Every day is go-skateboarding-day according to the Fastplants. The Chicago-area skate punk band has been shredding its way across country in support of its most recent LP, Spread the Stoke. Founded in 2013, the band is made up of four members whose influences include The Spits, skater Jeff Grosso a.k.a the Dude, Thrasher Magazine and of course, the essentials—beer, coffee and cigarettes. The grungy quartet is coming to San Jose and will be performing alongside Talky Tina and The Stabs.

The Fastplants
Wed, 8pm, Free
The Ritz, San Jose

This year’s SubZERO Festival boasts a lineup of top local and national talent.  From veteran punk rockers, Talky Tina, to acoustic warrior and hometown hero Brother Grand. The festival’s organizers even snagged the avant-punk duo and Sub Pop Records artist No Age. Here is our list of can’t-miss music at this year’s festival.

Eyes On The Shore: 7:15pm | Anno Domini Stage (Fri)
Just before their performance at Live 105’s sold-out BFD, Eyes On The Shore will be playing the Anno Domini stage on friday night. This four-piece indie rock outfit is local to San Francisco, formed from members of the band Ambiance Antrom Kury and Kayhan Golkar, who have been writing together for more than a decade. Joined by vocalist Cory Tauber and drummer Kyle Albery last year, the band put out their debut album A Golden Blue, which features dramatic drum and bass lines accompanied by melodic surf guitar rhythms to create a sound that reflects the band’s variety of influences, from ‘60s surf rock to blues to post-modern bands like Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

Rin Tin Tiger: 8:30pm | Anno Domini Stage (Fri)
Rin Tin Tiger, an alternative folk rock trio from San Francisco (with some members originally hailing from San Jose). This group carries the high-energy, lyric-heavy, acoustic guitar-lead sounds of modern folk music, while still aiming to retain a contemporary feel. Rin Tin Tiger pulls influences from a plethora of genres—anything from Bob Dylan to Morrisey to Tupac. Their new single, “Small Cuts That Bleed A Lot,” is full of introspective lyrics and a killer harmonica hook.

Picture Atlantic: 10:30pm | The People’s Park Stage (Fri)
Another pre-BFD performance by San Jose based Picture Atlantic will be headlining the People’s Park Stage Friday. Hailed by The Owl Mag as “an exquisite mix of thrilling, boppy synth highs, and dark, heavy bass lows,” the band’s 2012 album strives to push musical boundaries and create sounds that have both ingenuity and longevity. They have developed a bit of a cult following in the South Bay and have played alongside the likes of Coldplay, The English Beat, STYX, Say Anything, Eisley, and Dan Black.

Brother Grand: 9:30pm | The Secret Garden Stage
Psychedelic-folk rock duo Brother Grand will grab audiences with an engaging live performance Friday at the Secret Garden Stage. Each song, be it stripped down to a banjo and upright bass or screaming into a wall of electric sound, highlights the band’s passion and dynamic stage presence. Combining live loopings, chaotic string melodies, thunderous drums, and yes, even a rhodes piano, Brother Grand is mixing the best of folk, psychedelic, and “film-score soul,” proving they can push boundaries without completely breaking ties with their musical roots.

Scissors for Lefty: 7:15pm | Anno Domini Stage
Heading off Saturday’s set at the Anno Domini stage is SF-based Scissors for Lefty. Brothers James and Peter Krimmel started the band with Bryan Garza while attending college in San Luis Obispo. Garza’s energetic vocals lend an air of Brit-pop pretension to the band’s dance-punk vibe, standing tall among contemporaries like Arctic Monkeys and Panic! at the Disco. With their debut album Bruno turning 10 this year, Scissors for Lefty is an indie art pop band that still retains a high-energy dance pop feel and a sense of humor.

No Age: 9:45pm | Anno Domini Stage
Performing at 9:45pm Saturday at the Anno Domini stage is the LA-based punk duo No Age. No Age has the experimental qualities of more avant-garde noise pop while still remaining fundamentally punk rock. On their 2013 album An Object, produced by Sub Pop records, guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Spunt turn their carefully cultivated dream-punk sound on its head with melodies that are more emotional than they are technically perfect and drums that combine traditional lumber and steel with experimental sounds of contact mics and electric bass. Cut, packaged, and labeled by Spunt and Randall themselves, An Object is protest music to the core.

Talky Tina: 8:15pm | The Secret Garden Stage
Coming to the Secret Garden Stage on saturday is Talky Tina, a local band that boasts a Metro alum as one of its own. Started by former members of another San Jose band Odd Numbers in 2009, Talky Tina modernizes classic elements of punk and power pop. Talky Tina’s sophomore album Just a Little Broken has made them a staple of the reemerging San Jose punk scene.

