SHOW OF THE MONTH

Noise Pop

Various Venues

San Francisco, CA

Feb 26 - March 2, 2008

For its sweet 16th year, San Francisco indie music fest Noise Pop turned the volume up in the city, giving Bay Area residents and visitors over five nights of exquisitely booked shows and more than enough reason to celebrate. Kicking off Tuesday night with a badge-exclusive party featuring Mika Miko, Tempo No Tempo and DJ Amplive (Zion I), the festival was in full force by Wednesday night as West Indian Girl played to a packed audience at Bottom of the Hill. The band’s vocal harmonies shot out from every direction, filling the venue with epic audio splendor. Minipop appeared next, playing an ambient set ushered by smoke and beams of light. Tricia Kanne’s soothingly soft vocals carried surprisingly well over the rest of the band’s flash flood of sound.

At The Walkmen‘s Independent show, opener A Modern Machine gave a tight, energetic performance with lots of interaction between band members. They invited a friend onstage to add some vocal warmth and later delivered a spotless sing-along cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats.” Nyles Lannon brought long, layered songs with varied percussion and a notable bass solo to an awestruck crowd. The Broken West delivered high-powered folk rock with occasional bright synthesizer notes and heavy percussion.

Then at Café du Nord, SoCal duo Golden Animals launched a night tailored for free spirits with catchy ‘60s blues, while San Francisco’s honey.moon.tree. followed in an eight-musician folk jamboree, playing sweet hypnotizing harmonies. San Jose seven-piece The Mumlers proved the school band can get both folksy and funky by charming the crowd to dance with groovy, double bass and brass jazz beats and their impressively soulful vocalist, Will Sprott. Capping the night, the standout Entrance Band trio, bringing star power with awe-inspiring Zeppelin-hard blues for “the liberation of mankind,” showcased frontman Guy Blakeslee’s shredding technicality and rocked the crowd howling.

Over at the Rickshaw Stop, peoplepeople explored their self-purported mercurial tenacity and made the venue’s sound system sound amazing. Comprised of members of notable local bands like Nurses, Two Gallants and Trainwreck Riders, peoplepeople were not only strikingly compatible onstage — but frighteningly good together. Next up, The Little Ones showed that they haven’t lost any of their wide-eyed appeal since the release of 2006’s Sing Song EP, introducing new numbers and smiling from ear to ear throughout their entire set. In an astounding grand finale, Portland’s Quasi delivered a cacophonously melodic set of swirling piano crashes grounded by bass pulses and the steady drums of Janet Weiss.

Thursday night at Great American Music Hall found a revitalized stellastarr* supported by three West Coast acts. San Francisco’s The Hundred Days played a polished set chock full of Interpol-esque disco rock. Seattle’s Throw Me the Statue followed one man short of their usual lineup, band members switching instruments, and leader Scott Reitherman cracking dry jokes in between songs for some of the evening’s most memorable moments. Yet it was another San Francisco band, Birdmonster, that made the strongest impression. Though there was a jerky flow to the set list and lengthy lulls between songs, Birdmonster made up for it by thrashing around wildly onstage while ably delivering a mostly hard-edged, rootsy brand of rock ‘n’ roll.

Meanwhile at Bottom of the Hill, Sholi warmed up the audience with their trippy rock and a crowd-pleasing Iranian pop cover. Four-month-old, seven-person and one-banjo band Here Here were the highlight of the night, delivering a remarkably tight and layered performance for being so new. Then the My Morning Jacket-esque Fleet Foxes charmed everyone with their perfect harmonies and chatty lead singer before Blitzen Trapper closed the show.

Café du Nord got the crap joyously kicked out of it with a lively panoramic set by Or, the Whale, in which the band displayed its unstoppable tenacity for growth, playing quite a few new songs (like “Rusty Gold,” arguably one of their best to date). Then local duo The Dodos melodically and bombastically filled the hall of the venue with tunes from their new album, Visiter. Meric Long’s wails on “Joe’s Waltz” stretched to the far corners of the room as the song expanded into a striking ricochet of beautiful noise.

Friday night at The Independent, Portland’s The Builders and the Butchers delivered an energetic and interactive performance of old-timey, string-driven folk, even throwing toy percussion instruments to members of the audience to help accompany their finale. Then Film School‘s slightly dark, dreamy, echo-filled sound made for a pointed and truly entrancing performance. The Helio Sequence closed with an engaging mix of songs spanning all four of their full-length albums, including 2008’s more melancholy Keep Your Eyes Ahead.

Meanwhile at Mighty, surprise openers The Instant Messengers brought a crowd to the dance floor with their clever lines and flawless delivery. DJ Effective tied the quick verses together with irresistible beats and some old school scratching. With the dance floor already loaded, Trackademicks took the stage alongside Moxmore and other members from the Bay Area-based Honor Roll crew to release their trademark electro-rap on an attentive audience.

