Thee Oh Sees

Heads Up: 7 must-see concerts this week

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This week, musicians come from far and wide, from broad plains on the other side of the spinning globe, plucked from different coasts of varying notoriety, and from our very own backyards to entertain us. It’s a veritable Google Earth of sonic endeavors.

Far: exquisite Malian vocalist Khaira Arby. Around the corner: Thee Oh Sees with new Oakland act Warm Soda. Not quite as far as West Africa: Brooklyn’s Light Asylum, and Manhattan’s Emily Wells (different nights). Out of this word: Carletta Sue Kay. Now that’s entertainment. Let’s globe trot together from the comfort of our own venues, shall we?

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Light Asylum
Supernatural goth-pop duo Light Asylum is back, this time celebrating the release of its self-titled debut full-length, out now on Mexican Summer. Both gritty and ethereal, the record is a study in straddled extremes. Light Asylum also plays Amoeba at 5pm Monday.
Mon/14, 9pm, $12-$15
Public Works
161 Erie, SF
(415) 932-0955
www.publicworks.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTk3R–Heug

Khaira Arby
She’s been hailed as “Mali’s reigning queen of song,” and is revered outside of Timbuktu by fellow world acts, including the Sway Machinery, which asked her to join it on tour a few years back. She writes and sings in indigenous languages of the Sahara desert and in those, her voice has a husky, powerful draw.
Wed/16, 9pm, $10-$15
New Parish
579 18th St., Oakl.
(510) 444-7474
www.thenewparish.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDecjaj4ek

Warm Soda and Thee Oh Sees
The name brings to mind cola burps. But it’s actually a brand new pop band put together by Oakland’s Matthew Melton, formerly of Bare Wires. And this will be your first chance to catch it live. And of course, fellow locals/headliners Thee Oh Sees routinely shred. And that goes for the rest of the lineup as well.
With the Mallard, Burnt Ones
Wed/16, 9pm, $12
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 800-8782
www.brickandmortarmusic.com

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

Emily Wells
Her variable voice is intoxicating, as are her live-looping violin skills. Sure, the video below is old and the multi-instrumentalist/”one-woman orchestra” has a brand album (Mama, Partisan Records) that’s full of endless layers and vigor. But this song’s called “Take It Easy, San Francisco,” and so we will.
With Portland Cello Project
Thu/17, 8pm, $15
Swedish American Hall
2174 Market, SF
(415) 431-7578
www.swedishamericanhall.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6e2wOt1E2Y

Alright, here’s one off Mama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnMlQcWcsI

Suckers
Riding a sunny art-pop rainbow of sticky, digitally-enhanced highs on newly released sophomore record Candy Salad (French Kiss), Suckers – whom you may know from previous single “It Gets Your Body Movin’”  –  journey to our coast this week from their adopted-home base of Brooklyn. Collective thanks again, Brooklyn, these Suckers are stuck in our heads.
With Young Man, Vanaprasta
Thu/17, 9pm, $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17 St., SF
(415) 621-4455
www.bottomofthehill.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZjfpBO_n2w

Carletta Sue Kay
Carletta Sue Kay vocalist Randy Walker has a fancy new (and if you can believe it, debut) album out this week – Incongruent (Kitten Charmer, May 15) – but is already something of a local legend, having opened for the likes of Kurt Vile, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Girls, the Fresh & Onlys, and Kelley Stoltz. Oh, and recently got a damn profile in the New York Times. Go, hear that silky, bluesy four octave vocal range once more, and rightfully fete the singer-songwriter. Carletta Sue Kay also plays Amoeba at 6pm Thu/17.
With Avengers, Erase Errata
Fri/18, 8pm, $15
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324m9sDQQl8

Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
The next round in a creative ongoing series from UnderCover Presents, “Black Sabbath’s Paranoid” pits more than 50 Bay Area musicians against one monumental heavy metal record. Each band covers one song, then on to the next. Note: there will be heavy metal-themed sandwiches sold outside, courtesy of Brass Knuckles.
With Extra Action Marching Band, Uriah Duffy with the Memorials, Sabbaticus Rex & the Axe-Wielders of Chaos, Tiger Honey Pot with Max Baloian, and more
Sat/19, 9pm, $20 (includes cover CD)
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
www.theindependentsf.com

Heads Up: 8 must-see concerts this week

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This week, most of the crucial shows are hella local (as is that faux pas slang). What can you do? We’re all cogs in the Bay Area machine. And we happen to have a lot of impressive musicians within spitting distance. There are cheap shows spread across the hyper-local map starring Religious Girls, French Cassettes, Midnite Snaxxx, Thee Oh Sees, and Il Gato.

A few non-locals made the list too, we can’t all be #based here, of course – where would the fun be in that? Visiting out-of-towners Polyphonic Spree, Caroline Chocolate Drops, and more, remind us that bands like to tour here too. Give them your hard-earned cash to support the ubiquitous hard-wrought traveling musician travails.

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Polyphonic Spree
Reach for the light with the colorful, cultish goodness of joy-poppers Polyphonic Spree, still spreading that spaced out cheer.
With New Fumes
Tue/3, 8pm, $20.
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
www.slimspresents.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHJo_klmPcA

Il Gato
Baroque pop excellence returns — for those playing along at home, Il Gato graced the cover of the Guardian’s fall preview way back in 2011. Now the band is hard at work on its next album, and it recently set up a Kickstarter campaign to help ease the costs.
With Passenger & Pilot, Red Weather, Drew Victor
Thu/5, 8pm, $10
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvquZoRE5hY

Religious Girls, Mister Loveless, B Hamilton, French Cassettes
Not only are these all delectable Oakland acts (save for French Cassettes: SF) – including returning GOLDIES champs/tribal percussionists/weirdo synthsters Religious Girls – but this show is an Art Murmur freebie. Show up early to catch all the acts, and remember to tip your bartenders.
Fri/6, 6pm, free
Uptown
1928 Telegraph, Oakl.
(510) 451-8100
www.uptownnightclub.com

Thrones
Thrones is just one dude: Seattle’s Joe Preston, the metal-grinding doom bassist/Moog-enthusiast who’s spent time on tastemaker labels Kill Rock Stars and Southern Lord, and played alongside Earth, the Melvins, and High on Fire.
With Helms Alee, Grayceon
Fri/6, 9:30pm, $10
Hemlock
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
www.hemlocktavern.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacI2AknauM

ALL THE CHILDREN SING: Adobe Books Benefit Concert with Thee Oh Sees
Psych-garage rock experts/locals Thee Oh Sees swoop in to support Adobe Books — the event is a fundraiser for the beloved shop suffering an imminent rent increase. The benefit also includes more real live rockers, a silent art auction, and stand-up comedy by local comedians George Chen (whose own experimental noise band, Chen Santa Maria, plays Bottom of the Hill Mon/9) and Anna Seregina.
With Sonny and the Sunsets, the Mallard
Sat/7, 8:30pm, $10-$20 sliding scale
Lab
2948 16th St., SF
Facebook: All The Children Sing
adobebooksbackroomgallery.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1bHddYhtDw

Carolina Chocolate Drops
This Grammy Award-having old-time string band from North Carolina just released its seventh joyous, foot-stomping blues album (Leaving Eden) and has a song (“Daughter’s Lament”) on the lauded Hunger Games soundtrack.
Sat/7, 8pm, $20
Slim’s
333 11th St., SF
(415) 255-0333
www.slimspresents.com
Check this killer banjo-and-fiddle cover of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKTXJUYiAT4

Bear in Heaven
“In the kaleidoscopic video for the album’s charming lead single, “The Reflection of You,” cameras zoom in and out on [Jon] Philpot, guitarist Adam Wills, and drummer Joe Stickney at a rapid pace as strobe lights flash beneath them. It’s a hyper-stimulating, entirely accurate depiction of the band’s sound; once the rollercoaster ride is over, you can think of nothing but jumping back in line and doing it all over again.” (Frances Capell).
See Frances’ full story in this week’s issue.
With Blouse, Doldrums
Sun/8, 8pm, $15
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
www.theindependentsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjW5rkXiQdc

Midnite Snaxxx
Oakland’s favorite punky, lo-fi garage rockers, Midnite Snaxx — featuring Trashwomen’s Tina Lucchesi, and the Guardian’s Dulcinea Gonzalez, formerly of Loudmouths — return to the cavernous inner Knockout sanctum.
With White Murder, Glitz
Sun/8, 9pm
Knockout
3223 Mission, SF
(415) 550-6994
www.theknockoutsf.com

Feeding time

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC In San Antonio last week, waking up on a living room floor with assorted Burger Records crew members and friends, record label and brick-and-mortar record shop owner Sean Bohrman, 30, was already thinking three steps ahead.

The next morning at 11 a.m., the traveling Burger pen would play a pre-South By Southwest Burger blowout. Then it was off to Austin for the official SXSW showcases. A few more shows along the way, and now shattered fragments of the unofficial posse will hit the impressively titled Burger Boogaloo fest in San Francisco this weekend.

The three-day affair, which takes place at Thee Parkside — with pre-parties Wed/21 at Bottom of the Hill and Thurs/22 at the Knockout — boasts a motley, pizza-and-burger loving pack of noisy garage rockers, fuzzed out post-punkers, and sleazy generally genre-less local and national acts such as King Tuff, Audacity, Dukes of Hamburg, Heavy Cream, Dominant Legs, White Mystery, Thee Oh Sees, Strange Boys, Burnt Ones, Tough Shits, and a whole lot more.

It’s a mix of Burger bands and acts that play the fall SF festival, Total Trash Fest (some are one in the same). The Boogaloo began when Total Trash organizer Marc Ribak contacted Burger last year with the idea and it snowballed organically from there, says Bohrman.

It’s no huge surprise that Ribak, who is also a member of Rock N Roll Adventure Kids, and the Burger dudes hooked up — they have similar styles and lots of crossover acts.

“Music in general is a huge web — everyone is connected. That is my favorite part — who produced what, who recorded what, what bands everyone was in before,” Bohrman says. “To just be following the web, to be creating our own web, has been really amazing and awesome.”

Burger began as a way for Bohrman and longtime pal Lee “Noise” Rickard to put out their own music, Thee Makeout Party — a bedroom rock band formed in Anaheim in 2001. The label really started in 2007 when Bohrman and Rickard were cruising around in nearby Fullerton, Calif. one day talking about putting out a record for another friend’s band, Audacity. They decided to put it out, and thus an indie label was born. Burger has since dispersed 50,000 cassette tapes from more than 200 bands, and released over 15 LPS.

In 2009 Bohrman was hoping to tour with Thee Makeout Party but his job wouldn’t let him go. He quit, cashed out his 401k and funneled it back into the label, also purchasing a storefront in Fullerton with Brian “Burger” Flores, which would become the Burger Records store. It’s naturally the buzzing hub of the empire.

Whenever Vermont-born, LA-based King Tuff (aka Kyle Thomas, also of Happy Birthday) visits the store, he says he essentially walks away with a new record collection. “They’ve created a family — I go down to the record store and just hang out. It’s really like we’re all part of something.”

While King Tuff is officially signed to Sub Pop — which he also describes as having a familial atmosphere — he also is a part of the greasy outstretched arms of Burger (it put out his limited, personalized LP Was Dead). While the acts may be loosely tied together as friends, there’s no set of rules dictating what makes a Burger band.

“We’ve been successful by putting out stuff we really love, not beholden to any genre. This is our life. We can do whatever we want. There’s no ceiling above us. We can do anything, even if it seems impossible,” says the endlessly upbeat Bohrman.

His voice slightly raising, he adds, “The music means something to us. When we hear music it’s not ‘are we going to be able to sell this in a commercial’ or something. It’s about people making awesome music, not selling the songs for a Pepsi commercial.”

That’s how King Tuff grew up making music as well, without the predetermined rules of industry. He recalls his dad bringing home a guitar one day when he was in fifth grade, picking it up, and learning to play. “I was never interested in learning covers, and I never took lessons.” That improvisational spirit shows in his brief, freaky jams with surf-tinged psychedelic guitar and nasally intonations; it’s waves of stringy hair and rattling bones, jittery lyrics like those in “Bad Thing” off his upcoming self-titled release, “when I play my Stratocaster/I feel like an innocent kid/But when I’m looking in the mirror/Remember the bad things I did”

You can hear some of these same freaky-jittery qualities in the heaping mess of acts playing the Boogaloo in SF this week, and for that matter, Burgerama, another like-minded, Burger Records-endorsed fest happening concurrently down south. On top of all the fests, Bohrman and Co. are still producing cassettes (“Cassettes are handy, they’re like little business cards, they’re durable and cheap to make and buy.”) and running a successful little shop.

“It’s been a dream come true, but it’s still so much work. We just keep piling it on for ourselves,” Bohrman sighs. “It’s hard building a legacy.”

