Penelope Houston
penelope.net
Penelope Houston’s seventh studio album On Market Street was incubated for seven years and recorded in seven months at the San Francisco Bay Area’s prestigious Fantasy Studios. The award-winning singer/songwriter who cut her teeth in the legendary punk band The Avengers has turned to tales of revenge and forgiveness, of love both sanctified and illicit.


Animal Lore
facebook.com/AnimalLore
Animal Lore is a four-piece indie band from San Jose, California. The band consists of Joseph Choe, Ben Troung, Nick Troughton, and Thomas Arballo. Their music is derived from a broad spectrum of sounds. Influenced by a wide range of different artists, Animal Lore weaves intricate layers of sound with a myriad of instruments and subtle changes in melody.


Sorry Ever After
sorryeverafter.com
The music of SorryEverAfter comes from a not so dark, somewhat spacious place that combines a strangely hypnotic blend of gritty feedback laden guitars and a locomotive back beat that bolsters a sweet layer of vocal harmonies. The sum total is a blissed out mix of succinct and heartfelt musical blasts that have you feeling the heat of the sun even on the darkest of days. Unhinged? Not even close. At the heart of it all is Lynda Mandolyn, a Detroit-born, San Francisco-based singer and songwriter whose guitar and voice breathes life into every song. The approach is heartfelt, infectious, like bare wires clinging to a distinctive swagger–never too light for sane. SorryEverAfter gives hope to the idea that not all good intentions come from happy places. There, they’ve said it. “We’re based on happy times–seventy percent of always”.
Along with fellow indie rock vets Christa DiBiase (guitar,vocals), Erica Liss (bass), and Mike Cloward (drums)–they have decided to forget the past and forge a new future that doesn’t kick around the notion of poetic interpretation. The band’s intimate chemistry creates a controlled chaos — loud and rumbling, with multiple instruments never fighting to be heard as much as it can be smothered by emotion running the length of your spine. It’s all about the dynamics and how the group has gelled and how it has become a remarkably powerful ensemble. Stack up their favorite records and it makes for a fairly eclectic library.

Water Strider
waterstridermusic.com
Ranging from melancholic and dreamy to foot-­‐stomping revelry, Waterstrider fills their songs with sincerity, sadness, and joy. Sweeping three part vocal harmonies and addicting African guitar licks abound. This is music you hear while exploring a windy beach or stumbling out of a tangled forest into a fire dance of magical creatures. The band formed and produced their first EP, “Constellation”, while living in a co-­‐op in Berkeley, California. With a virtually non-­‐existent budget and a bedroom for a studio, they recorded their four-­‐song EP, Constellation, by themselves. They are now in the process of recording their first full-­‐length album.


DRMS
facebook.com/DRMStheBand
DRMS, a newly-formed collaboration fronted by Emily Ritz of Honeycomb and Yesway and led by keyboardist Rob Shelton of The Moanin Dove, melds multiple genres into a pulsating rhythmic psychedelic pop juggernaut. The ensemble’s sound has been described what would happen if Billie Holiday was selected to perform in an electro-afro-pop infused band curated by David Lynch. DRMS is scheduled to release their upcoming album in Spring 2012.
True to its supergroup status, DRMS boasts an all star cast of some of the Bay Area’s best musicians, with resumes including a wide range of projects, from Magik*Magik Orchestra to Thao and Mirah. In addition to Ritz and Shelton, the group features Andrew Maguire and Geneva Harrison tag-teaming the vibraphone and various percussion instruments, Jesse Cafiero on bass and lap steel guitar, Jake Nochimow on drums, and Zach Rubin-Rattet handling the guitars.

Tumbleweed Wanderers
tumbleweedwanderers.com
8pm
Jeremy Lyon and Zak Mandel-Romann formed Tumbleweed Wanderers in March 2011. Sharing a mutual admiration of the “O Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On” and Fleet Foxes “Ragged Wood” the two left college to pursue music full-time. They recruited keyboardist Patrick Glynn, whom Zak had played with since he was ten, drummer Daniel Blum, whom Jeremy met when he was sweeping the floors of a recording studio, and singer / banjo player / guitarist Rob Fidel, whom Jeremy met at an open mic on the first day of college at UC Santa Cruz. Young and energetic, this group will get you rocking and dancing the night away. The Wanderers are reminiscent of Dylan, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and Simon and Garfunkel. Their voices and instruments bring a youthful freshness mixed with old soul wisdom.


Seeking Empire
facebook.com/seekingempire
8:30
Seeking Empire is a San Francisco rock project featuring bay area musicians Nikki Aclaro and Alan Kao (Mud) Phil Pristia (Phantom Kicks) Paul Thomas (Good Charlotte) Cary LaScala (The Lovemakers). Debut album produced by Paul Thomas. It started over two years ago as a meeting amongst friends. We quickly realized that it was more than just a side project and have been working hard ever since. With three sold out shows, we hope to make March 10th a fourth!!


