bAd bAd releases debut album on cassette
We told you about San Francisco's bAd bAd earlier this year, and not long ago they released their debut full-length cassette. 14 songs of furious punk energy and rhythms combined with latin guitar strumming allows bAd bAd to fit in perfectly with San Francisco's garage scene, without trying to sound like anyone else in the process. The band has a busy couple of months ahead, with plans to release an 8 song digital EP and a 7" "party surf album" on vinyl, in addition to their official cassette release show at Amnesia in May. You can also see them in [...]
Get to Know: Rachel Angel & The Revelations
Rachel Angel & The Revelations are an Oakland band fronted by none other than (you guessed it) Rachel Angel herself. Angel, a Miami native and student at Mills, shines with a crystal clear voice that just booms. Her latest EP, Revelations, contains fairly straight-forward rock and roll songs with perhaps a hint of country in spots, but Angel tells me her next album should take a different path. "It is a lot more experimental, is going to be a bit more jammy and improvisational, and deals with more broken song structures," explains Angel. As long as Rachel's still belting out [...]
Doncat releases ‘Don Gato’ vinyl at Bottom of the Hill
San Francisco's Doncat took my favorite approach to crowdfunding this year to fund pressing of his vinyl LP, Don Gato. He decided he was making an album no matter what, and if enough of you paid for it, he'd give you vinyl. No begging, no awkward video explaining his creative process - he just released songs you could buy. The good news is that the strategy was a success, and about 120 folks are now lucky owners of Doncat crooning through their speakers on some sweet coke-bottle transparent vinyl. For the rest of you, there's still about 20 copies left [...]
Big Tree & Guy Fox have a remix contest
Guy Fox and Big Tree have a show together Friday night, and they also have tracks named "San Francisco". To celebrate this unique set of circumstances, the bands are asking for folks to remix/mashup/go crazy with their tracks. Here are the instructions from Big Tree: STEP 1- Get the stems from the Big Tree and Guy Fox songs "San Francisco" here: http://bit.ly/1cG0X4w STEP 2- Remix STEP 3- Email remix to bigtreesings@gmail.com STEP 4- Get free tix to our show on 3/21 at Bottom of the Hill! Everyone who enters will receive free tickets to the show, and their favorites will [...]
Tree releases short film for “Suck Down the Wrong Rabbit Hole”
Last year, we told you about Oliver Nickell, aka Tree, who was a student at SF State when he was discovered by R&S Records on SoundCloud. Since then, his budget for artistic productions has increased, and he's spent a much of his time working on a short film set to his track "Stuck Down the Wrong Rabbit Hole". The film was written, produced, and co-directed by Nickell, who says the video is just the start of his lofty plans. "I don't see much of a difference between any of the roles I played," he says. "Whether we are talking about [...]
Video: White Mic & Z-Man – “Preachin & Plantin”
San Francisco MCs White Mic & Z-Man took a trip to the farm to shoot the video for their new track "Preachin & Plantin", a bonus song for the vinyl release of their Vegetable and the Ferret LP. The track concerns raising awareness about serious modern agricultural issues, but when these two get together in the country wearing overalls, you can't help but have a little fun. Shouts out to the squirrels. The Vegetable & The Ferret LP was pressed on some sweet green vinyl, which you can pick up at Amoeba Records in SF or Berkeley, or online at [...]
Void Boys release “Starfish” single
San Francisco's Void Boys are releasing a very limited-edition 10-inch single on Pretty Penny Records Friday night at a show at Vacation in San Francisco. There are only 100 copies available, and each cover is a completely unique work of art created by members of band. Pretty Penny was created by Moses Montalvo, who started the label to release a single from his band Woodsboro on vinyl. He found a sympathetic manufacturer who would produce only 100 copies, but they had to be run as test pressings - without cover or label art. Moses, being the resourceful man he is, [...]
Premiere: Frozen Folk – ‘Sleepy’ EP
Oakland's Frozen Folk, despite their name, are not a folk band at all. Their sound is defined by their unique instrumentation, with extremely technical and often frantic guitar and bass riffs leading the way. Today, we're excited to share with you their new EP Sleepy, marking yet another local release from Portland's Breakup Records. The tight rhythm section and high energy riffs are evident across the four tracks on the EP, forming a distinct and cohesive sound that is all their own. Thursday night, Frozen Folk celebrates the release of Sleepy with a show at Amnesia, along with Mosshead and [...]
Get to Know: Baus
Oakland's Baus was originally formed by SoCal natives Thomas Jackson and Mike Morales, who also is a member of Sacramento's G. Green. Lacking a bass player, they added Sierra Wendt, who also provides some great screams. "We think that our music embodies the street and sound of Oakland and we're proud to represent it when we're out of town," says Wendt. Although they have obvious punk and garage influences, Wendt tells me they draw inspiration from all over the place, including R&B, noise, funk, and no wave. The end result doesn't fall neatly into any genre, unless you consider "loud [...]
Video: The Parmesans – “Sweet Plete Neat Pete”
Late last month, Bay Area folksters The Parmesans released a video for "Sweet Plete Neat Pete", the first single off their forthcoming Nature's Burrito EP. The track highlights The Parmesans' strengths: tight harmonies (which offer a hint to the odd song title, in this case), catchy melodies, and a bit of endearing goofyness in their lyrics. I recently caught The Parmesans play a show without mics, and the past year of relentless gigging and recording has allowed them to truly hone their sound - they have great chemistry, they swap instruments throughout the set, and their talent on display reminds [...]