Band of the Week

Localized Appreesh: A B & the Sea

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

You already know A B & the Sea, right? The creamy surf pop act last year released the perfect summer pop song and matching video – “In the Sunshine” – all hand-holding, first kisses, and  beach frolicking.  And earlier that year, the band played Noise Pop again, amid a sea of punks before Ted Leo.

Well now, it’s basically summer 2012 (we have to make up seasons ’round these parts) and the band has just released its newest contribution to our cultural zeitgeist, the full-length Constant Vacation.  Produced by Wallpaper and Jim Fairchild, and full of bouncy, beachy harmonies, it’s got that infectious aforementioned “Sunshine” single plus more contenders for song of the summer (“California Feeling”). There’s got to be a frozen cherry Popsicle we can split around here somewhere.

And you know what happens next right? The requisite, much ballyhooed album release party.  Check ’em out in post-release bliss headlining the Great American Music Hall this week.  You know you want to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7mVeiYCy5c

Year and location of origin: 2008 Oshkosh, WI.

Band name origin: the cleverly brothers.

Band motto: constant vacation

Description of sound in 10 words or less: cruisin’ the pacific banger highway; no rearview, no destination.

Instrumentation: vocal harmonies and sunshine.

Most recent release: new record Constant Vacation record release show May 3rd at Great American Music Hall. No…not Six Flags Great America…maybe next time.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: the babes.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: nonsense.

First album purchased: Coolio, Gangstas Paradise cassette.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Miniature Tigers, Mia Pharaoh.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Mission Cheese ched or die sammy. So scrummy…

A B & the Sea
With Tommy and the High Pilots, Yellow Red Sparks
Thu/3, 8pm, $15
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
www.slimspresents.com

Localized Appreesh: Street Eaters

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

There are plenty of socially constructed gender division duos out there in pop music (Matt and Kim, Mates of State et. al.). One boy, one girl, how cute, blah blah blah. Street Eaters – bassist John Mink of Fleshies and drummer Megan March of the Younger Lovers – needn’t worry about such fluff. In fact, they don’t seem to busy themselves with any sort of fluff, mainstream expectations or extra, unnecessary background instrumentation.

The East Bay act makes minimalist, yet noisy punk with great sing-along potential (they both sing) – and they seem to have a sense of humor about it all (check the video for “Useless Eyes” below). The result is two distinct voices rising over thick, distorted bass lines and tight, hard-hitting drumming. Punk that’s bounce-worthy.

Tonight, Tuesday, Street Eaters open for Burger Records’ Audacity and touring headliners Screaming Females. Skateboard to the show and get there early.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBV4rFAhf6o

Year and location of origin: 2008, Berkeley, Calif.

Band name origin: A coffee-induced hallucination in which a huge monster starts terrorizing the land, eating streets until stuffed then falling asleep on the last BART train and waking up in Pittsburg/Bay Point.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Secret Punk. Abrasive euphoria. Minimalism, maximized. Lyrics with meaning. Basement.

Instrumentation: Megan – drums, singing … John – bass, singing.

Most recent release: “Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons” our first LP on Bakery Outlet and Plan-it X Records

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Seeing your friends from around the country when they tour here. Perspective is hard on this one because we both have lived in the East Bay pretty much our entire lives.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Getting stuck in traffic on the way to a show.

First album purchased: We each bought a couple albums at the same time for our first purchases: REM (Out Of Time), Devo (Freedom Of Choice), Breeders (Last Splash), Metallica (Master Of Puppets). Who bought what shall remain a mystery.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: The new Screaming Females record!

Favorite dish: Revenge (served cold).

Street Eaters
With Screaming Females, Audacity
Tue/24, 8pm, $10
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17 St., SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

Localized Appreesh: Grandma’s Boyfriend

Tony Robles
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1

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Not only does San Francisco punk act Grandma’s Boyfriend have the best name ever, but the group took it upon itself to add its own questions to the Localized Appreesh survey. Truly, a band after my own heart.

While it doesn’t have any shows this week (check back in early May for a house show in Oakland, and a show June 7 at Knockout, plus July 3 at El Rio), Grandma’s Boyfriend is celebrating a milestone: the release of brand new six-song seven-inch EP on Loglady Records, which can be downloaded here.

It’s agile power pop/snot-punk joy, the Romantics meet FYP, with darker lyrical themes straddling anxiety, fear, love, and redemption. Check out the EP, then check out their answers below.  Just make sure to hide the octogenarians.

Year and location of origin: Grandma’s Boyfriend (originally RubberThumbFoolAroundRachelSweat) formed in San Francisco in October 2009. George joined summer 2010. Thea joined in February 2012. We are all San Francisco natives.

Band name origin: While visiting a friend of ours’ parents, that said friend asked us if we’d met her grandma’s boyfriend. We said “no.”

Band motto: “Fuck if I know.” That’s what it is.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Rock ‘n’ roll sensori.

Instrumentation: Mike: rhythm guitar and vox; Malcolm: drums; George: bass and vox; Thea: lead guitar

Most recent release: Our self-titled seven-inch. For some reason a lot of them are about getting killed and lost love and girls that just take things too far. It’s being released on Loglady Records later this month (pre-orders up now!!!).

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: The fog.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Bands that form in San Francisco and then move to New York and still try to claim SF.
Interesting tour story: While touring in Japan two summers ago, we arranged to take an overnight bus from Yokohama to Kobe. One of the bands we just played with in Yokohama took us out for “all you can drink” at some restaurant. After drinking and eating for two hours, we were in a rush to get to our bus before it left. Our new friends kept assuring us there was a bathroom on board. There wasn’t. We tried to sleep it off because we weren’t sure when we’d get to a rest stop. I remember waking up in the back row of the bus in the pouring rain to George pissing into a water bottle between Malcolm and myself.

First album ever purchased: Mike: It’s Time to See Who’s Who, Conflict; Malcolm: Rocket to Russia, Ramones; George: Bad Hair Day, Weird Al; Thea: Nevermind, Nirvana

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Mike: Slave to Love, Symbolick Jews; Malcolm: I vacuumed the floor at Recycled Records for a Smashing Pumpkins tape; George: A copy of Born in the USA Mike found in a box of tapes; Thea: Received a mixtape from a friend of Reigning Sound, True Widow, and the Parting Gifts

What do you see when you look in the mirror?: Mike: Catholic guilt; Malcolm: I’m not answering this. This is question is dumb; George: Fuck if I know; Thea: Solitude, tranquility and balance

Favorite local eatery and dish: Mike: Golden Era – everything; Malcolm: El Castillito on Church & Duboce – burrito; George: Brother’s Pizza – pizza; Thea: El Toro – baby super prawn burrito, no lettuce, no tomato!

