Rags and Ribbons
ragsandribbonsmusic.com
Rags + Ribbons play melodic rock anthems driven by classically-inspired piano. Progressive and post-rock influences by way of Queen, Muse, MEW and Sigur Ros color these intricate pop songs, expressing desire, yearning, regret and joy like only pop can. This Portland, Oregon band’s debut album, “The Glass Masses” features elaborately structured songs with rich harmonies and dramatic hooks.
Pianist, Jonathan Hicks, and guitarist, Ben Weyerhaeuser, met and decided to form the band while singing together in school choirs. Their twinned vocals are a key element of the band’s sound, adding depth and showmanship to their songs. By a fortunate twist of fate, the band became complete when drummer, Chris Neff, responded to a Craigslist post from Jon and Ben. The band’s diverse backgrounds, ranging from the ghetto of Flint, Michigan to the suburbs of Portland, Oregon to the farmlands of rural Washington State, provide a broad scope of influences and musical styles. Rags + Ribbons strive to create unique music and live performances that communicate an exciting range of shared human experiences.


Breakdown Valentine
facebook.com/BreakdownValentine
Breakdown Valentine hails from San Francisco and consists of Allen Davis (formerly of Every Move a Picture) and Olivia Barchard. The duo diligently crafts dynamic songs, pulling inspiration from warm analog synth sounds to mindscapes of cinematic value. They strive to design emotive sonic experiences, but never steer too far from their natural pop-sensibilities. The music sits comfortably next to sounds by Chromatics, M83, Pheonix, The Naked and Famous, Goldfrapp…etc. Breakdown Valentine are currently recording and diving into the live circuit.


Jaunting Martyrs
thejauntingmartyrs.com
The Jaunting Martyrs is a San Francisco/Bay Area cross-genre band that combines elements of Rockabilly, Gypsy Swing, Surf, Blues, and good ol’ Rock ‘n’ Roll. The elements of story telling, poetry, references to folklore, literary history, and current events in the lyricism and the eclectic nature of this group produces music that is unique and yet relatable. From the cross-genre sound & tight musicianship, to the handmade custom designed costumes, to the DIY merch & posters of original art, to the surprise guest appearances of clown acts & sideshow freaks at shows, to the collaborative addition of varying local horn players… This band puts on a multi-dimensional show like no other.

Astronauts, etc.
soundcloud.com/astronautsetc
Astronauts, etc. is the solo project of Anthony Ferraro, a Berkeley student who found electronic music when arthritis prevented him from pursuing a career in classical piano. His flavor of restrained, hypnotic electronic pop evokes feelings of space, isolation, and introspection. After releasing an EP in the fall of 2012, Astronauts, etc. garnered significant attention from blogs and media outlets. The formation of a four-piece live band shortly followed, along with a debut performance at KALX’s 50th anniversary celebration. Astronauts, etc. will be playing with Big Tree on March 16th at Bottom of the Hill, and with Poolside on March 27th at The Independent.

Minot
minotband.com
The idea behind MINOT is deceptively complex. Livid post-punk energy roils beneath a surface of cooly understated psychedelic instrumental composition. Their music is immediately familiar, yet they are a singularity in the world of post-rock. They are a bundle of contradictions: Dark, but up-tempo; heavy, but danceable; mean, but whimsical. MINOT has very little to do with the ubiquitous reverb-soaked melancholy crescendo-rock; their style has been shaped by experimental bands on the fringe of rock music like Turing Machine, Laddio Bolocko, Young Widows, and Future Of The Left. These influences brought the three members to an interesting musical intersection. MINOT puts experimentalism and fury back into post-rock; the expansive, but increasingly predictable genre.


Family Crest
http://www.thefamilycrestfamily.com/
Guest DJ
The Family Crest began as a collaborative recording project in 2008 with a vision to change the way music is made. Gathering friends, fans, musicians, and non-musicians alike, the group began to record an album in bars, churches, streets, and other unconventional locations. Their collaborative approach to music making quickly grew steam, evolving by February 2010 into a fully-formed orchestral indie rock band with over two hundred and fifty ‘Extended Family Members’ participating in recordings, live performances, and media projects.
Fusing rock, jazz, folk and classical genres, the band’s rich, epic sound has been compared to Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, and Beirut. MadeLoud.com proclaims, “the music they make is sweeping, wall-of-sound indie rock that alludes to fellow strings-adorned bands like Tindersticks and Arcade Fire, but The Family Crest establishes their own Left Coast identity, nodding to ’60s San Francisco Baroque pop and timeless folk-rock, as well. This is lush and intricate music, demanding the breadth of a full-length release.” The San Francisco Chronicle says, “while vying to collect more musicians onstage than the Decemberists or Arcade Fire, The Family Crest harbors an affection for Burt Bacharach-style swingin’ romanticism that is sure to impress lovers of classical pop.” According to The Bay Bridged, “they take their earnest, anthemic cue from The Arcade Fire, but the presence of so many string and wind instruments and the talents of frontman Liam McCormick put them on a unique frequency.”

