I recently packed into the Rickshaw stop, and made my way to my favorite spot underneath the A/C vent to catch part of San Francisco’s Popfest 2010. The show began with Knight School, a young duo from NYC, composed by Kevin Alvir and Chris Balla. While I caught most of their act trying to sort out my entry, what I heard was melodic, gauzy folk pop underscored with a bittersweet youthfulness. The band has also opened for the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Let’s Wrestle, and are worth keeping an eye on.
Next was Eux Autres (“ooz-oh-tra”), translated as Them Others. The San Francisco based Frenchies play with bubbly, pop sensibility, full of vocalisms like “bop bada bop” and “shalala.” Founded by brother-sister duo, Nicholas and Heather Larimer, the two split on vocal duties while Yoshi Nakamoto (formerly of Aislers Set, and concurrently of Still Flyin’) keeps the rhythm section together. Donning a bright red dress while the supporting band wore dully colored button downs, Heather was a clear focal point with her articulate vocals and twisting feet. My initial reaction was that there was a clear influence of 60’s pop melodies, which is going around these days. But upon further listen, I found their sound to have a lot more apathy, like Yo La Tengo or some neglected 90s rock band. The band cites The Vaselines and Super Furry Animals as influences, so I think that checks out.
Having recently interviewed Social Studies and listened to their forth-coming LP, Wind Up Wooden Heart, I was quite interested to catch the group for the live interpretation of the record. In the midst of a west coast tour, the band sounded polished and lively. The live performance was bigger and more ruckus sounding than their recordings. The San Francisco based group set this tone with a grand overture type intro. I thought this extra volume and looseness gave the songs an added shot in the arm, much to the audience’s delight. They debuted a new song, and played a number of the stronger numbers from the upcoming record, including “Time Bandit,” which sounded exceptionally dancey. Well received by their hometown, they said it was good to be back, were in fine spirits and looking forward to sharing the new record in July.
Closing out the set was the mythological singer/ukelele player, Merrill Garbus, better known as tUnE-yArDs. The Oakland-based prolific songwriter came out in her typical dressing of face paint, short blonde bangs and a mouthful of attitude. She was backed by what I counted to be an 8 person band, complete with back up singers, saxophone and a marching drum, all of which built on a strong African influence. Her 2009 record, Bird-Brains, was entirely self-recorded with a digital voice recorder, featuring a lot of vocal loops. These loops were recreated live, often layering to 3-4 different parts and deconstructing them. The closing song, and arguably the strongest of the night, was “Sunlight,” but there were plenty of favorites from Bird Brains to mull over. While the live loops, impressive vocal range, and complex arrangements with the huge band all competed for the most capturing aspect of the performance, I think what took my most were Merrill’s facial expressions and curdling notes. For a petite, young, blonde girl from Vermont playing African influenced ukulele songs, she strikes sheer terror into the audience with lowered brows, upturned lips, distorted notes. Stack that on top of lyrics that burn your ears: “Why’d you think I’d put out your fire?/Don’t you know I breathe in fire?/Breathe out fire?” It’s as if she gives voice to some forgotten or unsung rebel protest.
I’m told San Francisco in the 70s was a kaleidoscope of drugs, psychedelic rock, folk and youthful “mad people.” Sleepy Sun seem to indicate that in the last 40 years, not much has changed. The band’s debut album Embrace was chock full of drifty folk tales that turn on a dime into sludgy hard rock, all of it with a distinctly rustic, California flavor. Comparisons to Led Zeppelin are inescapable. Even the dynamic between singer Bret Constantino and Rachel Fannan often rings of the more recent Robert Plant and Alison Krauss project- Constantino a passionate howler; Fannan a gentler, sensual compliment. Though make no mistake, those roles have room for reversal. All comparisons aside, the band returns with their sophomore album, Fever (Sol Diamond, ATP Recordings), which extends their trajectory of big dumb riffs and bluesy acoustic reflections, both parts equally adventurous.