Erin Brazill and the Brazillionaires
erinbrazillandthebrazillionaires.com
9pm
I was born and raised in Mendocino, California and was fairly entrenched in music, community theatre, and writing poetry from a young age, and there was always a fiddle or a banjo around the house for after-dinner family jams. I studied classical piano and voice as a child up through college, as well as literature and creative writing. After college I moved to San Francisco and worked in jazz clubs in North Beach in SF bartending, booking bands, immersing myself in jazz and writing constantly, feverishly, and glamorously with great beatnik flourish, filling little notebooks with florid lines and flowing, sparkling prose, treasuring those little journals stashed behind the bar.

In the past five years I have been lucky enough to play with a group of very talented, creative and generous people who have stirred and blended their musical gifts and ideas into my music. We play original compositions that I have written, reflective of my time in San Francisco, my rural child hood and travels, and my experiences with friends and loved ones. We primarily focus on our original tunes, though we do throw in a few well-loved or unusual covers here and there.


The Crazies Will Destroy You
destroyyou.com
9:30pm
The Crazies Will Destroy You is a high-energy power-pop band from San Francisco. Not ones to stare at their shoelaces, the Crazies hop about enthusiastically and sing about the lives of other people with conviction.

Stages of Sleep
facebook.com/thestagesofsleep
The Stages of Sleep is best described as experimental/alternative gypsy rock. Heavily influenced by such bands as Radiohead, The Gipsy Kings, Emily Wells, 2 foot yard to name a few, the end result of their eclectic sound could be characterized as “world music.” The band members, however, prefer to say that their music encompasses and defines a “cross-genre” style of music. It must be experienced live to be fully appreciated. The music is smart and witty with elements of flamenco, rock, jazz, classical acoustic and electric guitars, bass, violin, drums, percussion, sax and much more. Don’t miss your opportunity to see them live. The Stages of Sleep just recorded another EP at Tiny Telephone Recording studios which will be released April 2012.


Hungry, Hungry Ghost
facebook.com/hungryhungryghost
Hungry, Hungry Ghost is the brain kin of native Floridian Alex Haager. It began while living in Berlin, Germany and eventually made its way to San Francisco by way of Brooklyn, New York, completing its glorious West Coast format with the help of fellow wanderers Logan Barrier, Heather Logsdon, Wagemann Pappe and Katie Schlesinger.

One full length album and one EP of their satirically-coined post-indie transcendentalist punk songs were released in 2009 on Brooklyn record label Infinite Best Recordings (home to New York darlings Twin Sister and Ava Luna), followed in 2010 and 2011 by a smattering of self-released digital offerings. A second full-length is currently in the works, albeit rather slowly.


Tomihira
facebook.com/Tomihira
Tomihira started playing live in and around the San Francisco bay area in early ’05. Playing for the remainder of the year culminated in the release of the debut full-length, Play Dead which was quick to receive praise from local press as well as catching the eye of some hefty blogspots nationally. Play Dead is the first full-length release from Tomihira, an indie space-pop band based in San Francisco. The band is named after Dean’s grandfather, who died at the age of 22 fighting on the side of the Japanese in WWII.

Vir
thevir.com
Vir are a post punk, noise pop trio based in the SF Bay Area, comprised of Sam Sloane (Vox, Guitar) Natasha Arens (Bass) and Jeff Paul (Drums). Vir experiment with elements of post punk, psychedelic noise and shoegaze to conjure up a glacial, dark and dynamic sound. Based in Oakland, CA but with roots in Christchurch New Zealand, Vir has a binding affinity with many Kiwi post-punk trios such as the Gordons, Bailter Space and HDU. Vir released their 1st full Length “Shadow of a Mountain” in 2008. 2nd lp “Gillespie” appeared on Vibraphone records in July 2010 along with several elaborate DIY music videos. The band has just finished their 3rd lp “Engineers” with a tentative release date in May 2012. While keeping busy with local and out of town shows, Vir we’re Invited to play Noise Pop 20, opening for Bob Mould.


Geographer
geographermusic.com
Their debut LP Innocent Ghosts captures these feelings of loss and loneliness, but also manages to bring out a sense of hope and exuberance. The marriage of Deni’s lush falsetto, Blaz’s romantically textured cello and Ostreicher’s pulsing rhythms exude a maturity of craft and cohesion often found in bands that have been playing together far longer. The self-released record immediately caught the attention of local and national critics, prompting SPIN Magazine to dub the trio “One of the Three Bands You Should Hear Now.”

In 2010, the band released the Animal Shapes EP along with a 7” single for the song Kites. The EP merges Geographer’s aptitude for crafting beautiful, haunting melodies with a knack for ethereal, layered sounds, marking an evolution of their distinct style. The EP garnered considerable praise, landing on several ‘Best Of’ lists including the SF Weekly’s ‘Best Local Version of Radiohead’ nod.

Amidst the flurry of live performances, the band took a break only to hit the studio to record the collection of songs that were to embody their next full-length album: Myth. The album proves that the band is taking their sonic exploration to new levels. Utilizing each member’s multi-instrumental backgrounds, the record finds Geographer creating distinctive sounds through varied instrumentation. Dynamic head-bobbers such as ‘The Myth of Youth’ and ‘Lover’s Game’ highlight the band’s ability to weave driving rock anthems with romantic nostalgia. “I wonder if I’m here for nothing. I wonder if I’m here at all. I wonder if I’ll ever love you for who you are,” Deni laments on Lover’s Game. Songs like ‘Kaleidoscope’ and ‘The Boulder’ showcase a darker, sexier approach to groove that brings a more intimate element to the record.

