FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES
DESA
SILIAN RAIL
Bottom of the Hill
Dec. 1, 2007

The place was packed so full that it felt like the Bottom of the Hill was about to have a sell-out show, something I wasn’t expecting from a night of instrumental post-rock (or whatever you want to call it). At first I suspected it was the loyal and sizeable followings of indie darlings Silian Rail and From Monument to Masses, but I think it was probably more because of all the teenie-boppers out for an all ages show to see Desa. ...

FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES
DESA
SILIAN RAIL
Bottom of the Hill
Dec. 1, 2007

The place was packed so full that it felt like the Bottom of the Hill was about to have a sell-out show, something I wasn’t expecting from a night of instrumental post-rock (or whatever you want to call it). At first I suspected it was the loyal and sizeable followings of indie darlings Silian Rail and From Monument to Masses, but I think it was probably more because of all the teenie-boppers out for an all ages show to see Desa.

Whatever the reason, the crowd was out and energy was good and Silian Rail soon took to the stage and got things going. Part of the Thread Productions music collective, this San Francisco-based two-piece features Robin L. on guitar and Eric Kuhn on drums/glockenspiel yet has the musical prowess of a four-piece. It’s not their full sound that’s so impressive, it’s the music, which is rich, engaging, and gorgeous. It can be difficult for instrumental music to really capture an audience, but Silian Rail did it with old tried-and-true good music writing. They performed well-written and well-structured songs that bring the listener into the music. The crowd responded well to their performance, a showcase of the virtuosi of both musicians without being in any way ostentatious.

A bonus for them being a two-piece is that they break down quickly after their set.  Didn’t really save us all that much time though because the second band, Desa, from Oakland, was a five-piece and took their time setting up. I knew something was up when I saw a bunch of dudes on stage all with tight black t-shirts and wrist bands. I’d never heard Desa before, though I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard them again soon, on the radio. Out of my ignorance I assumed that, being sandwiched between Silian Rail and From Monument to Masses, Desa would be equally experimental/post-rock/instrumental. I assumed wrong. 

My first clue that things were not as I thought was all the young, under-18 faux-punk kids with their Mohawks from Supercuts and their moms waiting outside in mini-vans. My second clue was the sweatbands. What sealed it was the lame four person mosh pit.

Let me say, straight out, I didn’t like Desa. They’re everything about modern mainstream rock/punk that I dislike: loud and obnoxious, affecting a post-punk power pop bullshit attitude, music laden with clichéd hooks, and boring predictable song structures. They even had the guitarist who’s back-up singing style is literally only screaming. And I never saw the bass player’s face once. He hid behind the rest of the band, his hoodie drawn over his head, and his back to the audience. Did he need ‘total concentwation’ or is he a terminally shy musician?

That being said, I have no doubt in my mind that if they keep churning out songs like the ones they played that night, their posters will be plastered on every 13 year-old’s bedroom wall by the end of 2008. They are proficient musicians and they have the attitude (“DESA is from Oakland, CA where the homicide rate is high, the drug of choice is crack, and the streets are paved with safety glass,” seriously, right off their Myspace page), the look, and the bland, easily consumed music necessary to infect the hearts of the teenaged.

Personally, I was just waiting out the rest of the show at the bar. Eventually, they finished and the headliners, From Monument to Masses took to the stage.

Originally formed in 2000 from Bay Area musicians Francis Choung on drums, keys, and programming, Sergio Robledo-Moderazo, on bass, keys, and samples, and Matthew Solberg on guitar and loops, these instrumental post-rockers are now living bicoastal, with one of the group’s members having moved to New York City. Yet they are still making great music and playing great shows.

Anybody who knows From Monument to Masses or looks up reviews or goes to their website knows or will see that these guys are darlings of critics and reviewers everywhere, myself included. I’ve never seen a band that can integrate samples and loops so seamlessly. Their vocal samples, culled from historic and archival audio and presumably video sources, are so smooth and pervasive that I could see someone making the case that From Monument to Masses are not in fact an instrumental band. And, while sometimes it can be difficult for me to get into music that I’m hearing for the very first time, they played a lot of new songs that were immediately accessible.