BURGER BOOGALOO

Fri/23-Sun/25, individual shows $7–$12, weekend pass $35

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

Facebook: Burger Boogaloo 2012

Our Weekly Picks: March 21-27

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WEDNESDAY 21

Al Pacino

Iconic actor Al Pacino brings his new experimental documentary Wilde Salome to the city tonight for its U.S. debut screening, with a red carpet celebration and a variety of special guests including Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dita Von Teese, and more. Pacino has described the film, a look into legendary writer Oscar Wilde’s works and influence, as his most personal project ever, and he will also be on hand tonight for the gala screening that benefits the GLBT Historical Society, and commemorates the 130th anniversary of the legendary writer’s visit to San Francisco. (Sean McCourt)

6 p.m., $25

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

(415) 777-5455

Glbthistory.org/WildeSalome

 

of Montreal

A part conspiratorial, part confessional Kevin Barnes lies at the heart of Paralytic Stalks, the latest release from the of Montreal mastermind and his rotating ensemble of collaborators. Paralytic is complex and genre-bending like most of the of Montreal repertoire. In Paralytic‘s first half, Barnes croons moody lyrics transposed on psychedelic pop melodies not unlike 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Paralytic‘s second half challenges listeners with Barnes’ violent tones jumbled with harrowing electronic-classical interludes. (Kevin Lee)

With Deerhoof, Kishi Bashi

8 p.m., $21

Slim’s

333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

Also Thurs/22, 8 p.m., $22

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

 

Bonaparte

An electro rock’n’roll circus led by an inspired madman, Berlin’s Bonaparte has campaigned through Europe, Russia, and Australian, but is just now taking aim at the U.S. via SXSW. A rotating collective of musicians, designers, dancers, and freaks (performing in wildly excessive costumes), Bonaparte combines a trash punk energy with a theatricality that borders on the surreal. The ringleader, Tobias Jundt, is a sharp lyricist hiding behind dada non sequiturs and unbridled hedonism. (Witness the apt “gloryhole to the universe” line on “Computer in Love.”) Remember: when they ask “Are you ready to party with the Bonaparte?” — it’s a rhetorical question. (Ryan Prendiville)

With 2 Men Will Move You, Stay Gold DJs Rapid Fire and Pink Lightning

9 p.m., $10

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com


THURSDAY 22

indifference and MASTERWORK

Outsiders and insiders at once, Lisa Townsend and Mica Sigourney culminate their CounterPULSE winter residencies with indifference and MASTERWORK. Experimental choreographer Townsend leaps off from Camus and the idea of free will in a dance-theater piece investigating the conflict between society and the solitary action, or not, of the stranger. Sigourney offers MASTERWORK, a concept demanding the all-caps title, an experiment in hubris promising “the most important performance of our generation and time.” Maybe. But if you’ve seen any of Sigourney’s work (recently in Laura Arrington’s “Wag,” or more recently with a bottle of bourbon, two glasses, and some sheets of paper at a crowded reading in the SomARTS men’s room) —or drag persona VivvyAnne ForeverMORE! and the envelope-pushing drag queen confab-cabaret “Work MORE!” — you’ll be there just to make sure. (Robert Avila)

Thurs/22-Sun/25, 8 p.m., $20

CounterPULSE

1310 Mission, SF

(415) 626-2060 www.counterpulse.org

 

“Hope Mohr Dance: Fifth Annual Home Season”

Christy Funsch recently choreographed an intriguing evening of solos for Bay Area dancers. One of its delights was watching Hope Mohr — exquisite, focused and powerful — take to the stage. In the last few years Mohr has focused her energy on creating work for her own company, but she clearly is still a mesmerizing performer. During her Fifth Annual Home Season, she is premiering “Reluctant Light” for her troupe, but she will also dance her 2011 solo “Plainsong”, inspired by the myth of Penelope and first seen at last year’s San Francisco International Dance Festival. As is her want, Mohr has invited an out of town company whose work she feels complements her own to share this evening. They are the Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre from New York. (Rita Felciano)

Thurs/22-Sat/24, 8 p.m., $20–$25

Z Space

450 Florida, SF

(800) 838-3006

www.zspace.org


FRIDAY 23

The Brightness of the Day . . .

Peter Whitehead makes instruments out of the things you’ve got in your kitchen, toolbox, and garbage bin — and makes them sound fucking rad. Brightness of the Day . . . will feature his experimental instruments, including his spoon harp, ektar, and buzzing bass lyre, alongside his textile paintings and collages. Whitehead’s visual art and musical endeavors parallel each other: his art illustrates music’s patterns and variation, and he conceptualizes music visually. Whitehead has exhibited his instruments in various museums and galleries in the past, but this is the first time he’ll be bringing together the various aspects of his visual art, music, and instrument building for an exhibit. (Mia Sullivan)

6 p.m., free

60Six

66 Elgin Park, SF

(415) 621-8377

www.gallery60six.com

 

Saviours

When Saviours first broke into the Bay Area metal and punk scenes, their unrepentant Thin Lizzy worship, filtered through a nasty hardcore sensibility, was as refreshing as a cold Hamm’s on a hot Tuesday afternoon. Like their recently-disbanded peers, Annihilation Time, Saviours dig deep into the record vault of the great hoary cannon of metal’s early days, reemerging with forgotten treasures like the weedeley-weedeley twin-guitar lead, and lyrics about getting epically baked. The band plans to get loud at a familiar San Francisco haunt, the Elbo Room, this Friday. (Tony Papanikolas)

With Holy Grail, Hazard’s Cure

9:30 p.m., $10–$13

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.com

 

Yuksek

Someone repeatedly tapping a note on a natural sounding piano. A bunch of finger snaps. An additional R&B riff on the keys. A man singing…Fitz and the Tantrums?…with an accent. Who is this? Metronomy? French accent. Phoenix? An electro snare/kick. MGMT? Background children’s vocals. Justice? Errrrr. Times up. We could play another song, or the full album, but it probably wouldn’t help. With Living on the Edge of Time, an album inspired by life as a lonely electronic musician on the road, French producer Yuksek expanded his sound — heading into a lighter, melodic though dance-oriented pop territory — as well as his band, which kicks off its US tour here. (Prendiville)

With Tenderlions, Realboy, DJ Aaron Axelsen

9 p.m., $15

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com

 

SATURDAY 24

Napoleon

Fans of silent film and early cinema are in for an incredibly special treat this week and next when the San Francisco Silent Film Festival presents a series of screenings featuring Abel Gance’s legendary 1927 masterpiece Napoleon. Lauded for its use of then-groundbreaking and innovative techniques, the epic five-and-a-half hour biography of the French ruler has been painstakingly restored over the past several years, and will be shown accompanied by a live musical score performed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Don’t miss the opportunity to see this amazing event in the Bay Area’s own movie palace, the Paramount Theatre — these performances will not be staged anywhere else in the world. (McCourt)

Sat/24-Sun/25, March 31, April 1

1:30 p.m., $40–$120

Paramount Theatre

2025 Broadway, Oakl.

www.silentfilm.org

 

Thee Oh Sees

As prolific as they are prodigiously loud, San Francisco favorites Thee Oh Sees have cultivated over the course of ten albums (and a shitload of EPs, singles, etc.) a familiar wilderness, equal parts Black Flag and Their Satanic Majesties Request. This shouldn’t mask how unpredictable the band can sound — like the vaguely grotesque, multicolored nightmare aesthetic of the band’s instantly recognizable fliers and album covers, Thee Oh Sees couldn’t be any less concerned with weirding out our delicate sensibilities. (Papanikolas)

With White Mystery, Coathangers, Guantanamo Baywatch, Cyclops

9 p.m., $10

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

 

The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields are known for their sardonic, poetic, and, at times, absolutely hilarious songs that tend to focus on loneliness, sexual identity, unrequited love, and other love-related mishaps. Lead singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt has been releasing albums with the Magnetic Fields for more than two decades. Their new album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, marks the indie pop group’s return to a synthy sound, which they were all about in the ’90s, but veered from in their past three albums (Realism, Distortion, and I). Love at the Bottom of the Sea delves into sexual taboos with catchy tracks like “God Wants Us to Wait” and “Andrew in Drag.” (Sullivan)

8 p.m., $35

Fox Theater

1807 Telegraph, Oakl.

(510) 548-3010

www.thefoxoakland.com


TUESDAY 27

Kendrick Lamar

Best of lists, while good for selling issues or getting views, are guaranteed to start arguments. So it’s no surprise that when XXL released its 2012 Freshmen Issue, crowning emerging hip-hop artists, there was fallout: A$AP Rocky opted out, readers cried foul over selections, and firebrand Azaelia Banks put Iggy Azalea on blast (starting a beef which, given their names, was inevitable.) Time will sort it out, though, as it has with 2011 inductee Kendrick Lamar, who a year later has made the grade, and is now teasing a follow-up to his stellar Section.80. (Although I’m still trying to understand his “I climax where you begin” line on “Rigamortis.”) (Ryan Prendiville) With Hopsin 8 p.m., $30-$50 Regency Ballroom 1300 Van Ness, SF (800) 745-3000 www.theregencyballroom.com

 

Mr. Gnome

Fuzzy Cleveland drums-and-guitar duo Mr. Gnome has been named some variant on the “band to watch” so many times now, it’s best you lift your chin and pay attention. Maybe, you’ll also be scratching that chin, because the band — sugary singer-guitarist Nicole Barille and thwacking drummer-pianist Sam Meister — doesn’t quite sound like anything else. It’s an eye-popping hybrid. And its aesthetic of natural psychedelia in hazy orange and yellow hues with Donny Darko-esque imaginary belies the dark, hard rocking core. Not that they don’t have fun with their music, there are spacey shots of wailing guitars and the occasional high vocal peeps (“Bit of Tongue”), it’s just far more realized a sound than one might expect based on the superficial. Listening yet? (Emily Savage)

With Electric Shepherd & Outlaw, Plastic Villians

8 p.m., $8

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

 

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Cruising for a bruising

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MUSIC On my first foray to Florida, I’d be checking into a hotel in Miami’s South Beach for a night then immediately embarking on the Carnival Imagination for the second annual Bruise Cruise to Nassau, Bahamas.

Over the next three days I’d witness a pole-dancing waiter, seasick garage rockers, and a bachelorette party that could easily be recognized by excitable shouts of “woooo!” Indeed, some of this was expected as part of the cruise culture that had mockingly seeped its way into both my reality and that of about 500 others. Together we’d bear witness to what at heart was a music festival where bands, usually in the cruise-ship lounges, gave their all. Apprehensive at first, I was ready to submit to a bizarre and unlikely voyage.

“I’d hug you, but I just barfed all over myself,” was the first thing Shannon Shaw said to me from the point of take off. Slightly worse for wear from a late night and pre-party performance where she joined Ty Segall in a cover band called the Togas, she and Segall’s drummer Emily Rose Epstein rolled in with instruments and prepared to check in. Later I’d join them for a cafeteria-style lunch and listen rapt during their stories of touring Europe: apparently German prostitutes have turf wars and badass outfits.

The Bay Area presence on the Bruise Cruise was heavy and I was genuinely thrilled to take it all in. Before I could see Thee Oh Sees, but not before a double rainbow mystically appeared during our safety briefing out on deck, the Dirtbombs had the first crack on the Xanadu Lounge’s stage. That’s when it hit me.

The first rough waves became apparent. I joined seemingly unlimited punk-rock paparazzi near the front. The entire audience was swaying, but not necessarily to the music. It was every bit as disorienting as a drug experience. The band ripped through its recognizable hybrid of Detroit rock and soul while a pina colada quelled my nerves.

Thee Oh Sees charged through a 45-minute set in typical electrifying fashion and I caught up with band member Brigid Dawson afterward. She said the camaraderie amongst our local music scene was one of her favorite things about it. “We’re just lucky. We have a lot of great bands right now. There are a lot of us here,” she said.

After confiding to her that I nearly had a panic attack from the vertigo, she recommended fresh ginger or Dramamine. Nonetheless, I was feeling better and it was time to experience what Carnival calls “fine dining.”

This was a more overt example of the Bruisers — if not easily identifiable by their tattoos, then by the fluorescent green wrist bands — co-existing with the normals, aka common cruise ship goers, for a unique mealtime experience. Once you managed to get the meal down (I didn’t hear too much praise for the fare and my fish was rubbery) before you knew it, T-Pain’s “Apple Bottom Jeans” was blaring while the mostly male waitstaff danced suggestively. Right before this, a call and response announcement was made that, “Whatever happens on the ship, stays on the ship!”

Other highlights included the Bruise Cruise Dating Game, followed by Vockah Redu’s request not to label him “sissy bounce” as he got a blow-up doll in a memorable display of athleticism before snagging one of his hair extensions on a stage fixture in a whirlwind of choreography.

Day two left Bruisers to their own vices for relaxation and an opportunity to explore Nassau. Strange Boys’ Philip Sambol, who wears a toga well, and Reigning Sounds’ Lance Wille rounded out the aforementioned cover band performing searing renditions of ’60s psych nuggets. Fanaticism trumps criticism as I thought their set blew Soft Pack’s and Fucked Up’s away. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Toga’s versions of “Helter Skelter,” “Teenage Kicks,” “96 Tears, and even a Pleasure Seekers cover, of course sung by Shaw.

By Sunday morning we were back on international waters and the waves were noticeable. Quintron hand delivered non-drowsy anti-nausea medication to a fellow rocker. Meanwhile, Miss Pussycat’s “Puppets and Pancakes Breakfast” was a hit.

I somehow missed Kyp Malone from TV On the Radio’s performance in which he announced Whitney Houston’s death. Shortly after, San Francisco’s Mikal Cronin took the stage and delivered a solid performance with Segall doing double duty on guitar.

Things reached a fever pitch when an open bar was called during Quintron and Miss Pussycat’s energetic set. Then a feather-adorned King Khan & the Shrines followed as the final live act.

In one of the last dance opportunities aboard the ship, Quintron DJ’d a Swamp Stack Dance Party mixing Archie Bell and the Drells’ “Tighten Up” with the infectious Bohannon beat.

Three days on a cruise ship is ridiculous enough, but adding the Bruise Cruise to the mix is insane. You meet people, you make friends, but you’ll be happy to see your next show back on land.

Noise Pop Roundup 3: Flaming Lips, Veronica Falls, Matthew Dear, Archers of Loaf

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MVP for Noise Pop coverage this year goes to Ryan Prendiville. See below to find out why – Ed.

TUESDAY: The Flaming Lips at Bimbo’s

Time, for the Flaming Lips, is important. Because as a band — one that has been through all sorts of well documented shit — the Flaming Lips know the value of time (particularly borrowed) and have made it their work to not just create music but get into the complete manufacture of moments. Which is a tricky business, because moments are bastards.

Take all the pictures you want of the blinding lights, the beautiful costumed kids, the confetti cannons or all the other individual weapons that the Flaming Lips use to wage musical psychedelic war on time, and the moment still might not fit in a shutter, no matter how you slice a second. Full review here.

WEDNESDAY: Grimes, Born Gold, oOoOO, and Yalls at Rickshaw Stop

Cecil Frena described the lineup at Rickshaw Stop last night simply as “weird music.” He should know. Performing with his synth-fueled electronic dance trio, Born Gold (formerly Gobble Gobble,) Frena stood in front of a camera-slash-iPad pulpit, singing and conducting a third of the group’s sound via a motion-captured, clearly homemade, Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation era-esque military jacket. Full review here.

THURSDAY: Surf Club and FIDLAR at Cafe Du Nord, New Diplomat and Big Black Delta at Rickshaw Stop

“This song is called ‘Stoked and Broke,’” the band’s most talkative, spastic member introduced the first song, explaining, “because we’re stoked and broke.” What followed was a frenetic set of punk fueled, stripped down rock. With a rollicking tightness that reminded me of Thee Oh Sees, FIDLAR shot along, keeping the energy up by alternating singers. Full review here.

