Archive Search

Reviewed

New Thrill Parade

Slumber in Colorland (Wonder Quest)

By John Garmon

Published: March 5, 2008

Although local act New Thrill Parade enjoys flaunting the "goth" tag, its music hardly conjures visions of languid youths seducing one another over a Sisters of Mercy soundtrack. Rather, the group...

Hear This

Crime pays: OG San Francisco "punks" offer rare live appearance

By John Garmon

Published: February 20, 2008

Fishbone is the quintessential hyphenated combo. From its inception in 1979, the spazztastic Los Angeles septet has been mashing genres, pioneering a ska-punk-thrash-funk sound that's as fresh,...

Night&Day;

They Don't Really

By John Garmon

Published: December 12, 2007

Formed in Tucson in 1988 by a group of high school friends, the Supersuckers moved to Seattle (based on a coin-flip) a couple years before grunge could be found in JC Penney catalogs. The band...

Night&Day;

Bummer, Man

By John Garmon

Published: December 5, 2007

As a member of the Skygreen Leopards, Glenn Donaldson released a dewy pop/soft-psych album called Disciples of California , which, true to its title, sounded like the work of men trying to capture...

Hear This

Legendary Oddballs Ween Paint the Town Brown

By John Garmon

Published: November 7, 2007

A case could be made for San Francisco's American Music Club being a truly American counterpart to Britain's Joy Division. Although they're sonically different, the two groups share common...

Night&Day;

Radio Play

By John Garmon

Published: November 7, 2007

Been itching to check out local acts that have been sopping up local ink while simultaneously supporting UC Berkeley's beloved free-form radio station? Well, the people behind tonight's KALX 45th...

Night&Day;

Pseudo Cruelty

By John Garmon

Published: October 24, 2007

Though not the most famous ex- husband-and-wife rock duo, Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss of Quasi might be the king and queen of making the cathartic best of their lingering tension. Way back in the...

Music

Blonde Redhead, Sunset Rubdown and More SF Show Previews

By John Garmon

Published: October 17, 2007

Given their respective noise-rock and industrial pedigrees, guitarist Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard, Hank III, Tomahawk) and bassist/programmer Paul Barker (Ministry and related side projects the...

Night&Day;

Irish Song of the Damned

By John Garmon

Published: October 17, 2007

Taking their name from a Gaelic expression meaning "kiss my ass," the Pogues grew out of a one-off gig singer Shane MacGowan and friends played as the New Republicans in 1981. When MacGowan and...

Night&Day;

So Not Dead

By John Garmon

Published: October 10, 2007

In billing itself as "the longest-serving punk band with original lineup," the Adicts touch on a couple interesting points. One is that many reformed old-school punk bands often feature no one...

Night&Day;

The Bows of Holly

By John Garmon

Published: October 3, 2007

After breaking away from the Headcoatees, the Billy Childish-conceived garage girl-group for which she sang in 1995, it didn't take Holly Golightly long to find a signature sound. Though she's...

Night&Day;

The Spamburglar

By John Garmon

Published: September 26, 2007

Though Neil Hamburger 's reputation is built on the thousands of witty and thoughtful jokes he has penned, we can also thank him for providing the answers to many of life's remaining mysteries....

Night&Day;

By The Bootstraps

By John Garmon

Published: September 19, 2007

Since its inception in 2006, the Grass Roots Record Co. has taken considerable inspiration from other region-oriented record labels like Motown, Sun, and even Sub Pop. But as founder Jesse Locks...

Night&Day;

Sly Samara

By John Garmon

Published: September 19, 2007

An accomplished violin player, guitarist, recording engineer, and vocalist, Samara Lubelski has proven to be one of the most unjustly unheralded musical contributors to the American underground....

Night&Day;

Seasoned Cat

By John Garmon

Published: September 12, 2007

When Cat Power , aka Chan Marshall, appeared at the 2006 Coachella festival, she treated the crowd to a run through of her current album, The Greatest , backed by a huge ensemble of session...

Night&Day;

Black Power (Pop)

By John Garmon

Published: August 29, 2007

Dedicated to "the black people who made themselves heard," the film Wattstax documents a 1972 concert of Stax Records artists (some of the most scintillating live soul acts on the planet) at...

Night&Day;

Devon Cream

By John Garmon

Published: August 29, 2007

Recently, singer/songwriter Devon Williams appeared on the cover of the L.A. Record, yawning over his first cup of coffee, parodying the cover of Harry Nilsson's classic album Nilsson Schmilsson...

Hear This

Hear This

Daniel Johnston brings DIY pop bliss to an imperfect world

By John Garmon

Published: August 22, 2007

Over the course of recording 30 albums, Daniel Johnston has been compared to Brian Wilson and has provided inspiration to artists like Kurt Cobain and Yo La Tengo. And yet his songwriting...

Night&Day;

Lock and Load

By John Garmon

Published: August 22, 2007

It's not hard to find aesthetic similarities between Vancouver sextet They Shoot Horses Don't They? and the 1969 Jane Fonda vehicle of the same name. The film centers on Fonda and fellow...

Night&Day;

Free Will-owz

By John Garmon

Published: August 15, 2007

Though the Willowz 's music has appeared on the soundtracks to Michel Gondry's thoughtful tear-jerkers the Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , it's Dazed and Confused...