With Myth, Geographer continues to navigate new territory, leaving us in anticipation of what will be revealed next. With such a bold album and an electric live show that breathes even more intensity into the songs, the journey seems to have only just begun.


Carlos Forster
It started out as a way of simply getting together. Old college friends, Carlos Forster and Matt Ward began looking for opportunities to connect on weekends. Scattered over several years going all the way back to 2003, Forster spent a number of weekends in the Pacific Northwest with Ward, hiking and swimming in destinations like The Columbia Gorge and Sandy River, between leisurely recording Forster’s songs.

No stranger to recording, Forster contributed backing vocals to Ward’s debut album Duet for Guitars #2, released in 1998. More notably, he helmed the San Francisco band for Stars from the late nineties to 2002, producing three acclaimed albums for the independent label Future Farmer (also home to early M. Ward recordings). In the wake of the band’s dissolution Forster went on to study and then practice psychoanalytic theory and psychotherapy. He now works in private practice and community metal health in San Francisco.

Donovan Quinn
donovanquinn.bandcamp.com | Northern Spy Records
Donovan Quinn has been surrounded by music all of his life. Quinn is the son of Dave Carter, bassist and vocalist for legendary 60′s psychedelic group Country Weather, and has been writing songs from an early age. In 2001 Quinn entered CDR cult consciousness as ½ of the San Franciscan duo The Skygreen Leopards. Since then he’s released several records with the SGL’s and a few home recorded affairs from his youth (under the Verdure banner), but had refrained from issuing any of his stockpile of solo material. The self-imposed silence finally ended in late ‘07 when Soft Abuse, via sub-label Puissant, excavated October Lanterns, a mini album of dark, woodsy, melancholia recorded and shelved five years prior (for reasons long since forgotten).

LIVE PERFORMANCE
Bhi Bhiman
bhibhiman.com
Bhi Bhiman is an American original, and yet he seems transported from an era when songs were more important than the pretty faces that delivered them. His rich, bellowing tenor can soothe or explode at a moment’s notice. His lived-in, knowing delivery belies his years. His songwriting, too, is quick to captivate. Bhi’s mix of humor and deep empathy puts him in the company of distinguished (and much older) lifelong songsmiths like John Prine, Nick Lowe and Randy Newman. And Bhiman’s technical, emotive guitar playing rises to the challenge that his striking voice presents.

Loquat
loquatmusic.com
Chronicles of train terrorism, space expeditions, criminal infamy, and monsters under the bed are just a few of the themes you’ll hear on Loquat’s third full-length album, We Could Be Arsonists (Nacional Records, April 24, 2012). Through dangerously evocative lyrics and ultra-melodic songs, the San Francisco/Bay Area’s Loquat has captivated fans from as far as Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, and Kraków, and has infiltrated electromagnetic waves through shows such as MTV’s “Teen Mom,” “P. Diddy’s Making His Band,” and CW’s “One Tree Hill.” The band has played SXSW, CMJ, Noise Pop, and Treasure Island Music Festival, and has shared the stage with the likes of Goldfrapp, Miike Snow, TV on the Radio, The Cardigans, and Liz Phair.

Your Cannons
yourcannons.com
Your Cannons are a rock band from San Francisco. Most of them met in the kitchen at an ugly sweater party, when they got into an eggnog infused conversation about the reformation of The Verve. It was a love in from then on. In 2008 they released their debut recording, The Dustbowl EP, followed in 2010 by their second EP simply titled, EP2. With members from England, Sweden, Colorado and the Bay Area, they pool their diverse influences to build songs around a dynamic three guitar attack, tight rhythm and layered melody. It’s been said that they have, “an otherworldly sound, like, a slow-motion mosh in a room filled with red strobe lights.” They’re recoding their first album at Studio SQ in the Outer Mission, and plan to release it in early summer 2012.

Foxtails Brigade
foxtailsbrigade.com
Laura started Foxtails Brigade in 2006 with her friend, violinist Sivan Sadeh. She moved to San Francisco a year later, playing every club and street corner and she could find. It wasn’t long before the city started to notice. She quit her day job as a substitute teacher in 2009 and has been a full-time performer ever since, sharing stages with Jane Birkin, Laura Veirs, Zee Avi, Stornoway, Faun Fables, and Chris Garneau amongst others. She has collaborated with a number of talented musicians in Foxtails Brigade, including cellists Jen Grady (Emily Jane White, Adam Stevens), Lewis Patzner (Mates of State, Tim Kasher), Joe Lewis (Os Beaches, F-Pod B-Pod), and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Pollock (Citay, Bob Saggeth). Her most recent musical partner is violinist and arranger Anton Patzner of Bright Eyes and Judgement Day.

