More Reasons To Get Pumped

TUMBLEWEED WANDERERS

“Someday You’ll Understand”

* * * 1/2

If the Audiophiles’ environment was the hilly, weed-scented heart of San Francisco, Tumbleweed Wanderers are aiming more for the Great Wide Open. “Someday You’ll Understand,” the first single from the post-Audiophiles project of Jeremy Lyon and Zak Mandel-Romann, is an acoustic, leaving-everything-behind ballad supported by a sunny yet lonely 6/8 guitar vamp and the loose vocal harmonies of the duo. The riff and the uncertain lyrics create a contrast that works surprisingly well--if there’s any sort of a cliffhanger at the end as the duo drives off into the sunset, the music is reassuring enough. There’s a bright future waiting for them somewhere along that road, and if all goes well, one for the Tumbleweed Wanderers too.

SAM C. ROCKER

“Untitled (Inspired By True Events)”

* * * *

In case you need any more reason to be excited about a revival of the original teen Bay Area garage-rock scene, Madders frontman Sam Crocker has released his first solo single in over a year. We imagined a blast of pent-up folk-punk fury, but instead Crocker gave us this stunning, country-tinged ballad. There isn’t much here--just acoustic guitar, vocals, and some electric guitar. The lyrics are minimal to the point of being blunt, as is the playing, but Crocker’s voice, a tough yet tender croon with more than a trace of punk/garage rock/rockabilly awkwardness, gives the lyrics a striking depth. But one of the song’s most affecting characteristics is the word painting. A minute-and-a-half in, an unexpected (and, according to Crocker, accidental) spasm of echo interrupts Crocker’s voice, like a sob being held back, before the release comes in the form of a painfully beautiful electric-guitar solo.

ROMANCE OF THIEVES

“I Just Wanna”

* * * 1/2

Though former St. Valentinez singer Nick Martin a.k.a. Romance of Thieves is believed to be collaborating with Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, and Flo Rida in the near future, his brand of dark and atmospheric yet catchy and addictive R&B has more in common with that of artists like the Weeknd than any of those more “aggressive” acts. On “I Just Wanna,” Martin sets multiple fluttering layers of his sweet, sensual voice over an ominous, spidery beat, sounding like a perfectly nice guy who took a wrong turn on the way to the movie theater with Ms. Rodriguez and ended up in the universe of a David Lynch movie. His prematurely sensual voice, sliding around multiple octaves but remaining restrained, is untouched by digital interference, and the organic quality adds to the intimacy. And if his universe may be a bit weird and spooky, it’s a fun place to be trapped--and Martin seems to be enjoying it plenty.

PortolaCore Returns

1. Jeremy Lyon and Zak Mandel-Romann, formerly of semilegendary San Francisco teen band the Audiophiles, have formed a new group called Tumbleweed Wanderers. They recently released their debut single, “Someday You’ll Understand,” and will play their first show at Rooster’s Roadhouse in Alameda on April 21st.
2. Nick Martin has left the St. Valentinez and will reportedly be focusing more on his solo project, Romance of Thieves. Taking a leaf out of Ozzy’s book, Martin will battle the St. Valentinez at the Bay Area’s biggest outlet for intraband and interband rivalry GenSF Battle of the Bands at the Contemporary Jewish Museum May 7.
3. Girl Named T has gone into the studio with producer George Rosenthal (Lou Lou & the Guitarfish, Adolescent Friction, Tinkture, Downer Party, Danger Babes, etc., etc.) and is believed to be working on an EP.
4. Rin Tin Tiger, the Sullivan Brothers’ post-Westwood and Willow project with Mr. Andrew, is also believed to be working on an EP.
5. In other RTT-related news, the trio will be performing with Picture Atlantic, Handshake, and Lakes at Bottom of the Hill on June 4.