Localized Appreesh: The Buttercream Gang

Tony Robles
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5
Localized Appreesh: The Buttercream Gang

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

The Buttercream Gang is pretty much based on good deeds. That is, the San Francisco-based, Napa-born group initially formed as a loosely defined do-gooder crew (read all about that below) and this week, it does another mitzvah: the band will play a benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank at CELLspace.

The Gang’s music is feel-good as well, a playful mix of upbeat sun-soaked California indie pop with jangly guitar, jumpy African inspired percussion, and multi-part harmonies. There’s even some sax in there – the ultimate party instrument, at least, according to ’80s movies. Sonically, it’s somewhat in line with pals (and fellow Localized Appreesh-ers) Waterstrider, and has gained a few worthy comparisons to the likes of Vampire Weekend and others leading the celebrated Afro-pop charge.

So now that you’re versed, lick the sugary frosting off your lips, because it’s Buttercream Gang time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKE1VQYrCWM

Year and location of origin: We formed in a garage in Napa in 2003. We had a different name then and were just a cover band. About a year and a half later we were writing original music and changed our name (for better or for worse) to The Buttercream Gang. Our first show was on New Years, we played Devo’s “Whip It”.

Band name origin: The Buttercream Gang was a movie that our group of friends thought was really funny in high school. We formed our own real life version of The Buttercream Gang and did a couple half-assed good deeds, in imitation of the protagonists of the film. We decided on The Buttercream Gang because, in a weird way, we see playing music as the good deed that we supply to listeners.

Band motto: We make ya move an twist with the flick of a wrist.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Infantile adults dancing aimlessly to the sounds of the world.

Instrumentation: Pete Davies, Bobby Renz, Robinson Kuntz, and added to the band in 2011 for our album release were Max Bonick and Alex Garcia. We are all multi-instrumentalists and rotate around drums, guitars, bass, organ, keys, percussion, vocals, saxophone.

Most recent release: Our third full length album, Polite Men. Working towards releasing new material by the end of summer.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: There are many good bands to be inspired by.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Getting noticed amongst so many good bands.

First album ever purchased: Pete: Kris Kross – Totally Krossed Out; Bob: Green Day – Dookie cassette tape; Robinson: MC Hammer – Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em; Max – Beastie Boys – License to Ill.
Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Pete: Tanlines – Mixed Emotions; Bob: Chantells – Waiting in the Park ; Rob: Wye Oak – Civilian ; Max: Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Rip, Rig, Panic.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Pete: French Laundry; Bob & Robinson: San Tung’s Dry Fried Chicken Wings; Max: The pastor burritos from Tacos Labamba in Sonoma
 
Vupes, Vulpes – a Silverfox Concert for Good
With the Buttercream Gang, Mahgeetah, Sun Life
Thu/12, 7pm, Use the code “SFBG” for $20 entry (50% off), includes open bar
CELLspace
2050 Bryant, SF
vulpesvulpes.eventbrite.com

And just for kicks, here’s some clips from the direct-to-video movie that inspired the band name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOWW-r0AWr8

Localized Appreesh: Love Songs

Tony Robles
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5
Localized Appreesh: Love Songs

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Love Songs, a long-running SF band with high-five worthy metal riffs, is party punk at its funnest. Here, the wailing guitars meet lead singer Craig Ums’ (also of What Happens Next?) classic pop punk holler a la Descendents’ Milo with a mildly Jello Biafra-ish flair for live theatrics.

The whole package is loud, spazzy skate-the-pool, fuck-the-rules backyard/basement thrills (see: “Thrillhouse” lyrics “We belong in the basement”).  See also: the band’s 2007 seven-inch single “Hot Buns,” said to be the “sequel to the theme of the sequel to Top Gun.” See? It’s long been destined for good things.

And yet Love Songs has had a sparse couple of years (with guitarist Jackson splitting, and the band playing just a few shows in in 2011). But it’s back, with a brand new addition, (Frank, who they describe as “a shredder and a super nice guy”) and ready to split open the Knockout tonight. It should be a night of firsts: the unveiling of the formidable Frank, the first time you read this column and head directly to a bar, perhaps your first ice cream sandwich of the week? I don’t know you, I don’t know what you’re getting into.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0hF6g6awPI

Year and location of origin: Born in 1999 on unincorporated land in the hills separating the east bay from even east-er bay. Also, down the street from Jason Newstead.

Band name origin: Why not just warn people out of the gates that they’re about to get motherfucking lite-rocked?

Band motto: Hard and soft.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: We dig bands starting with D – Descendents, Dickies, Damned, DEVO…

Instrumentation: drums, bass, 2 guitars, “singing.”

Most recent release: Time Off – a 5-song EP with lots of guitar solos but fewer scatological references than usual. Available through www.thelovesongs.com.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: We’re in good company and there are always shows to play/go to.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Having to compete with so many good shows all the time.

First album ever purchased: Midnight Star No Parking On My Dancefloor.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Weird Al Yankovic Alpocalypse.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Zachary’s deep dish pizza with jalapenos and pineapple.

Love Songs
With People’s Temple, Tall Timbers
Tue/3, 8:30pm, $6
Knockout
3223 Mission, SF
www.theknockoutsf.com

Localized Appreesh: Bang Data

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Bang Data

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

The duo behind Bang Data has long been moving and shaking in the Bay Area music scene: MC Deuce Eclipse has worked with Oakland hip-hop act Zion I, while musician-producer Juan Manuel Caipo is engulfed in the local Latin alternative music scene.

So then it comes as a surprise to find that newest release, La Sopa, is actually Bang Data’s debut full-length. The album – which blends a hyper, thrilling mix of samba, hip-hop, and ska with Latin beats – was released digitally March 13, and the hard copy dropped today.

Perhaps even more thrilling – and totally fitting – the single “Bang Data” (also the band’s EP, Maldito Carnaval) was featured on pulse-quickening meth drama, Breaking Bad. To celebrate all this, after years of hard work, the band will play an album release party at Elbo Room this week. Get shaking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIuXmgesbUg

Year and location of origin: 2008 Bay Area.

Band name origin: It came from describing our sound: hard hitting music with a message.

Band motto: Think out of the box.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Like a soup of styles – Latin, Alternative, Hip Hop, Afro Electro.