There will also be a multitude of great art and crafts on display at SubZERO. Here are just a few that we’re excited about:

Black & Brown
SubZERO wouldn’t be complete without fashion. Come to the Black & Brown booth—one of the best vintage clothing shops in the South Bay—and check out their expertly cultivated collection of vintage wear.

SLG Publishing + APE-POP
This locally based comic books shop is about much more than super heroes. At SLG, you can find plenty of gritty, punchy and humorous 2D characters as well. Since 1986, Slave Labor Graphics Publishing has been at the cutting edge of independent comic book and graphic novel publishing. It is perhaps most notable for its dark and strange sense of humor. SLG will bring back the Alternative Press Expo, a showcase of non-mainstream artworks. Come and pick up some original comics from the Bay underground artists.

Spectrum Glass Art & Works/San Jose
The Glass Art Society’s 44th annual International Glass Conference is overlapping with this year’s SubZERO Festival. Check out SPECTRUM at Anno Domini and Enlightened Glass at Works/San Jose. Both exhibits aim to change the way you think about glass artwork. Much more than just decor, the pieces in these exhibits tell stories, express emotions and contemplate philosophy.

Current Tattooing
Current Tattooing will be displaying some of the best work they’ve done on that most precious of all canvases—the human body. Whether you’re completely inked, are considering taking the plunge, or just appreciate the artwork, stop by the Current Tattooing booth.

For more information on SubZERO, click here.

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.

Johnny V’s hosts a lineup at SVSX featuring three of the many flavors of punk rock: rough-and-ready cowpunk from the Shitkickers, melodic pop-punk from Talky Tina and “Streek Punk” from the Forgotten.

Shitkickers
11:30PM, JOHNNY V’S
As they tell it, the Shitkickers began more than a decade ago. Back in the day, when they would walk down the rough-and-ready and often-stinky vicinity of Pierce and Seventh streets, their only fan was a dog named Betty. What is the best kind of music to drink to? Country? Bluegrass? Rockabilly? The blues? Punk rock? The Shitkickers like to drink so much, they figured why not play all of said drinking musical genres? (They have yet to tackle Celtic music.)

Whatever style, or mixture of styles, the Shitkickers are playing, they make sure it’s loud, powerful and fueled by drunken mojo. They don’t stick to just the standard rock instruments. They will bust out a fiddle or a banjo when the mood strikes. So expect a bit of a hootenanny at their shows. The band also has old song that showed their tender side with an atypically sad country tune about the Cactus Club—that old local club all the members used to get shitfaced at.

The Forgotten
10:30PM, JOHNNY V’s
The Forgotten play punk rock in the vein of GBH and the Clash, a.k.a. “streek punk.” The band began in 1997 with singer Gordy Carbone, guitarist Craig Fairbaugh, bassist Ken Helwig and drummer Shea Roberts, who were the second band ever signed to TKO Records. They currently have four full-lengths and three EP’s on the label.

The Forgotten also have releases on BYO, Knockout, Coretex and People Like You Records and have appeared on numerous compilation and tribute albums. Dave Kashka joined on drums in 1999; Johnny Gregurich came about in 2000 on bass. After guitarist Craig Fairbaugh left the band in 2003, Johnny shifted over to guitar. Bassist Nick Schuneman joined in 2006.

The current lineup consists of Gordy Carbone, Johnny Gregurich, Dave Kashka and Nick Schuneman. The Forgotten have played shows and/or toured with Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, the Unseen, the Casualties, US Bombs, Agnostic Front, Cock Sparrer, Anti-Nowhere League, Nashville Pussy and many others.

Talky Tina
9:30PM, JOHNNY V’S
Rock & roll will never go out of style. That is, at least, the mission statement of San Jose’s power-pop trio Talky Tina. Yet, even though they swagger with the best of ’50s and ’60s rock traditionalists, they aren’t retro-rockers. They have punk-rock flowing deep within their veins.

Bass player Dave Miller and drummer Dave Conrad came from legendary punk outfit the Odd Numbers to join bassist Scott Cofer. While the Odd Numbers played with an incredible amount of adrenaline, they, too, appreciated the classic bare-bones rock style. Talky Tina takes it one step closer to the source while never sacrificing spontaneity. In place of overt punk-rock power, Talky Tina weaves in some New Wave influences—like Elvis Costello and the Fixx—and some modern-day power-pop—à la Fountains of Wayne and OK GO. Whatever they decide to put into each song, what Talky Tina cares about most is keeping it simple and fun. Just as we went to press, Talky Tina delivered its brand-new eponymous CD. The very first song, “Tarred and Feathered,” takes off at warp speed, and the album picks up speed from there. No one who hears “No Beer, No Girls” will ever forget it—a perfect anthem of disaffection.

The Silicon Valley Sound eXperience highlights more than 20 local bands at nine venues in downtown San Jose starting at 3pm on September 22. Purchase tickets HERE.