Tambo Rays
thetamborays.com
Lo-Fi & SF Vibez sibling based #chillpop band Who are we: Brian DaMert makin hot fire Greg pon de bass Chill Bob on ze drums And yall KNO Sara Sonic.

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Foxtail Somersault
foxtailsomersault.com
Part of the loosely defined group of modern indie rock bands heavily influenced by first-generation shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cocteau Twins, and Slowdive

All My Pretty Ones
Allmyprettyones.wordpress.com
The acoustic instrumentation and vocal harmonies of San Francisco based ensemble All My Pretty Ones invoke all the familiarity and comfort of the best classic folk and indie artists, but it’s the band’s extraordinarily innovative approach to songwriting and arranging that set them apart from other americana-inspired musical groups. All My Pretty Ones represents a collaborative engine fueled by songwriter Derek Schmidt, whose work draws as much from classical composition, musical theatre and contemporary poetry as it does from 60′s folk music and current independent artists.


DSTVV
dstvv.bandcamp.com
“Industrial grungegaze” trio DSTVV is the arch creation of Joel Cusumano (formerly of Baby Talk), ex-’90s teen model and creator of the bizarro Tumblr-famous blog BLAMEASPARTAME. Done with playing in scruffy, over-earnest Bay Area garage rock bands, he engineered DSTVV as a musical approximation of the bad-vector-art and ’90s-obsessed teen culture that currently permeates some of the weirder parts of alt-culture. DSTVV (the initialism’s meaning is yet undisclosed) nixes an IRL drummer in place of blown-out Apple Logic-programmed beats, and the gentile strum of Joel’s Fender Strat’s melts with Corgan-esque Big Muffs and chorus pedals. He then hooked up with synth player Gloria Pérez-Villela, with whom he’d been swapping old synth-pop files online, and bassist Stephen Howard (ex-Burger Kingdom) to fill out the lineup.


Future Twin
futuretwin.com
Future Twin was originally brought together by the first all girl moped gang in San Francisco, The Lockits. They became fast friends and were soon waxing synth songs, huffing gasoline and making shred tents. Now consisting of Jean Jeanie (gtr/vox/field recordings), Antonio Roman-Alcala (drums), Jo Bleak (rhythm & bass), and Dan DK (synths & bass), their music juxtaposes a tangible beauty with an honest grit that can only come from a band birthed and breathing in San Francisco’s Mission District. The band has announced the dual release date of July 31st for the new Resist 7″ as well as Future Twin Deluxe Edition, a limited edition cd release combining the new 7″ along with the 5-song EP/cassette Situation. The single “Situation” is available for free download, and the video for “Landslide” was premiered by Impose recently. The band will be playing San Francisco this summer, and will also be hitting Brooklyn, NY for a pair of shows as well.
Photo credit: Paige K Parsons

King Loses Crown
facebook.com/kinglosescrown
King Loses Crown makes music for an apocalyptic future. This San Francisco trio fuses man and machine to create hard-hitting, genre-bending music that 3Hive describes as “darker than Devo, faster than Depeche Mode, denser than Killing Joke.” The band, which initially began as a collaboration between Kent Carter (vocals, bass and synth) and Michael Cobra (vocals and guitar), wanted to blend their love of anthemic punk rock and electronic dance music. The pair eventually added drummer Sander Leech to bring fire and depth to their live performances. King Loses Crown have played with a wide variety of acts such as Nitzer Ebb, Blackburner and Butcher Babies. Their new six-song EP, You Can’t Escape, will be released Feb. 19, 2013 and features their first single “My Revenge.”