Super Adventure Club
superadventureclub.org
San Francisco experimental pop duo Super Adventure Club was convened in 2007 by producer Michael Winger (Kronos Quartet, The Shins) and session drummer Jake Wood (Diego’s Umbrella, Nya Jade) to explore pop music beyond the boundaries of genre. On their debut 2009 LP Ontz for Freshmaker Records, Wood plays drums, keyboards and sings simultaneously, while Winger plays keyboards, bass guitar and handles lead vocals. Singing in four languages, the duo shifts from Talking Heads-like indie rock to electronic
dance music and beyond. Along with tours of the West Coast and the Pacific Northwest, Super Adventure Club also tours Spain, while writing and recording a second album.


Excuses for Skipping
excusesforskipping.com
Excuses for Skipping is a post-punk quintet from San Francisco, California. Linda Moody’s soaring vocals play out against her own distinct style of sheet metal and bike frame percussion and rhythm guitar riffs. Tammy Fortin’s lead guitar stabs and Wendy Brents’ heavy bass melodies combine to create a compelling texture that commands the room within the first note.

The Moonlight Orchestra
facebook.com/TheMoonlightOrchestra
The Moonlight Orchestra orbits around a multifaceted array of musical influences that spring from a blues inferno within a psychedelic cascade and on to the chaotic senses of experimentalism and a bit of frenzy. Their music doesn’t fit a mold or heed itself to any convention but of their own that reflects a homage to their colorful musical backgrounds.

It is a pop explosion reminiscent in “Beatle-esque” lyrical sentimentality and a musical sensibility of the 90′s recessing in dreamlike sultriness that is laced in bluesy and psychedelic guitars, climactic and loud romping rhythms, paired with rich melodic piano and a folky feelin’ violin.

The band members are brothers Mehdi and Hadi on guitars and vocals, Roman on the bass and keyboards, Suchi on violin, Shana on Cello, and their newest addition TG on drums.

Birdmonster
facebook.com/birdmonster
San Francisco quartet Birdmonster are kind of like a Bay Area version of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, except that where Leo and his group have an undying devotion to first-wave new wave and ska groups like the Jam and the Specials, Birdmonster spike their Fugazi-like indie rock tunes with nods to American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and early Bruce Springsteen. Revved-up and punky rockers share space with country-inflected tunes, with singer/songwriter and guitarist Peter Arcuni’s lived-in vocals the primary point of connection. Arcuni, a native of Connecticut, formed Birdmonster in 2004 with three fellow musicians who lived in his San Francisco neighborhood: bassist Justin Tenuto, guitarist David Klein, and drummer Zach Winter. Determined to maintain complete D.I.Y. control over their band, Birdmonster released their self-titled debut EP on their own and used the proceeds both to tour the nation and to fund sessions for their full-length debut with the well-known producer Bradley Cook, who had previously worked with Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. Although the band originally self-released 2006′s No Midnight as well, the increasingly positive buzz around Birdmonster led them to sign a distribution deal with noted indie SpinArt Records, which re-released the album in August 2006. For 2008′s Americana-tinged From the Mountain to the Sea, the band switched to the Fader label this time with Tom Schick, known for his work with Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright, at the producing helm. The band supported the album on the road and released Blood Memory, also produced by Schick, the following year. The band is currently working on new material and will be dropping a single they self produced and recorded on a reel-to-reel 8-track machine this month. The song, Living, will premiere at their upcoming hometown show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco.


Kids on a Crime Spree
facebook.com/kidsonacrimespree
About a decade ago, Californian Mario Hernandez (of Ciao Bella and From Bubblegum to Sky) was sitting on a Stockholm couch, casually drinking a really good cup of coffee when a friend put on the Back to Mono box set and Hernandez’s life was forever changed. He was instantly drawn in by the excellent songwriting and lush instrumental arrangements; and what started out as an innocent side trip into the Phil Spector back catalog soon became a longtime fascination with the Brill Building and Spector’s fabled wall of sound. As time passed, he kept coming back to the idea of a simple pop song that wasn’t really that simple—a happy melody with a dark underpinning in the lyrics—and he knew that it wasn’t enough to just listen. He had to make his own version of this great stuff. Kids on a Crime Spree is the result of this obsession.

Suggies
8pm
The Suggies are a two piece indie rock project from SF. They pack a lot of high energy songs into a short, sweet set. They like to play music. They like to party. They like to play music and party.


Terry Malts
facebook.com/terrymalts
After careful, weeklong consideration, San Francisco trio Terry Malts went forth to record a debut LP as per the request of Slumberland Records. Displaying a slick, intelligent take on modern chainsaw pop, Killing Time certainly lives up to its name! Who are Terry Malts? A Yellow Pages private dick has gleaned the following: Corey Cunningham (guitar, backing vox), of Dickson, Tennessee-by-way-of-a-cardboard-box-in-Toronto, was asked to housesit in Fresno, CA. Duties fulfilled, he shot north on a graffiti trip to 924 Gilman Street and immediately bonded with fellow men’s room “artists” Phil Benson (bass guitar, lead vox) and the unfortunately named Nathan Sweatt (drums, backing vox). Hands shook, vibes exchanged; the trio felt compelled to distill their energy into a unified voice. The Terrys’ gospel is succinct, direct, sincere and timed expertly with next year’s looming apocalypse: life is hopeless, enjoy! With a live reputation that bleeds funky “punk” attitude, the trio crammed this urgency into the Terry Malts studio edition. Recorded by a machine, then expertly mixed by human being Monte Vallier (Swell, Half Church), Killing Time may compel you to type the following buzzwords into your blog (which, I love, by the way!): catchy, husky, hunky, sharp, blue-collar, rocking, hockey-rock, working-class, perfect, near-perfect, not-half-bad, and / or not-bad. It’s an album, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a 34-minute hour of pure, unadulterated Malts… all right?