“Marina” leads with skuzzy guitar, an early indication of the trippy, lumbering break downs and wah-wah 70s rock solos to come. This opener is a perfect example of the range of this band, even within a single song. It transitions from this fizzing rock intro, to soft and airy verse, later onto a Santana-inspired hand drum mid-section, ending with a joyous gospel-esque vocal section: “Fever, fever, fever flood the door. Shut it, shut it, shut it, crack a light.” Ok, alright, fine, let’s squeeze ONE more heavy guitar solo in at the end, but then that’s it…
The album’s only real single, “Open Eyes,” breaks into a new plot of experimental territory with Constatino’s vocals on a heavy filter effect, sounding straight out of the Mars Volta playbook. But as the chorus hits, “You’re not alone/rest assured/cause at the bottom you can open your eyes,” and Fannan and Constantino unite in battle cry, the band erupts back into their groovy, entrancing sweet spot. The album closer, “Sandstorm Woman,” is probably a more representative track running a total of 10 minutes, a total head rocker, drenched with solos and easily the most seductive on the album. It seems to suggest western pioneers are alive and well. “Rigamaroo” may state this more directly, if admonishing, “How could they see/how could they know/where treasure lies/and where he’ll go?” Tumbleweed rolls on past the desert campfire.
Fever proves majestic in its spotlight vocal moments, brooding and stormy in its sludgy hard rock riffs, and triumphant when the two styles meet. Add a dash of electric harmonica solos and you attain mind-expanding rock bliss. The formula hasn’t changed much, which is something to take comfort in, as it shows there are plenty of wagon rides to come from these young Bay Area rockers.
As far as electronic music goes, Holy Fuck ranks amongst the preeminent for their experimental approach. The band is probably more likely to use a lawn mower than a laptop to produce a groove. Practically the whole effort of the band is to create electronic music absent of most modern looping and sampling techniques. It’s only natural that a band so focused on an organic approach to the creation process would record their third record, Latin (Young Turks and XL Records), which can easily be thought of (though not strictly) as city night music, in a barn in Ontario. While the band has had a number of line-up changes in the past few years, Latin was recorded with a consistent touring line-up. Additionally, the band got an all-star cast of assistance on the production of the record, which was engineered by Graham Walsh and mixed by Dave Newfeld (Broken Social Scene), D. Sardy (Johnny Cash, NIN), Eli Janney (Wilco), Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Primal Scream) and Holy Fuck themselves. The result, as you might imagine, is air-tight, entrancing dance music, and at a higher fidelity than previous recordings. Latin presents a polished and progressive electronic group in full stride.
The album’s centerpiece and single, “Latin America” plays as a perfect proof-point of the tour de force this record offers. It grips you with intensity, interrupted by brief moments of clarity that hang and swirl in the air until imploding back into its primal energy. Other tracks like “SHT MTN” oscillate between sheer chaos and wonderment, like some fantastical, high speed chase. “Stilletos” gallops at break-neck pace for a more classic techno number, radiating with so much power you can taste the sweat as it peaks with arena-filling hugeness.
The drum and bass form a juggernaut on this album, with lock-tight steadiness and rupturing break beats. Droning and swelling synth offers accompanying texture, escalating and receding with a range of feedback. The mood of these instrumentals is often serious and competitive, maybe changing tempo but seldom letting up. That’s not to say it isn’t fun, cause its enjoyable as hell. Its like watching a cocky rabbit outrun the wolves. The layers and calculated build ups create a highly engaging atmosphere worth freaking out to. More than anything else this is a rhythmic record. Latin beats on with there’s-no-turning-back propulsion, so be sure to tie your shoes before you start tossing your arms up.
Casa de Sanchez in the Mission District is a colorful establishment, its interior painted brightly in primary colors. Old, beat up classical guitars dangle from the walls between murals of mariachi bands. The atmosphere smells of Mexican history, which smells a lot like carne asada burritos… As I shovel chips and salsa into my mouth, I await the members of SF indie rock/twee-pop up-and-comers, Social Studies. Though the name might evoke over-sized textbooks and stodgy professors, the quartet is nothing to sleep through. We spoke of their upcoming full-length album over a few Pacificos before they hit the road for their tour-
The Blood Beat: “So you’re about to start a pretty nice tour on the west coast?”
Michael: “Yeah, we leave on Saturday. The tour is a little under a month up and down the west coast, and then ending in Chicago, so some of the Western states along the way as well.” BB: “And Tom, will you be going back there for good?”
Tom: “I’ll be back there for about a month”
M: “Tom and I are from Chicago so that’s like a second city for this band.”