Great Apes
greatapes.bandcamp.com
Plain and simple, Great Apes are a punk band from San Francisco. Minimalism reigns. Play it fast. Play it loud. Make it stick. While we all have been or are in an array of more complex projects, this band is founded on pop-sensible simplicity and the notion that music, much like a bio, is often at its finest when it’s spit out intensely, with concision and honesty.


Belle Noire
facebook.com/bellenoireband
Belle Noire is a Post Rock/Alternative/Indie band from San Jose, Ca. Formed in 2011. The band currently consists of: Joey Lancaster- Guitar/Vocals, Dan Sek-Bass/Vocals, Sal Contreras- Drums, Sergio Herrera- Guitar/Percussion, and Mike Grijalva: Guitar. The band wrote and recorded the self- titled EP in RHL studios in Fremont, CA with longtime friend and colleague Stephen Hawkins, in which the first 6 songs written were recorded, and pressed to CD. The band strives to perform live with passion, and energy, to make you feel what the songs mean. Pulling influence from many different areas, Like Thrice, Deftones, Circa Survive, Moving Mountains, and many, many other acts. Belle Noire will be performing all around the bay area until a small tour late summer/early fall until going into the studio to record Our full-length Album.

Warm Soda
facebook.com/warmsoda777
“Perfecting the blend of glitter and grime that earned Bare Wires a soft spot in the hearts of the bubblegum-popping, foot-stomping masses, Matthew Melton joins with bassist Chase Asmussen, guitarist Rob Good, and drummer Ian McBrayer as Warm Soda. With their debut LP, Someone For You, the outfit charts the familiar territory of power pop, glam, and punk, but with a decidedly more confident stride. The twelve resulting songs smack of sugar but sate an appetite that craves more than something sweet, their initial taste of preeminently listenable simplicity giving way to a lingering flavor of their compositional complexity. The group continues to cook up universally palatable jams out of Good & Melton’s Fuzz City Studios in Oakland, CA, and plans to take them on the road this year, cruising America’s historic highways in the spring and crossing the Atlantic for a European tour before summer’s end.”


Shady Maples
shadymaples.bandcamp.com
Shady Maples is gritty and explosive electric and acoustic driven rock, Americana and Latin with a lyrical centerpiece. Their combustible debut 2012 album, Unfold, showcases the dynamic songwriting of Berkeley’s Owen Roberts and arrangements that range from stripped and melodic to rocking psychedelic, featuring lapsteel, Hammond organ, and vocal harmonies. After touring the coast for two years, the band has expanded to include cello, percussion, and more organ.

Cellist Shira Lee Katz and organist Micah Dubreuil have added their sensibilities to the band’s sound, re-interpreting the songs from the record and arranging parts on a handful of new songs. At the Bottom of the Hill this Saturday, Feb. 2 Kelly McFarling will bring her sweet harmony to the stage, just like she did in the studio on Unfold. Trent Boeschen and Dennis Haneda hold down a tight rhythm section, and Owen Roberts fronts the band on percussion and electric and acoustic guitars.

Happy Fangs
facebook.com/happyfangs
Mike Cobra and Rebecca Bortman came from opposite ends of the San Francisco music spectrum. Mike is the brooding frontman in the robot-infested electro-rock band, King Loses Crown. Rebecca is a giddy sugar pop queen, fronting indie pop band, My First Earthquake. The two bands shared a practice space in The Tenderloin’s Francisco Studios and that’s how Happy Fangs came to be.

There was a reason that ying-yangs were so popular in the 1990s, and this duo’s contrast gets at the heart of that symbol. The result is a dark punk exuberance that works in Happy Fangs’ punk anthems. You must see this duo live in all their warpaint and glory.

VELA
http://www.invelawetrust.com | www.facebook.com/invelawetrust
The band is lyrically inspired by fantasies of love, and the beauty of empowerment. VELA is comprised of members of Delle Vellum, The Paradise Boys, The Snake the Cross and the Crown (Equal Vision), and New Diplomat (Dan the Automator). The band started as a side project between guitarist Ian Zazueta and front woman Florie Maschmeyer. Bassist Nate Higley was quickly added to the fold, introducing Julia Johari as a second keyboard player, guitarist and background vocalist. The four of them wrote a batch of songs and by September landed Jef Pauly as drummer. They are currently recording their debut EP at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California.

