For all the hype and publicity that has surrounded Girls, its easy to lose sight that why so many, including us have fallen so hard for these guys (Girls?), is that they write such earnest, endearing and moving songs that have a kind of pure emotional honesty that just doesn't come along in music that often.
We first heard a couple of these songs over a year ago when Girls performed very stripped down versions for the first time on Irwin's radio show Sleeves On Hearts on KUSF. And what makes Christopher Owens such an amazing songwriter is that his songs can be delivered totally bare bones or fleshed out with full production and both ways they still hit to the core. These new songs introduce a delightful twang and bittersweet elegance to the already wide scope of sonic terrain that Girls cover within their songs. Tracks like "Oh So Protective One" and "Broken Dreams Club" have a melancholic southwest charm that makes us think of some of our favorite Giant Sand records, or if Calexico teamed up with Elvis Costello in his prime. With beautiful horn arrangements, and a very talented cast of players, including one of our favorite and most unsung talents of San Francisco, Ara Anderson backing them up, this record finds Girls growing in such exciting ways.
There is still the exuberance and wide eyed wonder that made listening to their debut such a thrilling experience, but there is a depth and truth inside each of these songs that is just further proof that Girls are no of-the-moment fad, but instead a wildly talented band who will make beautiful and moving music for a long time to come! (And although this is an "ep", it's actually about 30 minutes long, longer than some Captured Tracks "full-lengths", haha.)
It sounds funny to say, but Girls really are a perfect all-American pop band! Not all-American in some cliche, red, white and blue way, but instead their songs and spirit really do capture the landscape, spirit and emotions that all of us share on a daily basis. They unleash their songs, heart fully on sleeve, oozing with guts and bravado that you never doubt, even for a moment. It's hard to talk about or describe what it means to be the real thing, but Christopher Owen's songwriting and delivery is the real thing. His songs are honest, sad, funny, bratty, brave, vulnerable and sincere. When you listen to this new album by Girls you can tell this is music being made not just as hobby or for fun, but that this is what gets him to keep on moving and living every day. So much music being made right now is so too concerned with sounding cool, or hinting at all the right references, but Girls make no apologies for just wanting to be one of the greatest pop/rock bands on the planet.�
While there are those wonderful tender and slow moments on the album that Girls deliver so well, this for sure finds them at their most epic and rocking. We hear their love of so much great classic rock come out during different moments in these songs, whether it's a Fleetwood Mac like melody, mid '70s Pink Floyd sprawling guitar complete with back-up gospel vocals, some Deep Purplish lyrics, or Big Star power pop phrasing, all interwoven into their already unmistakable sound.�Some of us had never made the connection before, but there are times when Christopher's vocals recall another amazing songwriter with a heavy and beautiful heart, Elliott Smith.�When the songs are slower and more stripped down, they can stop you in your tracks, goosebumps all over, as sentiments of extreme yearning sizzle to the surface. Yet alongside the heartache there is an undercurrent of self-endurance and triumph that rings through these songs. Once again, Girls brings us to glory!
While they last, the lp version (not the cd, sorry) we have comes with a bonus flexi-disc!!
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Super limited edition 10" from Girls featuring their epic track "Hellhole Ratrace" a song that has proven to be the perfect gateway drug, as most folks first taste of the deliciously romantic pop that the guys in Girls create. If you haven't heard this song yet then by all means make sure you grab this as it really is one of the most heartfelt and achingly bittersweet songs in a very long time. The kind of song that gives you butterflies and goosebumps every time you hear it. The 'b' side is a song called "Solitude" that is not on the full length. Only 500 of these were pressed so act now or you know....
One of things we love most about local boys Girls, is their celebration and appreciation of THE SONG, and specifically THE SINGLE. They first caught our attention with the life affirming single Hellhole Ratrace, and after the release of their amazing full length here's another killer single, with a brand new song as the B-side. This time out "Laura" from the album gets singled out, which is great cuz we already loved that song, so it was the B-side we were anxious to hear and "Oh Boy" is one of the dreamiest, warm and warbly Girls songs yet! Like My Bloody Valentine doing a '60s heartache girl group broken hearted lament.
It continues to blow our mind that every time we hear a new song from Girls it makes us fall in love with them all over again. It's just a few days away from Valentines Day when Girls will be playing here and we can't think of a better band to celebrate hearts on sleeves and broken hearts that still beat brightly than an evening with Girls.
While usually we wouldn't say a pressing of one thousand 7"s is all that limited, with the massive popularity of these Girls in the last year odds are these are sure to disappear pretty quick.
With Valentine's Day just a couple weeks away, this fancy one-sided heart shaped single from Girls will be the perfect way to tell that special someone you dig them a lot, or more appropriately in the spirit of Girls, you should get it for yourself and lament the love that you have lost or you wish for but can never have.
"Lawrence" is dedicated to Lawrence Hayard, the frontman of Felt, and what an awesome dedication and tribute it is as this song has the same kind of languid and hazy daydream glow of so many of our favorite Felt songs. It's not a cover, but instead a way for Christopher Owens to show his gratitude and love to someone who has played such a big influence on his music making.
