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!

[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:

The Spyrals on fire

The Spyrals playing an acoustic version of "Lonely Eyes" at a bon fire in Los Angeles. Shot by Joo Joo Ashworth, who coincidentally snapped some photos of Down and Outlaws for me back in November! Enjoy the double acoustic madness.

The Spyrals - Lonely Eyes from Joo-Joo Ashworth on Vimeo.

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!

Hellaween and the local scene

I realize we're still a few days out, but since Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and this last weekend was the unofficial but publicly understood time to dress up and get weird, I figured I'd wish everyone on the interwebs a happy and safe All Hallow's Eve. This year I dressed up as pop art by Roy Lichtenstein--a risky choice considering the make up-heavy look could have gotten extremely messy/scary throughout the night.

Anyways, I've recently (finally) confronted the conclusion that I need to immerse myself into the local music scene for so many reasons, not least of which is the fact that this is my city and music is one of my favorite things to write about. After talking to my friend Peter of Down and Outlaws, a raw, blues-tinged rock and roll band that gorgeously and appropriately employs a harmonica, he kindly offered to keep me in the loop about the better local shows going on in the city. He also told me that at any given show I'd meet a bunch of people who either play in other bands or know of another band I should be familiar with. That claim proved entirely true after I caught a Down and Outlaws set at 50 Mason last Tuesday. The night just happened to be a weekly event called Scared to Dance, which features three or four rock bands hand-picked by Nic, 50 Mason's bartender and vocalist/guitarist of Zodiac Death Valley. Nic was nice enough to tell me a little about the bands he chooses for Scared to Dance, and from what I've gathered, he's very proud of bringing real rock bands together for a FREE night of music. I'll definitely be making it out to another Tuesday night at 50 Mason, and if you're looking to catch some live music in an laid back bar setting you should too! Did I mention it was free?

In the next few weeks, expect a lot of local band coverage because a lot of rad stuff is going on.

Last thursday, I caught the EP release party for an americana indie rock band named Brother Pacific and currently reviewing its Give it to Me EP for the eventseekr blog. Check in sometime later this week for the link!

Also, Down and Outlaws are playing a show at El Rio on November 4. The band makes some seriously raw, loud tunes and the venue has the best back patio ever, so come out! In the meantime, here's a video of the band playing "Back into Your Arms."

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.

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!