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Metro Staff on March 4, 2020
South Bay denizens who occasionally scan the FM dial will be familiar with the region’s many Spanish- and Spanglish-speaking radio stations. These broadcasters typically trade in traditional Mexican folk—like banda, ranchera and mariachi—or various iterations of pop-inflected reggaeton and tropical house. Mexican indie rock is less commonly heard by Anglo ears. Mexico…
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Wallace Baine on February 26, 2020
Mariachi may be a male-dominated genre, but that won’t be the case for long if Flor de Toloache has anything to say about it. Hailing from New York City, Flor bills itself as the world’s “first and only” all-female mariachi (“maria-she?”) band, performing in every configuration from a trio to a 10-piece.…
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by
Metro Staff on February 18, 2020
When he’s not with his brother Lukas backing up Neil Young as part of The Promise of the Real, Micah Nelson—son of the inimitable Willie Nelson—spends much of his time composing dusty, lo-fi rock & roll in his own band, Particle Kid. It would seem his father passed on the songwriting bug…
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Metro Staff on February 18, 2020
In the annals of San Jose skate-punk history, one band looms larger than all the rest. Featuring South Bay skateboarding legend Steve Caballero on guitar and Gavin O’Brien—brother to Corey O’Brien, another San Jose pro and owner of The Ritz—fronting the group, The Faction helped launch a subgenre of fast, aggressive punk-rock…
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Metro Staff on February 12, 2020
Richmond Virginia metalcore outfit Bad Omens blend melodic vocals and ethereal keys with crunchy, soaring guitar leads and throaty screams—using personal despair and inner demons to inspire defiant songs of hope and transcendance. They are currently touring behind their 2019 full-length, Finding God Before God Finds Me. Direct support comes from Oh,…
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Metro Staff on January 30, 2020
Do you miss the old Kanye? Chop-up-the-soul Kanye? What about Carson Daly, Blink-182, the Backstreet Boys and Korn? C’mon. If “Freak on a Leash” comes on the radio, are you really gonna touch that dial? Point is, Popgang Presents and The Ritz are taking it all the way back to the golden…
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Metro Staff on January 22, 2020
After reuniting in 2014, South Bay alt-rock veterans Strata are poised to release their first proper full-length of new material since 2007’s commercially successful Strata Presents the End of the World. So far, the band has only released a pair of teaser trailers on YouTube, featuring a clip of a new song and…
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by
Anne Gelhaus on January 22, 2020
In all of its nightclub iterations over the last few decades, the space that is now The Ritz has always made room for the Reverend Horton Heat, and with good reason. Considered by many to be the godfather of modern rockabilly and psychobilly, the right reverend and his band have been heating…
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Wallace Baine on January 15, 2020
It’s hard to fathom, but the musicians who played alongside the legendary Bob Marley during his creative heyday in the 1970s are still upright and making music. The Wailers, circa 2020, continue to create their rastaman vibrations with bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, guitarist Junior Marvin and guitarist Donald Kinsey—all of whom…
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by
Matei Predescu on January 15, 2020
This Los Angeles tribute band—made up of session musicians and veterans of the music industry—draws on its collective experience and deep love of Linkin Park to produce faithful re-creations of the SoCal rap-rock titans’ catalog. Formed in 2017 in the wake of Chester Bennington’s untimely death, In the End takes its responsibility…
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