The great thing about their music is its accessibility even as From Monument to Masses has moved away from more traditional chorus/verse song structures. The newer songs have what feels like very open organic structures, combined with innovative rhythms, and vocal samples that feel like they move in and out of the music effortlessly. And yet, this never comes off as high brow or pretentious.

The only thing negative I could say about them is that part of their message, part of their style, part of their image is the socialist/communist revolutionary. Now maybe I’m just reading too much into it, but even though their message and their execution is great, it still kinda feels like they’re putting on an act. I’m sure they’re sincere about their revolutionary message, but in the end what are they doing? They’re just like any other rock band. They have their merch table in the back like everybody else, they have their T-shirts on sale for the same price as everybody else, they have their website with their merch like everybody else, and they have their CD’s for sale like everybody else.

I don’t get it; what’s so revolutionary about these guys?  I’m not saying they have to live on a commune, or give away all their tracks for free online (they don’t allow you to download their tracks off Myspace, but you can grab three tracks off their website), or throw away all their worldly possessions, or pull a Chumbawamba (though, I have to say, we all know they practiced what they preached), but there’s definitely some action these three bright and creative guys could come up with. I mean talk is cheap, right? Their Wikipedia entry describes them as “politically-charged,” and that’s just it: they are politically charged, but don’t seem politically active, not as a band at least.

Course, I’m no expert on these guys and their political activity; by day they could be chaining themselves across the entrances of Wal-Marts and trying to destroy the imperial-capitalist machine. But if they are, why not include that in the music? 

Maybe I’m looking too deep, but these are the things that I look for, and enjoy. In the end, their execution is still flawless. From Monument to Masses put on a great show with a great message and they do so effortlessly.

[Marky Snark]

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Check out our review of Silian Rail's show at The Stork Club on 06/07/07.  

[STREAM] From Monument To Masses: "Clinical Features of Rock Trauma" (Live on KALX)

[STREAM] Desa: Various Tracks

[STREAM] Silian Rail: Various Tracks  

PARKER STREET CINEMA
FRENCH MIAMI
EXCUSES FOR SKIPPING
The Rickshaw Stop
Dec. 5, 2007

This time, you don’t even have to just take our word for it: Emily over at The Deli SF called the December Wiretap show “one of the best line-ups” she’d seen this year.

Excuses for Skipping started off the night with a ton of energy. Featuring a guest musician on keyboards, the band sounded a bit like a shoegazer version of Sleater-Kinney: interlocking guitar parts threaded their way through deep undercurrents of lush noise and humming bass lines. The Rickshaw Stop was full to the brim with glorious sound. ...

PARKER STREET CINEMA
FRENCH MIAMI
EXCUSES FOR SKIPPING
The Rickshaw Stop
Dec. 5, 2007

This time, you don’t even have to just take our word for it: Emily over at The Deli SF called the December Wiretap show “one of the best line-ups” she’d seen this year.

Excuses for Skipping started off the night with a ton of energy. Featuring a guest musician on keyboards, the band sounded a bit like a shoegazer version of Sleater-Kinney: interlocking guitar parts threaded their way through deep undercurrents of lush noise and humming bass lines. The Rickshaw Stop was full to the brim with glorious sound.

Vocalists/guitarists Linda Moody and Tammy Fortin are an exciting team as the frontpeople of Excuses for Skipping. Linda is all energy and attitude, while Tammy is more about precision and style. It’s hard to take your eyes off of Linda; she’s more of the lead singer and is constantly dancing and getting into the music, obviously enjoying herself immensely. And it’s hard to take your ears off of Tammy; she’s more of the lead guitarist and her precisely executed riffs and blasts of sheer art noise keep the songs dynamic and unpredictable.