I left Cafe Du Nord after FIDLAR, hoping to catch at least some of Big Black Delta at the Rickshaw Stop. When I arrived another band was just starting. A local five piece, New Diplomat reminds me of the kind of groups that dominated the alternative rock airwaves in the late ’90s after grunge and pop-punk stopped being exciting. Since it was about the same time period when I stopped listening to the radio, and New Diplomat’s spiky haired singer had that emo/screamo edge that I have a hard time tolerating, it makes sense that the band put me off.

But then when Jonathan Bates, a.k.a. Big Black Delta started to perform, and I felt almost nothing, a more alarming possibility came to mind: maybe I’m burnt out. On record, I’ve liked what I’ve heard of Big Black Delta’s droned, vocally distorted hard electronic tracks. And performance-wise, Bates kept things appropriately dark, moody, and atmospheric, bumping up the sound with two drummers, each banging away on their side of the stage for some heavy hitting percussion. That whole stereo kit thing is usually the easy way to pull me in, but in this case all I could do was recognize it with cheap approval. Between New Diplomat and Big Black Delta the crowd thinned out a bit, and I leave early too, hoping to reset my baseline by the next day.

FRIDAY: Brilliant Colors, Bleached, and Veronica Falls at Rickshaw Stop, Matthew Dear at Public Works

My plan for the night was to see Veronica Falls at Brick and Mortar, and then hopefully run across the street to catch Matthew Dear at Public Works. But when I showed up at Brick and Mortar, the man at the door told me I had the wrong venue, their Noise Pop show was the night before. I apologized and, checking my schedule, saw that I was indeed an idiot. So much for that plan, at least I wore a coat.

The show was underway at Rickshaw. I didn’t know any of the bands opening for Veronica Falls. The androgynous singer onstage had a bowl cut and was wearing a collared button up that was the most over-sized fashion piece since Stop Making Sense. I couldn’t make out the words, but it was a nice voice – a little deep and dreamy – that mixed in with some catchy guitar riffs. The band was playing melodic pop, and having fun by all appearances. I found out later they are SF’s Brilliant Colors.

The next band, Bleached, had a sound that reminded of the Dum Dum Girls with a lo-fi punk edge. Two of the girls are blondes and the other two aren’t even girls. Bleached was more energetic on stage than Brilliant Colors, but I found their songs didn’t really hook me in. (It also didn’t help that there was a camera crew onstage with them.) The group harmonized a lot and decently, but too often spent a lot of time singing vowels (oohs, ahhs, and ohhs), which started to wear on me. They played a Ramones cover. I think it’s “When I Was Young.”

Still, it was good lineup leading into Veronica Falls, a UK band that has a retro pop sound as well. VF’s sound live was as clean and distinctive as it is on record, with nice guitar work over a signature drum sound that has an ever-present jangle that’s accomplished by little more than taping a tambourine to the floor tom. The band’s vocal style has some nice contrast, between Roxanne Clifford’s usual lead with backing from James Hoare and Patrick Doyle, but really I think it’s its structure and a Belle and Sebastian-like sense of lyrical imagery on songs like “Stephen” or “Bad Feeling” that sets the group apart.

So much so that on “Crimson and Clover”-referencing song, “Come on Over” VF can bust out some oohs and ohhs without it seeming like a shortcut. It was a good set, with a lot of new material as well, for the band that canceled its earlier SF debut due to visa issues. If anything, Veronica Falls was overly apologetic, drummer Patrick politely stated before the encore, “I know I keep saying it, and I feel like a bit of a dick saying it, but thanks.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE6BFAwzwLU

It was before midnight when Veronica Falls finished, so I hurried to Public Works, where they were still setting the stage. While waiting for Matthew Dear to come on, however, I had the misfortune of standing in front of someone explaining to everyone within earshot how terrible the venue was, how it was a warehouse that they just put equipment in but never fixed up, how if she just got a warehouse for a weekend she could fix it up nicer, how there was a bare two-by-four nailed to the beam above the stage for no apparent reason, how they charged club prices but it was “not really a club.” (Sort of the reason I actually like it, that last part).

When Matthew Dear started performing, with a live band – his second night with the lineup – it all sounded more loud and abrasive than I had expected. I think my attitude, and my tired ears had been switched to bitch mode by the girl behind me. The show was sweaty and chaotic, it being a weekend late night at Noise Pop, but I called it a night while it was still going on.

SATURDAY: Noise Pop Culture Club at Public Works, Built Like Alaska, Hospitality, The Big Sleep, and Archers of Loaf at Great American Music Hall

This would be my last day of Noise Pop, I was convinced. As much as I would’ve liked to, I started the day knowing that I would not make it to Sunday’s Dodos show. Between my day job, covering Noise Pop, and pet-sitting three cats (who operate in a binary of meowing or vomiting) back in the East Bay, I may have taken on too much last week. That said, somehow, Saturday at noon I found myself back at Public Works, for the Noise Pop Culture Club, a six-hour-long block of workshops, screenings, interviews, performances, and something called the Seagate Remix Lounge that I didn’t really understand.

When I got to PW they were screening selections of Petites Planètes, another musical documentary series by the guy behind the Take-Away Shows on YouTube. The videos were cool, but the director, Vincent Moon, wasn’t there for the Q&A. Something about being a “nomad.” Dude bailed. Disappointing. Since I was sitting 20 feet from a bartender with nothing to do, I decided to get a drink, but the shaky feeling in my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t had the right ratio of solid food to alcohol in my diet last week. Some spicy noodles from the food truck outside created a buffer on which I began to add of few layers of bourbon, while watching the restored, color version of Méliès A Trip to the Moon, with soundtrack by AIR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nx8hVGzSO4

The main plan was to see Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters play the drums. Modeliste was there as part of a Q&A with the makers of Re:Generation Music Project, a documentary-slash-Hyundai promotion in which he appeared. The clips made the recently released film (which apparently no one in the audience had seen) seem interesting, if only for scenes with whipper snapper EDM artists like Skrillex and Pretty Lights attempting to work with established musicians in other genres, awkwardly. At the end Modeliste played the drums for a bit, and the snare was so loud that each time he smacked it everyone in the audience blinked. A walk outside in the sun and a Bloody Mary later, I returned for a how-to session on using Ableton, and realized I am un-Able ton stay awake.

Clearly, when I made it to the Great American Music Hall, I was in bad shape. Nearly asleep on my feet, with quite a bit of time to go, and not thinking clearly, I made a bad strategic move that combines Red Bull and vodka, two things I don’t like anymore together than apart. When the first band, Built Like Alaska went onstage, I was in a fairly vile mood, my head hanging limp over the balcony while I wrote down petty things about the drummer that I didn’t like: his hat (a fedora indoors) his shirt (vintage Mickey Mouse) his facial hair (Tom Selleck meets Mario Brothers). All this, when his consistently irregular drumming was actually my favorite part of the band who I really had no problem with. Clearly, I was hating hard that night.

Until the next band, Hospitality played. I’d never heard Hospitality before – it was the band’s first time playing in San Francisco – but the sound pulled me in almost immediately, led by the charming, identifiable lilt in guitarist and lead singer Amber Papini’s voice. The songs were light and bouncy, and Papini performed with a slight disaffected edge, always looking up and off to something above the crowd, making strange faces and rolling her eyes at no one in particular. When I got home later, I went online almost immediately to listen to its album and find the song “Friends of Friends.”

Likewise, I tried to find music from the final opener, the Big Sleep, but that’s more of a band to see in concert form, as the trio’s main attraction is a Jack White-like guitarist, who has a lively style of playing and a way of alternating his sound between growling and loud to Jesus Christ, where did I put my ear plugs, I can feel my cochlear hair cells dying.

Now I’m not the biggest Archers of Loaf fan – the band’s actually only been on my radar since a number of high profile reissues last year – but other people at the Great American were clearly eager to see the reformed act live. When a few random notes came out of bassist Matt Gentling’s instrument during the band’s set-up a woman above stage in the balcony yelped, jumping to her feet and clapping her hands together excitedly.

Launching into “Harnessed in Slums,” the band played with an easy energy that gave no suggestion of their hiatus or age, and people in the crowd were shouting “I want waste! We want waste!” along with the chorus. Gentling in particular was electric. He leapt around stage and struck every hard rock guitar god stance imaginable but did it with a physicality that actually pulled them off. (Dude is ripped, FYI.)

At one point early on, struggling with some technical issues, Gentling looked at singer-guitarist Eric Bachmann and joked, “It’s just like the old days, everything is breaking.” Not quite getting the kink out of his bass, Gentling asked the crowd if it’d be ok if the band just kept playing through the difficulty, and Archers of Loaf continued on, powering through a long set. The place wasn’t full, but the crowd made up for it, and was still shaking the floorboards fifteen or so songs later when Archers play “Wrong” and shred a version of “Nostalgia”, making an encore completely obvious.

Ten minutes later – when I headed for BART to wait for a train alongside a couple of giggling guys laying on the platform surrounded by what must have been a dozen empty nitrous canisters – I was no longer tired and sent a text that read: “Okay. That was a good show. Worth it.”

Promising newish acts at Noise Pop 2012: Surf Club and FIDLAR

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He asked if there were drink tickets. The bartender nodded, saying that the band could have wine now, and then beers on stage. Neither of those options would work for Stockton’s Surf Club, whose members were all sporting big black X’s — the mark of the underaged — at their Café Du Nord Noise Pop appearance.

When Surf Club played, melancholic Stratocaster led pop, that youthful innocence was obvious in its music. Well, let’s not say innocence, maybe timidity? The lead singer was a big guy with a small voice, like Frank Black (or Kim Deal? someone from the Pixies) in quieter moments.

The softness fit with the lyrics, mostly teen angst songs void of irony with small goals and wants: just to be friends, just to get out of bed. Surf Club seems to be off to a good start, keeping it simple, strumming along to a speedy drum beat. We’ll see what happens when the shyness wears off.

The following band, LA’s FIDLAR (which, if you’re keeping score at home was 75% over legal drinking age) had absolutely no issues with confidence. Hell, with a name like Fuck It Dog Life’s A Risk, you know the band’s got to be somewhat carefree, if not downright cocky.

“This song is called ‘Stoked and Broke,’” the band’s most talkative, spastic member introduced the first song, explaining, “because we’re stoked and broke.” What followed was a frenetic set of punk fueled, stripped down rock. With a rollicking tightness that reminded me of Thee Oh Sees, FIDLAR shot along, keeping the energy up by alternating singers.

Simple can be a conscious choice, and for FIDLAR that meant shouting through a song entirely consisting of the words “I drink cheap beer. So what? Fuck You!” with just enough attitude to make it work. Recently signing to Mom+Pop and with a full slate at this year’s SXSW, FIDLAR was definitely one of the better surprises at Noise Pop so far.

Our Weekly Picks: December 25-31

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WEDNESDAY 28

Doe Eye

When Maryam Qudus — sole member of local indie-pop project, Doe Eye — sings “I Hate You,” it’s hard to believe her. It’s cute as hell. But the point of the song is indeed that. She doesn’t hate the faceless “you,” but is tortured by the affection. It’s that kind of thoughtfulness with an added ear for pop charm that makes Doe Eye a project you can espouse. Doe Eye released the EP, Run, Run, Run, in August, and sure, it’s about as radio-friendly as you can get. But the instrumentation, with its orchestral and wavy synth touches, is undoubtedly inspired by indie-rock acts around today, be it Beach House or St. Vincent. (James H. Miller)

With The Trims, Pounders, and Miles the DJ

9 p.m., $8

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

 

Mara Hruby

Michael Jackson doing “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Al Green doing “Light My Fire.” Nina Simone doing “Rich Girl.” (Yeah, Hall and Oates, look it up.) While a cover rarely make the original irrelevant, a good one should make it the artist’s own. On From Her Eyes, a free EP she reportedly sang, arranged, recorded, and engineered, Oakland’s Mara Hruby lent her sweet, soulfully agile voice to tracks by Mos Def, Andre 3000, Bob Marley, Jamiroquai, and others, rendering each different and new. Since then Hruby has been at work on her debut album, teasing songs “Lucky (I Love You)” and “The Love Below” online, and will be including new material at this show. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Chris Turner

8 p.m., $15

Yoshi’s Oakland

510 Embarcadero West, Oakl.

(510) 238-9200

www.yoshis.com


THURSDAY 29

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and A Woman is a Woman

A double bill of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and A Woman is a Woman (1961) at the Castro is the stuff cinephilia is made of. Those sweet on The Artist should be sure to check in with these earlier Gallic interpretations of Hollywood razzle dazzle. The first, Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas is the purer confection in many ways, but the film’s tender sentimentalism and radiant color design flow towards a soulful poetry of the everyday. The second, by Jean-Luc Godard, is an early distillation of his complex movie love and a poignant offering to actress Anna Karina. Both films feature scores by Michel Legrand, so they carry their complex register of emotions with a lightness that escapes words. (Max Goldberg)

3:25 and 7 p.m., $10

Castro Theatre

429 Market, SF

(415) 621-6120

www.castrotheatre.com

 

Pictureplane

What do you get when you cross a gutter punk b-boy with a space goth? Sprinkle him with a little MDMA and you’ve got Travis Egedy, a.k.a. Pictureplane. Egedy works clubby ’90s vocal samples and celestial beats into infectious pop songs, which he sings over in a breathy, lusty moan. With effervescent dance anthems like “Black Nails” and “Trancegender,” Egedy gives goths something to freak to. And you’re just as likely to shake it as you are to wind up in the center of a mosh pit. We should all thank our lucky stars for the weird amalgam of personas that is Pictureplane. Speaking of stars, did I mention he’s really, really into space? (Frances Capell)

With Popscene DJs

10 p.m., $12

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

 

Asher Roth

Let’s face it. A lot of us love rap, but many of us can’t relate to carrying guns or moving kilos of cocaine. Luckily there’s Asher Roth, a gifted 26-year-old MC who raps about things the everyman can identify with — like partying with friends and soaking up sunshine. Roth may be a college bro, but he’s legit enough to have earned props from the likes of Ludacris and Slick Rick. Roth prides himself on his live performances and makes them unforgettable by bringing along a full band. If that’s not incentive enough, Thursday is the release show for Roth’s fresh new Pabst & Jazz Sessions mixtape produced by Blended Babies. (Capell)

10 p.m., $25

330 Ritch, SF

(415) 542-9574

www.330ritch.com


FRIDAY 30

Wizard Of Oz

For more than 70 years and counting, The Wizard of Oz has entertained and fascinated viewers; at the time of its original release, the film’s breathtaking color sequences enthralled audiences still stuck on black and white, and the soundtrack’s beloved songs introduced the world to the talents of Judy Garland. For the majority of us who have grown up watching the movie on television, we are in for a special treat tonight when the grand old Paramount hosts a screening, a rare chance to see such a classic piece of cinema on the big screen, the way it was meant to be viewed. Just watch out for flying monkeys! (Sean McCourt)

8 p.m., $5

Paramount Theatre

2025 Broadway, Oakl.

(510) 465-6400

www.paramounttheatre.com

 

X

Taking the same searing energy that propelled its contemporary punk counterparts then add the rock solid drumming of DJ Bonebrake, the guitar virtuosity of Billy Zoom, and the poetic lyrics and intimate vocal interplay of John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Legendary Los Angeles punk rockers X have always distinguished themselves from the other bands of the genre. This holiday season finds the band celebrating with “The Xmas Traveling Rock & Roll Revival,” where fans are sure to hear all of their favorite iconic tunes, and probably a couple of revved-up holiday favorites as well. (McCourt)

With Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss, and the Black Tibetans.