Kill Moi
facebook.com/killmoi
Kill Moi is an indie-rock band based in San Francisco that was described by one local reviewer as “The Strokes meet Neil Diamond at a New Orleans funeral while reading a Murakami novel and drinking too much bourbon”. Their first full length album, “Hold Me, Motherfucker” was released on August 6th, 2011 to rave reviews. Their songs weave tales of world-weary wit mixed with infectious pop
melodies, rolling vintage rhythms, Graham Coxon via Wilco guitars, and a beautiful cushion of horns. Members are Ryan Lambert (vox, guitar), Andrew Burmester (lead guitar), Daniel Settle (bass), Aaron Hazen (drums), Laura Carpenter (trumpet), and Oz Beckers (trombone), whose collective other endeavors have included such acts as Elephone, Madelia, The Paradise Boys, Extra Action Marching Band and the Audrye Sessions. Their public performances over the last year have included appearances at Bottom of the Hill, the Red Devil Lounge, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Milk Bar with such acts as Geographer, Sioux City Kid, the Soft White Sixties, the Heavenly States, and the Silent Comedy.

Marginal Prophets
marginalprophets.com
The Marginal Prophets are a 5-piece Hip-Hop/Garage band from San Francisco that cleverly combine odd samples, funk/rock riffs, and decidedly non-traditional b-boy lyrics into a smart-alecky punk/rap mix that appeals to anyone who came of age back in the day when college radio actually mattered.

The group, comprised of vocalists Keith Knight (the Black one) and the Noble Def G (the Jewish one), bass player Adam Lodge, drummer Adam Lipsky, and guitarist Jeff Ranney, has taken their show up and down the West Coast, garnering opening slots for Spearhead, Black Eyed Peas, Fishbone, G Love & Special Sauce, Insolence, and De La Soul.

Prize
facebook.com/prizemusic
Sophia Santulli is electro-rock frontwoman and composer Prize. Shortly after earning her Master of Music at San Francisco Conservatory, she released The Split EP under this simple, irreverent moniker. Prize composes lush electro and string arrangements and in the next breath evokes the mosh pits of her youth with raucous guitars and drums. Whether traversing ethereal heights or unleashing an earthly growl, her raw, operatic voice is technically sparkling and her “emotional urgency makes for a thrilling live show” (Jon Bennett, MVRemix). Prize arranges her brand of electro-orchestral folkpunk for violin, cello, synth, drums, and guitar, and her live shows are theatrical and moody, replete with custom made black-and-white costumes and special effects.

Hot Fog
hotfog.net
Hot Fog is a San Francisco Hard Rock and Heavy Metal band born from the ashes of a slew of SF bands spanning the 90′s through the 00′s including Oranger, Film School, Hammerdown Turpentine, Pinq, Carlos!, and Preston School of Industry. This rag-tag group band of SF-rock veterans decided to get back to their roots — all they way back to their days of prepubescent bedroom rocking. They bring forth a thundering sound akin to a convergence of the “NWoBHM” sound of Iron Maiden and Priest with the speed and attitude of proto-thrash of the early 80′s a la early Metallica. Nodding to the past while rocking into the future, they deliver monster riffs, ripping leads, soaring vocals, and utterly ridiculous song titles. They bring it un-ironically and with a focus on quality song-writing and metal-rific lyrics that would make any 13 year old D&D dork beam with delight. Their live shows are sweat-soaked full-on, frontal assaults, complete with fog machines, lasers, back to back harmony guitar solos, and fans thrusting devil horns in the air as participants. They eschew the current trend of beards, tattoos, and Kyuss-tinged sludge-metal, and instead, they walk that razors edge of sincerity and fun like not many bands can.

Party Owl
partyowl.bandcamp.com
Party Owl likes to party. The San Francisco band’s live shows make drunk old ladies and hip kids alike loose their minds with their short compact songs of fuzzed out poppiness. You can hear the influence of early 90′s indie rock and 50′s rock-n-roll here imediately. Bassist Alexi Belchere holds down the minimalist rhythm, only two notes sometimes, while drummer Melissa Funk creates a Cramps-like backbeat that is infectiously danceable and surprisingly heavy. Singer/guitarist Kris Zouzoulas uses the space between these two to craft lyrics and melody lines that are at the same time sarcastic and genuine. Party Owl are currently recording new tracks for their debut L.P. which will be out in early 2012.

Naked Fiction
nakedfictionmusic.com
Naked Fiction is a 7 piece San Francisco based chamber-rock band. The group makes music that is sassy and sophisticated without preciousness or pretense; organic and natural yet polished and urbane. Think clever, artfully-arranged, hook-driven pop tunes, shaped and driven by a power trio of drums (Derrik Sakima), bass (Bob Todd), and guitar (Thomas Kenny); colored with a broad palette of violin (Yuri Kye), viola (Ivy Zenobi), and piano (Daniel Highman); and breathed into life through the seductive voice of a fetching femme-fatale (Carmen King). The separate parts combine to paint vivid pictures. The music is unequivocally sexy, dangerously so. Think Portishead, but less depressing, Andrew Bird, but with more estrogen, or Mad Men, but with less nicotine.

