This writer is utterly devastated to realize that early 2010s music has now come around for its time in the nostalgia spotlight. The once forward-thinking jams of MGMT, STRFKR, Foster the People and alt-J now bring listeners back to a simpler time, when one could dance with friends and do crazy things like “leave the house without getting sick.” The glistening synths, bright guitars, slinky rhythms and carefree lyricism of the time are now a tonic to the low morale that has become our norm—but an electric torch burns on at The Ritz this Thursday.

Electric Feels
Thu, 9pm, $20
The Ritz, San Jose

James Fenwicke, former multi-instrumentalist for The Mumlers, is coming home for the holidays—and he is bringing the gift of new music with him.
Fenwicke—or JF, as he prefers to be called—is returning to his native San Jose from New Orleans, where he recently moved to pursue a degree in the field of audiology at Louisiana State University.

In the wake of The Mumlers’ disbandment, JF started his own project, which he dubbed Plantain. It is an appropriate moniker. Similar to the island climes where his band’s namesake grows, JF’s tunes are plodding and breezy, like a day at the beach—a super bummed-out beach, that is.

His debut LP, released in 2012, is titled Fall of a Candy Empire, and it sounds at times very much like the soundtrack to a gloomy day spent at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Album opener, “Pale Shade Of Blue,” mixes sad horns, a seasick and churning organ, and washes of reverberant guitar strokes into a melancholic base for a tale about a relationship that just isn’t working out.

“So, let’s pick our battles and not pick our wounds,” he sings in his yearning, reedy voice. It’s easy to imagine the scene: a pair of disenchanted lovers, sitting on a cold bench, the biting ocean breeze weaving in and out of the words as a rickety merry-go-round whirls.

One can hear that JF was taking notes during his time with the Mumlers. That band’s frontman, Will Sprott, was—and remains today, as a solo artist—a master of spinning tales of woeful resignation over wind-and-brass-accented indie rock.

JF was in the group from its formation, around 2005, until its dissolution around 2011, and he will be the first to admit that Sprott and The Mumlers have had a lasting impact on his music.

“Being in that band inspired the way I write songs,” he says. “I’ve always liked Will’s songwriting.”

The Plantain frontman and songwriter also credits the time he spent in The Mumlers for sharpening his abilities as an arranger—a skill that can be heard quite clearly on Candy Empire, as various wind and brass instruments weave in and out of the compositions effortlessly.

But JF and the music of Plantain is much more than a continuation of The Mumlers. For starters, the time JF has spent in New Orleans has rubbed off on him.

“It’s great to be in that city,” he says. “There are just so many interesting places to go. There is a whole lot going on, both musically and culturally.” In particular, he’s been inspired by the city’s rich history of brass music.

“It’s opened my eyes to what it would sound like if you had a really big brass band,” JF says, referring to the large brass ensembles he’s encountered walking around the French Quarter. “And if everybody is just playing super loud.”

When he and the rest of Plantain take the stage at The Caravan on Dec. 23, they’ll be playing music from their forthcoming album, which JF says is basically finished—“I’m just waiting on mastering and pressing.” The new record will be more boisterous than anything Plantain has done in the past, he says.
“This one, I think, sounds more rocking,” JF says. “I enjoy listening to this album. I think it’s a fun album. It’s more leisurely.”

However, JF is hesitant to say there is a direct line to be traced between his move to New Orleans and his new record’s energy level. After all, much of the material was written before he left for The South. And besides, he says, “I grew up [in San Jose]. There are lots of memories.”

Fenwicke’s band will be joined at The Caravan by another Big Easy band, Hawn, as well as San Jose doom folk duo, Oddly Even.

Plantain plays on Dec 23, 10pm, Free at The Caravan Lounge, San Jose.

Brothers Damien and Eric Wendel are harnessing the power of YouTube to promote San Jose’s music scene with a new online series called “Different Spaces.”

For the last year and a half, they’ve been recording videos of San Jose bands in the space above Café Stritch. The videos are shot with multiple cameras, with professional audio capturing the live performances with no overdubs.

“San Jose has good bands that people don’t hear about,” says Damien. “These good bands don’t get a lot of exposure partly because they are from San Jose. The SJ music scene is disparate and divided. We hoped that making these videos would help spotlight the talented bands that are making music here and would help them connect to different fan bases as the styles and geographic locations of the bands that are a part of Different Spaces change.”