Giggle Party
wearegiggleparty.com
Giggle Party was formed in Dallas, Texas and after garnering a dedicated cult following for their raucous live performances and feel-good, borderline absurdest breed of pop-punk, they have relocated to San Francisco to share their musical celebration. Giggle Party’s recently-released debut LP Death and Other Unnatural Phenomena celebrates the absurdity of death and living each day like it’s your last. The record features a more polished sound than the band’s 2009 EP The Holes In Your Face Are Pleasing, but the frenetic urgency of their message remains clear: Have fun. Live Hard. Dance. Repeat.

Commissure
facebook.com/commissure
Commissure is a four piece band from San Francisco, California United States. Self describe Low-fi bedroom rockers, COMMISSURE are reminiscent of artists such as MOGWAI, MONO, RED SPAROWES, ISIS, and many more with their heavy syncopation, slow builds, and amazing crescendos


Kowloon Walled City
kowloonwalledcity.bandcamp.com
Kowloon Walled City is a 4-piece band from San Francisco, formed in 2007. They have released three proper records: Turk Street (Wordclock, 2008); Gambling on the Richter Scale (Perpetual Motion Machine, 2009); and the recently released Container Ships (Brutal Panda, 2012). Over the last six years, the band has played a lot of shows, endured injuries, replaced members, done side projects, toured, considered hanging it up, released a few cool splits, and here we are now.

Spiderheart
spiderheart.bandpage.com
Guest DJ
Spider Heart is a four piece garage rock band hailing from Oakland, CA. With a sound and feel of a runaway freight train with squeaky brakes slamming head on into a glitter factory Spider Heart delivers its blues driven rock n roll through reverb soaked guitar riffs, pounding rhythm section and dark, devious lyrics wrapped up in sweet yet sinister melodies. The band has sourced The Stooges, The Kills, Nick Cave, The White Stripes, Patti Smith, The Cramps and Tom Waits as some of their major influences. Formed in late 2011 based on a mutual love of vintage sounds, dive bars, juke boxes and questionable evenings followed by puzzling mornings, Spider Heart has spent the last year honing in on their grinding sound and electrifying, smokey live shows. They released their DIY LP entitled Voodoo in October 2012 and are currently in the studio working on their first EP entitled Under the Gun due for release in January, 2013.


Owl Paws
owlpaws.com
Owl Paws is a San Francisco-based quartet furthering the folk, emo and progressive rock sensibilities of Fleet Foxes, American Football and Circa Survive. Utilizing the melodic elements of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, upright bass, drums and vocal harmonies, each member shapes the sound heard around the bay at venues from the Arlene Francis Theater in Santa Rosa to The Elbo Room and Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. The band is releasing their sophomore effort, a 12″ LP titled “Carry On,” in the fall of 2012.”


Bonnie & the BANG BANG
facebook.com/BonnieAndTheBANGBANG
Guest DJ
Bonnie & the BANG BANG is predicated on writing grooving, hypnotic rhythms highlighted by dark, cutting lyrics that entrance the listener in a dreary, dreamy narrative. Bonnie & the BANG BANG was founded by Patrick James Stiles (vocalist), Jake Dineen (multi-instrumentalist) and Joe Warren (guitarist) in the early Summer of 2011. They released their first EP “Ode To Darkness” on Valantine’s Day 2012. It was produced by the mercurial Sam Pura at his Panda Studios.

Scissors for Lefty
facebook.com/scissorsforleftyband
Scissors For Lefty is a San Francisco Band with a sophisticated pop style combining elements of Indie, Yesteryear, & Dirty Glam. They are about as playful as an arty pop band can get: melodies in between melodies, jangly guitar, glittery keyboard, of Montreal-esque bass, galloping propulsion from a 6 foot 10 drummer, all fronted by heavy-breathing tales of romance and counter-culture glow. The group clearly sounds like they are enjoying themselves. Cute, sexy, and a little
terrifying.


Churches
churchescalifornia.bandcamp.com
When EMA asks the question ‘what’s it like to be small-town and gay?’ in her unhinged anthem ‘California’, Caleb Nichols has an answer: It was brutal, it was beautiful, and well worth singing about. Nichols, along with Bay Area music scene vets Pat Spurgeon and Dominic East, explores the heartache and wonder of small-town teenage alienation in his new Bay-Area based outfit, CHURCHES. CHURCHES is salvation through distortion for the disaffected small-town weirdo in everyone – a sonic cathedral of cymbals and guitars for the modern outcast. Download the free, self-titled debut ep and find out what all the noise is about.