Instrumentation: Drums, Beats, Guitar, Synths, Trumpet, Bass, Vocals – it could be anything.

Most recent release: La Sopa.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Living in the Bay Area.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Not enough spots for live music.

First album ever purchased: Deuce: Fat Boys; Caipo: Cheap Trick at Budokan.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Black Keys: El Camino & Canteca de Macao (Spain)

Favorite local eatery and dish: Deuce: Los Toros in the East Bay (Soup); Caipo: El Perol/Limon Rotisserrie (Lomo Saltado, Chicken).

Bang Data
With Non Stop Bhangra
Fri/30, 10pm, $10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF
(415) 552-7788
www.elbo.com

Localized Appreesh: Doe Eye

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Doe Eye

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Doe Eye, aka Maryam Qudus, is perhaps the most local of Localized Appreeshers. (That is, despite her current traveler status while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston.) The lady with the big brown eyes and soulful voice is a true blue, born-and-raised San Franciscan. And she often uses the city as her muse.

The ooh-ooh pain of hazy torch hit “I Hate You” off last year’s Run Run Run EP is likely about a former lover, though it could easily refer to this push-pull foggy city we inhabit. “Darling,” she coos repeatedly, “it hurts to love you.”

Her full-length is due out later this year. This week she headlines Cafe Du Nord.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjGN2Mbqky0

Year and location of origin: I’m a solo artist, so I’ve been songwriting since I was a kid. But the origin of Doe Eye was February 2011 – Union City, Calif.

Name origin: My friend gave me the nickname “doe eye” because of my freakishly large eyes.
Personal motto: “Eat cake for breakfast”. I have a sticker of it on my journal – where I write deep philosophical thoughts. Helps lighten the mood when I write.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Dreamy and epic.

Instrumentation: Lead vocals, two guitars, keys, two cellos, violin, bass, trumpet, drums and two-to-three back-up vocalists.

Most recent release: My EP titled Run Run Run in August of 2011 – available for free on doeeye.bandcamp.com.

Best part about life as a Bay Area musician: The Bay Area music scene is crackin. It’s the best it has ever been. Having huge support systems like LIVE 105 and so many great venues like Bottom of the Hill, the Independent and Cafe Du Nord. San Francisco is my favorite city in the world, so I find myself influenced by the city a lot.

The weather, the Bay Bridge, the people –  all of it. I love it.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area musician: I fly back and fourth a lot between the Bay Area and Boston because I study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. I hate loving the Bay Area so much and not being able to be here. There is always so much going on in the Bay – shows, events, that I have to miss.

First album ever purchased: I grew up listening to a lot of rap – which doesn’t really influence my music much. My older brother was a huge influence for that. I honestly don’t remember what my first album purchase was – but I do remember listening to a lot of 2Pac.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Beach House, Teen Dream. For some reason, I never listened to Beach House until now. A lot of people have been asking me lately if my music is influenced by Beach House so I decided to listen. Uh – yeah I can see why they would ask that. The really reverbed-out dreamy sound – that’s my forte. Teen Dream is an amazing album. I can’t stop listening to it. I can’t wait for their next record.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Delarosa, Eggplant Panini – yum.

Doe Eye
With the Bins, Minor Kingdom
Thurs/22, 9 p.m., $10
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com

Localized Appreesh: The Myonics

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Older sister band to previously profiled rabble-rousers Symbolick Jews, offensive psych-rock locals the Myonics just released their new, aptly-titled LP, Pagans. Richard Hell, Syd Barrett, and pioneering Japanese electronic act Yellow Magic Orchestra all equally inspired the record. Can’t really go wrong with that mix, right?

Plus, a super-special limited edition vinyl purchase of Pagans includes “occult figurines, religious and faux-religious artifacts, found objects and stolen mantelpieces personalized by the band” – along with the requisite download code.

So let’s take a sloppy punk-as-fuck attitude (“I Don’t Give a Fuck About You”), throw down some truncated pop hits mixed with meandering psychedelia then plop in some beep-beep, knob-twisting digi-organisms, and you could extract the very essence of the Myonics. Or you could buy the record. Or you could see it performed live this Friday at Lost Church.

Year and location of origin: 2006 in Los Angeles.

Band name origin: A made-up word meant to sound scientific and possessive.

Band motto: Either “That’s a really hot shot” or “We’ll figure it out.”

Description of sound in 10 words or less: The end is nigh.

Instrumentation: 1-3 guitars, electric bass, 1-2 drum kits, electric autoharp, trumpet, cheap synths, microcasette recorder, and some vocals

Most recent release: Pagans, a full-length long playing vinyl record containing 10 concise pop masterworks. The album’s also available in a “Special Edition” – folk objects personalized by the band with a download code affixed to them. Buy either online here. Or better yet, come to the shows and save yourself the shipping charge (by giving us more money). Also available at Amoeba Music.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Living on the edge of destruction is creatively stimulating.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Living on the edge of destruction is stressful. There are also way too many bands here and we’re claustrophobic.

First album ever purchased:
Jasper – The Beatles – Yesterday…and Today (on cassette)
Nat – The Backstreet Boys – Millennium (I think)
Tom – In Utero
Eric – Midnight Oil – Species Deceases
Brian – Queen – LIVE Killers
Billy – Peter Pan (soundtrack)

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: 
Jasper – Tom Verlaine – Cover
Nat – Wax Idols – No Future
Tom – Starsailor (tired of memorizing the scratches on my mp3s, i finally got the vinyl)
Eric – Emily’s Sassy Lime – Desperate, Scared, But Social [ed. note – rad]
Brian – Sun Ra – It’s After The End of the World
Billy – The Tornadoes – Meet The Tornadoes

Favorite local eatery and dish:
Jasper – The Great Koonaklaster’s Strawberry Ice Cream Sodas or Eddy’s Steakburgers.
Nat – The taco truck on Harrison near 19th street; veggie tacos.
Tom – Eggplant with Tofu at Chili Cha Cha 2.
Eric – “I got nothin.'”
Brian – The pizza at Golden Boy’s.
Billy – Redwood Cafe – Meditation Plate.

The Myonics
With the Wounded Stag
Fri/16, 8:30 p.m.
Lost Church
65 Capp, SF
www.thelostchurch.com

Localized Appreesh: Date Palms

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Date Palms

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

It’s hard to imagine a better fit to experimental film than psychedelic drone. The brief images on screen take you away to darkened unknown landscapes, the multitracked tape manipulation of sound mimics the calm yet uneasy mood in a segmented rhythm.