Lady Lazarus
Lady Lazarus is the solo project of Melissa Ann Sweat, a writer and artist from California, who started making music for the first time in 2008. What’s followed has been a wild and often wondrous trip.

Taken from the Sylvia Plath poem of the same name, Lady Lazarus began when Melissa started teaching herself keyboard, and writing and recording songs while living in San Francisco around March of ’08. About a year later she self-released her Home Recordings EP, and was motivated by the positive feedback and some press she received to continue making music. She played her first live shows in the summer of 2009, and began to play more and tour in the greater region.


Victor Krummenacher
Victor Krummenacher is an American musician and bass guitarist who is a founding member of alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. He also helped form CVB offshoots Monks of Doom and Camper Van Chadbourne and has pursued a solo career as a singer-songwriter. As a recording artist, Krummenacher has been active for more than 20 years and has appeared with numerous projects including Cracker, Fifth Business and A Great Laugh. His latest musical project is McCabe and Mrs. Miller, a new band with Alison Faith Levy, formed in 2008. 2011 saw Krummenacher continuing to work with Levy, performing a curated tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska entitled “Debts No Honest Man Can Pay”, a solo album of covers called “I Was A Nightmare But I Don’t Want To Go There” and work on the first new Camper Van Beethoven recording since 2004. Victor Krummenacher was Art Director of the San Francisco Bay Guardian and is currently a page designer for Wired Magazine as well as doing freelance design work for the likes of national clients including Platon’s “Power”, a book of portraits of world leaders photographed at the general assembly of the United Nations in 2007.


Glider

Featuring Jim Bogios, David Immergluck, Yoshi Sako, and Dan Eisenberg. Glider is the brainstorm of longtime friends and musical compadres Jim Bogios (drums-Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow, Ben Folds) and David Immergluck (guitar-Counting Crows, John Hia)

Silver Swans
facebook.com/silverswans
8pm
Silver Swans take their name from the group of super-villains in the Wonder Woman comic book series. The evil Swans have the ability to create a powerful “swan song” of sound waves using their voices that is capable of devouring a small area of land with its destructive force. By creating a low-level humming, the Silver Swan can also form a protective shield around herself to deflect bullets and other projectiles. The musical counterpart Silver Swans, however, are far from the evil and destruction of their namesake. The electro dream-pop project captures the haunting dramatics and the pure beauty of life and dreams to build a dynamic, exultant sound all their own.

They formed from the collaboration of DJ producer Jon Waters and songwriter Ann Yu. Both artists also have prolific backgrounds. Ann Yu has been in bands that have shared the stage with acts such as The Radio Dept, La Roux, Black Kids, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Mates of State, Jose Gonzales and many more. Jon has produced and DJ’d all over the world. But with all of the experience the duo decided to take a different route when it comes to creating music together. Silver Swans puts a special meaning to the idea of bedroom recordings. All tracks were recorded in late night sessions hidden under covers, in their bathrooms, and right before bed. The songs you hear are a reflection of the dreams they’ve uncovered and hope to discover.


Bad BIbles
soundcloud.com/badbibles
8:40pm
Bad Bibles emerged as a fully formed post-punk / left-field garage rock unit in March 2011. Less than a year into their musical life, Bad Bibles are generating word-of-mouth buzz for their dynamic, physical stage shows and weirdly memorable songs. Bad Bibles will be releasing their official debut EP of new material in early 2012.


The Aerosols
9:20pm
The Aerosols are a San Francisco music group who play hard candy pop for bent melody enthusiasts. When they plug in their instruments you might at first think you were hit by soft space junk, but that’s just the sound check. They delight in whooshing the audience away with their catching songs that will take you through some unexpected turns before setting you back down on your feet. The four-piece sings songs about being made in China, fake mirrors, a girl so far gone she might be back, and space-travel via chewing gum. These are ballad boppers for people who want to get up and get out. Also for those who like to smile and nod. Whoosh!

Tidelands
http://www.tidelandsmusic.com/
Tidelands is the duo of San Francisco’s Gabriel Montana Leis(Guitar, Flugelhorn, Vocals) and Mie Araki (Drums, Keyboards, Vocals). Sharp, poignant, poetic lyrics are uniquely arranged with looped guitars, Moog bass and beautiful harmonies on the duo’s debut album, If…, to be released July 26th, 2011. Taking cues from their combined multi-cultural backgrounds, Leis and Araki have created a texturally rich record that speaks to their collectively deep and unique life experiences.


Gypsy Moonlight
http://www.reverbnation.com/thegypsymoonlightband
Gypsy Moonlight Band was formed in San Francisco in late 2009 around the songwriting of singer/guitar player Jeremy Lyn Kimzey. Starting out as a mainly acoustic band, it quickly transformed over the course of a couple of lineup changes and the addition of lead guitar player/singer/songwriter Chris Guthridge, into a much fuller electric band. They joined together with drummer Shea Roberts and bass player Walker Phillips and the core lineup solidified. The addition of Eli Pearl on pedal steel, Rachel Hoiem on keys, and Tex Dworkin singing co-lead, brought all the sweetness and authenticity one needs. Together they have created a soulful, rocking, Southern-flavored sound with a vibe that is 100% California.


