Monday, August 27, 2007
Your Daily Lick - Junior Panthers
Bay Area Bands Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Junior Panthers Derelicts Get Lost Records Echo and the Bunnymen, Smiths, Primal Scream, Replacements, Ride, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine ... commendably not butchered by San Francisco quartet.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Your Daily Lick - Vanessa Van Spall
Bay Area Bands Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Vanessa Van Spall Cotton-Poly Blend Self-released Recovering techie Van Spall tests the waters of adult-contemporary with an uneven, cautious debut that reveals hints of promise.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Your Daily Lick - Organized Grind
Bay Area Bands Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Organized Grind Grind Pays Organized Grind Entertainment As if hyphy never happened: Grind Pays roams from hardcore to R&B, embracing the bay's indie ethic while tapping time-tested trends.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Daily Licks
Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Ed Masuga Ed Masuga Self-released Believe your ears: That sweet, folksy voice belongs to the bearded man whose portrait looms inartistically on the front cover. With a guitar, a harmonica, and songs so softly powerful, what good is art?
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Numbers Now You Are This Kill Rock Stars Funky space-rock jams from a band that used to wallow in the irony of post-punk dance parties. Somewhere along the line, Numbers got all pensive and melodic - more Jesus and Mary Chain than Gang of Four - and we're so glad they did.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Lost in Wonderland
Just-Announced Shows Rachel Swan — Wed, Aug 22, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Originally packaged as a cute gimmick, soul titan Stevie Wonder signed to Motown Records in 1961; back then he was a gangly blind eleven-year-old bopping around the stage in aviator sunglasses. It soon became clear that this kid had enough chops to change the face of R&B forever. Characterized by the herky-jerky dance moves that belied his preternatural sense of rhythm, Stevie Wonder could switch from vocals to harmonica to piano to drums in the course of a single song, busting killer solos on each. He came to embody the giddy, groove-driven sound of Motown in the 1960s. So far nobody's been able to match Stevie Wonder at the particular kind of pop music that he does; his chord changes seem rather sophisticated for the medium, and his splendid melismatic alto is difficult to emulate. Not to mention he's the only singer who can bust a seemingly unremarkable lyric like I don't want to bore you with this, but ooh I love you, I love you, I love you-ooo-ou and sound brutishly sincere. Stevie Wonder performs Sunday, August 26 at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord. The show kicks off at 7:30 p.m.; tickets cost $45.50 - $65.50 for upper level seating, or $99.50 - $125.00 for the lower level.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Your Daily Licks - Oakland Bands HIJK and Dave Gleason's Wasted Days
Bay Area Bands Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 5:06 PM
HIJK
The Pen and the Letter
HIJK Music
Not a note was overlooked across HIJK's full-length debut. The record roves from pop- to alt- to prog-rock in a studio-induced indie blitz, and most of the songs deftly withstand all the twists and turns.
Dave Gleason's Wasted Days
Just Fall to Pieces
Well Worn Records
On this excellent third album, Gleason's California-style outlaw country remains sufficiently sturdy to stand alone today and heartfelt enough to send listeners searching out the legends who inspired him.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Your Daily Licks - SF Groups Two Gallants and Oxbow
Bay Area Bands Thu, Aug 9, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Two Gallants
The Scenery of Farewell EP
Saddle Creek Records
Two Gallants' mellowest disc yet, a batch of five acoustic tracks spanning almost thirty minutes. The Scenery of Farewell is a must-hear for fans, as much for its uncharacteristically warm instrumentation as for Adam Stephens' crushingly sorrowful tales. Sample lyric: I'm sure that you've seen better, but for you I did my best.
Oxbow
The Narcotic Story
Hydra Head Records
Through a taxing amalgam of experimental rock, free jazz, blues, and post-hardcore, San Francisco group Oxbow - now in its 21st year - continues to cater to the music obsessed, the jaded, and the slightly evil.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Your Daily Lick - The Passionistas
Bay Area Bands Mon, Aug 6, 2007 at 5:06 PM
The Passionistas
God's Boat
New and Used Records
The Passionistas have their heads in the right place, but their hands don't follow. Jilted, jerky pop lacking tightness and polish sounds like the work of a high school garage band with great taste.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
Bay Area Indie Music Festival Coming Aug. 25
Bay Area Bands Nate Seltenrich — Mon, Aug 6, 2007 at 5:06 PM
The lineup for the inaugural Bay Area Indie Music Festival isn't exclusively local, but comes darn close. Of the nineteen rock and pop acts scheduled to perform, fifteen are based in the Bay Area. They'll gather August 25 at Martinez's John Muir Ampihtheatre for a long day of homegrown music punctuated by a few out-of-towners such as pop-punk headliner Sugarcult and Australian mega-group Eskimo Joe (in its first Bay Area appearance). Presented by 3 Udders Productions, the festival features a nice spread of local talent including well-loved acts Scissors for Lefty, minipop, Panda, and Cold Hot Crash, and lesser known groups Bel Air Academy, the Frail, Project Greenfield, and the Logan. Also appearing are Audrye Sessions, Poor Bailey, Push to Talk, Immigrant, Overview, Elephone, Goodbye Gadget, and Southern California groups stepsonday and National Product. Tickets are available for $10 at ticketweb.com; only 1,500 will be sold. Set times will be released on Aug. 15.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Your Daily Lick - Make Me!
Bay Area Bands Fri, Aug 3, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Make Me!
It Only Hurts the First Time
Self-released
A coed quartet from San Francisco introduces us to the so-called post-riot grrrl genre. Evidently, it's what results when you give a keyboard to a bunch of brats in a punk band, them pump 'em full of Valium.
Bay Area bands, show us what you've got: Send CDs to Local Licks c/o the Express.