  While the opener could have just as easily headlined the night, French Miami was more than up to the task of following Excuses for Skipping onstage. The three-piece’s sometimes minimal, sometimes massive, but always intriguing take on indie rock is just damned good. They opened, for instance, with “All On Fire,” a song with a guitar intro that is one of the tightest and most effective riffs I’ve heard in a long time.

French Miami’s sound is full of big burping keyboard bass, adroit guitar riffs, and urgent drum beats. Watching them, you could plainly see that singer Jason Heiselmann was feeling his band’s music. At one point when he wasn’t playing his guitar or his keyboards he was doing a dance that looked like he was bent over double, maybe in pain, and the look on his face was totally hurts so good. It’s perhaps trite to say of a three-piece band, but French Miami make an awfully big noise for only three dudes. They put on a damned fine show of undeniably compelling and intense indie rock.

It was not an easy act to follow, but Parker Street Cinema took the stage and owned it. Fresh off a West Coast tour and celebrating the release of their new album, Music, in the Blood, Parker Street Cinema were entirely on top of their game. They delivered a flawless performance that had everyone in the crowd enthralled. You can’t put it better or more simply than Emily does in her Deli SF review : “Their timing was impeccable, and their musicianship was outstanding.”

In true celebratory style, Parker Street Cinema pulled out all the stops. Joining the three-piece, all-instrumental band onstage for various songs were guest horn players and guest singers (including Lindsay Garfield of another stellar SF band, Or, the Whale ). They even had audience participation! That’s right, the fine lads of Parker Street Cinema passed out kudzus to the entire crowd and taught us all the refrain melody that we were supposed to play. Audience participation is always welcome, but audience participation that features kudzus is just sheer brilliance.

Filling in the gaps was Gioia, who spun some fantastic cuts and kept the crowd on its toes.

The show benefited the Boxcar Theatre Group. But really, we all benefited.

[Mike G.]

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Check out our review of French Miami's show at Edinburgh Castle on 09/05/07.


[STREAM] Parker Stree Cinema: Various Tracks

[STREAM] French Miami: "Alibi"

[STREAM] Excuses for Skipping: "Gravity"

BELLAVISTA
Bellavista
(Take Root Records; 2007)

Bellavista has risen from the ashes of former San Francisco rock heroes The Vue and released their self-titled debut on Take Root Records.

The sound on this nine-track album is raw and drenched in echo, with Rex Shelverton's vocals and guitar swirling around the point of attack. It creates a gauzy, droning, and psychedelic soundscape similar to My Bloody Valentine. On songs like "Carve Our World" and "Divided We Suffer," early '70s hard rock guitar chords stretch waaaay out until the sound is like an arc that begins and swells and fades. ...

BELLAVISTA
Bellavista
(Take Root Records; 2007)

Bellavista has risen from the ashes of former San Francisco rock heroes The Vue and released their self-titled debut on Take Root Records.

The sound on this nine-track album is raw and drenched in echo, with Rex Shelverton's vocals and guitar swirling around the point of attack. It creates a gauzy, droning, and psychedelic soundscape similar to My Bloody Valentine. On songs like "Carve Our World" and "Divided We Suffer," early '70s hard rock guitar chords stretch waaaay out until the sound is like an arc that begins and swells and fades.

Cary LaScala's drumming is a counterpoint to the strung out shards of guitar; his pounding tribal rhythms give the music an earthiness that anchors the washed-out guitars. Bassist Jeremy Bringetto plays melodically and pushes songs into colder territory, with the metallic sound of the bassline on "Mystic Son" bringing to mind Joy Division and giving songs a gothic edge.

On "Transcosmic Egress," the closest Bellavista come to a ballad, Rex mournfully describes a world that's collapsed around him, and on "Temptation By Your Side" he sings a one-sided love song to someone he wants dearly to be close to. He sings with a sometimes-crooning, sometimes-yelping vocal delivery that cuts through the mix and sounds a bit like Bowie.