It’s with this symbiosis in mind that I recommend Date Palms – the Oakland band, made up of veteran droners Gregg Kowalsky and Marielle Jakobsons  – and its double-feature this weekend. The duo will perform its soothing/unsettling, lost-in-the-rippling-barren-desert, music during two nights (one in SF, one in Oakland) of Super 8 films by Paul Clipson, himself a recipient of last year’s GOLDIES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEknV_BW-bg

Year and location of origin: Jingletown, Oakland, 2009.

Band name origin: I grew up in South Florida.

Band motto: Slow and Low.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Psychedelic minimalism with Eastern tinged melodies driven by cyclical, distorted bass patterns.

Instrumentation: Bass, Violin, Tanpura, Fender Rhodes, various analog synths, tapes.

Most recent release: Four-way split double LP on Immune Records for Record Store Day with Date Palms, Expo 70, Pulse Emitter, and Faceplant (one half of Peaking Lights).

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: An open minded audience.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Pacific Coast isolation, makes it difficult to tour East Coast and Europe.

First album ever purchased: Kiss – Dynasty (cassette).

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Miles Davis – Live Evil LP (reissue).

Favorite local eatery and dish: Cholita Linda, Fish Tacos

Date Palms
With Barn Owl, Ensemble Economique, and Super 8 films by Paul Clipson
Fri/9, 8 p.m.
Lab
2948 16th St., SF
www.thelab.org

With Barn Owl, Ensemble Economique, and Super 8 films by Paul Clipson
Sat/10, 8 p.m., $7-$10 donation
Liminal Space
950 54th St., Oakl.
www.liminal-space.org
 

Localized Appreesh: The Shants

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

The Shants have done something curiously rare these days: created an authentically Southern and categorically enjoyable stompy blues and folk record in the heart of garage punk and hip-hop obsessed Oakland. That authenticity come from real roots, as these sorts of things often do – the new record, Beautiful was the Night, is said to be a “haunted love letter” to singer Skip Allum’s youth in the South Louisiana delta pines.

The resulting record is a lively mix of Americana, twanged vocals, bluesy riffs, bits of piano and violin, and steel guitar, with guest appearances by the likes of multi-instrumentalist/horn player Ralph Carney, Blue Bone Express, and vocalist Quinn DeVeaux. I think singer Brianna Lea Pruett, who also guests on the record, describes the music best when she says in the short documentary on the making of the album, “Even in the dark parts, there’s a sweet treatment to it.”

With the long-awaited release of its debut full-length record finally here, the quartet will play Cafe Du Nord this Thursday.

You can watch the making of the new album here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaPdF3T8UZs

Year and location of origin: Oakland, 2009

Band name origin: Its a reference to the Gaelic word, shiant, meaning blessed or charmed… and the Shiant Isles of Scotland. Skip came across it while doing some research on his Scottish family origins, which can be traced to those islands. That’s the short version, anyway.

Band motto: “Is the pedal steel too loud? How ’bout now?”

Description of sound in 10 words or less: A dusty, slow blend of Southern folk, and country blues.

Instrumentation: 1954 Harmony archtop guitar, Emmons double-neck pedal steel guitar, 1970s Peavey bass guitar, drums. May soon have a new fella on many other instruments. Stay tuned!

Most recent release: Beautiful Was The Night, our first full-length! Available now at live shows, our website, iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, etc. and all Rasputin Records locations. It was recorded with all analog gear over at the Rec Center (formerly Bakesale Betty’s storage space) and at Tones on Tail Studios in Oakland, with Mr. Eliot Curtis.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: The diverse musical community is pretty inspiring. We may not sound like a lot of other bands coming out of Oakland and the city… but we are all very DIY-focused & often looking to expand our sound with new textures.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Tolls and parking tickets are a bitch, man. After shelling out this much money, we should get board seats with Caltrans and Alameda County.

First album ever purchased:
Skip: Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend
Carver: Nirvana – Nevermind
Adam: The Police – Synchronicity
Sam: Son Volt – Trace

Most recent album purchased/downloaded:
Skip: Samantha Crain – You (Understood)
Carver: Etta James – Etta James Rocks the House
Adam: Keith Jarret – Shostakovich 24 Preludes and Fugues
Sam: Calexico – Feast of Wire

Favorite local eatery and dish:
Skip: Aslam’s Rosoi on Valencia. I love their lamb Madras.
Adam: Lo Coco’s on Piedmont Ave in Oakland. Their Maria and Suzanne pizzas so good.
Carver: Brown Sugar Cafe in Emeryville. Get the chicken & waffles.
Sam: Bakesale Betty’s in Oakland. Fried chicken sandwich, of course.

The Shants
With Chadwick Stokes
Thurs/1, 8 p.m., $17
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com

Localized Appreesh: The Yellow Dress

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: The Yellow Dress

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Dogs, ghosts, kids, hand-clapping, whistling on a sunny park day – it’s all in the video for the Yellow Dress’s “This Could Be Anything.” The song itself is already a treat, kicking off with the aforementioned clapping and whistling and a solitary guitar, in pipes mariachi trumpet and swallow-you-whole powerful vocal pipes à la orchestral pop master Beirut. (It also has garnered comparisons to Magnetic Fields and a drug-less Velvet Underground.)

The Yellow Dress closed out 2011 with a metaphoric group hug, thanks to the video and a well-received second album, Humblebees. This year, it’s already off to a run through the park, pull your dress up and get mud on your ankles, start. In the next seven days, the San Francisco band will play three local shows, all at interesting venues, perhaps a bit off the beaten path. Do it up big and catch a trio of Yellow Dress performances.

Year and location of origin: 2007, San Francisco (the corner of Haight and Fillmore to be exact)

Band name origin: We used to be called Mr Stopmotion and the Yellow Dress after a particularly dapper couple I saw walking through Golden Gate Park, back then we were just a two-piece, and the name was pretty unweildy. For about a day we were Mr Stopmotion, which sounds like a Devo/XTC cover band. We decided on The Yellow Dress, which immediately led to a dramatic (and affirming!) number of yellow dresses in both (me and original bandmember Jon) of our lives. For a not very interesting story that sure took a lot of time to write.

Band motto: I’m sorry.

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Earnest-indie-twee-folk-pop.

Instrumentation: Acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, glockenspiel, male/female vocals, trumpet, organs, whistles, hand claps, if anyone reading this plays the cello and love dinosaurs please call me.

