Pop music has changed a lot in the last 60 years, but there’s still something to be said for that little thing called melody. With an ear for the classics, South Bay power-pop group David Brookings and the Average Lookings have a knack for matching soaring melodies to jangly AM chord progressions. Hefty doses of sunshine and surf spray waft off Scorpio Monologue, their second album, which comes out the same day as their release show at Art Boutiki. A little bit Beatles, and a little bit Big Star, Scorpio Monologue is all about the enduring power of a great melody.

David Brookings
Fri, 7:30pm, $10
Art Boutiki, San Jose

South Bay pop rock fixture David Brookings is getting the band back together. After playing a number of local shows on his own, Brookings is taking the stage with his backing band—The Average Lookings—for the first time in more than half a year. The show comes on the heels of the band’s overseas success: a best-of compilation released by the Spanish label You Are the Cosmos, which Brookings says significantly bumped up his streaming numbers in Spain, France and the U.K. Brookings and Co. will be joined by San Francisco band Trip Wire and San Jose-based Socorra. (YK)

David Brookings
Sat, 8pm, $10
Art Boutiki, San Jose

San Jose musicians will get to show off their knowledge of the Fab Four while contributing to a good cause with this Beatles tribute event. Local bands David Brookings and the Average Lookings, Bird and Willow, and Vudaje will be joined by a slew of other performers as they cover everything from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road. A portion of the show’s proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey. And just in case “All You Need is Love” comes on and you’re feeling compassionate they will have other ways to donate on site.

SJ Presents: The Beatles
Sat, 8pm, $20
Forager, San Jose

Generations before the fantastical cast of characters from the Harry Potter series captured the imagination of America, the British were worming their way into our collective consciousness through rock & roll. From The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks on to Oasis, Blur and Pulp, our allies across the pond have been exporting amazing tunes for more than half a century. Few appreciate these blokes more than Silicon Valley songwriter David Brookings, who will perform a set of Britpop covers before an outdoor screening of Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone on Saturday night.

David Brookings
Sat, 7pm, Free
St. James Park, San Jose

The SoFA Street Fair returns to San Jose’s South First Street arts, culture and nightlife district this Sunday for a day of music, food, beer, art and much more. It marks the fourth such event since festival organizer Fil Maresca brought the party back to life in 2014 after more than a 10-year hiatus.

As has been the case with the past three fall SoFA Street Fairs—and 2016’s inaugural spring event—the focus will be on local bands. However, Maresca says, there is another focus he and his team have been devoting energy to this year: keeping SoFA Street Fair free and putting a little cash in the pockets of local artists.

“All the bands have always done SoFA Street Fair for free,” Maresca explains of the event he began back in in 1991. The festival remained free until 1995, but began charging a $5 cover from 1996 until 2001 to help cover the costs of running the show.

“We want to avoid that this time around,” Maresca says.

In order to avoid charging folks at the gate, the SoFA Street Fair team have turned to the Silicon Valley virtual payment firm Square and their product “Square Cash,” which, like Venmo and other similar apps allows friends to transfer money wirelessly to one another for free.

This year’s SoFA Street Fair will be giving each band what Maresca is calling a “virtual tip jar.” So far 87 are slated to play on 16 stages, and every one of those bands will be assigned a “cashtag”—like a Twitter hashtag, only with a dollar sign preceding the band’s name, rather than a pound symbol.

“I’m really pleased with it,” Maresca says of the system, explaining that at each stage, a band’s cashtag will be displayed. Attendees who have downloaded the Square Cash app, can then use a given band’s cashtag to tip them. Minimum tips are $2, and one dollar from every tip goes to the SoFA Street Fair. The rest goes to the band.

So, for example, Maresca explains, if someone donates $20 to a band, that group will get $20 and the festival will get $1.

This year’s festivities feature four outdoor stages—two for live music, with bands performing staggered set times so attendees don’t have to choose one act over another; one DJ stage, wedged between The Ritz and The Studio rock climbing gym; and, of course, the crowd-pleasing UGWA wrestling ring.

Some highlights of this year’s musical performers include David Brookings and the Average Lookings, who recently released an excellent self-titled LP. They play on the William Street Stage at 2pm. San Jose blues metal quartet ZED, who also recently released an excellent LP, Trouble in Eden, will also take the William Street Stage at 5:30pm, followed by ascendant alt-rock band Citabria at 6:30pm, and then rock-soul-funk sextet Sweet HayaH headlines the stage at 8pm.

