Let Fall the Sparrow

Live music w/ Let Fall the Sparrow ~ Misophonic (Indie)
When: Wed, November 9
Time: 9pm
Cost: $5-7
Details:
Let Fall the Sparrow
http://www.letfallthesparrow.com/
The San Francisco based trio, Let Fall the Sparrow, is made up of Lilly Pritchard (bass/vocals), Daniel Lemke (guitar) and Jesse Freidin (drums). Their sound is both ethereal and driving, moving between quiet melodic moments and intense sonic builds.

Misophonic
Equal parts driven and dreamy, misophonic’s music is a collision of old and new, turned inside out. Trumpet included.

The Bruises

Live music w/ The Bruises ~ Hold Me Luke Allen ~ Eighteen Individual Eyes (Indie / Shoegaze)
When: Fri, March 25
Time: 9pm
Cost: $5
Details:
The Bruises
http://www.myspace.com/thebruises
http://www.thebruises.com
Balancing the tightrope between indie and mainstream rock, THE BRUISES embrace incredibly catchy choruses, dueling female vocal harmonies, and a serrated double guitar attack. Tipping their hats to acts such as Lush, that dog., and Sleater-Kinney, the band has forged a sound that is both unique and timeless. …. “We just make music we like, without trying to be a part of any fad or musical trend,” says guitarist/singer Jen Black. “I’d like to think that someone 10 or 20 years from now could enjoy our songs the same way they do at this moment.”

Eighteen Individual Eyes

Hold Me Luke Allen
http://www.myspace.com/holdmelukeallen
http://www.holdmelukeallen.com/
In late 2009 a bass player, another bass player, and a drummer stepped out of the rhythm section shadows and into the spotlight to realize a vision that combines musical influences ranging from trip-hop and electronica to grunge and punk. With a limited songwriting history, a load of production knowledge, a vision, and a lot of patience, Hold Me Luke Allen has found their rhythm — errr..voice. The trio has not entirely abandoned their respective instruments, but have added guitar, soft synths, vocals, sampling, and sequencers to the mix in what can readily be described as nu gaze (a genre combining elements of shoegaze and new wave/electronica)

Eighteen Individual Eyes
http://www.myspace.com/eighteenindividualeyes
http://www.eighteenindividualeyes.com

Disasteroid

Live music w/ Disasteroid ~ Jared Mess and the Grown Children ~ Slow Trucks (Indie / Rock)
When: Mon, March 7
Time: 7pm
Cost: $6
Details:
Disastroid
http://myspace.com/disastroid
…Fucking awesome. The perfect mix of Harvey Milk, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Nomeansno, and Danzig while tuning it to their own unique sound. It was everything good about rock music and what is good about rock music now. I highly recommend these guys and it was nice to be blown away by an opening band I had never heard a note from before.”.. – ..Speed Glue and Music

Jared Mees & The Grown Children
http://jaredmeesandthegrownchildren.com
Pairing sometimes dark lyrical matter with uptempo major-chord progressions, the newest album from Portland, Oregon’s Jared Mees and the Grown Children examines the give-and-take inherent in struggles for self-fulfillment while walking a tightrope between naive exuberance and cynical skepticism. This balancing act results in a sound that is joyful yet introspective; a rollicking Americana tale of modern life, be it hellish or heavenly. [website]

Slow Trucks

Slow Trucks
http://www.myspace.com/slowtrucksband
Energetic, uncomplicated and infectious, Slow Trucks are musical comfort food, perfect for those of us who still occasionally break out that Treepeople CD or fantasize about an Archers of Loaf reunion. [myspace]

Bare Wires

Live music w/ Bare Wires ~ Dirty Cupcakes ~ Baby Talk (Indie)
When: Sun, February 13
Time: 6pm
Cost: $6
Details:
Bare Wires
http://www.myspace.com/thebarewires
..”A power trio that looks like it stepped out of a time warp from the 1970s, Bare Wires is rapidly perfecting its crisp, no-bull garage punk, reminiscent of the Stooges on too much caffeine and other stimulants. The crisp rhythm section creates a solid backbone for guitarist-vocalist Matthew Melton’s licks and machine-gun solos, as well as his earnest respect for melody.”.. .. .. – San Francisco Bay Guardian

Dirty Cupcakes

Dirty Cupcakes
http://www.myspace.com/dirtycupcakesband
.. “Unless its baker has decided to go the Voodoo route and inject his or her delectables with cough syrup, there’s really nothing dirty about a cupcake. That is, until you hear the spiky, sweet punk-pop tunes of Oakland’s Dirty Cupcakes, an all-female trio that covers the Stones’ “Get Off of My Cloud” and sounds like Shonen Knife and the Vivian Girls. They’re cute on the outside, but looks can be deceiving.” -Willamette Week

