Interview: King Tuff to bring unfiltered mania to Phono del Sol 2015
King Tuff will be playing the Phono del Sol Music & Food Festival, July 11th at Potrero del Sol Park in San Francisco. Get your tickets before it's too late! It would not be totally accurate to call King Tuff wicked, and yet, something about the term seems to fit. Kyle Thomas, the man behind the persona — if you can even call the exaggerated personality a “persona” — doesn’t suggest he’s capable of any evil or vicious proclivities, but his music, particularly that on the most recent Black Moon Spell, makes you wonder: is there some darkness that Thomas [...]
Death Records to hold inaugural DEATHSTOCK, a three-day festival in Guerneville this June
If the name didn't already hint at it, DEATHSTOCK isn't a festival for the weak-hearted. To celebrate the first year anniversary of San Francisco-based Death Records' existence, DEATHSTOCK brings together more than 25 bands (on three stages) north of San Francisco in Guerneville, CA, from June 26 to June 28. Featuring a lineup of scuzzy punk acts like Terry Malts and CCR Headcleaner, lo-fi rockers like The Mantles and more dreamier, pop numbers like Death Records' own Tiaras, the festival will play host to a slew of eclectic local acts over a three-day music binge. And although it's in its first year, it's already a [...]
Total Control bring post punk noise to Rickshaw Stop this August
To call Total Control punk is to not tell the whole story. The Australian five-piece came into their own in 2008, after releasing a slew of 7-inches that canvassed genres from more electronic wave to droning garage punk. The band finally released their first full length, Henge Beat, in 2011, and in 2014, they dropped one of the best post punk albums of the year in the nihilist, enveloping Typical System. The band will be hitting the road for a s short tour and will stop at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco with Flesh World, POW!, and an as of yet [...]
Arcade Fire’s Will Butler to hit San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall next week
After ten years, Arcade Fire's Will Butler is finally treading his own path. The multi-instrumentalist (who plays bass, drums, synthesizer, and guitar) was nominated for his first Academy Award in 2014, and released his debut album, Policy, not long after in 2015 (via Merge, the same label that released Reflektor). And it's an ambitious album, too. Butler describes it as "in the tradition" of American musical icons of all genres, citing everyone from Smokey Robinson to Bob Dylan, the Violent Femmes, and even Ghostface Killah. As he says, it's "music where the holy fool runs afoul of the casual world," [...]
White Lung announces tour with Refused with stop in San Francisco
(photo: Zarah Cheng for Creep Magazine) White Lung isn't exactly a band for the weak-hearted. The snarling punk trio has a live show that's loud, turbulent, and a little bit deafening, but honestly, those characteristics are what make them so engrossing to watch (or mosh to, if that's what you're into). Led by the dynamic Mish Way with support from drummer Anne-Marie Vassiliou, guitarist Kenneth William, and touring addition Lindsey Troy on bass (from Deap Valley), White Lung is prepping to release their follow-up to last year's Deep Fantasy. This May, they'll be hitting the road with Refused, stopping in [...]
Phono del Sol headliners Tanlines unveil new Netflix-themed website
(photo: Autumn De Wilde) Anyone who follows Phono del Sol headliners Tanlines on Twitter knows that they're a bit quirky. The duo has a fantastic sense of humor, and based on their latest venture, it looks like they're putting it to good use. Their new album Highlights is on the way (and the band has already released a new song in anticipation of it), but rather than rolling out a standard band website, they're doing something ironically novel. They've built a site that looks and functions exactly like Netflix. Of course, the links don't (all) go to movies. Rather, they [...]
José González to play two nights at Bimbo’s in San Francisco
(photo: Malin Johansson) Sweden's José González is back from a long solo hiatus. The guitarist and folk singer-songwriter has finally unleashed Vestiges & Claws, his first album in seven years, and to celebrate, he's taking his act on the road with Ólöf Arnalds. The new album is González’ first to include completely original material, which allows him to delve deeply and more thoughtfully into complex subject matter, including universally understood themes like civilization and humanism. González will headline two dates this month (April 27 and 28) at Bimbo's 365 in San Francisco (the venue is a favorite of his band Junip). [...]
WOVE releases live video, prepares to co-headline SF show with Creepers
(source: Facebook) Not long after WOVE (formerly A Million Billion Dying Suns) released their first metal and psych-inspired EP, they've already got another on the way — and a killer live concert booking to show off their new stuff. Pretty soon, we'll be able to catch the band co-headline a set alongside San Francisco's Creepers at the Great American Music Hall later this month. "We are stoked," WOVE's Nate Mercereau says of the booking. "Creepers is an awesome band and [they're] awesome people, and to play together in such a historic venue — we're going to have fun." It looks like [...]
The Battery: private club, music venue, and microcosm of the relationship between tech and the arts in San Francisco in 2015
San Francisco these days seems like a never-ending battle between the haves and have-nots. More frequently, the former are growing in population, while natives, artists, and everyone else without a six figure paycheck banter and brawl over the remaining affordable housing options. Venues and legacy establishments are becoming endangered, and while legislation is in motion to preserve and protect many of them from new condo developments by way of London Breed’s December proposal, the city’s dwindling focus on the arts threatens the livelihood of creators in San Francisco — particularly those working in music. San Francisco isn’t so much [...]
Sacramento’s So Stressed releases new video for “Merv King & The Phantoms”
Meredith Graves' new label Honor Press was willing to take a shot on Sacramento's So Stressed, and it looks like the partnership was a perfect match. The post-hardcore trio, made up of Kenneth Draper, Morgan Fox, and Andrew Garcia, might make tough, tense tunes, but that doesn't mean they're all serious all the time. As a matter of fact, their most recent video for "Merv King and the Phantoms" (from the upcoming album The Unlawful Trade of Greco-Roman Art) actually turned out pretty lighthearted. "I just wanted to make a fun, simple video. It ended up being more lighthearted and sweeter than I thought [...]