Other clubs in town will be getting in on the action as well. Craft cocktail bar Haberdasher will host Mark Arroyo jazzy rock trio at 5:30pm; and at 7:30pm Cafe Stritch will host psychedelic garage rockers The Gentle Cycle—led by local psych-rock celeb Derek See of The Careless Hearts, and, more recently, The Chocolate Watchband.

Scene veteran Chris Landon will perform at the SoFA Market at 3pm and Uproar, a new music and art space taking over the former space occupied by Zero1 will be hosting Wax Moon at 3pm, Mitchell Lujan at 6:30pm and Bird and Willow at 7:30pm.

As for art, The Exhibition District—the local non-profit responsible for putting up large-scale murals all over downtown San Jose, including their most recent piece on the side of Hotel De Anza. Exhibition District leader Erin Salazar was recently profiled in Metro’s Fall Arts issue.

SoFA Street Fair
Sep 11, 2pm, Free
South First Street, San Jose

The SoFA Street Fair is returning for its second straight year since awakening from its decade-long hibernation last September. The Fair’s original reign, which lasted from 1992 until 2001, bookended one of the most exciting eras in the history of downtown San Jose—at least for fans of alternative art, music and culture.

It was a time when the South First Street Area arts district—SoFA—was thriving. The street was home to a glut of music venues, including Marsugi’s, the Cactus Club, F/X and Ajax. Nirvana, Helmet, Sublime, Green Day and No Doubt all played shows in the SoFA district.

But then the dotcom bubble burst, the Twin Towers fell and the SoFA district went into a decline—along with the rest of the country and downtown San Jose. Fil Maresca, organizer of the SoFA Street Fair, turned his attention to different ventures, but he never gave up on the district; he’s always kept an office in downtown San Jose.

Last year, seeing the effects of Silicon Valley’s second big tech boom—the new restaurants, bars and young professionals filling up the newly built apartment towers—Maresca felt that the time was right to “reupholster” his beloved SoFA Street Fair.

His instincts were spot on. With veteran ska-punks Fishbone headlining, and more than 50 local and national acts supporting, the festival was a success—drawing large crowds and garnering favorable press from a number of local outlets.

This Sunday, the festival returns with more than 70 bands performing on three outdoor stages and scattered at 13 venues around town. That’s a lot of music—literally more than any one person could hope to listen to on a given day.

Don’t let #FOMO send you into a tailspin. We’re here to help. Here is our list of six can’t-miss acts at the SoFA Street Fair. Follow this to the letter, enjoy your beer and the total absence of needing to make any kind of decision.

Belle Noire, San Jose
This local quintet is recommended if you like Dredg and Saosin. With echoing guitars, punchy bass lines and heavy breakdowns, Belle Noire expertly navigates a Bermuda triangle of saccharine sweet melody, lush and ambient atmospherics, and powerful riffs.

Cemetery Sun, Sacramento
Hailing from our state’s capital, Cemetery Sun are aptly named, as they find the sweet spot between dark lyricism and sunny vibes—kinda like a bad trip on a beautiful beach. Their current single, “(Hard Drugs) Fake Love,” is reminiscent of The Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather” in the verse before breaking into a Receiving End of Sirens-esque wall-of-sound chorus.

Citabria, San Jose
After taking a few years off to let intra-band tensions cool down, Citabria have returned with a blazing-hot mashup of psych-soul and alt-rock. They recently brought down the house at The Ritz, where they performed most of their excellent new album, Exit Reality. Key track, “The Animal,” absolutely rips with its stuttering, Moog bass line, soaring vocal harmonies and jet-plane guitars.

David Brookings, San Jose
He’s been playing music for 25 years, recorded three full-length records at the world-famous Sun Studios in Memphis, and he has more than 130,000 views on YouTube. How have you not heard of this dude? Hey! Don’t stress. That’s what this guide is all about, remember? Brookings—and his band, the cleverly titled “Average Lookings”—play feel good, catchy rock songs. His 2010 album, The Maze, is a collection of 11 compact and jangly pop gems about everyday life.