Hunx & His Punx New Album Review

HUNX AND HIS PUNX

Too Young To Be In Love

* * * *

BEST IN THE WEST

Of course Hunx and his Punx are going to be pegged as a novelty act--a skinny young leatherino who stuffs beer cans in his crotch, backed up by a probably-lesbian all-girl backing band and playing trashy, semi-parody, ‘60s-style bubblegum ditties. The thing is, they’re only part novelty, and the rest of them is pure bad-ass rock n’ roll garage band. Hunx (nee Seth Bogart) obviously has a true reverence and passion for the style, and Too Young To Be In Love is 30 minutes of ecstatic, excellently crafted tunes driven by power chords, Tex-Mex organs, and the vocal (if anything but sexual) chemistry between Bogart and his snarling Punx. The album’s middle point, the one-two punch of the shuffling “If You’re Not Here” and the fist-pumping “Bad Boy,” left me with the biggest music-induced smile on my face I’ve had since I listened to Washed Out while chilling at a pool in Senegal. This is a fantastic pop album from beginning to end, with agreeable melodies, great two-minute songs, and lyrics anyone can associate with whether gay, straight, or bi. And if the whole queercore thing turns you off, remember Bogart’s only flaunting his gayness as much as that obnoxious bro Elvis used to flaunt his straightness.

Celebrating Our Anniversary with Merrill, Miles, and monsters

tUnE-yArDs

“Bizness”

* * * * 1/2

BEST IN THE WEST

Merrill Garbus means bizness. Her one-woman band tUnE-yArDs, based in Oakland, has been building up substantial buzz since the release of her madly experimental BiRd-BrAiNs album in 2009, and her latest single, “Bizness,” is doing even more to drive it to fever pitch. Less experimental than her previous work, but miles ahead of anything she’s done before, “Bizness” is an exhilarating blast of rave-up Afro-soul. Over African drums, oily bass, and a digitally manipulated scat vocal arpeggio, Garbus roars in a voice that’s half Odetta, half Hugh Masekela, and all wild beast. The background is extremely well-crafted, but it seems to devolve into manic wildness as soon as Garbus lets her voice loose. Organized chaos has never felt this good.

THE SECRET SHOW

“Chocolate Ice Cream & Sixteen Candles”

* * * 1/2

Of course Miles Atkins was going to have his multi-part acoustic opus sooner or later, but nobody really gave it too much thought. “Chocolate Ice Cream & Sixteen Candles” seems to be it, a gently devolving sprawl of seething attacks and yearning for the happier yesterday. It’s also a massive step up from anything he’s recorded before. While his debut EP flirted with emo, this song’s self-analytical wallowing is closer to something we might hear from someone like Doveman (to whom Atkins bears a vocal similarity) than any generic woe-is-me teen songwriter, especially when the song hits the hissing “I hate when” bridge. Then the song devolves into lonely handclaps and sped-up self-duets, sending the listener tumbling into Atkins’ uncertainty.

THE INFRACTIOND

“Freakshow”

* * *

Eschewing the twisted folk style of old, this new single by teen quartet The Infractiond finds the band switched-on and electric but keeping the same aesthetic as their early acoustic tunes. The guitar harmony is so sloppy it couldn’t not be deliberate, and the macabre, slightly gothic lyrics are still there in abundance. However, the group sounds a bit like they’re tackling a new task with their new instruments, and they do begin to drift into generic garage-band territory--they sound almost as if they’d be happier doing it the old way.

New Handshake single, Morgan Alexandra/Foolish Ways reviews

HANDSHAKE

“Lemon”

* * * *

BEST IN THE WEST

Handshake are one of the only groups capable of winning Bay Area battles of the bands without making douchebag “WHOOO SAN FRANCISCO YEAAHHHH” shout-outs every five minutes, and “Lemon,” the group’s first single sans multi-instrumentalist AJ Campbell, demonstrates why. As slow, sparse, and plodding as it is, its four and a half minutes seem much shorter thanks to its plethora of meandering ideas and unexpected hooks. The song’s microtonal guitar duets and encroaching fuzz clouds recall a less electronic, much less deranged Xiu Xiu, and as is common in that band’s work, these elements are used for emotional effect. The last wave of distorted guitar is particularly emotional, coming on like a wave of muddled thoughts sent to block out a bad memory (or vice versa--a wave of bad memories that block out muddled thoughts). Why does this win battles of the bands? Because while this is deep, emotional music, it’s also satisfying for the listener--not in a cathartic way so much as on the basis of Handshake being an awesome band and this an awesome song. (Oh yeah, and the vocals can cure sterility.)

MORGAN ALEXANDRA

The Mess - EP

* * *

“I’m at the top of my game,” sings teenage singer-songwriter Morgan Alexandra at the beginning of “In the Streets,” the third song on her five-song debut EP, The Mess. This is a bold statement on a debut, and she certainly seems to show more potential than mind-blowing skill on these songs. Alexandra’s hoarse, age-indeterminate vocals leap joyfully and freely above her rhythmic-folk guitar patterns, and whenever the music begins to seem monotonous (as it often does), she finds a way to grab the listener’s attention again. Even if this isn’t the top of Alexandra’s game, she certainly knows the rules of this game and is skilled at playing it.