Down at Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco’s Veil Veil Vanish cloaked both its four members and dark shoegaze in black with a tense set sparking an energy-infused show. Texas trio White Denim damn near stole the night with addictive, elevating garage melodies that had the audience shouting, “You got soul!” But headliners Holy Fuck proved the lineup favorite, charging the audience into hopping bunnies with a fun mix of kinetic pulses and head-bobbing electronica.

On Saturday night, Bottom of the Hill hosted another incredible (and sold-out) performance, this time by Brighton’s British Sea Power, a post-punk/ pop explosion of sound. Opening was the Bay Area’s own Off Campus, a three-piece party rock ensemble that pairs raw, gritty vocals with funky bass lines. Taking the stage as the last opening act, local band 20 Minute Loop gave its best rendition of dreamy boy/girl duet-infused indie pop, which made for a pleasant calm before the storm of British Sea Power’s hour and a half long set — arguably one of the best performances of the entire fest.

Co-headlining Café du Nord with Port O’Brien for the first show of their joint U.S. tour, Delta Spirit appeared to a full house of fans with a growling performance drenched in classic, soulful, folk-rock charisma. Light sparkles of piano illuminated their harmonic vocals and rolling rhythms in a set that spanned the breadth of the genre. Finally, Port O’Brien closed with a lineup that periodically grew in size, at one point including M. Ward on guitar. The band offered the biggest finale of the night with “I Woke Up Today,” providing pots and pans to an enthusiastic audience that rhythmically pounded on them long after the set was over.

Meanwhile at Bimbo’s, The Gutter Twins’ headlining performance was positively transcendent. The new project, co-led by Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, relied little on the duo’s collective history as the Twins previewed the entirety of their Saturnalia album, slipped in a couple of covers, and dipped back into some material from Dulli’s and Lanegan’s more recent past across a total of 20 songs.

For their third Noise Pop performance in a row, The Mountain Goats played the only daytime show of the festival at Bottom of the Hill on Sunday afternoon. Grinning through a jovial 20-song set (with three encores), John Darnielle lent his inimitable onstage charisma to acoustic, electric, and solos alike. The highlight for longtime fans came with the chance to thrust Satan horns into the air for “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton.” Darnielle started his career as a lo-fi provocateur, recording through boomboxes; his full band’s mid-day performance proved he’s still a quirky troubadour of tragic comedies, as well as Noise Pop’s ability to bring out the best of the best.

-Review by Julia Cooper, Michael Fortes, Katherine Hoffert, Heather Kelly, Kyle
Lemmon, Keane Li, Lulu McAllister and Nicole Sheikh; photos by Luke Judd, RC Rivera and Joshua Uziel

Maldroid/The Ian Fays/Geographer

Great American Music Hall

San Francisco, CA

Feb. 21, 2008

Fuzz.com showcased three of the Bay Area’s most entertaining bands at the Great American Music Hall this February. Running the gamut from enchanting to boisterous, the night began with Geographer, formerly known as Parasol and The Rooftop Vigil, who proved that sometimes it’s worth arriving on time — in this case, the opening band easily stole the show. A special night for Geographer, frontman Mike Deni excitedly announced the band’s new name to the crowd, taking time to thank the other band Parasol (whose lawsuit initiated the change). Sharing lead singer duties and trading off on keys and guitar, Deni and Kacey Johansing were perfectly attuned to one another, their vocals the backbone of the band and comparable to the likes of Andrew Bird and Leslie Feist, respectively. With additions from drummer Brian Ostreicher and Nathan Blaz, whose cello added a whole new affecting dimension to Geographer’s sound, the melodic set was impressively intricate and captivating.

Clad in red Catholic schoolgirl uniforms, The Ian Fays came on next after a much too long intermission. Led by twin sisters Lizz and Sara Fay, who share vocal custody, the lo-fi indie/electro quartet includes drummer Bradley Fay (no relation) and kid sis Lena Fay, whose playing of the xylophone, triangle, and finger symbols whilst chewing gum and striking fierce poses provided the comic relief of the night. Otherwise, the band’s pretty, emotional music matched its members’ model looks and demure stage presence well. Despite a broken cable — which resulted in a five-minute awkward pause midway through their set — The Ian Fays managed to keep their cool, say hi to their mom who flew in from Idaho, and continue on with the show.