8 p.m. Fri.; 9 p.m. Sat/31, $33–$50

Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

 

Agent Orange

In the mid through late 1970s, Southern California was one of the hubs of hardcore punk, with bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Wasted Youth all forming in the region. It was also a center of skateboarding, thanks to — among other things — a newly developed polyurethane wheel and a drought that left scores of pools empty. The band Agent Orange was a by-product of both of these phenomenons. Formed in Orange County in 1979 by lead singer and guitar player Mike Palm, bassist James Levesque, and drummer Scott Miller, the band took a Dick Dale spin on hardcore and became synonymous with early incarnations of “skate punk.” Skateboarders needed an identity of their own, and Agent Orange helped with that task. Now, 30 years later, you don’t need to know how to do a kick flip to understand why they were so essential. (Miller)

With Inferno of Joy, Tokyo Raid, The Nerv, Suggies

8:30 p.m., $15

330 Ritch, SF

(925) 541-9574

www.330ritch.com

 

Gavin Russom

“I hear you’re buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator.” James Murphy tipped his hand when he wrote that a decade ago, but while would-be musicians could have gone straight past the irony to eBay, one thing they wouldn’t have was Gavin Russom. The ace up the sleeve, Russom is the tech wizard, creating analog synths for LCD Soundsystem and others. But more guru than a Radio Shack hobbyist, Russon has performed, DJ’ed, and created music on his own and under the aliases of the Crystal Ark and Meteoric Black Star. His latest “Night Sky,” is an epic, speedily slow building, sexually suggestive track that proves, as usual, he knows what you really want. (Prendiville)

With LA Vampires, Bobby Browser, Magic Touch, and Pickpocket

9:30 p.m., $10

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com


SATURDAY 31

Primus

Is one of your New Years’ resolutions to go Sailing The Seas Of Cheese? Do you plan on serving up some Frizzle Fry? Imbibing in some Pork Soda? Well, any way you look at it, the two club shows this week by musical boundary-busting Bay Area rock favorites Primus are a rare treat for local fans to see the band up close and personal. You can choose to ring in the New Year with Les Claypool and company on Saturday, or if you prefer, you can work off your holiday hangover on Sunday with the band, which will be performing two sets each night at its Hawaiian Hukilau-themed parties. (McCourt)

9 p.m.; 8 p.m. Sun/1, $50–$65

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell St., SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com


Thee Oh Sees

There’s no shortage of New Year’s Eve events taking place in the city, but you’re hard-pressed to find a more definitively San Francisco way to spend the evening than with local psych-pop darlings Thee Oh Sees. Though many a band has hopped on the fuzzy garage train in recent years, these guys have been blazing the trail for well over a decade (under various monikers). Each new release, including the spanking new Carrion Crawler/The Dream (In The Red) finds Thee Oh Sees shredding harder and better, but its live shows will melt your face clean off. Enjoy some gnarly guitar riffage, kiss a stranger, and partake in the vices you’ve resolved to quit come sunrise. (Capell)

With The Fresh & Onlys and White Fence

9 p.m., $15–$20

Brick & Mortar Music Hall

1710 Mission, SF

(415) 371-1631

www.brickandmortarmusic.com

 

“Sea of Dreams NYE 2012”

Part carnivale, part circus, part burn, part Halloween, part massive: the annual Sea of Dreams event takes the promise of a wild New Year’s Eve and adds more. In part it has to do with the crowd, drawing some serious do-it-themself-ers with fantastically creative outfits. But whatever distractions are off stage, there will be hard competition from a triple bill of headliners including local favorites Beats Antique, infectious dance MC Santigold (who has new material to debut live), and the return of Amon Tobin’s deafening, eyeball melting ISAM set. (Prendiville)

With Claude VanStroke, MarchFourth Marching Band, An-ten-nae, Diego’s Umbrella, and more

8 p.m., $75–$145

SF Concourse Exhibition Center

635 8th St., SF

www.seaofdreamsnye.com


SUNDAY 1

Eliza Rickman

With her little toy piano Eliza Rickman makes bewitching alternative folk rock. Listening to her EP, Gild the Lily, is like walking through a life size dollhouse and feeling not sure whether to be frightened or enchanted. There’s something about the nature of the toy piano — its sparkling sound can be at once blood curdling and tender (like John Cages’ Suites for Toy Piano, which popularized the instrument). Similarly, Rickman’s voice has a plucked from the garden pleasantness, but her words tend toward the tragic. This balance between adorable and dreary can even be seen in the titles of her songs, like “Black Rose” and “Cinnamon Bone.” In any event, whether she’s cinnamon, bone, or both, the toy piano under her hands is more than a novelty. (Miller)

7 p.m., free

Amnesia

853 Valencia, SF

(415) 970-0012

www.amnesiathebar.com


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Snap Sounds: Thee Oh Sees

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By Irwin Swirnoff

THEE OH SEES
CARRION CRAWLER/THE DREAM
(In The Red)

It’s very easy to take things for granted in San Francisco, and in many ways that’s been the demise of so many amazing things in this city; we forget to applaud, support, and revel in the magic when it’s here, only to lament it when it’s taken away. Thee Oh Sees are on fire, this is their second full length of the year. Their work ethic is as charged as the songs that fill this record. Something happens when you listen to Carrion Crawler/The Dream, you blast it loud and then you begin to move, and sweat, and get out of your head and into your body and feel so raw and alive. Don’t take them for granted; they are the best rock band on the planet right now. See videos after the jump.

Pretty amazing, the band’s whole set at New Parish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB5JThQWXxM

Or if you prefer a quicker snippet of Thee Oh Sees live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbvZfpvPdc&feature=related

Or just want to hear a track off Carrion Crawler/The Dream, here’s “Heavy Doctor:”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be_I5Opx12s

Rearview mirror

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

Year in Music “Out of all the records I’ve recorded, that was the worst experience,” says prolific Dinosaur Jr. bassist and Sebadoh guitarist Lou Barlow. He’s speaking of Bug, the classic, feedback opening alternative rock album Dinosaur Jr. released on SST in 1988.

Why then, did the band tour the East Coast during the spring of 2011, playing the album start to finish, and why does it continue to play it now — appearing at the Fillmore this week? “All the negative associations I had with it are gone. What I hear now is a really great batch of songs that J [Mascis] wrote.” He goes on to describe the early days of Dinosaur Jr., “when we formed it was my first textured, creatively ambitious band — and that was at the age of 17 — so it’s a real part of my DNA now. Musically, it’s a very familiar spot to be at.”

There, in a history-rich bed with a familiar texture, is the spot where aging rock fans crave to be. According to Simon Reynold’s exhaustive and polarizing 2011 tome Retromania, it’s also the space in which we all now inhabit, new listeners and old. His introductory words are harsh, if provoking. “The 2000s [was] the decade of rampant recycling: bygone genres revived and renovated, vintage sonic material, reprocessed and recombined. Too often with new young bands, beneath their taut skin and rosy cheeks, you could detect the sagging grey flesh of old ideas.” Brutal.

In some sections, Reynolds is dead on, and his methodology applies equally to the year in rock that was 2011 (though the book was written in the summer of 2010). We couldn’t possibly look back at these twelve months without including the grander trail of rock’n’roll, and how it was again repackaged throughout the year.

Given the retro-crazed times we live in, to judge the year, we must also fall deeper down the nostalgia inkwell, in part due to the onslaught of monster reunion tours, complete album trips, rereleased records, anniversary celebrations, and retro reverential new rock/garage/punk acts of 2011. One point Reynolds makes, is that the span of time elapsed between creative endeavor and nostalgia for said endeavor is rapidly fading.

Just recently the Weakerthans — which formed in 1997 — spent four power-pop nights at the Independent, playing one whole album from its catalogue each night. Earlier this year, Archers of Loaf launched a reunion tour (13 years after its demise) and the reissue of four of its studio albums on Merge. There were also reunion shows and tours from the Cars, Kyuss, Pulp, Cibo Matto, Masters of the Hemisphere, Death From Above 1979 (big up to Treasure Island Music Festival), and strangely, J. Geils Band, the Monkees, and System of a Down.

There were rereleased Smashing Pumpkins albums, a Throbbing Gristle greatest hits, and a Hot Snakes one-off (at press time) at All Tomorrow’s Parties’ Nightmare Before Xmas in Minehead, England — a fest also headlined by Archers of Loaf.

There was Nirvana’s Nevermind 20 year anniversary celebration, and Metallica’s 30 years strong, though the output for these celebrations was obviously disparate given the nature of the acts. Nirvana’s label released a series of singles and special edition anniversary batches. Metallica took perhaps the most surprising turn a no-frills metal act could — it paired with Lou Reed and released a confusing collaboration, Lulu, though the real anniversary celebration was yet to come — a four-night, devil-horned, juicy guest-starred tête-à-tête for hardcore fans at the Fillmore.

There were also the bands that just felt retro, or at least, stood with one foot in rock’s not-so-distant past. But the good ones were more reverent than carbon vintage copy, acts like Dum Dum Girls and Cults, played on romantic ideals of ’60s garage and slipped in some doo-wop and girl group-esque vocals, but neither directly mimics a particular era. In its debut follow-up, Only In Dreams (Sub Pop), Dum Dum Girls also referenced a distinct ’90s Mazzy Star vibe. Meanwhile, Canadian chanteuse Austra looped back to the ’80s with prominent synth and operatic love songs, and the Beets happily alluded to its own ’60s garage-meets-Ramones influences on fourth album Let The Poison Out (Hardly Art), like something out of a Nuggets boxset; a modern, bilingual Seeds.

Locally, longtime Ty Segall band member Mikal Cronin finally made the move to San Francisco in 2011. Raised on surf and garage rock down south, he brought with him a distinctive nostalgic sound; his solo self-titled record — released this year on Trouble in Mind — was one of the most intriguing of the year. Like many now living and playing in SF, he’s drawn to vintage rock’n’roll and garage, but his style stands out above the pack.

This year he released a multifarious record of crusted garage-punk and swirling psych-pop, glamorized with the hazy, sand-swept beach days pictured in vintage Polaroids. Opening track “Is It Alright” could be plucked from a psychedelic Beach Boys LP, laid thicker with grime. And Cronin, when pressed, reveals a long history of influences — along with current bands such as Thee Oh Sees and Strange Boys — mentioning longtime favorites “Emitt Rhodes, Del Shannon, the Beatles, the Beach Boys,” adding “I’ve been trying to relisten to the classics” And yes, the remaining Beach Boys were said to be planning yet another reunion for next year, a thrill for likely a few young fans (though the same can not be said for Brian Wilson’s 2011 Disney covers album).

Here’s another spot where Reynolds and I tend to split: I’m an unabashed rearview mirror fan. And while I agree that the “re-s” in our sonic world are sometimes overwhelmingly dull, the opportunity to see live bands that broke up before I was cognizant has just too strong a pull on my psyche. Even Reynolds seems to consent to that last bit, stating in Retromania, “The exceptions to my ‘no reunions’ policy are a few bands that I loved as a youth but never managed to see live.” So wouldn’t that be the case for someone in every audience? The giant pink headphones-wearing toddler I saw at the Iggy Pop show undoubtedly missed the punk singer’s first 40 odd years of shows. Now, will somebody please reunite Operation Ivy, Minor Threat, and Neutral Milk Hotel for complete album tours, or is that too sacrilegious for your precious memories? It’d just be for my own comfort, obviously. *

 

 

EMILY SAVAGE’S TOP 10 SHOWS OF 2011

Feb. 26: No Age, Grass Widow, and Rank/Xerox at Rickshaw Stop

April 27: Steve Ignorant plays Crass songs at Slim’s

June 1: Gayngs at Independent

July 13: King Khan & Gris-Gris, Shannon & the Clams, King Lollipop/1-2-3-4 Go! Records Showcase at Oakland Metro Opera House

Sept. 22: Hightower, Black Cobra, and Walken at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Oct. 6: CSS at Fillmore

Oct. 13: Gardens & Villa at Bottom of the Hill

Nov. 5: Wild Flag at Great American Music Hall

Dec. 4: Iggy Pop at Warfield

Dec. 10: Tycho at Independent

Garage troubadour

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arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC “I did something really stupid,” was pretty much the first thing Ty Segall said to me as we walked to Philz Coffee in the Mission. Originally the plan was to sit at El Metate, but that got nixed as we agreed an afternoon jolt of caffeine was more important.

I asked what he had done that was so stupid, but it wasn’t specifically clear which act he was referring to. On the defensive, he went off on a tangent about how he perceives his guitars almost as talismans. “It’s like voodoo,” he said. That’s how he explains his behavior when he gives a guitar away to somebody. Other times he goes with the more cliched rock ritual of destroying one on stage. This also led to his purchase of a 1965 sea-foam green Mustang Fender. The excitement in his voice as he described his new toy was apparent. Music is what makes him tick.