Ironically, the name “Different Spaces” references what they thought would be a primary element of the videos—that they would shoot each video in a different location. But thanks to Maxwell Borkenhagen, co-owner of Café Stritch, they were able to do many recordings in the former home of SoFa Lounge, which was at the time simply collecting dust. But now that Café Stritch is open, that space is no longer available, and they have to return to their original concept of filming bands in different locations. They have also moved away from the original idea of only filming San Jose bands, though locals will always be a highlight.

Some of the bands they’ve shot videos of include the Record Winter, Amonie, Breathing Patterns, and Ugly Winner.

Local indie roots rockers Northern Son haven’t been that active these past couple of years. But now with the new year, they’re ready to play more shows, write new songs, and hopefully record a new album. We talked with lead singer/guitarist Jeff Carmassi about what 2013 has in store for them.

In the first couple years of your band existence (2009 and 2010), you guys played a lot of shows and released a full length, an ep, and three music videos, and even got a fair amount of attention. Why have the last couple of years been so lean?

The last couple years for Northern Son have been a time of transition and personal growth. When we first started this band there was a solid group of five extremely motivated friends who wanted nothing more than to share the music being created, but, sometimes life leads people down different paths and things don’t always go according to plan. This led to many line-up changes! Some ex-members left to create other music projects, get married, start families and pursue higher education. We reached a point, during all the line-up changes, when Northern Son was almost no more. All the transitions over the years took Northern Son from a five piece band to a duo, myself and lead guitarist/Background Vocalist OJ Montevirgen.

We each took some time away from doing or thinking about anything Northern Son. But through the absence I realized one thing: writing, recording, and performing songs with Northern Son makes life better, just does something for my soul. I think OJ and I came to that realization about the same time and decided to give it another go.

Refreshed from time away and the addition of our new drummer Kyle Freeze, Northern Son feels new again. We are really excited about the future.

What are your plans in 2013? Are you planning on releasing any new material? Could you tell us about all that the future has in store for Northern Son?

It’s going to be a great year for Northern Son. We are doing a bunch of writing, and new material is on the way in 2013. A few new songs have already made it into our live set. There are plans to release an ep, possibly a full length album this year as well as playing a bunch of shows all over California. Maybe a music video or two! Hahaha.

One of the elements that fans were so attached to with your early releases is how you built such a large sound, while still pulling from the rawness of roots rock, classic rock n roll and alt country. With the member lineup changes, how has the sound of the new material been compared to what you created back then?

The new material is more mature but still has that classic roots rock backbone. I feel very blessed to be in a band where all the members play so well off each other. I will bring in the bare bones of a song and OJ and Kyle will shape it and it always comes out sounding like Northern Son. This is the strongest Northern Son lineup to date and I think people who liked the older material will like our new material because there is still the same heart and soul behind the music.

Could you tell me a little about the attention you got back in 2009 and 2010? I know you were played on Live 105. How did this come about? Were you ever approached by any record labels or management companies?

We had a few songs played on Live 105 and Aaron Axelsen even did a write up on us for live105.com as a south bay band to watch out for. That lead to playing some live 105 sponsored shows around the bay area and even landed us a spot on the local stage at BFD 2010 at shoreline. We’ve done some touring up and down the west coast and played with bands like Vertical Horizon, Third Eye Blind, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Our song “Spin” was featured in the season finale of an E! television show called “The Spin Crowd”.

We never officially received a record deal but we did talk to a few labels and management companies back in 2010. That was really eye opening for us. I think it’s the first time we realized there is a big business side to music. Almost no one starts a band because they love looking at contracts and talking to managers and lawyers. We just love playing music. Nowadays we are better prepared for all the business that comes with being in a band.

Your music—as well as that of your main influences, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen—lean heavily on roots rock. What do you think it is about roots rock that lends itself so naturally to emotional, honest and straight forward songwriting? Why have you chosen it as a foundation for your songs?

I like to think that we didn’t choose roots rock as the foundation for our songs but rather it chose us. There was never a conscious effort made to be a certain type of band or write a certain style of song. I think we focus on doing something really honest and simple. No bells, no whistles, just straight to what really matters – Lyrics, melody, emotion.

Roots rock always seemed like working class music to me. The emotions and themes found here are things everyone feels and deals with. It’s universal. These guys we look up to like Tom and Bruce seem like our best friends when they sing about life and relationships. We, as Northern Son, strive for that more than anything, creating a connection between us and the listener because we are those listeners too.