Most recent release: Humblebees.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: With so many artistic people around it’s easy to find like minded folks to play with, slowly envelop in your ever growing line-up.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: With so many artistic people around you are rarely the only game in town any given night.

First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: The Top Gun soundtrack. It was great.

Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: West Indies Funk Volume 3 (2012 is the year of the steel drum).

Favorite local eatery and dish: I miss Mission Burger so much, you have no idea. The Yellow Dress is however willing to give a full endorsement to the chicken millanesa torta at La Torta Gorda.

The Yellow Dress
With Adam Balbo, the Slaves
Thurs/9
Alley Cat Books
3036 24th St., SF


With Matt Dorrien, Fox and Woman
Fri/10, 8 p.m., $8
924 Gilman, Berk.
www.924gilman.com


Valentine’s Day Monthly Rumpus: Sugar’s Coming Out Party
With Pocket Full of Rye, Janine Brito
Feb. 14, 7 p.m., $10
Verdi Club
2424 Mariposa, SF
www.therumpus.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Localized Appreesh: Ash Reiter

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Ash Reiter

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Call it youthful summer abandon or fresh-baked pop, but there’s something about Ash Reiter’s song and Perez Bros-directed video “Heatwave” that melts the ice of a chilled and cubed SF day. Whether it’s the the lilting melody, surfy plucking, stoop sing-along, or the perfectly-cast ice cream man offering up too many dripping frozen treats, it’s hard to wipe that sticky grin off your face. That is, until you see the ice cream man’s crestfallen face, realizing it’s just too much sugar.

Fun fact: Ash Reiter is both the cheery lead singer/elementary school music teacher, and the eponymous band name. The indie pop five-piece has played with MGMT and been featured on Daytrotter, released the Heatwave EP late last year and followed that up with Christmas in California. About to embark on a Pacific Northwest tour, Ash Reiter will celebrate its return to SF with a Noise Pop show Feb. 21 at Bottom of the Hill. But before all of that, a stop at Amnesia this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l26Z6BLirU

Year and location of origin: 2008 in the East Bay.

Band name origin: My mom and pops gave it to me. In college my band was called Drunken Boat (like the Rimbaud poem) but another band by the same name started hassling me about so I decided to just go by my own name.

Band motto: What would Paul McCartney, Bryan Wilson, The Strokes, Feist, Grizzly Bear, The Talking Heads, or Jolie Holland do?

Description of sound in 10 words or less: Sunny intelligent retro indie pop with a folk twist.

Instrumentation: Ash – guitar, vocals, Will – drums, vocals, Drew – guitar, Scott – bass, Anthony – keys, vocals

Most recent release: Six song EP – Heatwave. Plus we’re mixing a full-length called Hola right now.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: I’m from here but I’m always discovering new places and people. I like living close to my nana.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Touring – you have to drive so far to get to the next big city- it’s not like East Coast where you can pop from city to city.

First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Prince’s Batman Soundtrack.

Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: St Vincent – Actor is my latest purchase and obsession.

Favorite local eatery and dish: House of Curries – chicken tikka masala with potato nan.

Ash Reiter
With Chrystian Rawk (record release), Anna Ash, and the Heather Band
2/4, 9 p.m., $7
Amnesia
853 Valencia, SF
(415) 970-0012
www.amnesiathebar.com

Localized Appreesh: The Fucking Buckaroos

Tony Robles
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2
Localized Appreesh: The Fucking Buckaroos

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

It takes some serious chutzpah to name your band the Fucking Buckaroos. But then, the Fucking Buckaroos is a seriously ballsy act. Eschewing glamour and easy labeling, the playful San Francisco band blazes dusty trails, boasting a noisy, boozy, punkish bluegrass clatter.

The punkabilly act’s newest release (suitably titled The Fucking Buckaroos: II) is said to “make the angriest metalhead a Christian and the soberest dad chug a bottle of Night Train,” whatever that means. See for yourself, the Fucking Buckaroos are offering their new album by donation. Be a gentleperson and pony up for the record, then ride that bucking bronco (49 Van Ness-Mission) down to the Knockout for the riotous album release party this weekend.  How many more cowboy references can I fit here? A horse walks into a bar:

Year and location of origin: San Francisco, 2004
Band name origin: Buck Owens had his Buckaroos, so why couldn’t Fuck Owens have his Fucking Buckaroos?
Band motto: Shiniest coat, best of show!
Description of sound in 10 words or less: New-Rage Punkabilly Psychograss
Instrumentation: Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar, Bass, Drums, (in studio: Accordion, Piano, Lapsteel, Tuned 40oz Bottles)
Most recent release: The Fucking Buckaroos: II.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band:  Having so many cities to play right at your fingertips.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Not having a combined place to both practice and hang out.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Weird Al Even Worse.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Ovens “Now It’s Over” 7″
Favorite local eatery and dish: Mission’s Kitchen – Breakfast Burrito.

The Fucking Buckaroos
With Filthy Thieving Bastards, Deadly Gallows
Sat/21, 4-8 p.m., $8
Knockout
3223 Mission, SF
(415) 550-6994
www.theknockoutsf.com

There are no words for this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBY-a4Eqqg&feature=related

Localized Appreesh: Prize

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Perhaps it’s a sign of these chilling, uneasy times, but there seems to be an opera-meets-electro thing happening right now (looking at you, Austra), and I’m not about to complain. The removed digital synth laid over with dramatic, emotion-packed operatic vocals is a shivery, highly effective combo. Local digi-folkster Prize knows this firsthand. A classically trained musician, she fled the world of strict opera and meshed her given skill with the digital toys of the future. Plus, she threw in a dash of Victorian cabaret. 

This weekend at Hotel Utah she premieres the music video for her song “Terror Machine” – machine, check, high drama, check – off The Split EP, recorded by Ian Pellicci at Tiny Telephone. At the show you can expect a gothy carnival of lasers, lights, and shredded lace.