Jonny Manak and the Depressives, San Jose
You might say that the Manaks are a musical family. Jonny’s brother, Chris, is also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, the founder of Stones Throw Records. But where PBW is an expert on the ones and twos, Jonny is a punk rock pro—penning lightning-bolt blasts about drinking beer, eating pizza and skateboarding. You’ve likely heard his work on MTV, even if you don’t realize it, as he writes many of the gritty punk-rock tunes used in various Dickhouse productions. Yep, those are the Jackass guys.

Talkie, San Francisco
Their Facebook page says they are from San Francisco, but we know they’re really a bunch of South Bay—or Southeast Bay—boys. Founded in Fremont, Talkie play a jangling and bouncy brand of indie pop.

The SoFA Street Fair is this Sunday, Sept. 13, from 2pm to 10pm. More info.

He’s been playing music for 25 years, recorded three full-length records at the world-famous Sun Studios in Memphis, and he has more than 130,000 views on YouTube. Still, David Brookings is far from a household name. But he’s cool with that.

“I’m not famous, but that doesn’t mean people haven’t bought the albums, and it doesn’t mean people don’t go, ‘Hey man, that’s a great song,’” Brookings says. “I don’t think anybody should be doing this to be famous, and I’m certainly not.”

Brookings, who will play a semi-unplugged set with his pop-rock band The Average Lookings at Streetlight Records in San Jose this Saturday, says he didn’t set out to be a superstar. Growing up in Richmond, Va., he began writing songs when he was 10 years old. Back then, he says, he never thought about whether his music would make him a star: “I always said I would do this whether I was famous or not.”

He moved to Memphis in his 20s to pursue music and ultimately landed a job working as a tour guide at Sun Studios. Brookings was allowed to record there after hours and he cut three of his six albums in the same room where Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley recorded some of the greatest pop music of the 20th century. He moved to the South Bay in 2009.

For the 35-year-old San Jose transplant, music is a passion. He made that quite clear with the series of YouTube postings he made from July of 2010 to February of 2011, in which Brookings posted cover versions of all 209 Beatles songs in 209 consecutive days.

He says he did it in part to draw people to his original material. But Brookings is also a huge Beatles fan and watching him perform the entirety of the Fab Four’s catalog it is plain that he just enjoys singing a good pop song.

In fact, perhaps the only thing he enjoys more than playing a catchy tune is writing one. It’s fitting then that Brookings would be so proud of his latest release, 2013’s The Maze. Comprising 11 compact and jangling gems, The Maze, is a veritable clinic in pop songwriting.

Shimmering guitars crisscross over a bouncing bass line and straight-to-the-point drumming on album opener “If I Don’t Make It Back,” a Strokes-ish number about the ever-present specter of mortality that looms over day-to-day life. At first blush, this sounds like a dark topic, but in reality it’s a meditation on the triumph of life. “If I don’t make it back/it’s gonna be all right,” Brookings sings along with a sweet vocal harmony. “It’s gonna take some time/but you’ll make it through the night.”

David Brookings and The Average Lookings will play an in-store performance at Streetlight Records in San Jose on Dec 13 at 2pm. More info.

YEAR-END LISTS typically hew to the comfy round number 10. And although Top 10 has a ring to it, Silicon Valley’s melting pot of musical talent fused genres, collaborated, innovated and turned out so many great LPs and EPs this year that it became a nearly impossible task to narrow it down to even the Top 15 releases, so we squeezed one more pick for a favorite 16. Here, in no particular order, are some of 2013’s best local releases.

The Bangerz: PRiSM
PriSM, the Bangerz’ second soundtrack LP for the Jabbawockeez Las Vegas stage show, showcases the crew going deeper into some amazing futuristic soundscapes. The crew has always straddled a line between throwback hip-hop and cutting edge electro-jams, but it’s all forward thinking with this release. In a sign of the times—as the line between EDM and hip-hop continues to blur—there’s a healthy dose of dubstep influence on this record, as well.

Rebelskamp: The Kill
Going into a recording studio without any written material doesn’t sound like a winning formula for an album, yet Rebelskamp produced a remarkable LP this year. They’ve gotten so good at improvisation that they don’t sound like they’re inventing the music on the spot. Yet, the spontaneity of such a freeform formula remains intact. These songs go any and everywhere, drifting through funk riffs, psychedelic space jams and crazy free-jazz. A highlight is “The Rebel,” with local rapper Dirtbag Dan freestyling a couple verses.