Quite possibly the most beautiful Girls song to date. We've been spinning this heart over and over since we got it in, and don't expect to stop any time soon...
When we gushed about how much we love the Girls debut full length last list, we talked about how much of a San Francisco record it was. Paying homage and being influenced by this great city we are lucky enough to live in. So it's more then fitting that this new single that features the great lead off track "Lust For Life" from the full length, offers a non-album track on the B side called "Life In San Francisco". The song really does perfectly demonstrate how much this city has shaped and informed the wonderful and romantic vision Girls create with their music. One of those songs that sounds as good whether it's crisp and sunny out or for those wet gray days we know are on the horizon. Never sure how long singles stay in print these days so best to grab one of these before you say oh how I wish I had......
Oh wow, this is one of those amazing split 7"s that makes you stop listening to the piles of records you've been meaning to get to, as once you put this one all you wanna do is listen to each side over and over again. This is the first we've heard of Girls Names, who apparently will have their debut full length out early next year and if "I Lose" is any indication it's gonna be a record that'll demand some serious attention. We haven't been quite this smitten with the sounds of a new rock band since we first got floored by Crystal Stilts a few years back. In fact they have a very similar sound to Crystal Stilts, nice warm reverb rushing through their hollow and haunting garage rock.
We were already big fans of San Francisco's Brilliant Colors so it comes as no surprise that their song on the split is another gem of early '80s inspired post-punk/dream-pop garage bliss. Even though we have so much other stuff to listen to right now, we just can't stop flippin' this and playin' it nonstop!
First proper full length (after a super limited cd-r), of gorgeously blissed out post rock from this Bay Area ensemble. Lush and textured, rhythmic and hypnotic, slow burning and sprawling, epic and super rocking, these guys take that nineties sound we love so much and make it their own, the songs smolder and pulse, before exploding into dense roiling Godspeed / Mogwai style blowouts. Meandering prettiness, gives way to loping mathy minimalism, chiming guitars, simple spare drumming, looped melodies, a slow build to near metallic crush, the bass throbbing, the guitars tangled up in psychedelic squalls, the drums muscled and propulsive. The sound moody and minor key, cinematic and soundtracky, brooding and intense, heavy and emotional and harrowing. If you dig stuff like Mogwai, Aereogramme, Mono, Pelican, Grails, Explosions In The Sky, Magyar Posse, Red Sparowes, Snowblood, that Temporary Residence instrumental rock sound, that heavy post POST rock, well, Glaciers does it as good if not better than most of your favorites. Not sure how these guys slipped under our radar, since they're from right here in the Bay Area, but it's time to right that wrong, RIGHT NOW.
Pressed on gorgeous ice blue vinyl, comes with a download coupon, and yeah, it's probably limited too...
Latest full length from this Bay Area post rock outfit, whose And The Sea Won The Battle was a huge hit around here. Mirrored Through The Ancients finds the band mining much the same territory but with some extra heft. Opener "Last Rites First Breath" sounds pretty fierce, the production massive, big thick guitars, pounding drums, still beholden to the golden era of post/math rock, but sounding modern enough to have fans of Mogwai, Godspeed and Explosions In The Sky pricking up their ears, cuz these guys do that sound so well, there's really no reason they shouldn't be getting the same love as those other groups.
The whole record displays that new found sonic heft, even on mostly minimal, hushed drifters like "Pierced By The Sun". That track starts off with some near metallic riffing, suspended in a field of swirling effects and rumbling drones, swirling cymbal shimmer and churning psychedelia, only to quickly settle into a serene sprawl of loping, lilting meander, all clean crystalline guitars, some moody twang, skittery drumming, we had just about settled in for some blissed out post rock drift when the song and sound begins to gather momentum, building to something much more fierce and rocking, and then finally exploding into near metallic majesty, epic, soaring, the guitar howling, the drums wild and loose, all before locking into a droned out driving dirgey chug, the whole thing shot through with plenty of melody and texture, giving even the darkest and heaviest moments here a sort of sonic expansiveness, these guys KILL it.
Some of the tracks here get downright psychedelic and stonery (check out the main riff of "Veil Of The Phoenix"), others remain hushed and haunting, brooding and drifting dreamily, and then there's the awesomely titled closer "Southwest Of Heaven", which sadly, isn't nearly as Slayer-y as we hoped, but it is a gorgeous stretch of washed out, twang flecked, druggy, droney post rock moodiness, that again surprises near the end, after fully four minutes of drifting and loping, launching into some seriously noisy progged out heavy psych crush, before once again slipping right back into another stretch of woozy post rock brood.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES, on smoke colored vinyl!!
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Barbara Manning and Seymour Glass of Bananafish , plus Greg Freeman, various Thinking Fellers, Mayuko Hino, Conrad Capistran (legendary, humorous record buyer at InYourEar), World of Pooh, etc. Recordings of various birthday parties, live shows, kitchen appliances and backyards, spanning 1979 to 1994, are smoothed into an album that truly works as a seamless whole. Seymour has outdone himself this time. Highly recommended.