Northern Son play San Pedro Square Market on Saturday January 26th. The show starts at 7pm. Admission in free.

After a summer schedule full of interesting bookings, Naglee Park Garage will host two more concerts before ending its live music season for the year. Doctor Nurse brings atmospheric indie rock on October 17 and the Golden State Ramblers close the season October 24 with folk, Irish and novelty tunes from the 20s-40s.

The shows are always free at Naglee Park Garage and are held every Wednesday during the extended summer season outside on the patio. The lineup this year included young indie-rock acts (Curious Quail, Orangutang), alt-folk artists (The Wild Reeds, Will Sprott), roots-rock groups (Careless Hearts) and reggae-world beat fusions (Los Hot Boxers, The Champions, inc).

According to owner Chris Esparza, the weekly Wednesday shows were consistently successful. People enjoyed the combination of good live music and outdoor dining. He plans to have live music return in 2013 every Wednesday, most likely beginning in May.

Doctor Nurse play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday October 17th at 7pm. The Golden State Ramblers play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday on October 24th. Both shows are free.

San Pedro Square Market and hosts an all-ages show for SVSX with Careless Hearts, Doctor Nurse, and Dirty Pillows.

Careless Hearts
9pm San Pedro Square Market
Careless Hearts began as pure San Jose alt-country. After building up a following in the South Bay and elsewhere since 2005, their career took an unexpected left turn in 2009 when they found themselves backing Iggy & the Stooges guitarist James Williamson at the Blank Club, Williamson’s first performance in 35 years and a warm-up for his return to touring with Iggy Pop. (The Blank Club performance was released as the 2010 album James Williamson and the Careless Hearts.) The event was a turning point in the Careless Hearts’ career; afterward, they released a three-song EP that found their finely crafted roots thunderstruck with Iggy’s (and Williamson’s) fiery “rawk” influence. It remains to be seen what direction the Careless Hearts take next, but with the band’s proven talent and new adventurousness, their next record is sure to be a welcome surprise no matter what.

Doctor Nurse
8pm San Pedro Square Market
Doctor Nurse’s approach to songwriting is similar to that of indie-rock legends Guided by Voices. Both groups pluck the best elements of psychedelic rock, prog-rock, lo-fi indie and power-pop and blend them into an amalgam of gorgeous, offbeat, well written rock & roll.

The similarities stop there; while Guided by Voices churns out partially complete lo-fi gems as quickly as the ideas pop in their heads, Doctor Nurse works slowly and methodically. The band, for instance, spent years working on Calm Seas, Phantom Lights. The album is not only full of intelligent, grandiose psychedelic indie-folk, clearly written by educated music lovers, its production is masterfully nuanced with glistening layers of keyboards, guitars, percussion and vocal harmonies. It is the kind of album worth listening to on headphones to pick out every subtle detail with each listen—or live in concert, where the waves of sound and vibrations overtake you.

Dirty Pillows
7pm, San Pedro Square Market
Formed in 2008 by guitarist/vocalist Alejandro Villanueva (who goes by his nickname “Millhows”) and drummer Jeff Evans, Dirty Pillows plays music that celebrates the pair’s shared influences—Modern Lovers, the Damned, Talking Heads—but also captures the raw, rushing sound of the earliest days of punk.

The South Bay duo’s visibility has been patchy at times, but they’re making a big push right now. Their recent song “Love Happening” sounds like something the Brian Jonestown Massacre might have released. As Evans describes it, “That song is the one that everybody has their own interpretation for.”

Evans and Millhows manage to create psychedelic, pop and garage tones with only two band members. Jeff is not afraid to hit his drum kit, and somehow Millhows makes sense of the army of loop machines and effects in front of him. “I sort of seem to channel this very post-punk, choppy, very angular guitar spirit,” Millhows says of his guitar playing.

Straying from it’s usual beat-orientate lineup, The Pagoda Lounge at The Fairmont Hotel presents a full rock-centered lineup for SVSX featuring Will Sprout (Mumlers), Fierce Creatures and Mike Huguenor (Shinobu) followed by an after-party DJ set by B.Lewis.

