Grace Sings Sludge (Grace Cooper) and Earth Girl Helen Brown (Heidi Alexander) have been a part of some great San Francisco bands, namely The Sandwitches and The Fresh & Onlys. Tonight they’re sharing the stage with their old bandmate, Fresh and Onlys’ front man Tim Cohen for a great cozy show at the Night Light in Oakland.

Of primary importance tonight is the release of Grace Sings Sludge’s LP Life with Dick, out now on vinyl via Empty Cellar Records. Cooper’s voice is always strong and alluring, yet very dark on Life with Dick. I picture her confidently delivering her weird folk-pop as a sultry lounge singer in the world’s seediest bar with a crowd of scary dudes wrapped around her finger. Here’s her dark-yet-alluring visuals for “A Man Doesn’t Want” followed by the full album stream:

Earth Girl Helen Brown has moved to LA, but she’s still releasing albums on cassette on SF-based Empty Cellar: Mercury dropped earlier this year and Mars is set for a July release. Note that both her cassettes are 100% post-consumer recycled and she’s donating all proceeds to charities dedicated to improving the environment or ending war. Last Friday she shared a video for “Earth Elevator”, and I’ve probably watched it about a dozen times since it was released. The song is great on its own, but there’s so much oddball charm in the visuals that I keep watching again and again:

Finally, Tim Cohen is always busy – he’s released a solo LP already this year and a Fresh & Onlys album is set for an August 25 release. As expected, the solo album is solid and the first song from the Fresh and Onlys album is a great start. Here’s a taste of both:

By the way, if you can’t make it to Oakland, Earth Girl Helen Brown also performs Thursday night at Brick and Mortar in San Francisco.

Grace Sings Sludge, Earth Girl Helen Brown, Tim Cohen
The Night Light
June 27, 2017
9pm, $8

Earth Girl Helen Brown, Carletta Sue Kay, Muscle Drum
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
June 29, 2017
9pm, $10