Seymour Glass's Glands Of External Secretion comes from the weirdo surreal art-punk primordial goo that birthed the likes of the Sun City Girls, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Porest / Monopause, irr.app.(ext.), and Caroliner. The Glands loiter in the funhouse of culture, picking and choosing the most bizarre bits to appropriate into strange, nauseous collages and splattered songwriting, and as one could gather from the project's name, scatology is never far away. Reverse Atheism could hardly be called a treatise on anything, despite the multitude of religious, atheistic, and existential themes, as Glass hurls everything at his disposal against the wall with a hard splat and an oozing trail down to the floor. Everything gets treated with the same disregard and clownish pie-tossing attitude. Such was commonplace when Glass published the seminal magazine Bananafish, complete with nonsensical reviews that talked more about rhinoceros foot bacteria (for example) than the merits of some mediocre indie band.
Here on Reverse Atheism, there are reinterpretations of biblical tracts, old gospel hymns, and cult-spawn texts (from Elizabeth Clare Prophet and L. Ron Hubbard, no less) alongside punk-era tirades against God and religion - the latter include mutant covers of XTC's "Dear God," God's Gifts "No God," and The Birthday Party's "Mutiny In Heaven." Glass has long worked with the far more sensible singer-songwriter Barbara Manning, bringing her beautifully languid voice into the warbling, asynchronous, fucked-up loops of various plonks and deconstructed song. He's also employed help from Bruce Russell (Dead C), Alastair Galbraith, and Scott Simmons (Eat Skull) amongst lots of other guests and vagrants. In the calliope of tongue-in-cheek references, Glass uniformly slices apart everything - transcendence, salvation, the end of the world, conspiracy theories, mind control, Darwinism, and any pretty much everything in between. The result is more of a mess of entrails than anything cohesive; of course, that's the way Seymour Glass views the world. A compelling and convoluted album for sure.
Even though he resides right here in the Bay Area we knew very little about this Brian Glaze character when we first got in this new release of his, but oh damn is that about to change, as this is becoming one of those records that we can't seem to stop listening to. Channeling so many eras of warped pop delight, Brian Glaze has made a record that's as fun as it is smart, and as catchy as it is fulfilling. There is for sure a similar aesthetic and delivery to some of our favorite warped popsmiths like John Maus and Ariel Pink, but Green Living totally has its own thing going on. '50s pop colliding with psychedelic rock that's soaked in new wave electronics. We hear a bit of what The Gris Gris might sound like if they began to pull from more varied influences. Psychedelic disco pop? Deconstructed multigenerational pop genius? We're not sure exactly what to call it but we know that we LOVE IT!
We thumbed up the spacey synthy glitter-glam garage retro not-really-metal of this SF band's Siltbreeze 7" a while back, but then somehow skipped over reviewing their subsequent full-length, and are even a little behind the times in getting to this new elope of theirs too, but that's ok 'cause the Glitter Wiz guys are also behind the times, or maybe way out futuristically in front, way out anyway, again using '60s and '70s rock inspirations like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, The Doors, Bloodrock, Black Widow, and Iron Butterfly to help formulate their super groovy, more wizardly-than-thou sound, one that's got lotsa synth, jamming electric organ, some flute and sax. Along with catchy riffs and amusing lyrics, often gleefully unserious ("I don't worship the Devil, the Devil worships me"). Our kind of entertainment!
There's one little hushed-folky-trippy-acoustic number, "Sunlit Wolves", but otherwise most of the trax are swaggering rockers, such as "Wizard Wagon" (about the singer's van, it would seem) which definitely has hit potential, in our world anyway. "Motorider" reminds us of both The Stooges and Steppenwolf, and when they get heavier on the 7+ minute "Space" it sorta sounds like an agitated Om with keyboards. Album-closer "Big Sur" also has that Om/Sleep vibe, due to the chant-like vox and slomo swinging plod. It's another long one, the longest here at close to 9 minutes, and so about half way through stops plodding and starts ripping and rollicking, reminding us more of early early Sabbath, like back when Sabbath covered Crow's "Evil Woman" on their first single. That said, though, mostly Glitter Wizard doesn't even seem all that heavy or metal or even proto-metal. They're retro-proto-proto-metal maybe? Definitely G. Wiz love their '60s sounds but do their own cool new thing with that, rather than going for some kind of Nuggets redux. For fans of Blood Ceremony (minus the female vox and much of the metal) and Danava and Mammatus when they do get heavy-ish.
Vinyl-only, goddamit. Maybe someday they'll realize that compact discs are more glittery and magical.
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Heard about this on Tom Lax's Siltblog, which is funny 'cause this band is from right here in our backyard, and are also not exactly shitgaze or whatever other noisy underground rock aesthetic we thought Siltbreeze was all about. Lax mentioned classic heavy psych/metal peeps for the ages like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, and Monster Magnet in his review and yep, all present and accounted for (if inebriated and high as fuck, no surprise) in GW's sound, to some extent. Super stoner retro rockin' here, well with retro sounds but not sounding like any actual old band that's for sure, A-side "Black Lotus" starts off all full of gobblin' space synth soundz, then begins pounding down the riffs like Sleep or something a bit later on, while on the flip, "Witch's Limbo", they keep on rockin', no not like Dokken but more like Danava (w/ all them synths) and Priestess and other current bands creating the past anew. Interestingly, the other tracks we've heard from 'em, on their MySpace, are way more overtly garagey punky, in a ? and the Mysterians, Lyres, mebbe even Stooges style, but here it seems they're heavy metalling it (the magazine and the music) a bit more. So, two cool tunes, and now we're put on notice to go see these glittering wizzes next time they play, we're especially curious to see if they get all glammed up live to go with their name. (AQ staffer Jon has seen 'em and sez they do!)