Will Sprott
11:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
South Bay fans may wonder where Will Sprott of the Mumlers has been. The singer/songwriter known for sparking the South Bay’s wave of freak-rock a few years ago hasn’t been nearly as ubiquitous here since he moved to the East Bay. But he’s been perhaps busier than ever. It’s been a couple of years now since the Mumlers’ second album, Don’t Throw Me Away. If the folky debut was surprising and offbeat enough to get Sprott national media attention, the follow-up surpassed it in every way with its grittier, Stax-on-acid soul.

Sprott, however, felt that in many ways he didn’t get to capitalize on the album’s strengths live, because it was just too hard to get the big Mumlers lineup on tour. In 2011, he decided to do some dates as a solo act.

He’s also been working on his follow-up to Don’t Throw Me Away, though he doesn’t yet know if it’ll be released under the Mumlers moniker, his own name or something else entirely. The upcoming album promises to be something unexpected. It’s not a revisiting of his sound on the last record—in fact, there are no horns at all. Instead, Sprott is focusing on bizarre new uses for vocal harmonies.

Fierce Creatures
10:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
Being a seven-piece indie-rock band gives Fierce Creatures the maneuverability to play exactly the kind of music they imagine. It also gives them plenty of room to layer in as many sounds and harmonies as they need to create gorgeous, dynamic-enriched arrangements.

They combine guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion and even some less-standard instruments like an occasional mandolin, harmonica and some bells—a tactic that creates a wall of sound larger than any one instrument. They work together to create new soundscapes, intense moods and crescendos, rather than focusing on any one member and showing off their chops.
Fierce Creatures tinker with musical styles indiscriminately, tactfully hodgepodging bits of pop, folk, soul, classic rock and experimental sounds into their songs to create something that is all their own. They dig for the most basic thread of childlike musical expression and re-interpret the standard rock & roll conventions to give new life to pleasantly familiar simple songs.

Mike Huguenor
9:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
“Agues,” the first song off Mike Huguenor’s solo album, Bardamu, is a solid, quirky alt-rock jam that rests nicely between the musical extremes of his various bands. There is Shinobu, his on-again-off-again neurotic jangle-pop quartet. Then there’s Hard Girls, the sophisticated, post-punk power trio. And of course there’s the Classics of Love, his old-school punk-rock group that’s fronted by none other than Jesse Michaels, the former lead singer of Operation Ivy.

Somehow, Huguenor also found time to record this solo EP and even shot a music video for “Agues,” which features him as every member of the band and every person in the audience. His solo material isn’t as overtly offbeat as Shinobu, or as complex as Hard Girls, or even as fierce as the Classics of Love. But what it does have is a newfound level of maturity that marries all of these elements and delivers them in an understated, clever way.

B. Lewis
12:30am, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
Producer and beatmaker B. Lewis is one of many local musicians influenced by Peanut Butter Wolf. Born and raised in San Jose, B. Lewis quickly came to appreciate Wolf’s legacy as a trailblazer once he started making music in 2009. “He definitely led the way, in the right way,” says Lewis.

Only 23 now, Lewis ironically didn’t discover labels like Stones Throw and Brainfeeder until he went away to Expression College in the East Bay. After college, Lewis moved back to San Jose. This spring, he finished the Egg Black EP, with singer Miles Bonny. What might surprise those who are only familiar with Lewis’ more experimental beats is the sleek and smooth sound of the songs’ soulful R&B.

Lewis’ newest release, A Lion’s Aperture, came out in late July, and delivers further proof of his willingness to push boundaries in a late-night groove. “Priority Number One” kicks off with spacey pinging sounds that evolve into an otherworldy wash of sound and vocal abstractions. “World Frozen Over” spins off in a swirl of sonic scat, anchored by strong keyboards.

The difference between brothers Nate and Sean Kavanugh’s two bands, the Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience (a traditional Irish folk group) and the High Sea (an indie noise-pop trio) might seem vast, but it’s not—both groups equally create soul-wrenching, sing-along tunes that blur the line between sadness and joy, just in different ways.

The High Seas’s new EP, Good Loud Shout!, contains six new post-punk pop songs. The recordings are raw and sparse, an appropriate choice for the self-conscious lo-fi 90s indie rock influence (Pavement, Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices) found in their music. There’s plenty of distorted, angular guitar riffs, subtly complex structures and vocals drenched in infectious harmonies, but unlike many of their 90s forefathers, there’s an indie-folk element, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering their Celtic group.