T: “Yeah, I just flew in two day’s ago to start the tour. BB: “Well it looks you’re going to be playing with some great bands, especially in L.A.”
M: “Yeah, The Radar Brothers, The Entrance Band, The Growlers, Foreign Born, and a ton of other L.A. bands. We’re actually the only non-L.A. band playing this festival. It’s a two day, out door street fest. Its supposed to be like an alternative to Sunset Junction, which is this big outdoor festival in L.A. But that tends to be wider known acts, so this will be fun.” BB: “So Tom and Mike, you’re from Chicago. Natalia and Jesse, you’re from the Bay Area? How’d you all end up playing together.”
Natalia: “Yeah, I’m from the Bay Area, born and raised. Jesse is actually from Paris. Michael and I started the band.”
M: “We’ve been through a few line up changes, with people moving on to their adult lives and pursuing other things, or focusing on their own projects. We’ve known Jesse for a long time. He was really involved with the band before joining the band. Initially Tom got invited to play on one tour and everything worked out really well. So now Tom’s moving out to California.”
T: “Yep. Sold all my shit and headed out west!”
N: “We basically poached him.”
M: “So we had a couple openings and conveniently knew some talented people that were into it, so its all worked out pretty well.” BB: “And you practice around here?”
M: “Yeah, we’ve been practicing over at Secret Studios on Cesar Chavez. In between the Mission and Bay View. But it’s a secret so let me tell you the password to the gate…”
N: “It’s a terribly kept secret.” BB: “Sounds it! So, you put out a 7 song EP a few years ago…”
M: “Yep, and the full length will be out soon, in July on Antenna Farm. There’s also a 7” that will be coming out, May or June. Probably early June. Nick, one of the members of Sugar & Gold [label-mates on Antenna Farm] is starting a label so this is the third or fourth release. They’re good friends of ours. There’s going to be two tracks, one of them is a new, unreleased song and the other is a remix by Nick of one of the songs that’s going to be on the LP. ” BB: “So they’re friends of yours, is that how you got in with the guys at Antenna Farm?”
M: “We’ve have a lot of funny, old interactions with Antenna Farm. They’ve been doing great things for a while. We’ve been emailing back and forth with Paul for a while. I think it probably helped we have a couple of friends on the label who probably forced them to listen to our record and from there they made their own decisions. I know they get a lot of requests and music sent to them. It’s always a slow, flirtation process…”
N: “When we started talking to them, it just felt like the right partnership so we’re really excited.”
M: “Yea, they’re great. They work really hard and we have a lot of respect for what they do and also for their catalog.”
N: “Its really nice to be on a roster where you like all of the other bands.” BB: “It seems like they are growing pretty fast as well.”
M: “I don’t want to speak for them, but it certainly seems like they have more stuff in the works.” BB: “And did they record the new record as well?”
N: “No, we actually recorded the record with some friends here and there in pieces. But all with local people and engineers and did some stuff ourselves. We pretty much gave them a near finished product.” BB: “And then they did some post-production work on it?”
N: “We actually had it mastered and mixed, as a complete package. I think more and more this is what’s happening. As the bigger labels are starting to fail, the smaller labels don’t necessarily have the capital to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in bands. So a lot of labels are picking up finished albums. And as musicians, its a nice advantage to be able to do things yourself. Then you have less to pay back.”
T: “And fewer people to answer to.” BB: “Less people in the denominator is always good.”
M: “You know, I think that was a nice thing about this record. We were able to make the record we wanted to make and we had complete creative control over it. It was a labor of love and we were able to come up with something we were all really pleased with.” BB: “The EP was all recorded yourselves as well, right?”
N: “Yea the EP was even more so home mixed and home everything. We recorded it at this school called Expressions. They do free recordings and a lot of local musicians have utilized them. Then we did all the mixing ourselves.”
Jesse: “But it’s an audio engineer school though. Not an elementary school.”
M: “The production level this time around was a lot higher in terms of mixing. The sound, and everything about it is a big step up.” BB: “I definitely got that from the three new songs you have up on your myspace page.”