I interviewed him in 2009 when Lemons (Goner Records) came out, but that was forever ago considering his well-documented abundance of releases. Now that Goner is putting out a double LP, Singles 2007-2010 (out this week), it seemed like an appropriate time to catch up and see how constant touring may be taking its toll on the 24-year-old garage rock answer to a troubadour.

We settled at a picnic table at a nearby soccer park where Segall, clad in Ray Bans and a brown cardigan, explained his fatigue from life on the road. He had just wrapped up a slew of local gigs, including a Halloween show where he and his band performed as the Spits. There, they struggled for the spotlight as an unruly woman from the audience — who was allegedly “humping everything” — stole a purse, and had to be bounced. Then it was off to Austin for a couple of dates where he performed alongside Thee Oh Sees, who he considers the best live band San Francisco has to offer, Black Lips and the Damned at the three-day Fun Fun Fun Fest.

“We never really stop touring. I wonder how we’re still here,” he said in bewilderment of both the physical and mental drain bands endure. “Everybody hits a wall.” He was referring to breaking points, but was also responding to my prodding about a previous interview he gave to Spinner.com where he commented on the fragility of one’s mind, and how you can “lose it at any moment”.

Just as he was admitting his own sensitivity, three pugs walked over to him, as if on cue. I watched him pet the triplets in a moment of adorably comforting symbiosis. It appears he’s learning his limits, coping with an over-analytical brain and growing a thicker skin.

But that’s not to say his creative well is running dry any time soon. While the singles compilation is a retrospective, along with some unreleased material, Segall said he’s still “psyched” to record something new. 2012 promises to be fruitful as his booking agent claimed the native So Cal. surfer has three records coming out next year.

While he doesn’t see himself as being in a “party band”, he’s been given the unique opportunity to partake in the second annual Bruise Cruise. It’s a three-day cruise to the Bahamas loaded with garage bands, their fans, and 75 percent regular ol’ tourists, according to Segall. The concept seems a bit ridiculous in the sense that trash rockers will converge with such decadence. This year he’s joining a super group of sorts called the Togas with Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams, Phillip Sambol from Strange Boys, and Lance Willie (drummer from the Reigning Sound).

But for now Segall can hold off and breathe for a second before setting sail. He can enjoy what he considers the vacation of just being home, doing his laundry, and all the other domestic yearnings that come with wanting a house with a yard and a basement.

Thee Oh Sees will release another LP; San Francisco rejoices

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Yep, it’s true – another Thee Oh Sees record is on the way — not that we are complaining. Just six months after releasing their last LP (Castlemania), it was announced this week that John Dwyer and crew will release another dirty punk/psych garage record (Carrion Crawler/The Dream) this Nov.15 on In the Red Records. He just keeps churning them out. If you can remember that far back, the band released three albums in 2009. See below for the track listing and some fun videos.

Carrion Crawler/The Dream:
01 Carrion Crawler
02 Contraption/Soul Desert
03 Robber Barons
04 Chem-Farmer
05 Opposition
06 The Dream
07 Wrong Idea
08 Crushed Grasss
09 Crack in Your Eye
10 Heavy Doctor

Dwyer is a San Francisco staple at this point, like weed or broken down buses — as much as he’d probably hate to hear that. Depending on when you arrived in this city (oh, you were born here? Well, this sentence isn’t for you), you likely discovered his high-held, frenetic guitar attacks during one of three eras: Pink and Brown (1997), Coachwhips (2001) or the fully-evolved Thee Oh Sees (it originally began as his solo side-project). Of course, there were bands in between, but those mentioned were the era-defining acts.

In celebration of this always-welcome announcement, let’s look back at Dwyer’s career in video form:

Pink and Brown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aqwzweFqjc

Coachwhips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwK8sDJOJuA

Thee Oh Sees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1bHddYhtDw

For those itching to see the band live again, its next local show is the Treasure Island Festival on Oct. 16.

Our Weekly Picks: August 24-30

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WEDNESDAY 24

MUSIC

Tim Cohen’s Magic Trick

Tim Cohen may just be the hardest working man in rock ‘n’ roll. He pours time and energy into singer-songwriting the Fresh & Onlys, guest musicianing friends’ bands, and masterminding his own side project, Magic Trick. He released a Magic Trick album in February and he recently released another, just half a year later. The LP, The Glad Birth of Love, is a piece of musical achievement: four lengthy rock ballads and guest spots from members of Thee Oh Sees, the Sandwitches, and Citay. It saw a limited release on July 19 (Cohen’s birthday) but was wide-released yesterday, Aug. 23. Tonight, Cohen will be feted with an album release show at the Rickshaw Stop that includes the last show ever for fellow SF rockers Magic Bullets. (Emily Savage)

With Magic Bullets, PreTeen, and Tambo Rays

8 p.m., $8

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(510) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

 

MUSIC

Vaz

It’s been described as “scum-pop,” “cock rock,” and “creep-rock,” but all you really need to know is this: Vaz is loud as fuck. The hard-hitting Brooklyn trio rose from the ashes of ’90s band Hammerhead in the early aughts and somehow managed to make an even noisier sound in the years that followed. Vaz has also label-jumped in said years, putting out albums, tapes, and splits on Gold Standard Laboratories, Damage Rituals, Narnack, and Load Records, among others. Wherever the band’s outputs land, vocalist-guitarist Paul Erickson continues to wail on post-metal, rapid-paced cuts and drummer Jeff Moordian looks and sounds as though he’s having a convulsive, orgasmic meltdown behind the set (a good thing). (Savage)

With Pygmy Shrews, Unstoppable Death Machine, and Dead

9 p.m., $8.

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

 

THURSDAY 25

EVENT

“Dinosaur Nightlife”

Though they died out 65 million years ago, Dinosaurs continue to fascinate us, stoking our imaginations, piquing our curiosities, and sometimes even stalking through our nightmares. If you’re yearning to unleash your inner 8-year-old pretend paleontologist and celebrate your love of these “terrible lizards,” then head over to the California Academy of Sciences for tonight’s Dinosaurs! Nightlife event, part of a weekly series of after-hours science-themed parties for the 21 and over portion of visitors. Tonight’s prehistoric party will feature a fossil show and tell, a special planetarium show, live music, drinks, and even a “Dino Burlesque” show. (Sean McCourt)

6-10 p.m., $10–$12

California Academy of Sciences

55 Music Concourse, SF

(415) 379-8000

www.calacademy.org

 

MUSIC

The Soft Moon

The Soft Moon is back! After touring America in support of its debut album, San Francisco’s most promising new band has finally returned. The band plays the coldest cold wave to come out of the bay in . . . forever? Seriously, it’s like 70 degrees outside and I feel like I have to put on a sweater every time I listen to a song. It’s unsettling. Frenchmen with angular haircuts and vows of silence make this kind of music, not Californians. The Soft Moon isn’t just playing at being the most ice cool band in the bay, though. The music is terse and cinematic; sparse vocals and guitar hover delicately above driving rhythm as lights and images dance across the stage completing the performance. Brrr. (Cooper Berkmoyer)

With Craft Spells

9 p.m., $10

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

 

MUSIC

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

It’s easy to see how Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside has so quickly risen the ranks of the Portland music scene. The band’s breezy blend of rockabilly, jumpy jazz, and 1950s rock ‘n’ roll is contagiously effective, punctuated with walking stand-up bass lines, lively percussion, and just the right amount of rebellious energy. But it’s Ford herself that steals the show and lends the group its most compelling element. Channeling the yelping spirit of 1920s and 1930s-era blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ida Cox, the wildly unhinged and raw passion in her voice has quickly won the band scores of fans, including the Avett Brothers, which the band accompanied for several shows throughout the West Coast and Colorado in 2009. (Landon Moblad)

With il gato

9 p.m., $12 Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

www.cafedunord.com

 

MUSIC

White Mystery

Goddamn can Alex White sing. On guitar and vocals, Alex is half of Chicago, Ill. brother-sister duo White Mystery. Her brother Francis White, on drums, is the other half of this stripped down rock ‘n’ roll combo. The Bikini Kill comparisons are perhaps inescapable thanks to her powerful pipes and punchy riffs, but White Mystery is a different beast, one with two full heads of red hair that fly back and forth with each drum strike. The songs are simple and energetic: even as a two-piece, White Mystery sounds full with attitude that demands your attention. “I have an idea,” says Alex at the beginning of its song “Party:” “let’s have a party!” Yes, let’s. (Berkmoyer)

With Burnt Ones

9 p.m., $7

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

 

FRIDAY 26

FILM

Edgar Wright

Gaining American mainstream exposure with 2004’s zombie smash hit Shaun Of The Dead, continuing with the 2007 action farce Hot Fuzz, and most recently with last year’s comic adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, writer and director Edgar Wright has brought us some of the most darkly hilarious and entertaining movies in recent memory. The British filmmaker visits the Castro Theatre tonight for a special “Midnights For Maniacs” event that will feature screenings of all three previously mentioned films, an assortment of shorts including the Grindhouse faux trailer Don’t, plus a live onstage interview in conversation with host Jesse Hawthorne Ficks. (McCourt)

7 p.m., $15

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF.

(415) 621-6120

www.castrotheatre.com

 

MUSIC

Traditional Fools

Snotty, sloppy and drunken, the Traditional Fools is everything garage rock should be. Notes crash into each other and vocals are kind of slurred over the consequent blur of fuzz, but something holds it all together for a few minutes until one song ends and another starts. “1-2-3-4!” It’s a party in three pieces: Andrew, David, and Ty (of eponymous Ty Segall fame) are heir to the Mummies’ budget rock sound with a twist of their own. If John Waters ever made a skate video (don’t ask me, I don’t know why he would, but if he did) the Traditional Fools would play in every scene. Does that make any sense? I’m not sure it does. (Berkmoyer)

With Outdoorsmen, Uzi Rash, and Shrouds

9 p.m., $10

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com


SATURDAY 27

MUSIC

J-Pop Summit Festival

Any day of the year you can stop by New People — that glowing white box/contemporary mall in the heart of Japantown — for a brief, colorful dose of j-pop. But if you really want to do it right, and get maximum exposure to the current pop culture trends of Japan, the yearly J-Pop Summit Festival is your best bet. The festival, which is hosted by New People this year, takes place on Post Street from Webster to Laguna, encompassing both the mall and the Peace Plaza of Japantown. There will be live music by Danceroid, Layla Lane, K-ON!, SpacEKrafT, the Patsychords, and teen duo the Bayonettes (which formed at the Bay Area Girls Rock Camp) along with DJs spinning modern j-pop. The fest also includes film screenings and avant-garde Elegant Gothic Lolita-style fashion by h. Naoto, so you can dress the part as well. (Savage)

Through Sun/28

11 a.m.-6 p.m., free

New People

1746 Post, SF

(415) 525-8630

www.newpeopleworld.com

 

FILM

“Showgirls: The Peaches Christ Experience”

It’s hard to believe anyone (ahem, director Paul Verhoeven and writer Joe Eszterhas) thought for two seconds that 1995’s Showgirls would be received as anything other than extreme high camp to the zillionth power. Faster than you can say “I like your nails,” however, Showgirls’ true destiny — as audience participation classic — was embraced, and one of its fiercest champions has been our very own Peaches Christ. Surely San Francisco’s hunger for the on-screen antics of Nomi Malone and Peaches’ accompanying hijinks (including a “Volcanic Goddess” pre-show and an army of 100 lap dancers) can barely be contained by any four walls, but among all possible venues, the Castro Theatre seems equipped for the challenge. Thrust it! (Cheryl Eddy)

8 p.m., $25–$45

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.peacheschrist.com

 

SUNDAY 28

MUSIC

Sway Machinery

For those not of the Jewish faith, cantorial music is basically synagogue tunage. If Brooklyn-based, edged-out cantorial-meets-blues music isn’t your thing, try it tangled up with West African drumming and Malian vocals. At some point, Sway Machinery will get your attention. The band went to Mali, recorded two full albums with musicians there including local superstar Khaira Arby, then tread a bumpy road back to the States. Dynamic singer-songwriter-guitarist Jeremiah Lockwood often leads the Sway Machinery in Hebrew, though on the group’s most recent, inextricably Mali-influenced records, he takes two steps away from the traditional, and experiments with different vocal stylings. It’s true that the bloggers have made it clear they’re sick of indie-afro-pop, but this is an exception to that rule, it’s an old-world away from appropriation. (Savage)

8 p.m., $12

Beatbox

314 11th St., SF

www.beatboxsf.com

 

TUESDAY 30

MUSIC

Butthole Surfers

Boasting one of the most infamous monikers in music history and a harried reputation for wild antics that more than matched, the Butthole Surfers have been attacking stages and ear drums for the past 30 years. Still led by the core trio of Gibby Haynes, Paul Leary, and King Koffey, the band may have flirted with some mainstream success back in the 90s with tunes such as “Who Was In My Room Last Night?” and “Pepper,” but they still continue to mix a crazy concoction of underground punk, psychedelic rock, and noise that may confound the casual listener, while the hardcore fans go rabid at its shows. (McCourt)

With 400 Blows.

8 p.m., $30

Regency Ballroom

1290 Sutter, SF

www.theregencyballroom.com 

 

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Lights Out: Taking the Royal Baths

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“This music was what we wanted to hear,” explains vocalist-guitarist Jigmae Baer of the beginnings of the Royal Baths, “that we weren’t hearing anywhere else.” 

The Royal Baths formed two years ago, as Baer was coming to the end of playing with Thee Oh Sees, and guitarist-vocalist Jeremy Cox moved to San Francisco by way of Arcata. 

“When we first started, I’d been listening to a lot of finger-picking,” explains guitarist-vocalist Jeremy Cox. “So I was experimenting with open tuning, like Delta Blues, playing Willie Johnson and Skip James.”

“I remember the first song we covered was a Skip James song,” adds Bear. “And we covered a song by Nina Simone, the Carter Family, and Spaceman 3.”

The quartet plays rock ‘n’ roll with a pretty grittiness: accelerating beats makes the music frenzy-filled; staggering melodies shine through the noisy fuzz; extended psychedelic guitar jams are rough flourishes; and the duo delivery of lyrics is hypnotic in its repetition and raw in its simple truth.

“Jigmae writes all the lyrics,” Cox clarifies. “Jigmae brings his typewriter and I’ll have just a guitar, and we’ll have an idea about what we want the song to be about.” Together the pair’s dynamic — one fiddling on the guitar and the other typing away — brings about the dark and light of the Royal Bath’s music. “After we have a rough skeleton of the song, we’ll bring it into the studio and do it with the full band, says Cox. “And it changes further from there.”