Baby Talk
http://www.myspace.com/babytalkbabytalkbabytalk

Songs for Snakes

Details:
SONGS FOR SNAKES
http://myspace.com/songsforsnakes
http://www.reverbnation.com/songsforsnakes
“San Francisco’s post-hardcore band, Songs for Snakes, seems to be strongly influenced by artists such as Drive Like Jehu and Jawbreaker, which is evident in their guitar style. Songs for Snakes has slithered all the way up from number 28 to number 1 in the past week here at KSPC.
KSPC
“These Bay Area dudes are way into Jawbreaker. They also slowed the pace down a little. I enjoyed the faster songs alot more than most of the CD, which was full of slower songs and has a tendency to drag. Not as good as Jawbreaker, better than Jets To Brazil”
Paul Lucich – Maximum Rock N Roll

Time Traveling Assassins

TIME TRAVELING ASSASSINS
http://myspace.com/timetravelingassassins

Bite

BITE
http://myspace.com/bitesf
We’re about playin’ fast, loud, sexy, trashy down and dirty punk and roll. We’ve had some kickass players in this band and the current lineup is no exception. We’ve all been around the block and back so this shit ain’t about jumpin’ on some trendy bandwagon. This is our lives people, and along the way we’ve met and played with some amazing people, you know who you are. A couple of shows that stand out are gigs with Texas Terri, The Lewd And Dee Dee Ramone a year before he died. Yeah that’s the reason we do this, that and we have to, what else is there people besides REAL RAW ROCK AND FUCKIN’ ROLL?! We see no alternative, so if you like it fierce and fearless, check it out.

Sea of Bees

Sea of Bees -shimmery lovely folk
http://www.seaofbees.com/home/
http://www.myspace.com/seaofbees
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sea-Of-Bees/197401657346
http://twitter.com/seaofbees
Sea of Bees is the musical project of Julie Ann Bee, or Jules as everyone calls her.

She sings, writes the songs, and plays lots of musical instruments.

“Took me about 50 seconds — the length of the woozy, haunting intro to “Marmalade” — to completely fall for Sea of Bees, the nom de tune of Sacramento indie-popper Julie Baenziger. Her debut album “Songs for the Ravens” sounds folky in some places, gauzy and ambient in others and twee as hell in still others, but beautiful throughout, and a potent reminder that emotional virtue is an artist’s most precious commodity. This one’s special, folks, let’s not screw it up.” -Kevin Bronson, Buzzbands LA, LA Weekly

“Songs for the Ravens is bound to be one of this year’s finest records;as soon as you hear it you’re not going to be able to shakeit.” -Ned Lannamann,Portland Mercury

“I’m not entirely sure why I love this album so much… …That which I cannot put my finger on, is the mysterious, wonderful, and addictive qualities of this album as a whole. Bravo to Jules and her Sea of Bees.” -Jason Lytle (Grandaddy, Admiral Radley)
[from website]

Sands • Photo by Katherine Levin

Sands – roadhouse reveries
http://www.myspace.com/damesatan
“Nuanced, heartfelt folk songs that sound like they could have been written anytime in the past century or so.” ..– Time Out New York
“If Quazar had sounded anything like Dame Satan, the San Francisco quartet that just played the Wednesday-night Americana Ramble at Marilyns on K, I might be translating dispatches from Zeti Reticuli right now. Ever heard music that makes you desperately try to remember if you’d innocuously eaten a brownie earlier that could have been, ahem, herbally enhanced? Dame Satans music had that effect. The instrumentation was boilerplate Americana–acoustic guitars, banjos, resonator guitars, bass and maybe even a mandolin–but the execution was closer to chamber music meets jazz. The influences, among them British folk, English post-psychedelic blues rock, spare Delta blues and the sort of weird Americana the Grateful Dead sometimes hinted at, melded into an original whole whose presence was rather startling. The four members played off each other like ancient jazz bodhisattvas, and there was a conscious awareness and manipulation of the spaces between the notes, again more a jazz trait than an element common to more straightforward genres like bluegrass or country. The overall effect is easy to recall. Its like that time you got really buzzed and played guitar in the stairwell and sang, and you heard yourself sounding like something from another dimension.” ..– Sacramento News and Views
“…Druggy, dusky hued country folks who slink about in the shadows…” ..– Aquarius
“…Underrated…” ..– S.F. Bay Guardian
“…Little ‘r’ rock with sweetly scented underpine…” ..– Byron Coley, The Wire
“BEACHES AND BRIDGES, the second long-play album by Dame Satan, is a leviathan of a record that’ll displace mass amounts of air from your speakers, whether it’s creeping along or flowing with speed and soul. The sounds it contains are huge, surreal, and timeless, easily holding their ground when compared to your parents’ musical documentations of progression, folk, harmony, and psychedelia.” ..– Thrasher Magazine
[from myspace]