Bellavista play their music with abandon yet with a strong awareness of their sound. It gives them a lot of weight to throw behind each of their dark, pop inflected psychedelic rock songs.

[Jeff Bissell]

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[STREAM] Bellavista: Various Tracks

THE HOOKS
FLEXX BRONCO
THE DEPARTED
Thee Parkside
Nov. 30, 2007

Walking into Thee Parkside, I saw that the night’s bands had a good draw. There was a nice-sized crowd: big enough for a lively show, small enough that ordering a drink wasn't a problem.

The opening band, The Departed, didn't waste any time and soon were on-stage revving up their sound. No longer able to refer to themselves as an all-girl punk band, they were sporting their revamped line-up with new male drummer Tony.  ...

THE HOOKS
FLEXX BRONCO
THE DEPARTED
Thee Parkside
Nov. 30, 2007

Walking into Thee Parkside, I saw that the night’s bands had a good draw. There was a nice-sized crowd: big enough for a lively show, small enough that ordering a drink wasn't a problem.

The opening band, The Departed, didn't waste any time and soon were on-stage revving up their sound. No longer able to refer to themselves as an all-girl punk band, they were sporting their revamped line-up with new male drummer Tony. 

Unfortunately, probably the only really interesting thing about this band was that they were all girls. And seeing as how there is no lack of all-girl punk bands out there, this was never that interesting in the first place.

The Departed played the same old, stale, all-girl (with dude drummer) punk sound, but at least they did it with skill; there was no lack of ability and practice on their part, just a lack of anything musically new, innovative, or interesting. 

Not to be too harsh. The Departed proved themselves a competent if uninspired ensemble. Guitars were strummed, a bass was plucked, words were sung, and drums were beat. To be fair, they did keep the crowd going. The audience, in fact, seemed to respond positively to the band, if not overly enthusiastic.

But that was probably only because they had no idea that they were about to travel back in time.

Now, mankind has for ages dreamed of time-travel. From magical spells to Victorian-era H.G. Wells-esque contraptions and physicist Frank Tipler's postulation that a long and dense enough cylinder that spins at a high enough rate about its long axis could send a ship orbiting the cylinder on a spiraling path back through time, many different ideas have been advanced in the attempt to achieve time travel.

So who knew that the solution would be so simple a contraption as five beer guzzling butt rockers called Flexx Bronco playing a show at Thee Parkside?

I think most people are pretty enamored with Flexx Bronco: they won some battle of the bands, they sport a take-no-shit attitude, and they are still playing music from 1989 in the new millennium. And they definitely have what it takes to pull off the sound: High energy, bad ‘tudes, and a banner hanging up behind them reminding us all that there are two x's in Flexx.

As they bend time, they by extension also bend space, fucking up the whole continuum until I truly feel like I'm in a bar in the Midwest in 1989.  But after about 10 minutes, after reaching a plateau, the show gets pretty boring. 

The songs, the style, it's so static and set as to be the same thing over and over again. They aren't bad by any stretch, but they're like an ice cold bottle of bottle of Corona: Fresh outta the cooler, both Corona and Flexx are crisp, cold, refreshing, great; as things go along and the beer gets old and warm, as Flexx' set drags on, they start to taste like piss. But, just as I wouldn't refuse a cold Corona, I wouldn't shy away from a Flexx Bronco show.

In the end, in small doses these guys are pretty entertaining. And they can definitely play a crowd. It's pretty great to see that somebody out there is pulling back their hair with a bandana and holding onto the past, digging their nails in, and not going down without a fight, no matter how futile.

After watching the first two adequate bands I was definitely ready to hear something good and The Hooks delivered.

Originally hailing from Sligo, Ireland, The Hooks moved their headquarters to San Francisco in 2004, solidifying their present line up with brothers Keith and Ronan Mulligan and San Franciscans Willie Gregory and Colin Delaney. And it is solid.

