Best of Submissions: Sea Dramas, Black Kaweah, Spidermeow, & G'La

It’s time for another round of the best submissions we’ve received here at The Bay Bridged. For this edition, we have four artists that concentrate on retro pop, folk, alt-country, and neo-soul, respectively, but they all hit plenty of other genres along the way.

Up first is Sea Dramas out of San Francisco, who just released their debut LP, Soft Wake. Over the course of the album you’ll hear some surf rock mixed with retro pop, folk, and even a little country, but I think the true strength of Soft Wake resides in the classic melodies and harmonies from vocalists Scott Pettersen and Marlaina Rae that are prevalent no matter the style. Sea Dramas will play Red Rock in Cupertino March 29 and Hotel Utah on April 11. Listen to the track “Summer Dies” below.

<a href="http://seadramas.bandcamp.com/track/summer-dies">Summer Dies by Sea Dramas</a>

San Francisco’s Black Kaweah released their debut self-titled LP, and if you’re into dark, almost ambient folk, this is the album for you. It’s the perfect soundtrack to your next rainy day. Listen to the album below.

Oakland’s Spidermeow kicks off their album Broken Lies and Empty Promises with the fairly straightforward alt-country track of the same name. However, they change the tempo regularly over the course of the album, ranging from the jam-band groove “Riptide” to the laid-back country-rock ballad “Ring for your Right Hand”. Listen to the album below, and see Spidermeow in person with The Shants March 9 in Oakland at the 25th Street Art Collective.

<a href="http://spidermeow1.bandcamp.com/album/broken-lies-empty-promises">Broken Lies, Empty Promises by Spidermeow</a>

Finally, we have a brand new video from Oakland’s G’La for the track “Ahh Ha”. I hinted that she was making neo-soul, but the more I listen I realize that G’La is venturing far from that sometimes narrow genre. Her beats mix R&B, electro pop, modern indie, and just about anything else you can dance to, while her strong voice tops it all off perfectly. G’La has a semi-regular gig Thursday nights at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle in Oakland, and her video for “Ahh Ha” is below.