N: “The tracks on the new album are recorded with a buddy of ours who works at a major electronic studio. I did a lot of preliminary mixing but we wanted to run it back through a board. I was doing it at home, so we took the tracks, reset up the mixes, ran it through the board and printed the tapes that way. There was a lot of collaboration. Jay Pellici mixed a lot of the tracks at Hyde Street Studios. And Laura Dean mixed some of them at Tiny Telephone, so a lot of San Francisco studio talent involved. A lot of changes were made to the tracks after they were initially recorded. We’ll usually record the songs live, or come up with the melody to arrange it all together. But especially on this record we did a lot of work after the foundation was laid. Its nice to have that time to sit with it and hear it. Playing it live is so much different then the recorded album. Some of the changes are incorporated into the live show, some of them we just kept on the record. Not everything works live and vice versa.” BB: “Tell me a little bit about the song-writing process on this record.”
N: “It really depends since we’ve worked and played with a lot of people. Right now, generally it tends to be me coming in with a sketch for a song and we’ll arrange and write it together. We labor over our songs and spend a lot of time with them. They change a lot from the initial recording.” BB: “You can definitely hear a lot of transitions and key changes, particularly on the new ones. That adds up. Was there any theme or stuff about the last record you didn’t like that you wanted to change on the new one?”
N: “I think the structures and melodies are pretty similar, but really this record is a lot more adult. We’ve grown up to and I think that’s reflected in the music. Maybe a little deeper, maybe a little darker.”
M: “I think there’s more of a range. It covers more ground sonically, and emotionally as well.”
You can find the new album Wind Up Wooden Heart on shelves (digital or otherwise) on July 27th via Antenna Farm Records. In the nearer future as part of the SF Popfest, Social Studies will be playing on May 27th at the Rickshaw Stop with the Tune-Yards, Eux Autres and Knight School. Tickets available here: http://www.rickshawstop.com/calendar/event_details/?tfly_event_id=7429
If you told me 10 years ago at the Warped Tour that the guitarist from Poison the Well was going to form a noise pop duo fronted by a former teen pop female singer, I probably would have said “Ha! Yea and Bob Dylan’s going make a Christmas album.” I suppose the times, they are a changin’. Since the fated day hardcore guitarist Derek Miller met singer Alexis Krauss in a Brooklyn diner, the band has escalated at break-neck pace through the indie rock sphere, having landed support from M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T. The band’s first single “Crown on the Ground” made a common appearance in 2009 best-of lists. This week, the band released their highly anticipated debut album Treats. Consider your speakers broken.
Pushing play on Treats is more like pulling a fire alarm or walking in front of a gun turret. Most of the disc blasts with a topped-out, bleeding-red quality. This ruckus sound developed out of Miller’s desire to get a better tone out of his crunching guitar riffs. He had to blow out his drum machine to EQ with the guitar. Accompanied with Alexis’s monotonous, school-yard taunts, Treats plays like the siren songs of tattooed cheerleaders. Her fluctuations between paper thin, airy vocals to biting, attitudinal shouts push and pull you between infatuation and outrage.
The album leads with four blistering tracks, starting with “Tell ‘Em,” which sends the album rocketing out of your speakers. These are the kind of songs that come up on a mix and send your friends screeching for the volume nob. Miller brings anthemic, triumphant guitar riffs while the drum machine hammers in the background. Krauss joins with empowering, victorious advice to all the girls these days, “Let me say, let me say, let me say/you can do your best to-day/You can do your best today.” Confidence embodies Alexis’s messages, which riot with school spirit. “Kids” follows with “The breeze is nice now/I’ll tell ya right now/I sip my Kool-aid/I’m feeling better now.” It’s not rocket science, but it leaves you nodding along thinking, “Yeah, you drink that juice girl.” “Infinity Guitars” gets down-right nonsensical, “Straight wars, straight men/cowboys, Indians/red souls, red friends/infinity guitar, you’re hard.” And when the breakdown removes any iota of governor you thought was running on this album, you’re either banging along or furiously returning your radio. Maybe both.
Treats does bottom out in the middle for a few tracks. Keeping the pace of the first half of the album would have been exhausting, but as soon as “Run the Heart” comes on, it’s as if Alexis has removed the bandana over her mouth and is made human. Where the jeering on the rocking tracks makes you want to stomp the yard, the “ah ah ah ahs,” paired with clubby synth replace the endearing adolescent vibe with straight annoying. “Rachel” also comes as a misplaced trance number. While there needed to be some break in the album, I can’t help feeling these tracks were rushed cop-outs.