FOOLISH WAYS

Finally

* 1/2

Bands like Foolish Ways have to release albums sooner or later--a band can’t make an entire career off performing live with nothing on record or MP3. It’s a shame, because the Martinez club-pop duo is one of those groups whose music really doesn’t transfer very well to record. Without the context of one of the sweaty East Bay clubs they call home, the music is not terribly danceable nor terribly enjoyable. The shrill, processed vocals become extremely grating extremely quickly, and some of the best ideas (the Benassi-on-crack intro “Hey, We’re Foolish Ways”) are over before they can be seen to completion. Of course, “Bow Chicka Wow Wow (You’re Dirty)” is still a free-for-all blast of drunken ecstasy.

Random Things: March 3, 2011

1. SF Rebirth’s third concert, featuring Seize the Sound, Other Daniel, and The SHE’s (our band of 2010), will be held at Woodside International School in the Sunset on March 12 from 2 to 5. Admission is $5, and all proceeds go to the Bina Hill Institute in Guyana, South America. Juniors, no need to worry--the show will begin after S.A.T.s.
2. The Sullivan Brothers have changed the name of their highly successful Westwood & Willow project to Rin Tin Tiger following their Noise Pop gig with Max Bemis. They have also expanded the group’s lineup to include Rebirth veteran Mr. Andrew on drums. The band members claim they changed their names due to people leaving their gigs enjoying their music but having no memory of the group’s name.
3. Foolish Ways will be playing a show with rising Bay Area rapper Roach Gigz on March 12 at Red House in Walnut Creek. This means Foolish Ways will probably be smoking a lot more weed now--only time will tell if they turn into Flo Rida.
4. Adorable Handshake multi-instrumentalist A.J. Campbell has left his group due to an apparent conflict with the other members in terms of plans for the band’s future. Handshake is believed to be working with a temporary replacement.
5. Hot promotion technique: give your demo to hot emo bands. Ratherbright has attracted the attention and praise of Fall Out Boy, while Miles Atkins of the Secret Show has given copies of his album to Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, and Max Bemis of Say Anything. Good--this gives me another excuse to hunt down Brendon Urie.

Latest from Sic Alps, Lyon, Foolish Ways

SIC ALPS

Napa Asylum

* * *

I have always wondered why there aren’t more small-plate restaurants in San Francisco. Selling food in small portions for low prices could be the most genius idea in the history of the human culinary tradition--if patrons can’t decide what dish to order, they can just order five-dollar portions of whatever they want to try. Perhaps the main reason is simply that an incomplete portion is not always as enjoyable as a full meal, and good evidence to support that theory can be found in Sic Alps’ Napa Asylum. Asylum finds the San Francisco garage-rockers cramming twenty-two songs into a span of just over forty-five minutes. There are quite a few good (albeit incomplete-seeming) songs here, but most of the tunes seem to be throwaways and random noodlings. They are the ore of pop songs, ideas that would be better expanded on but are fine in the raw as well.

JEREMY LYON

Take It Back EP

* * *

Jeremy Lyon has always loved sharp contrast, an affinity that sometimes suits him well (“The End,” which he recorded with the legendary Audiophiles) and sometimes brings his music down. While the two songs on Lyon’s Take It Back EP are not bad songs, they are somewhat bogged down by hot-and-cold dynamic shifts. On “Take It Back,” an excellently crafted, elegantly galloping riff on the chorus is interrupted by the jerky island groove of the verse; on “The Daily Routine,” spacey vocals shoot out of the ‘70s FM-funk background for a contrasting and ultimately disarming effect. Lyon’s obviously a skilled wordsmith and hooksmith--it’s songsmithing he needs to work on.

FOOLISH WAYS

“Broken Elevator”

* * 1/2

Let me just start by saying the first two minutes of “Broken Elevator” sound EXACTLY like 3OH!3, from the processed sprechgesang down to the dirty synth pulse. It’s hard not to imagine Nathaniel Motte fingering his English teacher to this beat. But after a spluttering verse, it transforms into a full-on Dirty Martinez club-stomper, complete with layers of shouting and blaring synths. Not the best from the Foolish Ways boys, but still hot enough to heat up the Red House any day.