This new SF band's debut is quite immediately reminiscent of the dreamy, swirling late '90s Brit rock bands like Spiritualized or The Church - all shimmering, spacy guitars with soft shoegazer male lead vocals. But Go Go Galaxion set themselves apart from those groups with an ever-present upbeat mood that's propelled along by some considerably West Coast sunny bouncy tempos and warm vocal harmonies - maybe placing them more in line with polished pop bands like Beulah or the Posies in that regard. Nice.
Here's the follow-up to The Goat Family's lively debut album Unstopperable from a few years ago! Sounds like these seven fellas are still bustin' their britches with rambunctious energy and mighty fine pickin'! All We Need is jam-packed with sixteen old fashioned bluegrass and country tunes written and performed in both conventional and somewhat less conventional fashion by modern day folks fueled by ample jugs o' moonshine. Good times for sure!
The Bay Area's Goat Family are sure kicking up some dust on Unstopperable. It's an off-kilter hillbilly jamboree filled with originals and covers of old classics like "Ring Of Fire", the rousing rais-a-pint "All For Me Grog" and you might recognize the number "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" from the front porch scene of the movie The Jerk!
More thunder-core from these two maniacs, the biggest sounding bass-drums duo in the world. The hit single this time out? A cover of "In The Air Tonight" that will give Phil Collins nightmares, similar to the tongue-in-cheek, metaller-than-thou cover art and spiky logo.
Sebadoh performed a new song at Sub Pop birthday bash recently; the lyrics went something like "MYWIFETHINKS GODHEADSILOARETHEGREATESTFUCKINGBANDINTHEWORLD!"
Presented for your party pleasure: this DVD compiles a performance by righteous party-monger Gold Chains at San Francisco's Beta Lounge, along with plenty of extra videos and live performances, including the awesome "I Come From San Francisco" video, shot on a BART train! Locals: look for yourself and your friends in the videos. Out-of towners: experience the magic of a Gold Chains show from the comfort of your living room. The live at Beta Lounge portion comes peppered by unfortunate amounts of clean-cut white girls in flygirl pose mode and art-school graduate ghetto parody, but Gold Chains himself puts on a helluva show as always, making the most uptight of booties shake and temporarily redeeming the white-boy indie-electronic hip-hop genre (at least until the next time I'm reminded of the existence of Cex). Although it's funny; I know I was pretty drunk that night, but I remember the show being totally crazy, like crowd surfing, buckets of sweat, jam-packed dance-your-ass-off crazy. Somehow, the video doesn't quite seem to convey the mayhem. Perhaps the filming would have benefitted from another approach, or maybe I was just more wasted than I realized. Hmmm.
Who rocks the parti? Local darling Gold Chains cracks the whip with five new dancefloor hotties giving a heads up to the Cologne and Berlin Schaffelfieber sound. Having travelled the world in his brief career as Gold Chains, Topher Lafata has absorbed the sounds of other lands to craft his own brand of electrosonic hiphop thunder. Following on his acclaimed debut for Orthlorng Musork, "Straight From Your Radio" is another brief encounter with the hard beat mystic nonmaterialistic witch doctor. Each track is very distinct from the next from the rubbery bass of the lead off track to the absurd cootchie song. So silly and repetitious, it lyrically reminded me of Snow's "The Informer" from '93. Continuing on, "Let's Make It" pumps out the big beats Sweet and Gary Glitter style. Y'know those thumpin' '70s enormo-party anthems! He even does a reworking of Samhain's "Human Pony Girl"! Come join the caravan...
Don't call Gold Chains a player, he's in love with you. And don't call him played out, 'cause this single is another evolutionary step for the genre twisting, scruffy-voiced laptop MC. Broken electric funk and tech-hop beats infuse one of Gold Chains catchiest, best-produced (and that's saying a lot) tracks to date. Features a hectic pitched-up remix by Kit Clayton, and a groovy house-ier mix by Luomo (aka Vladislav Delay).
Gold Chains' new abum is again a kick ass, completely weird hybrid of hip hop and bedroom electronics so over the top and colorful that it demands a lot of attention. Not as completely catchy as his selftitled debut, this is still exciting and a fun listen. And check out "Break or Be Broken", decidedly non hip hop love song with pretty rock chord progressions, a good direction for Gold Chains.