Philthy Dronez: Wepa Life
Up until recently, Matt Gonzales was known mostly as the go-to guitarist for local bands. (Anya and the Getdown, Raul y Mexia, Chris Reed—to name a few). Now the world gets a taste of his solo project: producing Latin-infused electro-beats under his alter-ego, Philthy Dronez. His debut EP, Wepa Life, was released on Global Bass Experience a few months back. It’s a short EP, about 15 minutes, but it’s bumpin’. It centers on the emerging new-cumbia sound, but also veers into electronic and hip-hop territory, and even some old-school cumbia.

Boboso: Grown Ass Man
There are three things Boboso raps about: food, cats and his love for the female derriere—often within the same song. Yet, he’s not exactly a comedy rapper. He can really rhyme. Plus, his production skills are top-notch: classic West Coast beats with surreal twists. The Beach Boys sample on “That Breathe In, Breathe Out Shit” is a particular highlight. Jeff Rosenstock from Brooklyn punk band Bomb the Music Industry also lays down an impressive verse on “Sartorial Panache.”

Careless Hearts: Alum Rock
Alum Rock isn’t just the latest album by Careless Hearts; it’s the culmination of five years of life-changing events. They started out a laidback Americana group, but since 2008’s Heart’s Delight, they’ve gone through some major lineup changes and played a life-changing show with punk legend, Stooges guitarist James Williamson. It shows in the roots-rock, power-pop songwriting on Alum Rock. The release rocks harder, louder and with more passion than their first two albums.

Antwon: In Dark Denim
In Dark Denim isn’t as accessible as Antwon’s prior work and takes the San Jose rapper in a new direction. His beats are grimier, the samples are darker and the lyrics are dirtier than ever. “Work 4 Me,” with its down-and-dirty hip-shaking beat and raunchy lyrics, sounds like he’s seducing the listener. All the while, Antwon’s fanbase continues to grow, with a successful run at SXSW, an appearance at Treasure Island Music Festival and two national tours during the last year.

The Albert Square: How’s Everybody’s Doings?
Last year, Sim Castro reformed his punk rock outfit the Albert Square. The songwriting is much in the same vein, subtly nuanced ’80s and ’90s post-punk-inspired, but the band’s performances are far more unhinged—a good thing. Their newfound spastic energy complements Castro’s reflective songwriting quite well. However, the strongest song, “(Proud) Parents,” is oddly the most reserved track on the EP.

The Limousines: Hush
It’s been a couple years since synth-pop duo the Limousines released their brilliant debut, Get Sharp. Despite all the views they were getting on YouTube and radio play they received, they had major problems to sort out with their label, but Hush was worth the wait: Its synth beats are dancier, the production is more refined and in place of their signature clever nihilism, Hush offers lyrics that are raw and honest. Hush was made with funds from a Kickstarter campaign that sought $30,000 but ended up raising $75,000.

Dinners: Black Rabbits
If such a thing as a San Jose “supergroup” exists, Dinners might be that band, featuring members from Worker Bee and Doctor Nurse. Dinners go into a different direction than either Worker Bee (moody indie rock) or Doctor Nurse (psychedelic folk) with lo-fi noise-pop and a heavy dose of Guided By Voices influence. At first listen, Black Rabbits sounds like the kind of four-track recording popular with ’90s indie bands, but it’s actually a quite meticulously, thoughtfully crafted album. The cover art is amazing, too.

Rey Resurreccion, M-10, Locsta Villan: First Street Sessions
Some of rapper Rey Resurreccion’s finest works are collaborations. Last year, he worked with the Bangerz to make some killer old school hip-hop tunes. This year, he got together with emcees M-10 and Locsta Villan and created the 1st Street Sessions. Together the trio has produced eight laid-back, dreamy hip-hop songs that should be on urban stations all across the country.

Raul y Mexia: Arriba y Lejos
Brothers Raul y Mexia released a fun, passionate Spanish-language album this year on Nacional Records, the current leaders of cutting-edge Latin music. Arriba y Lejos combines elements of cumbia and other traditional Latin sounds with hip-hop and electronica. The duo, who are sons of Hernán Hernández, bassist of famous Norteño band Los Tigres del Norte, has created something that both pays tribute to classic Latin music, like their father created, and all the newer American music they grew up with here in San Jose.