One of the standout tracks, “Tears”, is one of the simpler, less dissonant, jangle-pop songs with a passionate shout-along chorus. The lyrics could easily pass for an Irish drinking song (“Tears of laughter are the very best kind. Tears of joy trail close behind”). The remainder of the songs revel more in dissonance to some degree. The perfect example is “Manic,” which features a jittery Modest Mouse-esc riff and spastic vocals. The guitar solo is a nice touch.

Ugly Winner’s new album, Inside Your Wave, is bigger, louder and packs more of a punch then their 2010 album, Minutes, Years & Never.

What makes the new album more gripping, in part, is how much better the recording quality is. The guitars are thicker and fuller, the drums are crisper and the vocals are more artistically drenched in reverb and echo. Interestingly it was all recorded in the band’s home.

This album is a step forward, stylistically, for the San Jose four-piece. They’ve matured past the standard indie rock tricks of lush, gleaming guitars, heavy dynamic building and aimless Sonic Youth-inspired jams, and have emerged with a collection of understated art-rock songs.

The best song on the album, “Perfect Nothing,” is a dreamy, half-tempo, amphitheater, sing-along rocker, though not to be confused with say, a Bon Jovi arena anthem. The music is far too weird for that, but it does seem like a subtle tip of the hat to the larger-than-life side of rock ‘n’ roll.

Compared to Minutes, Years & Never, the guitar work and song structure on the new album is much more creative and unpredictable. The opening track, “Fret One (Grow Old),” is a hard-rocker that hangs on just a couple notes, like an early Joy Division song, full of the punk rock fire without having any parts that could be reasonably construed as punk rock. The vocals weave in and out of the heavy echo effect, using it at moments for an extra punch of aggression.

Another distinguishing element to this new record is the reoccurring jangle-pop, angular guitar work. Songs like “Thoughtful Spots,” “These Hands They Shake” and “HaHa” all have guitar parts that could almost pass for Modest Mouse post-punk dance riffs.

Where Ugly Winner have developed the most is their ability to wander with focus, like on the ending of “HaHa.” Ugly Winner shifts gears, but they don’t drift away, they take us to a totally new, but logical destination musically.

The two songs that most resemble the older Ugly Winner sound, “So Well” and “TCBAHBS” still show growth. Their use of finger-picking guitar lines and dynamic-building shows more subtly than before.” So Well,” in particular strikes an odd balance between a straight forward rock song, a touching ballad and a strange, creepy horror song.

Earlier this year, Evan Jewett moved to New York, leaving San Jose indie rock fans mourning the loss of his two bands, Worker Bee and Family Room.

Jewett, however, is still keeping busy with new music. He recently released a new Family Room album, Rake, online. It’s Family Room’s most elaborately produced album and perhaps even the eeriest. In honor of the album’s release, we recently interviewed Jewett to see how New York life has been treating him.

How has life in New York been since you moved away?

Life has been interesting. Ups and downs but mostly ups.

You had two great bands, Worker Bee and Family Room here in San Jose, both who seemed to be doing well, but then you moved to New York. What brought you out to New York?

I moved here to live with my girlfriend. Also to get a change of scenery. San Jose can get a little claustrophobic.

Are you playing music in New York?

For the first time since I started playing music I am actively not pursuing it. I still think about it and fiddle with it here and there but I am currently not worrying about making another record or writing songs. It’s very weird for me but also very freeing. I know I’ll get back at it sooner or later so I’m trying to just not think about it and let whatever is going to happen work itself out. In the meantime, I’ve taken up woodworking. Building furniture is very time and thought consuming much in the same way music can be.

How is big city New York life compare to San Jose life?

There are not nearly as many close knit groups of people here. I miss my friends a lot, but don’t miss much else in San Jose. Not driving is a blessing and a curse. The same goes for 99 cent pizza. Movie theaters are stupidly tiny and expensive. I saw James Carville running in central park. I saw the tall woman from 3rd Rock from the Sun outside a bar. There are fireflies. Humidity is not pleasant. It costs $23 to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I have not been to the top of the Empire State Building.

Any plans to visit San Jose and play a Worker Bee or Family Room set in the near future?

Nothing planned but I’d like to. October is looking likely. Also, look out for a new Worker Bee EP. Worker Bee recorded the EP before I left. Its five songs. We are still a band, currently active or not.