I can't believe that this record hasn't driven us mad. In the very near future, it very well may. But at the moment, Gold Chains certainly tickles our fancy for purposefully ridiculous, totally fun electronica/hip-hop. Gold Chains is the boisterous hip-hop
SF indie hip-hop artist Gold Chains brings it again! Rocking a more earnest and cynical parti... When The World Was Our Friend offers up more broken electric funk and tech-hop beats for fans of previous albums, though on a slightly darker and harder note. Congruent to its title, the album is less hoochies in thongs sippin champagne in the hot tub, and more holy shit man what the fuck is going on. More emphasized this time around is frequent collaborator Sue Cie, singing a generous amount of the tracks. When The World definitely pushes Gold Chains into a different realm. Looking forward to it being pushed even harder!
Ben Goldberg on clarinet / bass clarinet with Trevor Dunn on bass and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums.
Golden Birds have offered up not one but two fine releases for our indie rock lovin' ears (one on Paranoid Records and the other self-released). The band aligns itself well with the likes of early-mid period Wedding Present as well as Bright Eyes and Interpol (particular in the emotive vocal department).
This is their energetic debut full length which expands on an earlier ep that the band released when they went by the name Carrier. You might recall that back in 2002 we carried Home Movies which was another of their self-released eps. They're quite a different sounding band these days, distancing themselves considerably from their more postrock-ish and atmospheric beginnings in favor of poppy punch. Note: one song is shared by both releases "Sioux Falls South Dakota".
Golden Birds have offered up not one but two fine releases for our indie rock lovin' ears (one on Paranoid Records and the other self-released). The band aligns itself well with the likes of early-mid period Wedding Present as well as Bright Eyes and Interpol (particular in the emotive vocal department).
This is a special cdep of acoustic numbers that the band self-released to coincide with a tour this past summer. Wistful, sensitive pop without drums, but with warm guitar strumming, pretty glockenspiel and some dreamy boy/girl vocals. Note: one song is shared by both releases "Sioux Falls".
It's always a little nerve wracking listening to a friend's record. Hoping that it's good so you don't have to hem and haw and eventually say something like "Wow...really interesting" or "Wow. Great guitar sound" or some other non-committal could-be-construed-as-saying-you-like-the-record sort of thing. So it's even more intense when it's someone's -first- record. But luckily, this time, there was no need to worry, 'cause this Golden Hotel record is a gorgeous, droney, space-y, drugged out psychedelic folk record. Golden Hotel is our customer Cayce (who has appeared in several of the AQ neighborhood films, he's the bearded fellow with the dog Cowboy) and his brother Sidney who is in AQ faves Torrez. And the Torrez connection definitely shows, with shimmery guitars and warm thick atmosphere, but the female vocals of Torrez are replaced with the brothers' rough but melodic warm warbly rasps and the sound is a little less lush and a bit more buzzing and immediate (plenty of instrument buzz, lip smacking, breathing). Warm swells of thick guitar wash over shimmering high end harmonics whirling quietly in the background as gently strummed acoustic guitar underpins delicate minor key melodies. Lots of stray sounds, varied instrumentation and production fuckery augment these ultimately simple folk songs, turning them into languid, stoned epics, with simple stumbling percussion, fuzzy far-away guitar, droning buzzing harmonies, pulsing underwater bass, and dreamy blissed out ambience. Definitely influenced by/reminiscent of Greg Weeks, Six Organs Of Admittance, Charalambides, Joshua, Songs:Ohia, Herman Dune, and other current practitioners of modern psych-folk. A great surprise and a fantastic record.
One of our most anticipated releases for this year's Record Store Day was definitely this two song slab of heavy, seventies style, psychedelic space rock blissout from these former aQ Record Of The Weekers, fronted by Earthless axeman Isaiah Mitchell, along with Camilla Saufley-Mitchell from Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound and a couple other local rockers. And like on their self titled debut, the two tracks here find Golden Void channeling some serious classic psych rock sounds, swirling clouds of FX drenched guitar shreddery, draped over spidery reverby melodies, throbbing basslines, echo drenched vox, and stoned motorik rhythms that occasionally explode into wild flurries of chaotic bombast, heady and hypnotic, the A side here sounds like it could have been plucked right off their record proper, a little laid back, spaced out, druggy and drifty, slipping from hazy sun baked stoner rock to sixties/seventies style psychedelic jangle and back again, and of course the whole thing is teeming with killer guitarwork, crunch riffs, swirling atmosphere, and yeah, some kick ass soloing. The B side though is a whole 'nother story, the band seeming to ditch an semblance of song, in favor of total Hawkwind style endless space jam, from the get go, the band lock into a slow spiraling zoner spaceout, in fact, it fades in as if we're just joining a jam already in progress, and it plays out like that, the band filling up the whole side with one billowing cloud of bongsmoke psych shred freakout, the drums and bass locked into a woozy drift, while Mitchell basically unfurls a sky full of wild guitar tangle, the song smokes, but then smolders as it settles down into something broodier and more mellow and hypnotic, which is where it fades out, but we imagine the jam most likely went on way longer!!
This was as we mentioned, a Record Store Day release, so it's super limited and now out of print, we ordered extras so aQ list readers would get a shot, and were lucky enought to get a bunch, but they're going fast, and once we run out, we won't be able to get more.
