FIDLAR returns to Bottom of the Hill TONIGHT, w/ Pangea and SF locals, Meat Market

If you're in San Francisco tonight, get yourself and your friends to Bottom of the Hill. This is the best venue in the city to see FIDLAR, so don't fuck up. Come play! Doors at 8.30, music starts at 9.

New STONE FOXES

The Stone Foxes' new album Small Fires, is out February 12, but the San Francisco-based outfit recently released the music video for the leading track, "Everybody Knows." Shot somewhere in downtown SF, the video was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "A Tell Tale Heart." Check IT OUT.

Only a couple more days

Photos from Hedi Slimane's Rock Diary portrait series

I cannot stop listening to this--Christopher Owens offers all the accessibility of pop tunes but packaged thoughtfully, unapologetically and gorgeously in indie rock compositions that are sometimes minimal and other times powered by baroque elements. His first solo album drops the 15th (14th in Europe), but is streaming in multiple locations on the interwebs, like here and here, accompanied by awesome articles that offer insight into the dissolution of Girls and the writing process/story behind Lysandre.

Save the Date : FEBRUARY 7

WILD WILD WETS is returning to San Francisco on February 7th!! The band throws down loud garage rock and roll with post punk and psychedelic flavors--particularly during live shows when it has a projection artist lighting the entire stage, so come out next month for the wettest show you will ever experience. Until then, check out Wild Wild Wets' track "Realized Into Redwood" over at the band's bandcamp page.

The band will be blowing up Thee Parkside along with The Spyrals, Barbarian and Nectarine Pie. Let's make these San Diegans feel at home. Come out and support California homegrown music!

Get Dizzy

A few songs to get weird to...

THE BLACK ANGELS

THE WARLOCKS

THE SPYRALS

[EDIT]: Ty Segall must be a robot

After releasing three albums last year, Ty ushered in 2013 with a brand new project appropriately titled Fuzz, along with Charles Moothart. The two musicians are set to play one of their first shows together at The Fillmore on January 18th--a supreme day for music in the city considering [EDIT:] Tycho [NOT Thee Oh Sees] and FIDLAR are playing The Independent and Amoeba/Bottom of the Hill, respectively, the same night. What to do, what to do...?

Maybe this will help you decide:

SCARED TO DANCE

Party with me and some of San Francisco's finest at Scared to Dance presents NYE!! 15$, free champagne at midnight. Awww yeahh.

Moon Duo returns home

flyer by Celeste Byers

The San Francisco locals of Moon Duo are returning home to the city tomorrow night! Along with keyboardist Sanae Yamada, Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson weaves other-worldly space rock through familiar lo-fi fuzZz to create a neo-psychedelic sound that's both sinister and charming at the same time. So head over to Bottom of the Hill tomorrow night and be ready to have your senses stimulated. In the meantime, check out Moon Duo's music video for "Sleepwalker." Its definitely worth sharing again.

Makeout with The Spyrals TONIGHT !

San Francisco's own neo-psychedelic outfit The Spyrals is playing a show at The Make-Out Room tonight! I first saw the three-man band play with my San Diego buddies of Wild Wild Wets earlier this year, and I've been letting its dizzying guitar rock cloud my judgement ever since. If you've got a free hour and $6 to spare, meet me at the Make-Out Room for happy hour before The Spyrals' 8.30 set. According to the band's facebook page, it will be sharing some new tunes tonight.

Check out the band's music video for "Trying to Please," the third track off of its 2012 self-titled album.

Down and Outlaws -- Uncut

Down and Outlaws, view from the back patio at El Rio. All photos by Joo-Joo Ashworth.

"Last Sunday, El Rio hosted a night of good old fashioned rock and roll. I’m talking about loud, guitar-driven, blues-inspired tunes that ring more sinister than indie rock and more pensive than punk. Surrounded by friends and friendly Sunday night bar goers, the San Francisco-based outfit Down and Outlaws roamed the venue, waiting for its headlining set of the night. With time to kill, and the opening acts Foli and Cab 20 sound checking their instruments, I sat down with the four guys of Down and Outlaws—vocalist and guitarist Peter Danzig, bassist Chris Danzig, drummer Jason Jones and lead guitarist Kyle Luck—to talk about their sound, influences, future plans and David Bowie." To read the whole article, head over to the eventseekr blog! Or just CLICK HERE.