“Rill Rill” beams through the clouds as the most (if not the only) relaxed track on the album, showcasing that Alexis’s raw songwriting capabilities extend beyond their noise pop schtick. When “Crown on the Ground” hits, you’re returned to what Sleigh Bells do best- making your ears bleed with infectious rock. Overall, though Treats has a few skips, it’s damn fun and the formula has legs. Sensitive ears beware!
For me the name Broken Social Scene immediately evokes images of confetti and an over-crowded stage. The Toronto based group has in its 12 years of duration been a party unit of collaboration, ever flowing with old and new characters, maxing out at a total of 19. Since its founding by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, the duo has marched a parade of Canadian indie talent into the project, including Leslie Feist, Emily Haines of Metric, Jason Collett, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley of Stars, and Ohad Benchetrit of Do Make Say Think. While many of these alumni since their initial involvement have gone on to lead successful solo careers, each of them have left an impression on BSS’s sound. The result of the ubiquitous flow of members under Drew and Canning’s direction has been an organic, seamless and patient progression of releases. With five years passed since their last release, a number of solo project releases, and a hefty series of tours, BSS returns with their fourth record on Drew and Jeffrey Remedios’s Arts & Crafts label, Forgiveness Rock Record. It’s tightly cohesive and features a fine production quality, thanks to recording engineer John McEntire, better known for his band Tortoise. The album was recorded in McEntire’s Soma Studio’s in Chicago.
Though Forgiveness features 14 tracks, totaling over an hour of playtime, the album flows beautifully and with surprisingly few stale moments. The album’s most memorable, power rock type songs are loaded in the front half of the record, leading with the first single, “World Sick.” The track builds with ambient waves and swells, before hitting stride with an unmistakably BSS guitar line that surfs you right into the tube of this record, building you to the lazer show of guitars in the breakdown. “Texico Bitches” hops along cheerfully with equally memorable guitar riffs and the zenith of joyous exclamations, “woo!” yelled seemingly by a team of cheerleaders. On “Forced to Love,” Kevin Drew proposes with sharp annunciation a series of ideas for us to think about before chugging and coasting along into the chorus. He holds off on getting overtly political, but if you’ve been to one of Kevin’s shows, you know where he’s going with this. Each of the leading four tracks, along with the majority of the album, feature Drew on vocals.
Enter “All to All.” Its vocals were written by Emily Haines, joined by Leslie Feist, Amy Millan and Lisa Lobsinger, who also sings on a number of tracks on the album and is now acting as the bands touring female vocalist. The vocals float airily over a climbing dance beat while the supporting instrumentation bursts with scuzz on the chorus, drawing an emotional high. The song purges, grooves, rocks, and whispers playfully with quirky harmony in its breakdown. The track pulls all of the right strings and bats clean up for the album as one of the best songs of the year to date.
Following these more memorable singles are jams readied with grooving beats laid by Justin Peroff, a few ambient numbers, and cooler rock pieces. But just when you think the B-side of the record is mellowing out, it smacks you with the victoriously towering instrumental, “Meet Me in the Basement,” full with horns and strings, like a wordless take on “Underdog.” The album never settles into a style too long, rotating through a few different tastes and experimentations that keep the album moving and engaging.
And as if 14 smacking new tracks weren’t enough, pre-order customers also received a download of Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights EP. The recordings are the downtime musings of the band in Soma Studios, as brief instrumental soundscapes spawned much like album closer “Me & My Hand.” BSS puts forth a solid effort with Forgiveness, which has a little something for everybody. Though the members may change, the band continue to evolve no matter what the mix, and have done a fine job of tightening its sound on this dynamic record.
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I recently packed into the Rickshaw stop, and made my way to my favorite spot underneath the A/C vent to catch part of San Francisco’s Popfest 2010. The show began with Knight School, a young duo from NYC, composed by Kevin Alvir and Chris Balla. While I caught most of their act trying to sort out my entry, what I heard was melodic, gauzy folk pop underscored with a bittersweet youthfulness. The band has also opened for the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Let’s Wrestle, and are worth keeping an eye on.