Woah, it's like the day before the day before Christmas, so if we're ever gonna list this we'd better do it now, eh?! Although, this specially-priced, hour-long disc from ex-Comets On Fire/Gargantula/Exploding Crustaceans member Chris Gonzalez, despite its rather over the top Xmas theme, could be enjoyed at other times of the year as well. We suppose. It's funny ha-ha and also funny weird too. Probably playing it in July would make it more of the latter. Basically, Chris, seemingly intoxicated with the Yuletide spirit, has decided to have his way with a bunch of traditional holiday songs (including "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer", "Winter Wonderland", "Silent Night" and "Little Drummer Boy"... indeed all but one of of the twelve tracks are traditional Christmas tunes, see if you can guess which one isn't). However, several are barely recognizable when he's through with 'em! He tackles each song differently, but you've gonna hear a lot of chaotic, distorted, deranged lo-fi lounge and hard rock stylings, recorded on a four-track, with various "guests"... some of it in front of a (fake) live audience, complete with heckling. It's all about as ridiculous as can be. Christmas comedy doesn't get much more silly and surreal -- or noisy. The hip-hopped version of "Jingle Bells" that morphs into a Slayer song might be the low point...and the high point too. Or maybe that would be the "all star celebrity jam" version of "Simple Having A Wonderful Christmastime" that allegedly features Lars Ulrich, Eddie Vedder, Jah Rule, and Donald Duck, among others! Will Santa think Chris has been naughty or nice with this lil' cd? Well it's hard to judge. He's probably just asking "why?" But for a mere six bucks this might be a fine last-minute novelty stocking-stuffer for the wacky music fan on your list.
It seems San Francisco's Good for You aren't aiming to break any new ground with this debut album, but y'know often it's nice to tread a very familiar, well-trodden path. This hails from the catchy emo-land that'll never go out of style. All salute the early strains of Superchunk, Doug Martsch's pre-Built To Spill band the much more tense and angstful Treepeople, and the boy/girl
This appears to be dub versions of tracks from the Gorillaz record. Said outfit, you will recall, is a project of AQ-pal Dan the Automator (Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) with main guests Damon Albarn (Blur), Miho Hatori etc. Bearing little resemblance to the original Gorillaz album, or indeed its other, first remix record spinoff, all vestiges of rock and hip hop are stripped away in order for the bass to get heavier, the vocals to get echo-ier, the pace to slow down. As dub, it's decent, if a trifle formulaic. Melodica, horns, organs, even a flute round out the sound. This is my favorite of the Gorillaz-related projects.
Not too long ago, Gowns were at the forefront of SF's avant/noise-rock community, their live shows strung out between violent, explosive outbursts of earth shattering noise and intimate moments of quiet song craft. We loved the band's ability to seamlessly weave these two extremes into a beautifully violent sound that was difficult to classify but easy to get lost in. Catastrophically noisy, carefully composed, and effortlessly brutal, Broken Bones conveys the intimacy of a folk song with the delivery of a freight train.
Recorded after two full tours of the US and Italy, the band laid down these 5 tracks in the Southern Studios (in the dead of winter) to document the live set they had perfected on the road. The liner notes state these recordings reflect "a time when we were barely holding on by our fingernails", and certainly Broken Bones hovers on the cusp of uncertainty, each moment teetering between blissful resonance and utter destruction.
Heaven is by far our favorite track on the 19 minute ep, a song that became the highlight of every Gowns live set, and the recorded version captures everything we love about these guys. Quiet female vocals that fall somewhere between Kim Gordon and Nico, the silky voice recalling a drug laden evening before posing the question, "Is it white like heaven or dark like space?". Sporadic drumming, deep bass and spindly guitar gradually seep into the dreamy haze as the track slowly unfolds into a mind-melting, noise freak out.
Like all the Latitudes releases, limited, and distinctively packaged.
Grace Sings Sludge is the solo project of Grace from the haunting SF dream poppers the Sandwitches, and while we were secretly hoping that the project name meant that this would in fact be Grace doing hushed, delicate, ethereal version of songs by Corrupted, or Bunkur, or Moss, instead, Grace, umm, graces us (sorry) with two gorgeous slabs of whispery intimate soft-focus folky pop drift. We listened to the B side first, which begins a little bit Grouper-y, all gauzey and washed out, but the song gradually crystallizes into a lovely bit of simply strummed melancholia, Grace's voice so lovely, the guitar spidery and fragile, there even seems to be some harmonica, all floating in a spectral thrum, and since it's a lathe cut, it's super noisy, which only adds to the mood, wreathing everything in soft billows of crackle. Darkly intimate and so lovely. The A side "Longshot" sounds like some alien Appalachia, the vocals way more pronounced, throaty and powerful, draped languorously over a swoonsome funereal campfire ballad, a moody balladic dream-folk dirge that at times sounds a little like an acoustic Zola Jesus or Chelsea Wolfe, but way more spare and skeletal. Fantastic, gorgeous stuff, too bad it's so limited. And it is SO limited. Only TWENTY COPIES! That's IT. We got a little less than half, it's a hand cut, clear, square lathe cut, so it's really noisy, and crazy crackly, so if you're super anal about sound quality, steer clear, this is not for you. But like we said, it totally compliments the music, as does the beautifully hand drawn and water colored covers. Each one hand numbered. And once they're gone, they're gone for good. Here's hoping the next Grace Sings Sludge, finds Grace REALLY singing Sludge!
