With the instant availability of studio manipulation and infinite overdubbing possibilities, a lot of the current indie bands have lost the rawness that was standard in the late 80s/early 90s lo-fi era. Froadz continues that tradition with all the elements of an experimental guitar-driven post-rock outfit, while still maintaining that raw underground sound.

Formed last year in San Francisco, Froadz sticks closely to the rules of the power-rock-trio format with some nice subtleties. The guitarist plays soft arpeggios and quiet strumming while the bassist and drummer give the songs a steady driving rock beat—but never overpowering the guitar’s sparkling notes. Froadz are deconstructing post-rock, stripping away the excessive texturing and reformulating it into the simplest terms possible, but their rawness comes not just through simplicity, but from bringing back a sense of jamming and organic dynamics to the indie-rock sound.

Froadz play at the Blank Club on October 3 at 9pm. Admission is free. Dream House and Breathing open the show.

San Francesca’s sophomore LP, We Live In Public, released earlier this year on Side With Us Records, marks a dramatic shift for the band. To put it simply, they added a drummer. That may not sound like much, but in the case of San Francesa it is.

When the band first started it was a weird two-piece band called Le Verita, performing what can be best described as post-rock meets synth-pop, a band unlike any other in the South Bay. With Harrison Russell on guitars/lead vocals and Star Quach on keyboards/drums machines, they were an odd addition to any bill. They wrote ambitious songs, with incomplete arrangements, which was part of their charm.

The addition of Cody Rhodes put an end to that charm, as well as the synth pop element, but that’s not a bad thing. San Francesa have continued to grow steadily as musicians and We Live in Public is their best recording to date.

What has emerged is a heartfelt indie rock album with depth and complex texturing. The songs build slowly with drama and passion. In the wrong hands these songs would be filtered through the lens of irony, but Russell tempers his emotionality and honesty with artistic restraint, yet never obscures his vulnerability.

The opening three tracks, “Monolith,” “Compression” and “Outside” are the darkest tracks on the LP. While aggressive isn’t the right word exactly, they are heavier and grittier than any of San Francesca’s previous efforts. They’ve never toyed with this much dissonance before. They give the songs an extra layer of distance by drenching Russell’s vocals in distortion.

But by the fourth track, “Entitled,” the vocal-distortion is gone and the songs mellow out a bit. They mix gorgeous, momentous keyboards with a rock edge and pop-sensibilities. Track number five, “Statues” is a bitter-sweet ballad that sounds like something from the Le Verita days, albeit a much fuller, thoughtful version. This song, as a three-piece, reveals their interest in slow-burning, post-rock bands like Sigur Rós. It’s the audio equivalent of sun rising in the morning.

The album stays mostly mellow from then out, “Criminal,” while a darker song, is perhaps the most quiet track on the record, with only guitar, vocals and some subtle textures. It leaves the listener with an unsettling feeling.

After a decade of refining their moody instrumental indie rock round, South Bay band Amonie are finally ready to release their debut record, Last Rites, which could mark the beginning of a whole new phase for them.

“It’s great because this is the first time we’ve heard ourselves professionally, like a very polished version of us. You can totally hear parts better now. I was like, ‘I didn’t know that guitar line existed,’” says drummer Nick Eros.

Despite how frequently and methodically they’ve always rehearsed, each member has always had the freedom to exist in their own bubble, playing whatever parts were most meaningful to them.

“We’re four soloing musicians who happen to work together,” Eros says.
But spending five long days in the studio together has brought the group cohesion and a better understanding of how to make their individual parts fit together better.

“We’re trying to work with each other. It’s almost like we’re an a capella band, in the sense that we’re four voices. When people sing together and harmonize, they don’t purposely clash with each other,” says bassist Dan Barrera.

The group spared no expense making a proper full-length debut record. They recorded the record in January at Tiny Telephone, John Vanderslice’s studio, whose client list includes Magnetic Fields, Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie, The Mountain Goats and many other respected names in indie music.