Abatis
abatismusic.com
Following the enthusiastic reception of their self-titled debut EP, Abatis (“abba-tee”) spent several months performing throughout the Bay Area with nationally touring bands such as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Lionize, and Nico Vega, as well as local favorite, The Soft White Sixties. Though the stage time was invigorating and invaluable, Abatis promptly decided to record their first full-length album, and made the bold choice to do so independently. The result: Electric Dead. Electric Dead moved away from the bluesy sound of their first EP into more raw, contemporary, fearless rock territory like that of Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, and Foo Fighters. Completed in just three months and released in October 2011, Electric Dead was received with rave reviews. Alberto Rivera of Thrust Magazine described the album as “consistently amazing,” comparing Abatis to 70s dirt rockers Blue Cheer and MC 5.


Hottub
facebook.com/HOTTUBMUSIC/
While the three freaks of nature were seducing each other with their stank and sinful vocal harmonies, a space craft from the future called the Bass Station 5000 collided violently into the ladies’ Sparkle Motion Machine. On the control decks of the Bass Station 5000 was super-producer Jay-Sonic and world class gigolo Funky Finger Mark devising their masterplan to rule the universe with the Oakland Bump. The result of this fortunate collision was nothing less than perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, the birth of HOTTUB!

Stages of Sleep
thestagesofsleep.com
Carousel, The Stages of Sleep’s full-length debut is due out December 7, 2012. Carousel takes listeners on a journey from childhood innocence, through adolescent debauchery, to adult heartache and loss, and back again. Featuring introspective lyrics, complex melodies, and lush orchestration, blended with intricate rhythms, the album is at once demanding and subtle, insistent yet fragile, and ultimately commands attention.

Bray
braymusic.com
Bray is a San Francisco-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with the fire and strut of the classic rock front-man, the moves and voice of the classic soul-man, and the quick self-effacing humor of the classic talk show host. Ignited by jagged guitar driven grooves, ultra-catchy pop rock hooks, and his kinetic live performances, Bray never fails to fuel audiences into a feel-good frenzy. Along with his top-notch backing band, Bray has performed for crowds as large as 50,000 in ten countries around the world, sharing stages with Slash, Scott Weiland and Joe Satriani as well as members
of The Doors and the Sex Pistols.

The Buttercream Gang
bcgband.bandcamp.com
A band that has paid their dues, The Buttercream Gang (comprised of Bobby Renz, Peter Davies, and Robinson Kuntz) have written, produced, and managed themselves since starting in Napa, California nine years ago – when Bobby was just 15 years old and had to walk to practice. The group also had an alter-ego as “Congo Death Lazer” – where they would play 80s covers. Originally a standard trio, the band has grown to become more of a collaborative effort with members sharing lead vocals and bouncing around on various instruments alongside Max Bonick on guitar, keys, bass and Alex Garcia on saxophones. The Buttercream Gang have come to craft an eclectic and catchy sound by way of various influencers, especially the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and African guitar music. Charged with these worldly influences and recording techniques of Jamaican music from the 60′s and 70s, the band takes on a unique sound. Mixed with Beach Boys harmonies and tinges of Animal Collective and Deerhunter’s eclecticism, The Buttercream Gang has instant appeal.

The Lady Crooners
theladycrooners.com
The Lady Crooners are a new ‘almost country’ band from San Francisco, CA featuring sibling singer-songwriters, Joseph and Nadia Krilanovich, along with singer-songwriter, Andrew Blair, bassist, Bret Cohune, and multi-instrumentalist, Ross Warner. Folks say they harmonize like angels, play like the dickens, and leave a crowd wanting more. Their first CD, The Lady Crooners, debuted in April 2012 and they’re currently at work on a second. The Lady Crooners are thrilled to be sharing their signature style of authentic, darn good music with you.


Plastic Arts
theplasticarts.com
The Plastic Arts is the musical efforts of San Francisco Bay Area songwriter, Kyle M. Terrizzi. Vocal comparisons have run the gamut from the gut-punch brawn of Jeff Buckley to the college-rock croon of John Mayer, but the music is more often associated with the alt-country style of Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams, the pop sensibilities of David Gray, with a touch of Morrissey melancholia, and the confessional, narrative lyricism of early Counting Crows. Academy Clonez is the first full length release from The Plastic Arts, as well as the first definitive artistic and musical statement from Kyle M. Terrizzi under that moniker.