After a super limited (and now out of print) lathe cut 7", Grace Cooper of local local dream pop combo the Sandwitches returns with a full length tape, and once again, we can't help but be disappointed that Grace Sings Sludge isn't hushed, whispery, dreamy, slow pop versions of songs by Corrupted, or Bongzilla, or Bunkur, or Moss, but once you get past that, it's easy to get lost in Cooper's gorgeous soft psych swirl, her voice very reminiscent of some obscure sixties psych folk chanteuse, her smoky, sultry vocals wound around skeletal jangle pop, muted guitar strum, downer slowcore drift, simple propulsive drumming, lots of space, the vibe spare and spacious, reversed and echoey, a hazy, prismatic, torch song, dream pop that's dark and delicate, hushed and haunting. This time around, some of the tracks get downright gothic, with shimmering piano wreathed in downcast ambience, Cooper's vocals reminding us in places of Chelsea Wolfe, or recent aQ fave Aurora Dorey Alice, those brooding, moody, dirges a foil for the rest of the record, which tends toward the gauzy and gentle, sun dappled and shimmery. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.
Comes with all sorts of inserts, some hand drawn, and a download code too. And as you might imagine, mighty LIMITED!
TO JUST 100 COPIES!!
Grale is one of the many projects encircling Bruce Anderson and Dale Sophiea, both of whom are best known for their work in the seminal Bay Area art-punk project MX-80, with another Sophiea (this being Nicolas) contributing alongside those two elder statesmen, as well as Gregory Hagan (from Common Eider, King Eider and the Thomas Carnacki ensemble). The recent productions from Bruce Anderson have evolved through a somber palette of doleful guitar plucks treated with plenty of effects to blur and shapeshift his rich guitar tones. With the extra hands lurking behind the curtains to conjure soft drones, textural abrasions, electro-acoustic hocus-pocus, and tape loop machinations, Anderson steers his contributions towards devolved, formless blurs and echo to complement the ectoplasmic emations of darkened sound. Yet, when the supporting cast mounts rhythmic pulses (as is done towards end of the second suite through a spry Necks like drum-kit march), Anderson's guitar mimics the twin guitar swarm of Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore on the instrumental Sonic Youth suites from Anagrama and Slaapkaamers. Released on Thomas Carnacki's Alethiometer Records.
When the opening tune of Nevermint kicks off, we were immediately struck by its remarkable Pixies-ness. Clearly that venerable band's impact has been mighty on Grand Lake. It resurfaces often on this their debut album. That has its up side and its down side. You get a immediate sense of familiarity which might be a plus if you dig the Pixies. On the other hand, they run the risk of swift dismissal with folks who don't like those rock vets or soundalike bands in general. Funnily enough though, that particular song's title is "Concrete Blonde On Blonde"(!). So we were sort of expecting them to sound like... umm, Johnette Napolitano or Bob Dylan, but no. Fortunately it is actually on the numbers where Mr. Black and co.'s influence is less apparent that these Oaklanders (led by former Port O'Brien singer/bassist Caleb Nichols) really shine brightest, melting into some delightful hazy daydreamy indie pop with warm boy-girl vocal harmonies. Check out "Blue Hoodie". We're only half kidding when we say we'd prefer that they lay off the Pixiestix, heh heh, and dish out more of their own honey pop sweetness. Recommended if you like Caribou, Loney, Dear, and/or fellow Bay Area pop band The Papercuts who also have a terrific new album out now! They go together really well!
From SF's criminally underrecognized Granfaloon Bus comes a stunning new album, full of slide guitar, lush guitar, epic backup singing, and super earnest male vocals that spin out incandescently gorgeous lyrics like "It orbits within the glare as time stands still in there the suspense grows / Bend one till it becomes all others, drink the carousel in circles, till vendors mine
Brand new album from local favorites.
The Grass Widow gals are fast becoming one of the best bands in San Francisco. Their tight, three-part vocal harmonies layered on top of angular guitar-driven melodies cannot be beat. It's like Dig Me out era Sleater-Kinney mixed with a healthy dose of the Mamas and the Papas. Internal Logic is the first full-length released on Grass Widow's own HLR label. Over the course of a few eps, 7"s and a full-length, they've really honed their sound into something all their own, however. There isn't a power trio out there right now who can do what Grass Widow does. They really use all of the various layers at their disposal to the fullest advantage possible, mixing up Raven's sometimes jagged guitar lines with Lillian's drums that sometimes play straight surf-rock beats and sometimes bounce around all over the kit. Hannah's mid-range bass tones never dip too low in frequency, sounding for the most part straight off an early Joy Division record. It's all about the interplay, one vocal harmony leading into another, slightly more discordant one. These ladies have been playing together for a while now and it's quite evident in the way each instrument compliments the other, skillfully showing technical prowess without one ever dominating the overall sound. The entire record clocks in at a little under half an hour, a short and sweet slab of vinyl that really could have been two or three songs longer, especially since two of the songs ("Milo Minute" and "Disappearing Industries") on the A side were previously released on 7"s. We're not complaining by any means, though, because this record is great from start to finish. Grass Widow is one of those bands, no matter how many records they release, you just want more! If for some reason you have been living under a rock and have never heard of Grass Widow, fans of The Shop Assistants, Erase Errata, Thee Oh Sees, The Mallard, The Soft Moon, you need this!
