantly barking my musical wet dream over a bullhorn to anyone with ears: more fuzz, grit, and grime; more sweat; more eyeballs rolling back into heads; more microphones in mouths. Then one day, Christmas came early. Hark! The herald angels sing. Someone heard these ardent desires and delivered to me a glittering layer cake of wondrous noise — a megabill starring garage kingpins Thee Oh Sees, incognito feedback wizards Mayyors, and lo-fi clamor popsters Nodzzz.
This Bay Area-baked rock ‘n’ roll show might reduce any holier-than-thou longhair into a hapless fanboy or girl — while still maintaining that hip exterior, of course. But that’s okay. You’ll get over pretending you’re cool, because you’ll soon be quoting the wise words of Britney Spears, yelling "Gimme gimme more" in reflex to the spectacle of visceral, adrenochrome-addled power. Like when Mayyors’ caged-animal vocalist John Pritchard lets loose his devilish yawps; or when ax-wielder Chris Woodhouse’s dirty, torrential licks get ghoulish; or when Oh Sees’ guitarist Petey Dammit hones in on a laser-cut groove and won’t let go; or when the Nodzzz boys brazenly wail "Is she there? Is she there?" over swooning, sun-lit strums; or when, or when, or when….
More is more: when it rains it pours.
THEE OH SEES, MAYYORS, NODZZZ With Sunny and the Sunsets. Wed/29, 8 p.m., $5. El Rincon, 2700 16th Street, SF. (415) 437-9240. www.elrinconsf.com>.