Walking in Sunlight – gorgeous old-time harmonies
http://walkinginsunlight.bandcamp.com/album/walking-in-sunlight
We started singing together for the simple fun of it. This collection of songs represents the first few songs we happened to learn with each other. These are old time songs from the oldest necks of America, songs by modern ancients Doc Watson and Will Oldham, and a few songs by us. [website]

The Cambell Apartment

The Campbell Apartment
http://www.myspace.com/TheCampbellApartment

The Campbell Apartment is the brainchild of Russian-born artist and Renaissance lad Ari Vais, who modeled the band after lo-fi anti-heroes like Guided By Voices and The Replacements. With a schmeer of songs chock full of clever turns of phrase, buttery Brian Wilson harmonies, and high fructose melodies, Vais aims to create tunes with hooks that are designed for addiction, to keep your toes tapping, and to rattle around in your head for days. After a few years in New York City, Vais moved west in 2009 to San Francisco where he was joined by drummer Gary Gutfeld (Corduroy, Redemption 87, The Hi-Fives), bassist Mikey K, and, most recently, New York guitar rock legend Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne). Together, we’re The Campbell Apartment. [myspace]

Acacia Collective

Acacia Collective
http://www.myspace.com/sfacacia
Acacia Collective was born in a cave in Orange County, California during the winter of 2003. Soon after, Craig MacArthur and Ryan McCaffrey began ferociously writing and playing music, focusing on ethereal vocal harmonies and soulful guitar interplay. Inspired by the artistic energy of the Bay Area, the duo relocated to San Francisco in 2004. Over the next several years the Collective grew, incorporating many talented Bay Area musicians. Most notably, they collaborated with bassist, songwriter, producer and Bay Area legend, Bobby Vega. With Vega and guitarist Chris Rosbach producing and with Prairie Prince on drums, the Collective finished their debut album, “House of Cards” in the fall of 2008. With the release of “House of Cards,” Acacia Collective is now on a mission to bring its passion for musical expression to as many ears as possible. MacArthur and McCaffrey work at crafting euphoric, spacious and uplifting songs, while remaining firmly rooted in sunsplashed rock n’ roll. Acacia Collective perform with an intense joy for musical creation, “getting high while worlds collide…” [myspace]

The American Professionals

The American Professionals
http://www.myspace.com/TheAmericanProfessionals
San Francisco-based The American Professionals dole out comfortably familiar powerpop in this four-track EP. You know the deal – loud, crunchy guitars and catchy melodies. So if you’re a diehard powerpop fan, you do get the heavy guitarwork (classic 70s styled) and the Beatlesque tunes, which suggests that the likes of Cheap Trick and the Raspberries might be strong influences. It’s straightforward really. Personally, I like the subtle contrasts in the title track which does suggest that the band has more in its locker than loud and heavy. Always a good sign. That said, the adrenaline-pumping, bittersweet confections of Jump This Train, Down Low and Yet Another One More Time will keep the powerpop fans smiling. In addition, check out bonus track Love is Only Sleeping, which is a gorgeous evocation of mid-60s psychedelic-garage rock.

Grinn & Barrett

Live music w/ Grinn & Barrett ~ The Coyotes ~ Red Light Circuit (Indie)
When: Wed, November 10
Time: 8pm
Cost: $5
Details:
Grinn & Barrett
http://www.grinnandbarrettband.com
Grinn & Barrett’s style of lyrical pop songs have been influenced by early 90’s grunge, classic blues, folk, electro-pop, and even reggae. Their roots, however, are deep seeded in the Northwest indie rock scene. Bronwyn’s melodic vocals and bright guitar sound are met with Natalie’s creative and strong drum beats to create the Grinn & Barrett sound, indie-folk-grunge-pop. [website]

The Coyotes

The Coyotes
http://www.myspace.com/patseickandthecoyotes
“The Coyotes, an intriguing blend of bedroom folk, “no wave,” and Jimmy Webb pop. Watch out for these guys – their vibe is quite exceptional.” -The East Street Records Review [deep from within their myspace page]

Red Light Circuit

Company Car • Photo by Nonzon

Pebble Theory

Pebble Theory

Eros Resmini (vocalist, rhythm guitar), Tim Pryde (lead guitar), Drew U’Ren (percussion) and Nick Massaro (bass) successfully adapt their diverse instrumental styles into a smooth transformation of past influence and individual musicianship.

Pebble Theory Released their 3rd Album “Something Better” in June 2009. “Something Better” offers a mature, inventive, and groove-enticing sound; focused on a reflective and innovative compositional style.

They support original music and musicians who persevere to actively pursue its
continual growth. [website]

Farewell Typewriter