Oh damn! This brand new 7" from Grass Widow finds these ladies really hitting their stride. Released on their brand new imprint HLR, it features a great new jam called "Milo Minute" which further shows how they excel at crafting pop songs that incorporate post-punk, '60s girl groups and '90s riot grrl elements with such satisfying results. The B-side has two awesome covers, "Time Keeps Time" by Neo Boys, and "Mannequin" by Wire. They do those in a style that makes us think of a slightly heavier Aislers Set. Which is of course AWESOME!
One of our favorite 7"s of the year so far!
There was a time when just about anything on Kill Rock Stars was guaranteed to be totally fucking great. Oh that special era of the '90s and the early '00s, when KRS were putting out records by folks like Unwound, Sleater Kinney, Elliott Smith, Erase Errata, Biking Kill, Quixotic, The Gossip, etc. By being one the most visible outlets for rad female and queer artists it was a label that really tapped into the best and most soulful parts of punk rock's past. All the bands had their own sound and unique vision, running the gamut from intimate folk to angular post-punk and anthemic physical minded and super smart art-punk. Sadly over the last several years the label has scaled back quite a bit and not everything they release is as special as it once was. But Grass Widow really do sound right at home and tap into that golden era of the label with a sound and spirit that really represents the essence of what made so many of us so inspired by the Kill Rock Stars vision to begin with.
Grass Widow is one of those rare bands that you could tell had something super special about them from the get go. Our local college radio station KUSF got a handmade cd-r release from them before they had an official release out and it immediately became a big hit at the station. And then they released a 12" and lp on Make A Mess and Captured Tracks that we all went crazy for, and now with their debut for Kill Rock Stars they have put out their most fully realized set of songs yet. Past Time wastes no time jumping right into the punchy harmonies and vocal melodies that drive the record from start to finish. Carrying a Raincoats torch with such ease and undeniable conviction. We're also reminded of a slightly more twee version of Sleater Kinney. As well as their peers like Wet Dog, Effie Briest, and Brilliant Colors they are part of a new wave of post-punk bands with a spirit and sound that is so goddamn good right now. And while we love all the aforementioned bands, we might just be most in love with Grass Widow. For sure the best release to come out on Kill Rock Stars in a long time. So great!
Not to be confused with their s/t 12" on Captured Tracks, this is also self titled, but actually a full length record from this awesome Bay Area trio, who most definitely know how to whip up some seriously awesome art punk garage rock. A bit more raw and rocking than the 12" but still very much in the tradition of bands like the Shop Assistants, Young Marble Giants, Vaselines, Kleenex, The Fall, as well as fitting really nicely alongside current comrades like Thee Oh Sees, Brilliant Colors, Vivian Girls, etc. There's such a sense of urgency and immediate energy that comes pouring out in these songs as well as a timeless quality to their approach that will no doubt give their sound a lasting power. They even incorporate trumpet really nicely into a couple of the tracks, including a slow burner called "Time Could Bend" which demonstrates the kind of dynamics Grass Widow are really capable of. There is a haunting/beautiful quality to their vocal delivery as well which reminds us a bit of one of our favorite and most underrated bands from a decade ago, Quixotic. We're definitely gonna keep our eyes and ears glued to what these ladies do because every record so far has been amazing, and they definitely seem like they'll only keep getting better and better...
Featured on the first episode of glamorously low-budget cable tv show Hollywood Nailz last year, two of our favorite SF rock bands faced off in a battle for best cover interpretation. First up, Shannon and The Clams taking Snap's "The Power" to a whole new punk level (brave choice!) while the flip side has Grass Widow bringing a groovy Bangles-ish flair to EMF's "Unbelievable". The segment featured an "all-star" panel of Nobunny, King Khan, fashionista Ringo Rock Yay and dominatrix Miss Shannon. For good reason, Grass Widow won the contest. Dressed in burkas, wearing glasses with large googly-eyes, the 'Widows brought a whole new meaning to unbelievable! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HLkwLu2xuo. Many of the commenters on YouTube asked where they could pick this up, and we have the answer for you: right here!
Brand new single from these Seattle goth poppers and it's a pretty fantastic slab of blown out minor key dour pop bliss. The A side is all dirgey and fuzzy, the sound super distorted and in-the-red, sounding like some sort of Cure / Jesus And Mary Chain hybrid, hazy dreamy vocals drifting over wistful minor key guitar melodies, and a murky distorted rhythm, there's a killer hook hidden in there too. But it's the B side we're a bit obsessed with, a dubby, druggy, tripped out, gothy doomy ballad, all super reverbed plink plonk piano, the vocals dramatic and crooning, the whole vibe dark and hazy and brooding, the sound remaining weirdly raw and lo-fi and blown out, which makes the record SOUND like those old faded photographs LOOK, washed out and dreamily blurry, at times it almost sounds like Interpol slowed way down and dirtied way up.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