Year and location of persona origin: I had been writing my own music while studying at the conservatory for a bit before I came up with Prize. It was probably around 2010, when I started becoming sick of the tightly-laced opera world, when I came up with my deconstructed Victorian aesthetic.
Performer name origin: I came up with the name as I was falling asleep- I had a story running in my head about a young child finding a Crackerjack prize. I thought it captured a feeling of curiosity and excitement, and I had a feeling that the name would make me feel sparkly.
Performer motto: Drink more water than whisky.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Minimal, electro-orchestral arrangements of siren songs. Primadonna folk-punk.
Instrumentation: Vocals, guitar, drums, synth, violin, cello.
Most recent release: The Split EP.
Best part about life as a Bay Area performer: I have performed at the coolest places even as a young singer, and I didn’t have to live in LA.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area performer: Well, I have a Master’s in Music and I still had to live out of my van for four months to make things work.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: I had the entire Madonna discography on cassette tape by the time I was 11.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: I recently downloaded ill.Gates’ free track, a freakybass remix of Die Antwoord.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Millenium for overall vegetarian dining experience, and the garlic spread from Stinking Rose for the best actual thing to put in my mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeVDVGUYAII

Prize
With the Cuss, and Deeper
Fr/13, 9 p.m., $8
Hotel Utah
500 Fourth St., SF
(415) 546-6300
www.hotelutah.com

Localized Appreesh: Swiftumz

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Swiftumz

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com. This installment is guest written by Frances Capell.

If you pick up a copy of Swiftumz’s (a.k.a. Chris McVicker’s) LP, Don’t Trip (Holy Mountain), you’ll notice a purple sticker that says “CALL ME,” and lists his phone number. Weird, yes, but it’s the same endearing candor that lights up McVicker’s darling lo-fi pop tunes. His retro guitar hooks and fragile, imperfect voice remind me of Girls’ Chris Owens, but McVicker is one of a kind. Check out the album, give him a call, or go see him at the Hemlock Tavern this Saturday.

Year and location of origin: We’ve all been playing music together for years, this incarnation is new and based around my solo project.
Band name origin: A nickname some people call me.
Band motto: “Short sets!”? Do bands have motto’s? I think we are all into having fun playing music together, being productive at practice so we can be good live.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Short, heartfelt, pretty pop songs with good instrumental arrangements.
Instrumentation: Two guitars/drums/bass and whatever else is called for.
Most recent release: Don’t Trip LP (Holy Mountain Records). Released October 2011.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Feel like this is the best place to live, and that translates to most aspects of life and art.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: I don’t know, I think we all really like it here.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Prince 1999.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Bought last week at Aquarius: Fac.Dance Compilation, Scare Dem Crew The Album, Dictators Manifest Destiny.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Fresh Dungeness crabs! [ed note: but from where, Swiftumz?]

Swiftumz
With Wet Illustrated and Meercaz
Sat/7, 9:30 p.m., $6
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0925
www.hemlocktavern.com

Warming up with the picturesque video for “Day We Met:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH-Oh_NhDr4

Localized Appreesh: Buffalo Tooth

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Buffalo Tooth

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

This week’s Localized Appreesh hones in on the mysterious garage punk of San Francisco’s Buffalo Tooth. The band has a set of thrashy-fun songs up now on Bandcamp, recorded by the illustrious Matthew Melton of Oakland’s Bare Wires, but that’s all to be had so far besides the live show (you can catch that this week at Hemlock Tavern). Buffalo Tooth is patiently awaiting an official release. Which, aren’t we all?

Year and location of origin: 2011, Black Hills of South Dakota, Buffalo Specimen: A-46B.
Band name origin: It’s a symbol of resistance and power in Native American culture.
Band motto: Mid-set high fives.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Blue Cheer/Black Flag; basically bands with colors in their names.
Instrumentation: Guitar/Vox – Greg Downing, Bass/Vox – Eric Kang, Drums/Vox – Sean Grange
Most recent release: Upcoming 7″ S/T EP on Archer’s Guild Records, recorded by: Matthew Melton (Bare Wires) and mastered by: Patrick Haight.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Tons of awesome bands to play with, the Bay has so many killer bands right now.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: No moneys……
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased:Oh boy, Slipknot when I was 11.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Danava Hemisphere of Shadows.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Morty’s in the TL, Chicken BLT.

Buffalo Tooth
With Down Dirty Shake, and E Minor and the Dirty Diamonds
Wed/28, 9 p.m., $6
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0925
www.hemlocktavern.com

Localized Appreesh: the Cosmo Alleycats

Tony Robles
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10

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Snap your fingers – jazzy San Francisco swingsters the Cosmo Alleycats have officially released their debut album, The Late Late Show. It’s the kind of story you love to hear: talented local band makes good, a group that formed as a weekly venue houseband makes the leap to fully-realized recording act. And that record beams with tinkling piano, hearty sax, the thumping backbone of upright bass, and a mix of soulful jazz numbers, vintage R&B, and poppy upbeat swing. 

Celebrating their new retro-tinged album this week, the Cosmo Alleycats play two local release shows; one at Le Colonial, at which they were hatched, and then another at Blondie’s Bar & No Grill – there’ll be a special “Alleycat Cosmo” cocktail available at the second event, here’s hoping there’s good booze contained within.

Year and location of origin: January 2010 on Cosmo Alley in SF
Band name origin: Mike: Booze & lack of foresight. Steve & Emily: A couple of us were asked to pull together a band to fill in for Kim Nalley at Le Colonial while she was on vacation for a month. Assuming that there would only be four performances, we wanted the band name to reflect the venue location. Since Le Colonial is on Cosmo Alley, “The Cosmo Alleycats” seemed like a natural fit. Soon after, we were hired as the full time Wednesday night band and started doing gigs all around the Bay Area. The name just stuck.
Band motto: Steve: Get people dancing; Mike: Don’t ask Noam about his hair; Emily: Create fun!
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Emily: Modern vintage R&B and boogaloo swing – we defy classification!; Mike: twang, honk, bang, thump, tinkle, hum.
Instrumentation: Vocals (Emily Wade Adams), Sax (Pete Cornell), Piano (Noam Eisen), Upright Bass (Steve Height) and Drums (Mike Burns). The album also features Nick Rossi on guitar and David Kellerman on keys.
Most recent release: The Late, Late Show (2011)
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Emily: Loyal, enthusiastic, supportive fans (many of whom wow us with their secret swing dancing skills) and the opportunity to play a range of excellent venues from fun dive bars to hallowed music halls, awesome festivals, and gorgeous winery weddings; Steve: There are so many people here that love seeing live music and are tremendously loyal to bands that they enjoy; Mike: Playing in my home town.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Steve: Bridge traffic; Mike: DJs; Emily: Trying to park to load in!
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Mike: Herman’s Hermits; Emily: Oh God. My first tape was either Madonna’s “You Can Dance” or George Michael’s “Faith”. First CD was Soul II Soul’s Club Classics Volume 1. When I was three, I’d listen to the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour record over and over, looking at all the pretty pictures in the booklet that came with the record and wondering why all these old dudes were dressed up in costumes. I had no clue that drugs were involved until I was about 20.”
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Emily: Other than our own? The latest releases from Amy Winehouse and the Black Keys; Mike: Arann Harris and the Farm Band.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Steve: Le Colonial’s brussels sprouts; Mike: Cordon Blue, California @ Hyde, menu #5; Emily: Where to begin? The food trucks at Off the Grid are ridiculous. I’m addicted to Curry Up Now’s chicken tikka masala burrito. Also, the veggie burger at the Plant Organic is to die for. And I love my Thursday night ‘liquid dinners’ with the band at Blondie’s Bar & No Grill.”