Ash Reiter
ashreiter.com
With with their new album “HOLA” Ash Reiter is saying hello to the world. Although, truth be told, the band has been around for awhile and already has some impressive albums under their belt. Ash Reiter’s first self released full length, “Paper Diamonds (2010),” offers an eclectic mix of songs demonstrating the band’s affinity for stretching a simple folk song into a multi-layered, psychedelic pop masterpiece. Drummer, Will Halsey, cut his teeth as a producer mixing and recording this record in his trademarkunorthodox style combining hi-fi and lo-fi to create his own “mid-fi” style.

Fucking Buckaroos
thefuckingbuckaroos.com
Formed in San Francisco in 2004, the group consists of Timothy Sandberg (vocals/guitar/banjo), Ricky Pugh (vocals/guitar/mandolin) Andy Appleton (drums) and Thomas “Pinkus” Puhek (bass). Their 20-song, self-titled album, The Fucking Buckaroos, was released in 2007. In 2009 they partnered with Tijuana-based psychobilly band Los Helldandys to put out a split 7″ vinyl-only record entitled Popular Romance, and in 2010 they were featured on Untitled 21: A Juvenile Tribute to the Swingin Utters. Their second full-length album, II, was released in 2012 in America, with an upcoming European release planned by Germany’s Out of My Mind Records. Having expanded the scope of their music over the better part of the last decade, the band has reflected the influence of their travels and experience into their unique form of “Punk Rock Americana”. Both their originals and their interpretations of country/folk/bluegrass standards, are often riotous, profane and filled with trouble, toil and bloodshed; but they also reflect a deep sense of compassion, hilarity and a demand for social justice.The Fucking Buckaroos will make you want to fight, fuck, laugh and cry, all at the same time.


Teenage Sweater
tngswtr.bandcamp.com
8:40pm


Meat Sluts
facebook.com/themeatsluts
MEET THE MEAT SLUTS: Taking the cock outta rock, putting pussy into punk, these meat muffins are four tunnels of fun from San Francisco. THE MEAT SLUTS have cum together to ROCK BABY, ROOOOOCK and leave you hungry for more! It’s time to mess around!

Dubious Ranger
dubiousranger.com
Dubious Ranger is a band started by classical pianist Alexander Eccles. The music is predicated on tunefulness, strong grooves, and a fluid percussion section in lieu of a drumkit. A usual Dubious Ranger show might consist of one guitarist, one bassist, and 10 people playing on rusty metal pipes and cymbal fragments. If you dig artists like Bowie, Waits, Beck, Reed, Talking Heads, Nick Cave, Radiohead, or anyone else hip whom we forgot to mention, you might very well enjoy listening to Dubious Ranger.


Spanish Cannons
facebook.com/spanishcannons
Local band Spanish Cannons is Chris Michael and Michael Pettett. The band has gone through transformation starting with roots in Shapes & Distance and Picture Atlantic. They have toured over the Pacific Northwest with an EP out called “The Molecules”.Chris is lead vocalist and guitar with Michael on drums, percussion, and vocals. They have been together since May 2010 and have played shows to a dedicated crowd that keeps growing with each performance. Their new album, “Get Well Soon, Everybody” will be out soon with date to be announced. — SFWeekly

Callow
callowtheband.com
8pm
Red Moses and Sami Knowles met at a San Francisco house party in the fall of 2006, but it wasn’t until three years later, when they got an RV and hit the road, that their musical life became priority. The two, which make up the indie duo Callow, have been living in the bay and touring the West ever since. The simplicity and challenge of life in a tiny space has no doubt influenced their sound– a hauntingly minimal, meaty, introspective and transcendental kind of art rock, conceptualized on their debut album Orb Weaver (released May 3, NxNW Records). Red’s raw contralto is reminiscent of Vice Chestnut, while Sami creates a dark, primordial landscape with the simultaneous use of keyboard and percussion.


Yellow Red Sparks
yellowredsparks.com
Growing up in Yellow Pine, Idaho and eventually relocating to Southern California, songwriter Joshua Hanson began writing and performing under the solo acoustic moniker, Yellow Red Sparks. He quickly grew a passionate local following and self released an EP on iTunes entitled, “Simply Put ME In YOUR Place”. Since then he has added Goldy (drums and vocals) and Sara Lynn (upright bass, piano, vocals and banjo) as full time members and together, they take Hanson’s songs of heartache and make us want to fall in love.