Slow Trucks
http://www.slowtrucks.bandcamp.com/
Does “Gimme Indie Rock” by Sebadoh make you smile? If it does (and it should), then consider Slow Trucks the next generation, rolling with this old school shit, making it their own, and ultimately making indie rock fun again. When did things get so serious? Yeah, there’s room for bands with 2/3 time-signatures, French horns and yelpy vocals, but sometimes a hook cranked through a big muff pedal, liquid bass lines and a pummeling backbeat just sounds right. 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.

Waiting Room
http://soundcloud.com/waitingroom37
Waiting Room is a three-piece chick band, coming from the native hills of San Francisco, consisting of SF natives Lauren Alves, Veronica Bush and Rose Sullivan. An indie folk rock trio that draws from the blues, punk, and jazz; the girls met through local friends, Trainwreck Riders and The Dead Westerns. Lauren Alves has been playing paradiddles on her Dad’s drum set since she was five years old, and has been playing bass for some 15 plus years. She has also worked as a pit musician, and plays bass, guitar, and vocals in the band. Veronica Bush plays rhythmic banjo and vocals, and Rose Sullivan plays lo-fi drums. Both Alves and Bush write songs, making their music very collaborative and heartfelt. Some of their influences include Mazzy Star, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, Neutral Milk Hotel, Abner Jay, and Otis Redding.


The SHE’S
Sonicbids
The SHE’S are four natives of San Francisco who grew up as best friends in a city brimming with music. Inspired by their surroundings, each other, boredom and surfer boys, they began writing and performing their own brand of west-coast-garage-pop. They have played with touring bands such as GIRLS, The Morning Benders, Magic Kids, and Dominant Legs.

Caught in Motion
caughtinmotion.net
CIM was born 2008, upon the creation of its debut album “On The Edge of a Dream”. It was the culmination of Winn’s decision to discontinue college and instead record a record. He was joined by recent Oberlin graduate and longtime musical partner/childhood friend Sam Krulewitch in his Santa Barbara hills home, where much to the dismay of their roommates the two spent eight months writing and recording their debut together. After recording “Dream” and feeling limited in the small city of Santa Barbara the two moved back home with their parents in Portland. Winn recruited a full band to bring the record alive and made a go at the local Portland scene in 2008/2009. Playing anywhere and everywhere they could, touring the west coast, but still feeling stagnate due day job commitments and band troubles, in a time where Krulewitch was secretly struggling with alcoholism. In spring 2009 Krulewitch checked himself into rehabilitation and Winn found himself without a band, writing partner, purpose or direction. Such events inspired and left Winn no choice but to find a way out of Portland. He recruited two new members from California including ex disgruntled roommate Rob Moreno and current drummer Graham Roggli and took CIM on a nationwide 43 day 41 show tour that saw them playing just about every major city in the country.

Family Crest
http://www.thefamilycrestfamily.com/

The Family Crest began as a collaborative recording project in 2008 with a vision to change the way music is made. Gathering friends, fans, musicians, and non-musicians alike, the group began to record an album in bars, churches, streets, and other unconventional locations. Their collaborative approach to music making quickly grew steam, evolving by February 2010 into a fully-formed orchestral indie rock band with over two hundred and fifty ‘Extended Family Members’ participating in recordings, live performances, and media projects.
Fusing rock, jazz, folk and classical genres, the band’s rich, epic sound has been compared to Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, and Beirut. MadeLoud.com proclaims, “the music they make is sweeping, wall-of-sound indie rock that alludes to fellow strings-adorned bands like Tindersticks and Arcade Fire, but The Family Crest establishes their own Left Coast identity, nodding to ’60s San Francisco Baroque pop and timeless folk-rock, as well. This is lush and intricate music, demanding the breadth of a full-length release.” The San Francisco Chronicle says, “while vying to collect more musicians onstage than the Decemberists or Arcade Fire, The Family Crest harbors an affection for Burt Bacharach-style swingin’ romanticism that is sure to impress lovers of classical pop.” According to The Bay Bridged, “they take their earnest, anthemic cue from The Arcade Fire, but the presence of so many string and wind instruments and the talents of frontman Liam McCormick put them on a unique frequency.”

I, The Mighty
8:40pm
Since their 2007 inception, I The Mighty has melded together effortlessly and has already compiled an impressive following of support on the west coast, seeing regular rotation on local modern rock station Live 105 and sharing stages with the likes of Hawthorne Heights, There For Tomorrow, Deftones and more. Listeners will certainly feel the intense emotions of the ambitious and captivating EP, which was produced by Erik Ron [Panic! At The Disco, VersaEmerge, Foxy Shazam]. The album features six sweeping tracks filled with soaring vocals, catchy hooks, charging guitars and an explosive instrumentations that make for a mesmerizing whirlwind of cinematic soundscapes.