It’s not an accident that they opened for the Pogues, toured Ireland with Shane McGowan and the Popes, are playing at Slim’s this December with X, and have some great shows lined up in 2008.

Was it the best show of 2007? A life changing experience? Did people faint and pregnant women go into labor when they heard those sweet Irish voices?  No. (Though I did see one guy’s knees buckle, but that was prolley from all the Redbull-Vodkas.) But they did turn out their rockin’ songs and keep the crowd going. They even had the obligatory Irish ballad with some drunk Irish guy from the crowd signing.  Okay, he may not have been drunk, but he was Irish, and in a bar, and singing, so the chances are pretty good. 

The Hooks are good, no doubt about that. I even picked up the CD. But they aren’t really doing anything all that innovative yet. Still, this is a band that is going places, and I’m really interested to see what they do in 2008.

[Marky Snark]

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[STREAM] The Hooks: "10,000 Ft."

[STREAM] Flexx Bronco: Various Tracks

[STREAM] The Departed: Various Tracks

TEMPO NO TEMPO
THE DON’TS
THE LOVELY PUBLIC
Bottom of the Hill
Nov. 17th, 2007
   

It’s fascinating how geographical location can have an influence on music. Take the blues for example: Born in the fields and churches of the South, it had a rootsy, down home feel reminiscent of a murky delta bog. When the same music was relocated up the Mississippi to Chicago's bustling industrialism and metropolitan energy, it took on a hard-driving, electrified feel, personified by people like Muddy Waters. Similarly, New York has had a long tradition of music that is as extreme, abrasive, and individualistic as the city continues to be. The same can be said of the sunny (and predominantly artificial) sounds of pop music from Los Angeles mirroring the modern plasticity of Hollywood. ...

TEMPO NO TEMPO
THE DON’TS
THE LOVELY PUBLIC
Bottom of the Hill
Nov. 17th, 2007
   

It’s fascinating how geographical location can have an influence on music. Take the blues for example: Born in the fields and churches of the South, it had a rootsy, down home feel reminiscent of a murky delta bog. When the same music was relocated up the Mississippi to Chicago's bustling industrialism and metropolitan energy, it took on a hard-driving, electrified feel, personified by people like Muddy Waters. Similarly, New York has had a long tradition of music that is as extreme, abrasive, and individualistic as the city continues to be. The same can be said of the sunny (and predominantly artificial) sounds of pop music from Los Angeles mirroring the modern plasticity of Hollywood.

It could be argued that music is a reflection of life in the particular area that it was made. With this in mind, what is the sound of the Bay Area today? For a place so unique in the world, and in such a unique time, what kind of sounds could represent the place we live in?

This is the question I was pondering while I was Tempo No Tempo’s release party for their second EP, Repetition (Double Negative Records).  Filling out the bill were SF bands The Lovely Public and The Don'ts, along with between set DJ action by DJ Pasternak of local favorites Lemonade. The show had been written about and endorsed by many of the Bay Area's indie music publications, including an endorsement from the Deli SF.

Regretfully I caught only the second half of the opening set by The Lovely  Public, but what I heard was more than enough to show that they  were in great form that night. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this band live or hearing their excellent album Burning Tape at the Mystery Dinner,  both of these tasks should immediately be placed on your to do list. In this writer's opinion The Lovely Public (TLP) are easily one of the most exciting bands that San Francisco has to offer. What’s special about them is how they put their music together. Sure, they can write great chord progressions and melodies and make interesting sounds, but quality parts don't necessarily guarantee a working machine. It is the way these musical fragments and pieces are ordered and arranged that makes TLP truly fascinating. Songs like "The Panic Son" and "The Math," both of which they played at the show, constantly morph into something other than what you think.

With a lot of bands, once they stumble upon a decent hook they use it to death, beating you over the head with the fact of its catchiness. It is frequent for the "good part" or the "hook" in a TLP song to occur only once because once is all that is necessary.  Though they approach hooks from a totally different angle, their songs still emphasize and glorify them in a similar way to the most classic of pop music.