Cosmo Alleycats
Wed/21, 7-10 p.m.
Le Colonial
20 Cosmo Place, SF
www.lecolonialsf.com

Thurs/22, 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m.
Blondie’s Bar & No Grill
540 Valencia, SF
www.blondiesbar.com

Localized Appreesh: Mental 99

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Between them, local guitarist Joe Gore and drummer Dawn Richardson have played alongside some heavy-hitters: Tom Waits, PJ Harvey,  Tracy Chapman, Eels, DJ Shadow, Courtney Love, Four Non-Blondes, and a whole lot more. Together, the duo plays lush instrumental rock’n’roll in their new band, Mental 99. How lush? With just two (albeit two considerably talented) musicians, the band showcases a densely layered sound – the strength  you might expect from say, a quartet – thanks in part to its live looping skills.

Check out Mental 99’s killer cover of classic Joy Division tear-jerker “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (video below). Yep, just the two of ’em, no vocals necessary; the power of the emotion-inducing song bleeds through. Next, catch the band live this weekend at the Make-Out Room. But first, read up.

Year and location of origin: 2010/San Francisco
Band name origin: “Crack Spackle” was confusing people, so we resorted to Plan B. We were thinking more 1899 than 1999.
Band motto: “How much damn noise can two people make?”
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Instrumental. Cinematic. Eerie. Beautiful. Funny. Virtuosic. Catastrophic. More adjectives, please.
Instrumentation: Guitar, drums, and sheer optimism.
Most recent release: Mental 99. Your basic eponymous debut album.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Global beacon of tolerance and innovation. Plus good pizza.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Legitimate sasquatch sightings are few and far between.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased:
Dawn: Sonny and Cher Live (yep, it was on vinyl)
Joe: Enrico Caruso’s Celeste Aida (yep, it was on Edison cylinder)
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Joe: Skrillex’s Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites is real fun.
Dawn: Bustin’ Loose – Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Joe: Iwashi (sardine) at Tataki South (Church and 29th).
Dawn: It’s hard to go wrong in SF – so many good places to eat. But the veggie burrito at Taqueria Cancún is pretty tasty – and close by, especially if you just played El Rio.

Mental 99
With the Anita Lofton Project
Fri/16, 7:30 p.m., $8
Make-Out Room
3225 22nd St., SF
(415) 647-2888
www.makeoutroom.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MNy5-tCT04

Localized Appreesh: Uni & Her Ukelele

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

This is the time of year when sparkly holiday affairs are everywhere. Depending on your current state of mind, these tinsel-coated, candy-caned, dreidal-spun affairs can stink like commercial biz abominations, or warm like twinkling, nostalgia-inducing winter shindigs. With San Francisco act Uni & Her Ukelele opening up for the Yule Logs (a band that just released an album called You Ruined Christmas) at Amnesia, the evening is bound for greatness. It’s the seventh annual “Christmas is the Best” show, and both holiday-loving acts play clever and folky power-pop with tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek sweetness.

Uni & Her Ukelele can’t avoid the sugar, given the doe-eyed, oft-frilly skirted uke mistress at the band’s helm, Heather Marie Ellison. She writes songs (and records) like 2006’s “My Favorite Letter is U” and a covers album that includes “Tonight You Belong to Me” (which brings to mind the best ever use of uke in film   – Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters strolling the beach in The Jerk). She even uses her signature sign-off (Ding!) to end emails. It’s giving me a toothache.

Year and location of origin: 2005. Uni & Her Ukelele began in Hollywood.
Band name origin: Uni is short for Unicorn.
Band motto: Light Rock Less Talk!
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Dreamy, melodic, folk-pop that is emotional and melancholy, but also funny.
Instrumentation: Vocals and ukelele, although on the album there’s a full band.
Most recent release: I’m doing a Kickstarter right now to finish my fourth full length album, Lover’s Cliché.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: There are many places to play and good bands/acts to share the bill with.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: At the end of the show, it’s hard walking away without money.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Wham Make It Big.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: I just bought Tom Petty’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Favorite local eatery: Green Chili Kitchen.

Seventh Annual Christmas is the Best
Uni and her Ukelele
With Yule Logs
Sun/11, 9pm, $7
Amnesia
853 Valencia, SF
www.amnesiathebar.com

A tender portrait:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJArwBjWoEc

Localized Appreesh: Symbolick Jews

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: Symbolick Jews

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

I must admit, the first thing that endeared me to Symbolick Jews was the name. It’s a good name. But when I actually took a listen, I was still hooked – and amused. Good name, good hooks, good sense of humor.

The weirdo experimental San Francisco band has a handful of tripped out releases, including American Masters Volume 5, which came out this month. With dragging bass and creepy, haunted voices matched to high pitched squeals piping up from nowhere, there are jumbly moments of Mr. Bungle greatness seeping in often.

Take a solitary hour and listen to everything that’s happening on the release – there’s much to contemplate. Then get up and check out the Symbolick Jews show; live music waits for no thought process. The Jews play the Stork Club tomorrow night. Get to know them first below.

Year and location of origin: Late 2009, San Francisco.
Band name origin: We flipped through a dictionary and the first word we put our finger down on was, “Chumbawumba,” so we just went with Symbolick Jews. The additional ‘k’ is for ‘kindness.’
Band motto: “Are we getting paid tonight?”
Description of sound in 10 words or less: The fear of God.
Instrumentation: Adam – Vocals, Brian – Drums, Jasper – Guitar/Vocals, Burd – Bass/vocals, Paul – Guitar/vocals, Vanessa – Keyboard/vocals
Most recent release: Slave to Love
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Everyone in the Bay Area loves our music and won’t stop talking about us.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Living in the shadow of Third Eye Blind and Flipper.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Weird Al Yankovic, Bad Hair Day.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything.
Favorite local eatery and dish: The Philly cheese steak at Mission Kitchen is forged in the fires of gastro-intestinal hell, and I stand by its superiority over any other cheese steak in the city. 

