by
Aaron Carnes on May 5, 2021
It was June 28, 1992, and my friends and I were at the nightclub One Step Beyond in Santa Clara, where the foul odor of booze and vomit wafted through the muggy, pressure-cooked air. We’d danced through four bands already, including a young, awkward, and poorly dressed Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. Now it was…
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For Sanae Yamada—keyboardists and one half of psychedelic rockers Moon Duo— the most surreal aspect of relocating from the Bay Area to Portland a few years back was the difference in seasons. Portland’s were pronounced, but she had barely noticed the cyclical shifts in San Francisco. Over time, her memories of Northern…
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For six years, Kevin Martinez slaved over his Nintendo Entertainment System and Gameboy. Chopping up the buzzes, bleeps and bloops, and painstakingly pasting them together with crunchy explosions, cooing laser beam blasts and sawtooth synths until he had something entirely new.
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Fifteen seconds into Hard Girls’ newest album, A Thousand Surfaces, the band explodes with more power and ferocity than anything you’ll find on any of the San Jose group’s previous recordings. It’s the kind of agitated, visceral energy missing from a lot of punk rock these days.
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Despite some dazzling math rock chops, and a growing fanbase, local singer, songwriter and guitarist Yvette Young is still green when it comes to playing in a band. Her new math-prog rock group, Covet, makes their South Bay debut this Saturday at Homestead Bowl, playing their second show ever.
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As a teenager, Rafael Reyes had to hide his love of dark, brooding bands like Christian Death and Joy Division, but not because he had overbearing parents worried that such music would warp their child. His story is a little different. He had to listen on the downlow because he was a…
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Many bands plug away for years, playing house parties, clubs and smaller halls before they ever reach a stage inside an arena, assuming they even reach such a stage at all. But the South Bay-bred indie-blues-rock group Fritz Montana were fortunate enough to play at Oracle Arena in Oakland—on their fourth show.…
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It can be hard to believe now, but two decades ago ska had a pretty big moment. It was a time before Gwen Stefani’s solo debut and Bradley Nowell’s overdose, when alternative radio stations were spinning bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and Less Than Jake with regularity. And…
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There are two important facts to understand about Blue Dream, the latest solo album from Orenda Fink, half of Alabama dream-pop duo Azure Ray. First, the songs were inspired by the devastating experience of her dog passing away. Secondly, although it might seem contradictory, it’s probably the most joyful, hopeful album she’s ever…
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Even the guy who organized the forthcoming Electronic Sriracha Festival, slated to take place Labor Day Weekend in San Jose’s St. James Park, isn’t exactly sure why he decided to pair the the popular hot sauce with electronic dance music, or, in the parlance of our times, EDM.
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