Fuzz.com artist and YouTube success story Maldroid were the headliners of the night. Keeping up with the matching outfit theme, all seven members of the band wore coordinated blazers and filled the stage with testosterone characterized by pounding drums, guitar god impressions, and a hyperactive lead singer. With names like Ryan Divine and Sean “The Talented Mr.” Shippley, it’s clear that this New Wave/ British Invasion-esque rock band doesn’t take itself too seriously. After declaring to the crowd that they were a “very sexually attractive audience,” a Ray-Ban wearing Divine stood on the drums, swung the microphone around his neck, and danced ‘til he couldn’t dance no more to Maldroid’s cover of Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up.” He also announced that they had recently been robbed and encouraged the crowd to pass on buying another Pabst in favor of donating $3 to the Maldroid cause.

-Review by Jackie Miehls; photo by Joshua Uziel

Foreign Born/St. Vincent

Neumo’s

Seattle, WA

February 19, 2008

Neumo's in Seattle provided a Tuesday evening escape during the doldrums of February, and L.A.'s Foreign Born certainly rose to the occasion. Though not quite matching the energy and creativity of headliner St. Vincent, they still came equipped with a set to rock the mostly unfamiliar crowd.

While they often employed a wall of sound, Foreign Born’s music mostly centered around head-bopping pop rock and intricate guitar solos provided by excellent lead guitarist Lewis Pesacov. His skillful play was a level above the rest of the band, whose additions sometimes seemed contrived and clichéd; drummer Garrett Ray played standard beats, bassist Ariel Rechtshaid was nothing to shout about, and vocalist/acoustic guitarist Matt Popieluch sounded like he belonged in a different band altogether. The band’s playlist included many new songs not featured on its debut album, On the Wing Now, and though new, they sounded crisp and well rehearsed. In fact, the standout was a yet-to-be-titled track that at times had an Irish jig feel, as well as a lot of clever licks and an excitable guitar solo that showed off Pesacov’s versatility. By and large, the band featured some creative and inventive moments musically that were sadly quashed by the removed and lazy vocals. They were also hampered by some unusual sound difficulties, which included the microphone cutting in and out during their final two songs. These sound gaffes visibly affected the band and Foreign Born seemed to cut its set short because of them.

In light of this, Foreign Born did appropriately set the mood for St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, who displayed her lengthy tutelage with Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree by taking the stage costumed in a plain black dress, while the rest of her band was dressed very dapperly in pastel-colored suits with pencil-thin suspenders. Her energy was radiant and she tore through her set of sing-a-longs to an engaged and enthusiastic crowd. Her manic energy and dancing was like watching a coked-out, robotic Barbie doll, and her music live was a strikingly different animal than on record.

Overall this show highlighted the juxtaposition between a band still searching for its identity and another fully grasping its own.

-Review by Rob Bergquist; photo by Fel Pajimula

Matt Costa/Ray Barbee Meets the Mattson 2

Troubadour

Los Angeles, CA

February 2, 2008

Local favorite Matt Costa gave L.A. fans a chance to catch his new act early this February before leaving for a nationwide tour in support of his latest album, Unfamiliar Faces. For the second of two sold-out shows at the famed Troubadour, the Saturday night crowd was already tightly packed in when Ray Barbee Meets the Mattson 2 took the smoke-filled stage in matching grey suits. Far from Costa’s surfer folk/Jack Johnson style, Ray Barbee Meets the Mattson 2 are strictly jazz. Twins Jonathan Mattson on drums and Jared Mattson on guitar led the set with help from their newest collaborator and Galaxia Records labelmate Ray Barbee. Jared Mattson and Barbee used their guitars to not only carry the ever-changing melody, but also to assume the role of lead vocals. On their eclectically moody songs, like opener “Yeppers,” Jared Mattson began a steady phrase and Barbee would chime in, letting his instrument guide him through the songs as if he was making them up as he went along.

The faint smell of incense began to fill the venue as a Troubadour bouncer personally introduced Costa. With guitars, piano, bass and drums in tow, it seemed the artist’s acoustic folk days were over. This new rock ensemble fit Costa’s sound well, but the boxy layout of the Troubadour only carried the instrumental jams, often leaving his poetic vocals muted - kinks one would expect to have been worked out by the second night. The audience didn’t seem to mind though when classics like “Sunshine” and “Cold December” were brought out; they sang along to every word, practically making up for the lost vocals. This jamboree momentum stayed strong even when the band quieted, allowing Costa’s softer tunes like “Astair” a time to shine with just a tambourine for percussion and a hint of mandolin or lap steel. He managed to fill his hour and a half set with just the right mix of old and new, like the catchy single “Mr. Pitiful,” which Costa said was written with helpful tips from former tourmates Modest Mouse. Incorporating a small horn section of trumpet, trombone and saxophone to finish out his set, Costa demonstrated that, in spite of some unflattering acoustics, he could cross the bridge from a songwriter’s quiet and put on a full-out show seamlessly.