Symbolick Jews
With Dimples, Grandma’s Boyfriend, Curse Words, Burgers
9:30 p.m., $5
Stork Club
2330 Telegraph, Oak.
(510) 444-6174
www.storkcluboakland.com

Localized Appreesh: G-Eazy

Tony Robles
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0

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

With his razor-sharp cheekbones, stiff pomp, and creamy skin, it’d be easy to hate on East Bay-bred producer G-Eazy (see what I did there?). But musically, what’s to dislike? In his most recent release, the appropriately titled Endless Summer – available free on his website – G-Eazy samples classic doo-wop and mixes it well with bouncy beats, layering it thick with casual cool flow and lyrics that make it once again pop.

His words tend to reflect his personal story (touring/performing) and an appreciation of pop culture. On the title track he makes mention of chopping up the Beach Boys and making it into a jam, and later drops that he’s inspired by Yeezy, Keith Haring, the Beatles, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Meters, and Johnny Cash, all in one couplet.

In a style that is very much his own, G-Eazy’s played shows with Girl Talk and Chiddy Bang, and toured with the likes of megastars Lil’ Wayne, Big Sean, and (juuust right?) Drake. While he currently is “chilling” in New Orleans, he was born and raised in raised in Oakland and Berkeley. Tonight, he opens up the Independent.

Year and location of origin: The back row of my 9th grade geometry class. I realized I liked writing raps better than taking notes
Name origin: My friend suggested the name. He actually sat next to me in that same class. I needed a name, he suggested it, and it stuck.
Personal motto: Do what you love and love what you do.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: A vintage pop sound, modernized and put into a rap formula. Oops that was 11.
Instrumentation: Well when I’m not playing with my 18 piece band, I’m playing with a DJ. When I’m not playing with a DJ I’m playing with my awesome drummer who also cues the track and does it all himself. I actually haven’t ever played with an 18 piece band, but that would be dope!
Most recent release: The Endless Summer.
Best part about life as a Bay Area rapper/producer: The Bay Area can be really supportive of our own. We have a strong local scene here.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area rapper/producer: The fact that it’s such an isolated, unique market – kinda makes it hard for some rappers to make it out of here and gain recognition elsewhere.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Yellow Submarine. It’s the greatest.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: A$AP Rocky’s project. It’s ok.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Gordo’s on College Ave in Berkeley, without a doubt.

G-Eazy
With Shwayze & Cisco Adler, Mod Sun
Tues/22, 8 p.m., $20
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
www.theindependentsf.com

Check the video for his reworked version of “Runaround Sue.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-dxZ3_3oBs&feature=player_embedded

Localized Appreesh: The Spyrals

Tony Robles
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Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

You remember using spirographs as a child — drawing endless, satisfying colorful curves with your extensive color pencil collection? You could probably bust that out again and give the Spyral’s Sunflower Microphone seven-inch single (released today, a precursor to the upcoming 2012 album) a spin. The wave-like reverb of garage guitar meets a lower 13th Floor Elevators-y howl here, a surfy psychedelic dream. Check out Side A on the Spyrals’ Bandcamp page.

Also, give a listen to the San Francisco psych-pop trio’s output from earlier this year Clouds, equally mind rolling, equally appropriate for an afternoon spent lazily spinning creative circles. And then, even further back, there’s the entrancing song “Soul,” from 2009, and its captivating video, laced with surf and war imagery (see the vid below).

To celebrate the release of Sunflower Microphone this week, the Spyrals play Hemlock Tavern on Thursday.

Year and location of origin: 2009, San Francisco
Band name origin: Time being a never ending spiral. We’re trying to capture a time, good or bad, and share it with the people.
Band motto: It’s gotta groove.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Best shit you heard in a long while.
Instrumentation: Guitar, vox, bass, drums
Most recent release: Single comes out November 15. Album out early 2012.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: There’s no shortage of people doing interesting stuff.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: There’s no shortage of people doing crap.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Digital Underground Sex Packets.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Downloaded the Gories I Know You Be Houserockin the other day.
Favorite local eatery and dish: That’s a tough one. Probably Los Compadres. It’s a family owned Taqueria in South City, near where we rehearse. Damn good carnitas.

The Spyrals
With Michael Beach, Hypatia Lake
Thurs/17, 9 p.m.,$6
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
www.hemlocktavern.com

Vintage Spyrals video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNXvaKymGz0

Localized Appreesh: TurbonegrA

Tony Robles
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0
Localized Appreesh: TurbonegrA

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

There’s a sizable difference between a cover band and a tribute band. TurbonegrA is a thrashing, slashing, spit-in-your-eye tribute to legendary Norwegian punk band Turbonegro.

I first learned of the original, Turbonegro, not through its death-rock music, but on a huge patch neatly stitched to the back of a jacket with these words: Turbojugend.  Turbojugend would be the Turbonegro Army, not dissimilar to the Kiss Army, but a whole lot sleazier. To find there’s an all-female testimonial to that kind of debauchery in our very own city of San Francisco, it’s a devilsend. Plus, with the originators currently without SF show dates, TurbonegrA is your only chance to catch the guitar-shredding theatrical doom live, for now at least.

The ladies in leather play next at Bottom of the Hill will fellow band-fans, Ancient Mariners (Iron Maiden tribute) and Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers (ultimate ZZ Top worshipers). Should be a fist-pumping night.

Year and location: 2007, San Francisco
Band name origin: Female version of Turbonegro
Band Motto: ( Ich bin geil)
Description: An all-girl tribute to the infamous boys of Oslo.
Instrumentation: Hanky Panky – Amanda Guilbeaux ( lead vocals), Eurogirl – Shelley Cardiff ( lead guitar), Commander Col Pot – Katie Colpitts ( guitar and vocals), Happy Jom – Millie Clip ( bass), Ms. C’ass – Cassie Jalilie ( drums).
Most recent release: Shetox – 2011 and we also have a full length on Wolverine records in Germany titled – L’ass Cobras.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Fleet week
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Fleet week
First record purchased: I actually bought 12 records at once for only a penny!
Most recent record purchased: Uncommen Men from Mars ( France) – we had the honor of playing with them on our recent European tour. Locally we have to say we are big fans of Death Valley High.
Favorite local eatery : Esperpento. It’s cheap and fast – like us!

TurbonegrA
With Ancient Mariners, Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
Weds/9, 9 p.m., $10
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St, SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

A rendition of “Self Destructo Bust” performed, coincidentally, at Bottom of the Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaJQk3d4-8I

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