My first version of the article was just over 3500 words, mostly due to the fact that my conversation with Peter, Chris, Jason and Kyle was filled with a lot of nonsense--endearing nonsense, the kind that tells me these guys would be easy to hang out with, but nonsense none the less. If I had my way, I wouldn't have cut a single word of the interview. (This is why we have editors: no one would have taken the time to read such a long article!) That being said, most of what I had to cut was solid gold, including this little excerpt about the man, the myth, the legend, David Bowie:

Jason: He transforms into an eagle and flies away.

Kyle: He comes back once every full moon--

Chris: --and delivers you a hit song.

Peter: He lives on the moon.

Kyle: That’s his house, right?

Peter: He actually writes inside the moon

Kyle: He wrote the moon! Sorry we’re getting off topic.

Peter: He wrote, what’s the fucking book?

Chris: Goodnight Moon!

Peter: He wrote goodnight moon.

Down and Outlaws has begun to lay down tracks for its debut EP, which will hopefully be out by the end of the year. Keep an eye on the band's facebook page for updates on the record and upcoming show dates.

Read the rest of the interview after the jump!

nu record: Give it to Me by Brother Pacific

So I spent the last week and a half listening to Brother Pacific's new EP, Give it to Me, on repeat and I wrote a review for the record over at the eventseekr blog. The San Francisco-based band created something seriously worth sharing, so make your way over to Brother Pacific's bandcamp page, have a listen for yourself and then check out my review HERE to see if our brains work in similar ways.

In other news:

Down and Outlaws is playing a show TONIGHT at El Rio! It'll be the band's last show for a while since the guys are recording their first EP this month.

Also FIDLAR is playing at the Fillmore this Friday. Come play!

Moon Duo: Wooden Shjips' guitarist Ripley Johnson's side project!

Moon Duo is a San Francisco-based project featuring Ripley Johnson of the Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada. Armed only with a guitar and keyboard, the band creates krautrock-inspired psychedelic garage stuff that's dreamy and creepy at the same time. I like it, and if you like the fuzZz of the Wooden Shjips and a lo-fi aesthetic, I think you'll like it too.

Although the band created a light, expansive sound on its 2011 debut album Mazes, Moon duo offers much darker tones on its 2012 effort, Circles. Weighed down by a fair amount of reverb and processed guitar, the record is a product of the winter Moon Duo spent isolated in the Rocky Mountains. The band hasn't completely lost its buoyant energy though, as there is as much ridiculous charm packed into the album as there are sinister vibes. "Sleepwalker," the lead single and first track off of Circles, sets the tone for the entire album. The video is an absolute masterpiece. It makes me grin and grimace at the same time.

nu record: Holograms by Holograms.

Floating somewhere between 1970s punk and new wave of the 1980s, the Swedish rock band Holograms makes some dance-worthy post punk that pairs nicely with the recent heat wave we're having in San Francisco. I seriously dig the band's song "Fever," and if you like straight-forward guitar music and analog synthesizers I think you'll dig it too! The Indian summer is finally here so, even though we're in the middle of the work week, kick back for a moment, press play and let this seditious and energetic quartet fill your mind with visions of your last substance-induced summer.

Holograms just released its eponymous self-titled LP. The limited edition vinyl is CLEAR and soooo rad. Grab a copy here!

By the way...

 

Photographic evidence that it DOES get hotter than 65 in this city. SIDE NOTE :: I hear people complaining about SF's grey weather alllll the time. I do it probably on a daily basis. But anytime it gets above 75, San Franciscans are officially out of their element and don't know what to do with themselves. So instead of complaining about the cold we wine about the heat. But then we get over it, buy a twelve pack and go sit in a park all day. It's a beautiful thing. If you haven't spent a sunny day at Dolores / Duboce / Golden Gate Park (take your pick--we have plenty of little pocket parks), I highly suggest you pack some beer, snacks and cash for the truffle man (if you're going to Dolo) and get yourself to patch of green grass before October is over.

Make Rock Street Festival!

If you're in San Francisco today, come out to the Mission for the 2012 Make Rock Street Festival! Organized by The Bay Bridged, a leading source for independent Bay Area music, San Francisco-based power pop duo Tartufi and The Bold Italic, the golden standard for all things local, Make Rock brings together dozens of local vendors and bands for an intimate gathering of independent artists and the people who support them. Lo-fi noise pop outfit Kids on a Crime Spree will be there and its shoegazed, reverbed tunes will serve as the ideal soundtrack for today--Its 71 and sunny, so come meet up in the beer garden!