The band has recently completed their first full-length record which was produced by Ted Hutt (Gaslight Anthem, Lucero, Flogging Molly), mixed by Grammy award winner, Ryan Hewitt (Avett Brothers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, We Are Scientists), and mastered by multi-Grammy award winner, Brian Lucey (The Shins, Sigur Rós, The Black Keys). On record, the trio successfully weaves the bare roots of songwriting, the rich harmonies of choir and the symphonic arrangements of old film to create a cinematic texture of their own.


Prize
facebook.com/prizemusic
Sophia Santulli is singer/songwriter/producer at the helm of Prize. This explosive siren ignited as she ran from the hills of her operatic training into the clubs of San Francisco. Prize is full-bore drama embedded in gems of electro-pop. With a Masters in Vocal Performance from San Francisco Conservatory and the release of The Split EP under her belt, as well as stints as a backup singer for The Dodos, John Vanderslice, and Third Eye Blind and classical appearances locally and abroad, she finally found time to self-produce her album Surprize Box! due out November 1st. “Prize’s emotional urgency makes for a thrilling live show” (MVRemix), theatrical and unpredictable, with a “dash of Victorian cabaret” (Emily Savage, SFBG).

Spider Heart
spiderheart.bandpage.com
Spider Heart is a four piece garage rock band hailing from Oakland, CA. With a sound and feel of a runaway freight train with squeaky brakes slamming head on into a glitter factory Spider Heart delivers its blues driven rock n roll through reverb soaked guitar riffs, pounding rhythm section and dark, devious lyrics wrapped up in sweet yet sinister melodies. The band has sourced The Stooges, The Kills, Nick Cave, The White Stripes, Patti Smith, The Cramps and Tom Waits as some of their major influences.

Formed in late 2011 based on a mutual love of vintage sounds, dive bars, juke boxes and questionable evenings followed by puzzling mornings, Spider Heart has spent the last year honing in on their grinding sound and electrifying, smokey live shows. They released their DIY LP entitled Voodoo in October 2012 and are currently in the studio working on their first EP entitled Under the Gun due for release in January, 2013.


Terese Taylor
facebook.com/TereseTaylorBand
The stripped down, acoustic production of Terese Taylor’s “Ghost” seems neither ironic nor fortuitous by intent, but straightforward and real as the singer songwriter herself. She is fearless, tackling a subject as raw as the fugue state… something familiar in rare moments, yet certainly brushed away when defense mechanisms kick in: One does not wish to remain invisible. Taylor’s lyrics manage to be curative in their very utterance: “I’ve been a ghost for days/ I drift from home to home/ I never will be seen/ As I vanish through your walls.” Yet, in the end, the ghost transcends that invisible situation: “Watch as I pass out of sight.” The song is punctuated by Taylor’s haunting guitar solos, sympathetic snares, and the whistling effects of a child’s whirly-tube toy. The result is less dramatic, however, than it is an ethereal sound of dignity. Fittingly, the song was aired on NPR’s “This American Life,” a righteous choice by host Ira Glass.


Wymond Miles
sacredbonesrecords.com
Wymond’s previous EP, Earth Has Doors was about intangible and esoteric concepts; the music drifted beautifully in somewhat of an oceanic, boundless state. For the LP it was very important for him to make the songs be felt somatically. In his own words, “I wanted it to hit the body, I wanted it carnal.” Whereas the EP had been a drawn out labor of love he worked on and then shelved for several years, most songs on Under the Pale Moon developed quickly last winter. He describes them as being effortless to write, short songs with stripped down arrangements; recorded straight away as soon as they came to him. Feeling very raw and alive, he wrote the basic structure for most of the record within a few weeks.

City of Women
facebook.com/Cityofwomen
Circa 2007…Nero and Alwyn, whose respective bands barbarasteele and Boshuda shared many a bill in San Francisco venues, were band-less, and talked about finally putting something together…but just “for fun”, as the sting from the demises of their previous bands was still fresh. Around the same time, Charlie, after doing a year at the Los Angeles Music Academy and giving a good run with the local music scene, ran from Los Angeles and ended up in San Francisco. He met Nero while working at Amoeba Music, and in time joined Alwyn and Nero in a band “just for fun”.