Any show that opens with The Lovely Public has its work cut out for it, and the acts did that followed this evening did not disappoint. The Don'ts were next on the bill. This was my first time seeing The Don'ts and on the whole I found them very intriguing and enjoyable. Texturally, they brought to mind the sounds of Kraut bands from the 70's:  spacey guitar atmospherics, skeletal bass playing, drums driving with machine like efficiency, and manic vocals bouncing off of everything. Yet, where Kraut can tend to be sprawling and impressionistically amorphous, The Don'ts are focused; their short, punchy song are tight beams of energy. The bass player particularly stood out for me, with a very punchy bass style that really gave the songs kick. Dancing on his dynamic wah with the elegance of a concert pianist, his usage of effects pedals was exceptional.

In between the sets, DJ Pasternak kept the energy up with an excellent set that included lots of great rhythms and dark, funky textures. A personal highlight of the mix was when he threw in his recent remix of Tempo No Tempo's "Irregular Heartbeats," which came blasting out of the Bottom of the Hill's great sound system in all it's dubby, doomy glory.

The energy was up and the sets had been totally solid up to that point. It was time for Tempo No Tempo to seal the deal.  They took the stage and kicked its ass. It only took a couple songs before the near capacity show was in the palm of their hand. If I could use one word to describe Tempo No Tempo, it would be "clean."  Their songs aren't thrown together, they're crafted. They don't just hammer out bar chords, each part is woven together. Every song is slick and economical. Yes, they play dance music, but Tempo No Tempo is not just your average white boys in tight pants copping Gang of Four riffs. It may not be blatant at first listen, but there's real tasty polyrhythms going on underneath those catchy melodies. They manage to keep their songs shifting and changing without dropping the groove or giving the asses a second to stop wiggling.

The energy that had been building throughout the whole night reached fever pitch when Tempo closed with their infamous cover of Peaches' "Fuck The Pain Away."  Before anyone could say "Kindergarden Teacher," the Bottom of the Hill's stage was full of people bumping and grinding along with the band. Lead guitarist Tyler MacCaulley exhibited some ace crowd control; he was actually able to get the rest of the crowd to silently crouch to the ground in anticipation of the song's climax.  When they finally dropped the bomb at the song's end, the Bottom of the Hill was reduced to a belligerent maelstrom of craziness.

Going back to what I was asking at the beginning of this article, what is the Bay Area's sound? What is the music that best represents this place? I'm not gonna go ahead and say that the music I saw at Bottom of the Hill was the perfect embodiment. I don't know if the show represented a scene or some kind of ground swell of creative activity in the Bay Area. Yet I do feel that pondering such things provides a very interesting context in which to experience a local music show.

The music at Tempo No Tempo's CD release party was very high quality and certainly high energy (I mean, these guys had half the crowd dancing on stage with them, I honestly can't touch them with a 50 foot pole!) but it wasn't transcendent like I know great music can be.  As awesome as the music was that night it still felt like it was restricted to a certain degree, adhering a little too closely to the sound and style of common touchstones in the indie music world.  I don't want to sound like I'm condemning these bands; on the contrary I felt like there was strong evidence that these groups could develop into something beyond what they are now. Each band had their own unique way of tweaking the various styles they had drawn from, which was what I found the most interesting aspect of each set that night. The Lovely Public took classic psycadelia, chopped it up and pieced it together in strange combinations. The Dont's took the sprawl of kraut rock, injected it with a healthy dose of manic humor, and reigned in its expansive sprall. The kind of dance music that Tempo No Tempo played wasn't just for the booty, it worked at your brain too. If these bands keep exploring the unique nature of their experimentations and leave behind the aspects of their sounds that too closely resemble the work of others, the results could truly be something for the Bay Area to be proud of.

[AJ McKinley]

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[STREAM] Tempo No Tempo: Various Tracks