Dear Indugu
dearindugu.com
9:20pm
The four piece acoustic/electric indie-rock band, Dear Indugu, began in 2005 as the solo project of singer-songwriter Jesse Strickman. While playing in two punk bands at the time, he launched the new acoustic project with the aim of giving his previously private acoustic songs the spotlight he felt they deserved. The name, Dear Indugu, is inspired by the film ‘About Schmidt’ and is a metaphor for the communication of one’s innermost feelings to complete strangers. The Group performs frequently in the Bay Area and has toured California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada, playing everywhere from intimate nightclubs and coffee shops to college campuses and outdoor music festivals. Their music ranges from intimate folk solo songs to powerful full band indie rock. With thoughtful lyrics, versatile instrumentation, and a firm commitment to originality and musicianship, the Bay Area based band creates a unique and dynamic sound that continues to inspire listeners. They are currently recording their debut album.

The Pleasure Kills
8pm
The Pleasure Kills started playing their signature combination of powerpop, new wave and punk in 2007. After three singles and two national tours in 2008 and 2009, they released the “Bring Me A Match” album in 2010 to critical acclaim and accompanied it with a six week national tour.
Their music evokes the 80s and is delivered through a mixture of catchy hooks, meticulous songcraft, and Lydiot’s superstar vocals. With razor-sharp guitar work, bubblegum keyboards, and driving uptempo beats, the sound is unabashedly fun! Blondie is the reference most frequently cited by reviewers along with touchstones like Nikki And The Corvettes, Josie Cotton, The Shivvers, and the “Valley Girl” soundtrack. While The Pleasure Kills’ music seems instantly familiar, attempts to nail down a genre reveal the uniqueness of the sound.
On the recordings, the songs are pop-perfect and lushly produced. But a toughness and grit underlie the sweetness, and when played live by the band they crackle with a punk intensity. There’s an obvious reverence for the art of timeless pop songs coupled with a conflicting desire to tear them apart.


Zodiac Death Valley
8:40pm
Producing simultaneously moody and sexy psychedelic rock, the Bay Area based ZODIAC DEATH VALLEY might sound like KINGS OF LEON had they been raised by Satanists as opposed to a traveling preacher. and what a superb time to be labeled as such. With every major music magazine Chicken Littling the epoch of a new psychedelic movement in rock (led by bands like MGMT, DEERHUNTER & ANIMAL COLLECTIVE)
ZDV offer a more straightforward and referenced take on their forbear’s vintage Haight-Ashbury sounds. That’s not to say they’re all hippie dippie and asking Alice when she was ten feet tall. With Nathan Ricker’s organ playing and frontman Nic Abodeely’s morose musings on tracks like “Methadone Mambo” and Whiskey Won’t Tell,” their mood is much more akin to The Doors or pre Darkside” Pink Floyd . Whether they are pigeonholed or not Zodiac Death Valley seem content that this is the final dusk for the Age of Aquarius. And like the serial killer they’re named after their music seems ready to pounce.

Planet Booty
http://www.planetbooty.org
Planet Booty is a force to be reckoned with. Having started as a genredefying concept album by brothers Nathan and Dylan Germick that blends electropop, sci-fi synths, space funk and booty bass, the project has evolved into a live show of epic proportions. The 6-piece ensemble fuses electronics, drums, percussion, horns, marimba, guitars, and soulful singing (with a splash of choreography and theatrics) to create a hyper-charged and highly entertaining dance friendly experience.


Please Do Not Fight
http://www.pleasedonotfight.com
Zen grew up in the suburbs. The suburbs of England, the suburbs of Connecticut, the suburbs of France, the suburbs of Illinois and finally the suburbs of San Francisco, California. With so much moving he clung to his friendships and it was amongst these friends in a garage in those suburbs that he fell in love with music. Influenced by the likes of The Weakerthans and The Get Up Kids he began writing power-pop infused indie rock tunes almost immediately. When it came time to begin Please Do Not Fight he turned to, not only the most talented musicians, but the very best people he knew for help. That has colored the bands mission statement since day one and while the line up may change Please Do Not Fight remains a collection of the very best people Zen knows playing the music they love. This fall sees the release of four news tracks as Part One of a trilogy of albums collectively titled ‘pastpresentfuture’. The band is currently comprised of Geoff McCann on lead guitar, Kyle Albery on drums and vocals and Chris Carmichael on bass and vocals. They will be headlining a CD release show at Bottom Of The Hill in their hometown of San Francisco on October 28th before embarking on shows up and down the west coast.


Fake Your Own Death
facebook.com/fakeyourowndeath
Described as literary, brutal and infectious, FYOD has been compared to bands like The National, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth and Interpol by both local and national press. The band is staples on Bagel Radio, Mutiny Radio, Soma FM, Radio Valencia and KUSF. FYOD has played several sold out shows as main support for Hockey, The Warlocks, You Say Party We Say Die, Admiral Radley at the Noise Pop Festival, Film School, White Denim as well as The Trail of the Dead at SXSW. Fake Your Own Death is comprised of Terry Ashkinos on vocals and guitar, Rob Easson on guitar, Dan Francisco on drums, Joey Fredrick on bass and Meredith Weems on keys.