In 2010, the band released its debut album Litanies (Woodsist Records). They’ve already recorded and mixed a new album. When I ask if there’s a release date for that one, Baer quips, “We would’ve liked to release it two months ago.” The pair explains that they recorded the album in February, but had to go back to the studio to redo the initial mixes. 

“This album is a lot different sounding to our ears,” explains Cox, “because our last album was more just writing the songs as we went. This album was mostly recorded live, so it’s more of a live rock and roll album.”

This is a good thing; The Royal Baths have a voltaic energy live. And if you’ve seen them play recently, then you’ve heard new material from this unreleased and unnamed album. 

In the new song “Faster and Harder,” Baer and Cox’s low and high registers harmonize the lines “I love my damaged girl/We share a wicked world.” The track has a British paisley rock undertone and like good classic rock ‘n’ roll, it is sexy and dirty. The double guitars spiral out of control as the duo chants the title lines faster and faster. 

When asked what inspires Baer’s lyrics, he replies, “It’s always a combination of being partially autobiographical and partially from my friends and what I see in them.” Baer adds, “A lot of times, I write stuff that makes me laugh.” He notes that the band is often regarded as being very serious, but in an absurdist way. “I am talking about the real fucked up problems that our friends and us have, in a very unflinching way, and trying to find the absurdity of our petty little problems.”

Beat-driven track “Burn,” explains Baer, “is just a story about our friend who went to Pill Hill and just got ripped off.”

As you wait for the release of the Royal Baths next album, catch the band’s live show at the Hemlock before they go on tour this August and begin their relocation to Brooklyn.

 

Royal Baths

With Dadfag, Nucular Animals, Psychic Feline

July 2 9:30 pm, $7

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF 

(415) 596-7777

www.hemlocktavern.com

 

So much soul

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arts@sfbg.com

Before he’d excuse himself to dance the boogaloo on stage, Soul Brother No. 1 would quip into the mic, often saying things like, “So much soul, I got some to spare!” So in case you’re wondering, James Brown is pretty much the inspiration for the name of this column. As for my intentions, I hope to keep the parameters somewhat loose, but focused on celebrating our local music scene. However, sometimes these Bay Area bands want to celebrate elsewhere.

Take Bare Wires, for example. On my recent trip to Portland, Ore., I unexpectedly caught one of their shows at a bar. Not that I haven’t seen them play here numerous times. It was more of a pleasant surprise, sort of like the tulips that were in full bloom everywhere, but not like the great scrutiny my nearly expired driver’s license went through. Most bartenders would normally just wish me a happy birthday, but nine times out of 10, I’d get discerning looks and these stern words of caution: “You know this expires in a few days?” I conclude that Portland hates birthdays but loves flowers and the way Oakland’s Bare Wires, decked out in ’70s garb, straggle out of their van, a virtual Mystery Machine. It was a solid performance with an engaged audience, complete with an attendee who stole the mic at the end of the set for some shrieking. Way to represent.

Speaking of ’70s-inspired, I was listening to KUSF in Exile’s web stream — which has been available thanks to WFMU for about two months now — and I heard a song that sounded familiar in more ways than one. I didn’t recognize it as a Marc Bolan song at first, until the chorus gave way. The DJ read the playback and the singer was revealed to be Ty Segall. The song, “Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart,” was from Tyrannosaurus Rex’s 1970 Beard of Stars album. Segall’s limited edition 12-inch of all T. Rex covers, appropriately titled Ty Rex (Goner Records), is a bold move that almost addresses taboo. The idolizing of Bolan is up-front and out in the open. It’s kind of like saying ‘Screw it, I wanna sound like T. Rex, so I’m just gonna do a bunch of their songs.’ And the result is pretty right on.

“Woodland Rock” — a song I’m less familiar with — is reminiscent of “Go Home,” the opening track from Segall first self-titled album. The explosion of fast-paced energy sounds like fun or the discovery of one’s creative self.

I was glad he chose to cover “Salamanda Palaganda,” partly because of its absurd title. Here Segall chooses to slow down what was once a hyper-frenzied acoustic Tyrannosaurus Rex workout and puts his own twist on it, which consists of lots of fuzz and reverb that was the prevailing affect on 2009’s Lemons (Goner Records). His version of “Elemental Child” is full of distortion and there may even be a slight mimicry of Bolan’s trademark warbled vocal.

I guess it’s interesting that the six tracks chosen on this album seem so carefully picked from a period where the lyrically long-winded and acoustic Bolan would transform his mystical, musical image and persona by going electric and abbreviating the band’s name. Segall even takes on two tracks from the iconic Slider album where Bolan, by then glamorous, had perfected his craft, tapped into the industry, and attained mass appeal.

I managed to get my hands on the record at one of those last packed Eagle Tavern shows in April which doubled as a Save KUSF benefit (Segall being an avid Save KUSF supporter). I saw Segall by the merch booth after his set while Thee Oh Sees were playing and jokingly asked how he’d feel if Marc Bolan covered his songs. He just kinda smiled and said something like “That’d be it.” As fate would have it, Bolan wouldn’t boogie past 1977. 

 

Sounds of summer

1

arts@sfbg.com 

 Live music in the Bay Area this summer is bracketed by festivals, from the lowercase indoor venue indie pop of the San Francisco Pop Fest on Memorial Day weekend to the outdoor mid-August convergence of Outside Lands. The guide below aims to name some highlights from a wide variety of genres, with an emphasis on rare and first-time appearances in the Bay Area. 

 

MAY 25-29 

San Francisco Pop Fest The lineup includes groups and songwriters from the post-punk (The Undertones) and C86 (14 Iced Bears, Phil Wilson) eras, the Sarah Records’ band Aberdeen, some indie pop faves of the present (Allo Darlin’, The Beets), and more than a few local groups (The Mantles, Brilliant Colors, Dominant Legs, Terry Malts, The Art Museums). Various venues, www.sfpopfest.com

 

MAY 29 

Mobb Deep The East Coast rap duo hits the stage in SF for the first time in years. Mezzanine, www.mezzaninesf.com

 

JUNE 2-3 

Architecture in Helsinki The band of five Australian multi-instrumentalists tours in support of its fourth album (and first on Modular). Great American Music Hall and Slim’s; www.gamh.com , www.slims-sf.com

 

JUNE 3-4 

Bluegrass for the Greenbelt Presented by Slim’s, an overnight concert — with more music on the second day — benefiting the Greenback Alliance, with camping for up to 200 people who bring tents. Dunsmuir-Helman Estate, Oakl.; www.slims-sf.com

 

JUNE 7 

Omar Souleyman After releases on Sublime Frequencies, the Dabke idol brings the sounds of Syria to SF, with a Björk collaboration set for release. Mezzanine, www.mezzaninesf.com

Orange Goblin The veteran UK stoner metal act headlines, with support from beefy Indiana doom band Gates of Slumber, who just released a crushing new eight-song album entitled The Wretch and a DJ set by Rob Metal. Bottom of the Hill, www.bottomofthehill.com

 

JUNE 8 

Matmos Now based in Baltimore, Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt come back to the Bay Area. Bottom of the Hill, www.bottomofthehill.com

 

JUNE 10 

Timber Timbre, Marissa Nadler The trio tour in support of a follow-up album, while Nadler moves past black metal back to solo ventures with a self-titled album. Swedish American Hall, www.cafedunord.com

 

JUNE 22 

Kid Congo Powers and The Pink Monkey Birds He’s been a major force within a handful of all-time great punk and post-punk bands, and Kid Congo Powers has a new album out on In the Red that taps into sounds ranging from glam to ’60s Chicano rock. Rickshaw Stop, www.rickshawstop.com

 

JUNE 23-25 

Jackie Greene In conjunction with the release of his sixth album, the singer-songwriter plays a trio of concerts. Swedish American Hall, www.cafedunord.com

Bill Orcutt The guitarist has just released a tour 7-inch single, and the bill includes fellow locals Date Palms. Hemlock Tavern, www.hemlocktavern.com

 

JUNE 24-25 

2011 US Air Guitar Championships San Francisco Regionals Two nights of air shredding, with special performances by past champions Hot Lixx Hulahan and C-Diddy and at least 20 local competitors. The Independent, www.independentsf.com

 

JUNE 25 

Blackalicious From Solesides to Epitaph, Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel have spanned decades and still throw down live. Mezzanine, www.mezzaninesf.com

 

JULY 5 

Quintron and Miss Pussycat Shannon and the Clams and the Younger Lovers open for the New Orleans’ husband-and-wife duo. Bottom of the Hill, www.bottomofthehill.com

 

JULY 6 

Darwin Deez New Yorker Darwin Smith’s pop songs have found a large audience in the UK, but for now, he’s still playing smaller venues here. Bottom of the Hill, www.bottomofthehill.com

Maus Haus The group moves past krautrock into other electronic territory on Lark Marvels, and co-headlines with Swahili Blonde on a California tour. Rickshaw Stop, www.rickshawstop.com

Seefeel The vanguard postrock group recently reunited and put out an album on Warp. Great American Music Hall, www.gamh.com

 

JULY 7-9 

The Reverend Horton Heat The Reverend goes back to country music’s past on Laughin’ and Cryin’, and is joined by locals the Swingin’ Utters. The Independent, www.independentsf.com

 

JULY 9 

Washed Out Since he first visited the Rickshaw Stop, Ernest Greene’s music has been used in Portlandia, and his first full album is coming out on Sub Pop. Great American Music Hall, www.gamh.com

 

JULY 14-15 

Three Day Stubble’s Nerd Fest The group is celebrating three decades of nerd rock, with four additional acts on each night. 

Tinariwen Live desert blues from the current touring version of the Tuareg band. Bimbo’s 365 Club, www.bimbos365club.com

 

JULY 26 

Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile An East Coast rock twofer. Great American Music Hall, www.gamh.com

 

JULY 30-31 

Woodsist Festival 2011 The festival returns to Big Sur, with Nodzzz, Thee Oh Sees, and Woods (also playing songs from the new Sun and Shade) joining the Fresh & Onlys to form a bigger band. Fernwood and Henry Miller Library, Big Sur; www.folkyeah.com

 

August 12-14 

Outside Lands This year’s lineup includes Erykah Badu, and Big Boi, with local contributions from Tamaryn, The Fresh & Onlys, Ty Segall, and Diego’s Umbrella. Golden Gate Park, www.sfoutsidelands.com .

 

Music Listings

0

Music listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 27

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Chen Santa Maria, This Invitation, Pink Canoes Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Dominant Legs, Superhumanoids, Dirty Ghosts Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.

Head and the Heart, Devil Whale, Laura Jansen Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $14.

Brandon Lee Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

Brian McPherson, Jason White, James Leste Hotel Utah. 8pm, $7.

Paul Simon Fillmore. 8pm, $52.50.

Mindy Smith, Sunny War Independent. 8pm, $18.

“Steve Ignorant presents Crass songs 1977-82, Last Supper” Slim’s. 9pm, $21. With Goldblade.

Undertaker and His Pals, Orgres, Angel and Robot Knockout. 10pm, $6.

Whiskerman, Dum Spiro Spero, American Nomad El Rio. 8pm, $5-10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Cosmo Alleycats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com. 7pm.

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Ben Marcato and the Mondo Combo Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.

Tom Shaw Trio Martuni’s, 4 Valencia, SF; www.dragatmartunis.com. 7pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Beauty Operators 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.

Club Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Goth with DJs Nako, Omar, and Justin.

Full-Step! Tunnel Top. 10pm, free. Hip-hop, reggae, soul, and funk with DJs Kung Fu Chris and Bizzi Wonda.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes.

Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

No Room For Squares Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 6-10pm, free. DJ Afrodite Shake spins jazz for happy hour.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Accept, Sabaton Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $32-65.

City Tribe, Maheetah, Subtle Trace, Reggie Ginn Kimo’s. 8pm, $6.

Devil Makes Three, Brown Bird Slim’s. 9pm, $18.

Felice Brothers, You Are Plural Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.

Fox and Women, Sioux City Kid and the Revolutionary Ramblers Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Donald Glover + Childish Gambino Fillmore. 9pm, $20.

Lunarchy, Animal Prufrock, DJ Durt El Rio. 8pm, $5-10.

Oxbow, Hellenes, Liar Script Eagle Tavern. 9pm.

Phosphorescent, Little Wings, Family Band, DJ Britt Govea Independent. 8pm, $15.

Red Light Mind 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 9pm, free.

Sekta Core, La Plebe, DJ Chaos Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $15.

Sean Smith, Singleman Affair Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Thee Oh Sees, Charlie Tweddle, George Cloud, Miles Rizotti Café Du Nord. 9pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Organsm featuring Jim Gunderson and “Tender” Tim Shea Bollyhood Café. 6:30-9pm, free.

Swing With Stan Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Stompy Jones Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Pato Banton and the Now Generation Band Rock-it Room. 9:30pm, $20.

Bluegrass and old-time jam Atlas Café. 8-10pm, free.

Creatures Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

Mischka Hard Rock Café, Pier 39, SF; www.hardrock.com. 9:30pm.

“Twang! Honky Tonk” Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Four-Year Anniversary Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk with guests DJ Smash, Nappy G, and more.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Culture Corner Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; www.kokococktails.com. 10pm, free. Roots reggae, dub, rocksteady, and classic dancehall with DJ Tomas, Yusuke, Vinnie Esparza, and Basshaka and ILWF.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

80s Night Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). Two dance floors bumpin’ with the best of 80s mainstream and underground with Dangerous Dan, Skip, Low Life, and guests. This week is “Monsters of Rock Nite.”

Gigantic Beauty Bar. 9pm, free. With DJs Eli Glad, Greg J, and White Mike spinning indie, rock, disco, and soul.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Lacquer Beauty Bar. 10pm-2am, free. DJs Mario Muse and Miss Margo bring the electro.

Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

1984 Mighty. 9pm, $2. The long-running New Wave and 80s party has a new venue, featuring video DJs Mark Andrus, Don Lynch, and celebrity guests.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

Thursday Special Tralala Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Downtempo, hip-hop, and freestyle beats by Dr. Musco and Unbroken Circle MCs.

FRIDAY 29

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

A B and the Sea, Soft White Sixties, She’s Rickshaw Stop. 8:30pm, $10.