Toying with punk, soul, art rock, and tripped out jam sessions, and gigging here and there- After a few back-up singers and bassists later, they exorcised the ghosts of their past musical lives and moved forward into the sound they have today: old-fashioned futuristic rock-n-roll, inspired by their love for the grandiose bombast and shimmery swing of our rock and alternative forefathers and mothers, the style and swagger of Hollywood’s ages past, Barbary Coast folklore, and love…lust…longing. They are the band (and state of mind) that is “City Of Women”


Dreamdate
facebook.com/DreamdateMusic
Dreamdate get right to their business of brightening our day with their short, snappy tunes. The overall sound of Dreamdate can readily be spoken of in the same breath as early ’90s crushworthy indie pop a la Lois, cub and Tiger Trap. As the unaffected and uneffected electric guitars strum away happily and the drums keep things simple with an uncluttered beat, you might find yourself hummin’ along with these gals’ warm, smooth female vocals. —Nice. Aquarius Records April 2007.

Although their tunes are reminiscent of, say, the riot grrl and Seattle/Portland-based garage movements, they still could only exist in present times. Their songs are, for the most part, up-tempo odes to not-so-simple pleasures and guilt and sometimes feel emotionally ambivalent…This is truly the kind of music you’d want on a Walkman when traversing long distances in the suburbs. —California Aggie August 2006.

Tumbleweed Wanderers
tumbleweedwanderers.com
Jeremy Lyon and Zak Mandel-Romann formed Tumbleweed Wanderers in March 2011. Sharing a mutual admiration of the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack, Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" and Fleet Foxes "Ragged Wood" the two left college to pursue music full-time. They recruited keyboardist Patrick Glynn, whom Zak had played with since he was ten, drummer Daniel Blum, whom Jeremy met when he was sweeping the floors of a recording studio, and singer / banjo player / guitarist Rob Fidel, whom Jeremy met at an open mic on the first day of college at UC Santa Cruz. Young and energetic, this group will get you rocking and dancing the night away. The Wanderers are reminiscent of Dylan, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and Simon and Garfunkel. Their voices and instruments bring a youthful freshness mixed with old soul wisdom.


20 Sided Records
20sidedrecords.com
San Francisco-based record collective who emphatically state, "We are musicians who party and support other musicians who party. Roll a 20 in life."


Li Xi
lixi.bandcamp.com
Li Xi is an experimental pop outfit from San Francisco. They use dream-pop vocal melodies and combine 60's psychedelia with contemporary electronics and vintage synthesizers. Vocalist Maryann Tran captures a similar innocence and beauty as that from Margo Guryan. The music is written by James Vernon. Influenced heavily by Odd pop groups like Broadcast, Stereolab and their subsequent influences.

The Rabbles
therabbles.com
The Rabbles are a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco founded in 2003. It’s members include J.Lee and Marina Lazzara on guitar and vocals, Dave Mairs on drums and backing vocals, Jamie Kimmel on bass, lead and backing vocals and Michael Chulada on organ/keyboards. They play a pastiche of styles influenced by 60′s psychedelia, 70′s and 80′s underground post-punk and various art and noise rock.

The band has recorded 4 albums, Rabble Music (2004), Rabble Rabble (2008), Dabble (2010) and a brand new lp yet to be titled which will be released soon. Each album is self recorded and is a unique collection of curios spanning lush pop to abrasive dissonance.

The members of The Rabbles have been a part of San Francisco’s music scene for the past two decades. Past bands have included Static Faction, Aerosol Species, Blue Gum Art, Poetiks, Shmoogie, Ghost Echoes, and The Love X Nowhere.

Next Thursday night, Sept. 27th, The Rabbles will play the Critical Mass 20th Birthday Party at Cell Space in the Mission at 2050 Bryant with Grass Widow, Apogee Sound Club and Future Twin. The show is a part of a week long celebration. A schedule of events can be found at www.sfcriticalmass.org.


PictureAtlantic
facebook.com/PictureAtlantic
Starting in 2006, Picture Atlantic came out of the San Jose hardcore scene on a quest to create memorable and melodic rock music. With the release of their first EP “Change is Welcome” , they toured California and the west coast part time, and had the opportunity to play 2007 Warped Tour’s Ernie Ball stage.

Time moved on though, and Picture Atlantic headed into the studio to create 2008′s “Kleos” , their first full length album, which in turn helped them tour more broadly, even winning them a slot to open for Coldplay in San Jose. “Kleos” had bloggers and reviewers drawing musical similarities to The killers, Coldplay, The Cure, The Police, Radiohead, and Death Cab For Cutie, but yet with an original flair all their own.