Sean Blak: #Basslife
Sean Blak books live hip-hop shows, puts on battle-rap events and holds a weekly Tuesday night residency, “the Trap Shop” at Johnny V’s. He’s also a prolific rapper, with a ton of lo-fi, surreal homemade hip-hop records online. His best this year is the LP #Basslife. On it, he takes some of the strangest, most intimate beats and makes them sound like outrageous club bangers.

Slime Girls: Vacation Wasteland
By the time Slime Girls came together, the chiptune scene was already well-established. Yet they’ve still been able to find their own sound within it, taking all the old Nintendo chip Gameboy sounds and mixing them with surf, punk and ska. Their latest EP, Vacation Wasteland, is a seriously fun collection of instrumental chip-rock tunes. It was originally pressed on cassette because they’re that into old technology.

David Brookings: The Maze
The Maze is David Brookings’ sixth full-length album since 2000, yet he’s still working on building his fanbase in the Bay Area. He moved to Northern California from the Memphis by way of Richmond, Virginia, in 2009, and produced his five albums before heading West. The Maze, like its five predecessors, brings together ’60s psychedelic-rock and ’80s New Wave.

Derek See: She Came This Way
The title track to Derek See’s She Came This Way is an amazing psychedelic-pop gem. At first, See, who normally plays guitar in soul group the Bang, recorded it, along with a couple other tunes, just for fun. It was good enough for an indie label to offer to release it, and they even ran out of the first pressing. It’s the kind of song that, had it been written in 1967, would have been a Summer of Love FM hit, no doubt.

Noothgrush: Split LP with Coffins
Back in the ’90s, sludge metal group Noothgrush were a pretty big deal. Along with Sleep and a few other bands, San Jose boasted a strong doom metal scene. Noothgrush just recently reformed, and they also just released a split record with Japanese metal band Coffins. The third track, “Thoth” is particularly special, as it contains spoken clips from the late, great, much beloved KFJC DJ, Cy Thoth, who died earlier this year.

Monkey may very well be San Jose’s longest running, consistently-active band. The band emerged in 1995, but unlike a lot of Monkey’s contemporaries, it never mixed punk rock and ska. Monkey always stuck strictly to the traditional more R&B-based sounds of ska’s first wave.

We caught up with Curtis Meacham (vocals/guitar) to ask him about the side of San Jose he knows best.

What part of Silicon Valley are you from?

Originally, I grew up in Sunnyvale, but I’ve lived in Downtown San Jose a couple of times and it’s always been a blast. There is actually a lot of community feel that can be experienced in San Jose on different levels. In a way, it’s always entertaining.

What’s your favorite place outside of San Jose?

Well, I like Telluride, Colo., for the beauty, Victoria, BC, for the people, and Belgium for the amazing food! Right now, I live in Campbell and it’s pretty cool… only, not as cool as Belgium.

What’s the best show you’ve seen in San Jose?

Easily, Prince at the Shark Tank a couple of years back. He came twice in the summer and I caught both shows—absolutely amazing. Aside from that, there’s the crazy Cactus Club shows, like the Twinkie fight during Big Sissy Brigade’s show, or the on-stage beer enema during the Diesel Queens.

Who’s your favorite local musician or band?

There’s a lot of really cool talent in San Jose. For fun factor, there’s always FTB. For good songwriting, there’s David Brookings. For ass-kickin’ guitars, there’s the Gillbillies.

Where’s your favorite place to get a drink in San Jose?

The Cinebar is always the cheapest, but aside from that, I always visit Rachel and her band of merry men, down at the Caravan.

Where’s a cool spot to get clothes?

Working Man’s Emporium. You can get some cool Dickies, Carhartt and Ben Davis there.

What’s your favorite spot for a cheap meal?

Any Vietnamese restaurant—and I do mean amy! Seriously, how can you make such a rockin’ sandwich for $3? it boggles the mind.

What’s the best thing about living in Silicon Valley?

It’s close to everything: 30 minutes from the beach, 40 minutes from SF and three hours from serious mountains.

Where’s the best place in SJ to go relax?

The back room at Trials pub. It’s low key and there’s a fireplace. How much more relaxing can you get?

Where’s the best place to see a show in San Jose?

Believe it or not, it’s the X Bar at the Homestead Lanes in Cupertino! Hands down. But then you say: “Hey, that’s not in San Jose, proper” …and to that, I say “Suck it Trebek!”

What’s San Jose’s best kept secret?

That damn orange sauce.