Beehavers, FpodBpod Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Blame Sally, Ellis Great American Music Hall. 8:30pm, $36.

Boxer Rebellion, We Are Augustines, Polaris at Noon Slim’s. 9pm, $16.

Jenny Hoyston, Lovers, Kaia Wilson El Rio. 9pm, $6.

Kowloon Walled City, Fight Amp, Tigon Thee Parkside. 9pm, $7.

“M.O.M.’s Two-Year Anniversary: A Motown Revue” Café Du Nord. 9pm, $15. With Martin Luther, Sarah Jane, Bleached Palms, M.O.M. DJs, and more.

Pikachu-Makoto, Mugu Guymen, Tone Volt Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $10.

Mike Watt, Electric Chair Repair Co., Liquid Indian Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark. 9pm, $10.

“Cartoon Jazz Swing Dance” Wellness Center Performance Space, City College of San Francisco, Ocean Campus, 50 Phelan, SF; (415) 239-3580. 7pm, free.

Patrick Cress, Tbird Tallflame Luv Kaleidoscope, 3109 24th St, SF; www.kaleidoscopefreespeechzone.com. 9pm, $7.

Doug Martin Avatar Ensemble Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $12-15.

John Scofield Grace Cathedral, 1100 California, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $30-50.

Soraya Trio Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Swing Goth 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 9pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Radio Istanbul Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Afrolicious Four-Year Anniversary Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk with guests DJ Smash, Nappy G, Jeremy Sole, and more.

DJ Chaos, DJ Dion Riptide Tavern. 9pm, free. Punk rock on vinyl.

DJ Duserock Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 10:30pm, free.

Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island, SF; (415) 465-2129. 5pm, $5. Happy hour with art, fine food, and music with Vin Sol, King Most, DJ Centipede, and Shane King.

Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.

Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.

Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.

It’s Not Easy Being Green Mighty. 8:30pm, $15. Dubstep, hio-hop, house, and more with DJ Swamp, Shotgun Radio, Forest Green, and Syd Gris.

Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa “Samoa Boy” spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.

Some Thing Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.

Trannyshack: Ladies of the 80s DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $20. With Heklina, Rusty Hips, Syphillis Diller, and more.

Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.

SATURDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Blame Sally Great American Music Hall. 8:30pm, $36.

Cavalera Conspiracy Fillmore. 9pm, $25.

Discontinued Models, Lighter Thieves Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

Jean Marie, Magic Leaves, Kapowski Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Jessica Lea Mayfield, Nathaniel Rateliff, Echo Twin Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $12.

Meat Sluts, Thee Headliners, Bugs Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Midnight Bombers, Dirty Power, Texas Thieves, Sassy Thee Parkside. 9:30pm, $7.

Andre Nickatina, Ali AKA Smoove-E, Roach Gigz, Mumbls Slim’s. 9pm, $29.

Solwave, Resurrection Men, Goodness Gracious Me El Rio. 9pm, $5.

Weapons of the Future, MedievalKnieval, Johnny Manal and the Depressives Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $12.

Viddy V and the Aquababes 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 9pm, free.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Philip Glass Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.sfperformances.org. 3pm, $30-50.

Nick McFarling Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

Mills Brothers Rrazz Room. 3pm, $40.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Fito Reinoso Quartet Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $10-15.

Robbie Fitzsimmons, Annie Lynch, Katherine Day Hotel Utah. 8pm, $8.

Toshio Hirano Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

“Lavay Smith’s Patsy Cline Tribute” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $20-35.

Chico Mann, Toy Selectah, DJ Shawn Reynaldo Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12.

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Blondes, Wav Dwgs, Ghosts on Tape Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 9:30pm, $5-10.

DJ Chris Nguyen Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 10:30pm, free.

Family Vibes Elbo Room. 10pm, $10. DJs from Non Stop Bhangra, J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science, and DJ Wisdom.

Full House Gravity, 3505 Scott, SF; (415) 776-1928. 9pm, $10. With DJs Roost Uno and Pony P spinning dirty hip hop.

HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip-hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.

LoveTech Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; www.lovetechsf.com. 9pm, $8. With Evolution Control Committee, Janaka Selekta, Edison, and more.

Pearson Sound, Maddslinky Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 10pm, $12.

Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.

Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.

SUNDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Builders and the Butchers, Damion Suomi and the Minor Prophets, T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Lloyd Gregory Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Hollywood Undead, 10 Years, Drive A, New Medicine Fillmore. 7pm, $25.

Jugtown Pirates, Sioux City Kid, Mark Matos Café Du Nord. 8:30pm, $10.

Necrite, Aseethe, Sutekh Hexen Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band, Emperor Norton’s Jazz Band Amnesia. 9pm, $5.

Mills Brothers Rrazz Room. 3 and 7pm, $40.

Gabriela Montero Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor, 100 Legion of Honor Dr., SF; www.sfjazz.org. 2pm, $25-40.

Tom Lander Duo Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Coburns, Judea Eden Band Thee Parkside. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Batcave Cat Club. 10pm, $5. Death rock, goth, and post-punk with Steeplerot Necromos and c_death.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJ Sep, Vinnie Esparza, and guest Maneesh the Twister.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?

La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

MONDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Here We Go Magic, AroarA Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12-14.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 3

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Battles Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $15.

Chris Brokaw, Mark McGuire, Allen Karpinski, Matthew Mullane, Joshua Blatchely Hemlock Tavern. 8pm, $7.

Cannons and Clouds, Silian Rail, Lambs Café Du Nord. 9pm, $10.

Chris Cornell, William Elliott Whitmore Fillmore. 8pm, $39.50.

Johnny Clegg Band Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $25.

Pipettes, Agent Ribbons, Bitter Honeys Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.

Joe Purdy, Milk Carton Kids Independent. 8pm, $15.

Psychedelic Furs Slim’s. 8pm, $31.

Xavier Rudd, Honey Honey Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $25.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Mucho Axe, Palavra Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.

DANCE CLUBS

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.

 

Fist Fam hits the Bay

3

In the music video for rap collective Fist Fam‘s song “Posted,” emcee Philo stands on a Columbus Avenue median, the Transamerica Pyramid pointing into the sky behind the North Carolinan, traffic whizzing by on either side of him. “I’m posted in the middle of the street/And we don’t even look right/But I got that million dollar mouthpiece/So we gon’ be allright,” he sings, at home in his new city. 

It’s an apt portrayal of the group of back-home friends from Asheville who seem set on taking the music they grew up with to the ears of the Bay. Fist Fam’s latest album release, also called Posted, is straight up, laid back, “psychedelic country rap tunes,” so dubbed by Philo and producer Al Lover, who are sitting with me outside Farley’s on a gorgeous Potrero Hill morning.

The boys grew up in the embrace of early ’90s hip-hop: Goodie Mob, UGK. Their tunes still have that Southern feel, but the layering of soul samples and front porch hooks (see: the sunshine feel of “Drinkin’,” a track the group just shot a video for on Philo’s family’s Appalachian farm) betray a citified knowledge of sound. 

The group’s trickle west was led by Philo, who established connections with the SF music community that made everyone else feel at home upon their arrival. But. “I didn’t have a safety net!” Philo says. “I had a backpack and $400. Back in the Gold Rush of ’05…” he trails off in an old man voice, his San Francisco debut having already achieved mythic status. He’s urged to share more of the legend. “My first move? I went to a bar in the Sunset, got a quesadilla at Gordo’s and tried to fandangle a place to sleep.”

Did the crew run into any funny business? Hey, a lot of people have funny perceptions about Southerners out here. “But we have funny perceptions about West Coasters – and they’re all true, by the way,” Lover teases. 

But with a ready-made, tightly-knit clan like theirs, there’s really no need for Fist Fam to sweat whatever still exists of regional stereotypes. This is how they record an album: they’ll set up shop in someone’s house (Philo has been building studio space since he was a teenager and says with the techonology available today, he can do it pretty much anywhere — and besides “we’re not going for a super clean sound”). Alcohol is usually involved. Budweiser is the group’s beer of choice – the two have stories about earning the king of beers for catching fireflies when they were little, a story that sounds adorably Southern to this West Coaster. 

Back to recording: there’s usually a fair amount of bickering. “A lot of us have known each other since high school,” Philo says. “We really are the Fist Fam — and I think that’s why we work. A lot of people are afraid to hurt each other’s feelings — ” Lover picks up the thread: “but we like it.”

“You gotta be chaotic to produce something,” Lover continues, conceding that for Posted, the group took a slightly more structured approach – he produced all of the beats and told people which songs they’d be on. Lover got some attention earlier this year for an electronic remix he did of the recently departed blues surrealist Captain Beefheart, but his favorite palettes to work from are old R&B songs. He’s also been doing work with contemporary beats, mixing Fist Fam over the music of Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. “Why use the old stuff when you have all these things going on now?” Added bonus: by using the tracks, Lover can cross-promote and strengthen connections with the psychedelic garage scene where the group sometimes find itself in the city.

Talking about the range of sound that Posted is built on takes me back to the image of Philo swinging his arms around, un-fuckwithable despite the North Beach traffic dashing around him. Sure, they’ve still got their twang, but you can’t quite see these boys doing what they do if they were still in Asheville. South comes to San Fran, welcome y’all. 

Fist Fam-Boac album release concert

feat. Trunk Drank

Fri/8 9 p.m., $10

Rasselas Jazz Club 

(415) 346-8696

www.thefistfam.com

Radio radio!

5

arts@sfbg.com

Do you remember rock ‘n’ roll radio, as the Ramones once quizzed us, ever so long ago? If not that “Video Killed the Radio Star”-era iteration, a leather-clad punky nostalgia for Murray the K and Alan Freed, then do you remember college rock when it became the name of a musical genre in the early 1990s?

I’m trying to make out its faint strains now: a sound nominally dubbed rock, but as wildly eclectic and widely roaming as the winds blowing me over the Bay Bridge on this blustery, rain-streaked afternoon. I’m not imagining it. New, shaken-and-stirred PJ Harvey nudging family-band throwback the Cowsills. Nawlins jazzbos Kid Ory and Jimmy Noone rubbing sonic elbows with winsome Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. Brit electropoppers Fenech-Soler bursting beside Chilean melody-makers Lhasa. The ancient Popul Vuh tangling with the bright-eyed art-rock I Was a King. It’s an average playlist for KALX 90.7 FM, the last-standing free-form sound in San Francisco proper — though it hails from across the bay in Berkeley.

But what about SF’s own, KUSF? A former college radio DJ and assistant music director at the University of Hawaii’s KTUH and the University of Iowa’s KRUI, I’m one of those souls who’s searching for it far too late, even though I benefited from my time in college radio, garnering a major-league musical education simply flipping through the dog-eared LPs and listening to other jocks’ shows. Like so many music fans, I got lost — searching for the signal and repelled by commercial radio’s predictable computerized playlists, cheesy commercials, and blowhard DJs — and found NPR.

Today, I’m testing the signals within — the health of music on SF terra firma radio — by driving around the city, cruising City Hall, bumping through SoMa, and dodging bikes in the Mission. KALX’s signal is strong on the noncommercial side of the dial, alongside the lover’s rock streaming from long-standing KPOO 89.5 and the Strokes-y bounce bounding from San Jose modern rock upstart KSJO 92.3, whose tagline promises, “This is the alternative.” But KSJO’s distinct lack of a DJ voice and seamless emphasis on monochromatic Killers-and-Kings-of-Chemical-Romance tracks quickly bores, slotting it below its rival, Live 105.

Dang. I wind my way up Market to Twin Peaks. Waves of white noise begin to invade a Tim Hardin track. KALX’s signal fades as the billowing, smoky-looking fog rolls majestically down upscale Forest Hill to the middle-class Sunset. But I can hear it — with occasional static — on 19th Avenue, and later, in the Presidio and Richmond.

Throughout, KUSF’s old frequency, 90.3, comes through loud and clear — though now with the sound of KDFC’s light-classical and its penchant for swelling, feel-good woodwinds. The music is so innocuous that to rag on it feels as petty and mean as kicking a docile pup. But I get my share of instrumental wallpaper while fuming on corporate phone trees. It’s infuriating to realize that it supplanted KUSF, the last bastion of free-form radio in SF proper. Where is the free-form rock radio? This is the city that successfully birthed the format in the 1970s, with the freewheeling, bohemia-bred KSAN, and continued the upstart tradition with pirate stations such as SF Liberation Radio. Doesn’t San Francisco deserve its own WFMU or KCRW?

 

FEWER INDEPENDENTS, MORE CONSOLIDATION

Online radio — including forces like Emeryville’s Pandora and San Diego’s Slacker Radio — provides one alternative. This is true for listeners who use the TiVo-like Radio Shark tuner-recorder to rig their car (still the primo place to tune in) to listen to online stations all over the country. The just-launched cloud-based DVR Dar.fm also widens the online option.

Nevertheless, online access isn’t a substitute for free radio air waves. “We get the wrong impression that everyone is wired, and everyone’s online, and no one listens to terrestrial radio,” says radio activist and KFJC DJ Jennifer Waits. “Why then are these companies buying stations for millions of dollars?”

Waits and KALX general manager Sandra Wasson both point to the consolidation that’s overtaken commercial radio since deregulation with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — a trend that has now crept onto the noncommercial end of the dial.

As competition for limited bandwidth accelerates (in San Francisco, this situation is compounded by a hilly topography with limited low-power station coverage) and classical radio stations like KDFC are pushed off the commercial frequencies, universities are being approached by radio brokers. One such entity, Public Radio Capital, was part of the secretive $3.75 million deal to sell KUSF’s transmitter and frequency. Similar moves are occurring throughout the U.S., according to Waits. She cites the case of KTXT, the college radio station at Texas Tech, as akin to KUSF’s situation, while noting Rice and Vanderbilt universities are also exploring station sales.

“The noncommercial band is following in the footsteps of the commercial band in the way of consolidation,” Wasson says, from her paper-crammed but spartan office at KALX, after a tour of the station’s 90,000-strong record library. Wire, Ringo Death Starr, and Mountain emanate from the on-air DJ booth, as students prep the day’s newscast and a volunteer readies a public-affairs show. “Buying and selling noncommercial radio seems to me very much like what used to happen and still does in commercial radio: one company owns a lot stations in a lot of different markets and does different kinds of programming in different markets. Deregulation changed it so that 10-watt stations weren’t protected anymore. There were impacts on commercial and noncommercial sides.”