-Review by Megan Clinard; photo by Julia Alty

Let's Independent! Showcase

The Bentleys / The Transmissions / Everest

Boardner's

Hollywood, CA

February 19, 2008

Let's Independent! is Radio Free Silver Lake's free monthly local indie music showcase, held at the historic Hollywood venue Boardner's. February 19's installment was a triple bill with a smorgasbord of musical offerings.

Opening act The Bentleys crashed through a raucous set powered by guitars and loud, loud volume. Fast and high energy, the San Fernando Valley band recalled classic L.A. punk acts like The Germs and X, softened slightly by pop influences from the likes of The Beatles, Radiohead and Travis. This group has a long local history: three of the members met in elementary school and founded the band together five years ago. In the process of recording an album, the four-piece is unsigned to date, but has a recent self-released EP, Mid-Flight Rock, which was passed out free to an eager audience.

Second up, The Transmissions are an L.A.-based three-piece that play intelligent, experimental pop/rock. With echoes of NYC punk bands like Television and Talking Heads, they put on an arty, eclectic performance. Singer Christian Bienne sang passionately and played guitar with equal conviction, breaking into mad solos here and there that drew appreciative clapping. Props are also due to female drummer Denise Duncan: her potent percussion drove song after song, and bassist Corey Lyons fell right in with her, matching her every beat. This band has a high level of musicianship and showed it across the board on numbers such as "Faces," "Haunt All Living Things" and "Saving Mountain."

Headliners Everest are a local indie supergroup, comprised of members of alaska!, Earlimart, Great Northern, Slydell and Folk Implosion. Earnest and guitar-driven, their music includes elements of folk and classic rock from the '60s and '70s. Formed as a five-piece, they added two more members for the Let's Independent! show, creating a glorious, full-bodied sound. Drummer Davey Latter and bassist Rob Douglas built the set's foundation, and guitars from Joel Graves, Jason Soda and Russell Pollard constructed melodies and counterpoint that flowed in long jam-band style arrangements. Frontman Pollard also impressed with his sincere vocal manner, well matched to the band's material. Everest has found a perfect home on Neil Young's Vapor Records, with a full-length album set for release May 6.

-Review by Susan Brooks; photo by Melissa Kobe

Chris Robley & The Fear of Heights / Correatown / The Speakers

Hemlock Tavern

San Francisco, CA

February 3, 2008

A Sunday night can be a hard night to pack in a crowd - especially for an out-of-towner. But early this February, San Francisco's Hemlock Tavern saw a decent-sized audience stuff into its cozy performance space not for the local headliner, but the visiting support.

Early attendees got some backbeat for their time from Portland-based Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights. With two additional members in tow since the band's last area appearance in October - trumpeter Daniel Adlaf and Ben Landsverk on viola - a more fleshed-out treatment of Robley's songs was possible. The tight vocal harmonies that closed "A Vague Notion of Nothing Much" were a particular highlight of the set, while Robley's playful request of the audience to help him name a new song, and the subsequent naming of the song "Bat With One Eye" by an enthusiastic attendee, was its most engaging moment. Robley kept his eyes closed during most of the songs, and the general focus of his band's performance was on the music and the musicianship instead of the performers themselves. It was refreshing to see a band so caught up in the moment on stage, and though Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights were openers by definition, they didn't act like it.

The crowd had substantially grown by the time Angela Correa, a.k.a. Correatown, took the stage. Hailing from L.A.'s Echo Park, the solo Correa picked and strummed her acoustic guitar while singing in a clear, flawless voice. There may have been a lot of sad reminiscences in her lyrics, but Correa herself was charmingly upbeat and engaging, frequently chatting between songs. During her second tune, she even paused to playfully comment on the audience members kicking around a red balloon. Correa made sure to bring her bubbly personality out musically with "Fascination," receiving some rhythmic help from the crowd in the form of handclaps and foot stomps. She later pulled out a stylized cover of Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," in which she tweaked the melody to suit her sultry, polished vocals, which are equal parts Mary Lou Lord and Norah Jones.

San Francisco's The Speakers closed the night, their music far removed in style from Robley's intricately arranged songs and Correa's commanding confidence. The duo of Brian Miller and Peter Musselman, on guitar and accordion respectively, presented a low-key program of quiet, unassuming indie-folk tunes in a hushed manner, like a lullaby for the evening. Though the energy emanating from the stage was modest, it still inspired a few people in the thinned-out audience to dance playfully along during one song. Musselman's accordion occasionally drowned out Miller's vocals, but the uber-mellow mood was never once altered throughout the course of the duo's simple, enchanting set.

--Review by Michael Fortes; photo by April Chick