Lack of foresight leads cash-strapped schools to leap for the quick payout. “Once a school sells a station, it’s unlikely it will be able to buy one back,” says Waits. “Licenses don’t come up for sale and there are limited frequencies. They have an amazing resource and they’re making a decision that isn’t thought-through.”

 

DREAMING IN STEREO

There are still people willing to put imagination — and money — behind their radio dreams. But free-form has come to sound risky after the rise of KSAN and FM radio and the subsequent streamlining and mainstreaming of the format.

Author and journalist Ben Fong-Torres, who once oversaw a KUSF show devoted to KSAN jocks, cites the LGBT-friendly, dance-music-focused KNGY 92.7 as a recent example of investors willing to try out a “restricted” format. “They were a good solid city station that sounded quite loose,” he explains. “But even there they weren’t able to sell much advertising because they were limited to the demographic in San Francisco and they couldn’t make enough to pay their debts.”

Nonetheless, Fong-Torres continues to be approached by radio lovers eager to start a great music station. “I’ve told them what I’m telling you,” he says. “It’s really difficult to acquire a stick in these parts, to grab whatever best signals there are.” This is especially true with USC/KDFC rumored to be on a quest for frequencies south of SF.

“There are some dreamers out there who think about it,” muses Fong-Torres. “A single person who’s willing to bankroll a station just out of the goodness of his or her heart and let people spread good music — someone like Paul Allen, who did KEXP in Seattle.”

 

THE FIGHT TO SAVE KUSF

The University of San Francisco has touted the sale of KUSF’s frequency and the station’s proposed shift to online radio as a teaching opportunity. But the real lesson may be a reminder of the value of the city’s assets — and how easily they can be taken away. “We’re learning how unbelievably sacred bandwidth is on the FM dial,” says Irwin Swirnoff, who was a musical director at the station.

Swirnoff and the Save KUSF campaign hope USF will give the community an opportunity to buy the university’s transmitter, much as Southern Vermont College’s WBTN 1370 AM was purchased by a local nonprofit.

For Swirnoff and many others, listener-generated playlists can’t substitute for the human touch. “DJs get to tell a story through music,” he explains. “They’re able to reach a range of emotions and [speak to] the factors that are in the city at that moment, its nature and politics. Through music, they can create a moving dialogue and story.”

Swirnoff also points to the DJ’s personally selective role during a time of corporate media saturation and tremendous musical production. “In the digital age, the amount of music out in the world can be totally overwhelming,” he says. “A good station can take in all those releases and give you the best garage rock, the best Persian dance music, everything. One DJ can be a curator of 100 years of music and can find a way to bring the listener to a unique place.”

Local music and voices aren’t getting heard on computer-programmed, voice-tracked commercial stations despite inroads of satellite radio into local news. In a world where marketing seems to reign supreme, is there a stronger SF radio brand than the almost 50-year-old KUSF when it comes to sponsoring shows and breaking new bands for the discriminating SF music fan? “People in the San Francisco music community who are in bands and are club owners know college radio is still a vital piece in promoting bands and clubs,” says Waits. “There are small shows that are only getting promotion over college radio.”

“It was a great year for San Francisco music, and we [KUSF] got to blast it the most,” Swirnoff continued. “It’s really sad that right now you can’t turn on terrestrial radio and hear Grass Widow, Sic Alps, or Thee Oh Sees, when it’s some of the best music being made in the city right now.”

 

PIRATE CAT-ASTROPHE — AND THE DRIVE TO KEEP RADIO ALIVE

Aside from KUSF, the only place where you could hear, for instance, minimal Scandinavian electronics and sweater funk regularly on the radio was Pirate Cat. The pirate station was the latest in a long, unruly queue, from Radio Libre to KPBJ, that — as rhapsodized about in Sue Carpenter’s 2004 memoir, 40 Watts From Nowhere: A Journey into Pirate Radio — have taken to the air with low-power FM transmitters.

After being shut down by the FCC and fined $10,000 in 2009, Pirate Cat is in limbo, further adrift thanks to a dispute about who owns the station. Daniel “Monkey” Roberts’ sale of Pirate Cat Café in the Mission left loyal volunteers wondering who should even receive their $30-a-month contributions. Roberts shut down the Pirate Cat site and stream on Feb. 20. Since then, some Pirate Cat volunteers have been attempting to launch their own online stream under the moniker PCR Collective Radio.

“We would definitely start our own station,” says Aaron Lazenby, Pirate Cat’s skweee DJ and a Radio Free Santa Cruz vet. “The question now is how to resolve the use of Pirate Cat so we don’t lose momentum and lose our community. We all love it too much to let it fizzle out like that.”

Some people are even willing to take the ride into DIY low-power terrestrial radio. I stumbled over the Bay Area’s latest on a wet, windy Oakland evening at Clarke Commons’ craftsman-y abode. The door was flung open and a colorful, quilt-covered fort/listening station greeted me in the living room. In the dining space, a “magical handcrafted closet studio station” provided ground zero for the micro-micro K-Okay Radio — essentially a computer sporting cute kitchen-style curtains and playing digitized sounds.

A brown, blue, and russet petal-shingled installation looked down on K-Okay’s guests as they took their turn at the mic. And if you were in a several-block radius of the neat-as-a-pin house-under-construction and tuned your boombox to 88.1 FM, you could have caught some indescribably strange sounds and yarns concerning home and migration. I drove away warmed by the friendly mumble of sound art.

Who would have imagined radio as an art installation? Yet it’s just another positive use for a medium that has functioned in myriad helpful ways, whether as a life link for Haitians after the 2010 earthquake or (as on a recent Radio Valencia show) a rock gossip line concerning the Bruise Cruise Fest. As Waits puts it, radio is “about allowing yourself to be taken on a musical journey rather than doing the driving yourself online.” Today it sounds like we need the drive to keep that spirit alive.

Release me

1

arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC As 2011 begins, Bay Area rock is wasting no time staking its claim. This month brings noteworthy albums by at least a handful of local groups and artists. I’ll be covering them over the course of the next two weeks, beginning with a trio of new releases:

 

YOUNG PRISMS’ FRIENDS FOR NOW

Since the late-2009 release of Young Prisms’ self-titled EP on Mexican Summer, this Cali quintet has been hard at work. It put out three different split 7-inches: one with Weekend on Transparent; one with Small Black on Big Love; and one with Mathamagic on Atelier Ciseaux. In the wake of performances at last fall’s CMJ conference, the band is set to release its first full-length, Friends For Now (Kanine Records), Jan. 19.

Once you get past Friends for Now‘s NSFW cover art — it’s just a little nip, and only one at that — you’ll enter into the title track, which blissfully rattles forward with undecipherable vocals, like a sun-bleached step into euphoria. “If You Want To” floats over waves of distortion; the only discernible lyrics are the title lines, nonchalantly chanted like an existential mantra. The single “Sugar” picks up the pace with yowling guitars.

The band also makes sure to include a smoke-break track, just as it did with “Four Twenty Friendly” on the Mexican Summer EP. Titled “All Day Holiday,” this one is an under-a-minute wash of echoes and effects. The opening notes of “In Your Room” are dramatic, then radiant guitars emerge over rumbles of distorted bass. Friends For Now rounds out with tightened mixes of “Feel Fine” and “I Don’t Get Much,” which were both previously released, and closes with the hypnotic “Stay Awake.” Taken together, the collection of songs is cohesive, capturing a sunlit aesthetic while giving the illusion of chaos.

 

SONNY SMITH’S 100 RECORDS, VOLUME TWO: I MISS THE JAMS

Sonny Smith’s approach to recording and issuing music is unique, accentuating its connections to visual art. Using his imagination along with the help of a rotating band, he assembled “100 Records,” an art show that opened at San Francisco’s Gallery 16 and then traveled to other venues. In “100 Records,” Smith created releases by 100 different bands, coming up with names, bios, songs, and album art. Now Smith is releasing 10 of those songs as 100 Records, Volume Two: I Miss the Jams, a package of five, 7-inch singles or a single CD.

Listening to I Miss the Jams, you’ll never think “every song sounds the same,” since each fabricated band has its own rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic. The album opens with Zig Speck’s “One Times Doomsday Trip to Nowhere,” an unshackled surf-jam sung by Ty Segall. Starting off with a bang, “Teenage Thugs” is complete with gunshots and Spanish verses. The doo-wop track “I Wanna Do It” includes a surf-rock wipeout interlude and showcases Heidi Alexander’ (from the Sandwitches) wailing cries, which evoke a classic pin-up doll. Hank Champion’s country track is spoken, and more straightforward than a Doors song, with literal lyrics that tell the depressing tale of its title character, “Broke Artist at the Turn of the Century,” and how he got there.

Smith plays with rock star cliché, but never makes his characters seem two-dimensional. Providing us with a Bay-Area-rock-scene parallel universe, Smith makes us question what is real and what is not.

 

SIC ALPS’ NAPA ASYLUM

Sic Alps has been recording and releasing music since 2004. The band had a prolific 2008, putting out two full-lengths. In the fall of 2009, it released a 7-inch single on Slumberland, toured with Magik Markers, and made up one-half of a 12-inch split release on Yik Tak. The next year began with a handful of shows opening for Sonic Youth. And then Sic Alps went quiet for a bit … but the wait has been worth it. Now a trio, the group is set to release the new double-LP Napa Asylum (Drag City) on Jan. 25.

Napa Asylum displays Sic Alps’ flair for irresistible hooks and torrid experimentation. As usual, the new tracks were recorded with “a delay pedal, reverb tank, two microphones, $100 preamp, and Tascam 388.” There are 22 cuts in just under 48 minutes, with some delicious pop-rock morsels, including “Cement Surfboard,” “Ball of Flame,” and “Zeppo Epp.”

What’s new is how often this San Francisco no-fi band slows its tempo and explores the psychedelic side of its sound, like on the serene “Low Kid,” reverb-riddled “Ranger,” and the closer, “Nathan Livingston Maddox,” which is based on a dream Mike Donovan had about the late Gang Gang Dance member, who was killed by lightning. Napa Asylum‘s other bizarre lyrical ruminations on magic and schizophrenia prove Sic Alps, as ever, aren’t afraid to wander into new sonic and poetic terrain. *

YOUNG PRISMS

With Ganglians, Melted Toys, and Speculator

Jan. 19, 8:30 p.m., $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

SONNY SMITH

With the Blow

Jan. 30, 8 p.m., $15

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.gamh.com

SIC ALPS

With Thee Oh Sees.

Feb. 9, 8 p.m., $13–$16 (benefit for the Coalition on Homelessness)

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.gamh.com

(All Night Long)

0

arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC Of course they want to listen to T.Rex into the night. I’ve done it myself many times, and I’m sure plenty of you have devoted late-night marathons to Marc Bolan’s musical mysticism. His lyrics, and his ridiculously long album titles from the early days of Tyrannosaurus Rex, always had a flair for weird wordplay, leaving the listener equally captivated and confused by lush, descriptive imagery. Bolan and his Tolkien-named percussionist Steve Peregrine Took started out playing the part of an enchanted underground acoustic duo, catering to fried-out hippies and London’s latter-day mods at the notorious Middle Earth Club. But I have a feeling that when San Francisco’s own Burnt Ones pledge “Gonna Listen To T. Rex (All Night Long),” they’re referring to Bolan’s full-blown boogie period during the heyday of T. Rex-tasy. The song’s opening guitar lick sears every bit as much as the one in “Buick Mackane,” but of course it’s not nearly as recognizable.

This isn’t to say Burt Ones don’t borrow from Bolan’s early days of drone-zone bliss. “Burnt to Lose” closes the A-side of their debut album Black Teeth & Golden Tongues (Roaring Colonel Records) on a slow note. The track is full of chant-like vocals and finger-symbol sounds that a yoga instructor might use to commence a class. The tune hints at the atmospheric qualities of “The Children of Rarn” off the 1970 album T. Rex, where Bolan had by then calculated an abbreviated name for his band and added a full rhythm section, including new drummer Mickey Finn.

“Sunset Hill” is every bit as upbeat and fuzz-tone driven as its Visconti-produced predecessor, “Metal Guru” from 1972’s critically acclaimed Slider, and “Bury Me in Smoke” is straight out of the ’70s with its use of ooh-la-la backing vocals. Let’s face it, lead singer Mark Tester sometimes sets out to duplicate Bolan’s trademark warbled and often shaky vocal technique. But while the four-piece psych outfit, who found their way to the Bay Area by way of Indianapolis, has a glam-rock shtick that would make Gary Glitter proud, Burnt Ones also draw from other sources of inspiration.

“Bring You All My Love” gives a nod to the girl groups of the early ’60s and is reminiscent of the Shangri-Las’ 1964 hit “The Leader of the Pack”, where an echoed “down, down” response vocal is employed. Though “Famous Shakes” song should not be confused with a Wall of Sound production, the influence of Phil Spector and his layers of instrumentation is clear. Lyrically, the group revisits the nonsensical chorus of the Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron”, and even explores territory commonly conquered by soul troopers, most notably Wilson Pickett’s “Land of A Thousand Dances”, where a catalog of past dance crazes (i.e. the mashed potato, the twist, and the alligator) are shouted out in remembrance and paid tribute.

Simple in design, the packaging of Black Teeth & Golden Tongues is consistent with Burnt Ones’ sound, in that it dips into the past while incorporating contemporary art. The pastel-colored cover is adorned with a cartoon of a cracked skull drawn by William Keihn, who some may recognize as the artist from Thee Oh Sees’ album covers. On the back side we’re reminded of two iconic Stones’ albums, Exile on Main Street and Some Girls, which perhaps coincidentally sandwiched the glam era, with release dates of 1972 and 1978. “Spins” even has a bluesy Keith Richards riff.

As much as Burnt Ones rely on the past, it’s easy to forget that this band is pretty much new and likely aims to be part of the pantheon of Bay Area lo-fi, psych, and garage rockers. The group’s contemporaries include Hunx and His Punx, who updates the tried and true androgyny and gender-bending nature of glam by updating it to serve his own homoerotic needs. Burnt Ones’ “Soft City” is a well-produced number that displays a kinship with Hunx’s teased vocals as it confronts topics such as saved souls and the cold outdoors. 

BURNT ONES

With Pierced Arrows, Bare Wires

Fri/22, 8:30 p.m., $12 (all ages)

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com