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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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Mike Huguenor on March 4, 2020
“Believe,” the last single by San Jose singer-songwriter Socorra, was a nugget of pure melancholy pop in the spirit of “Dreams,” by the Cranberries. But on Muddy Water, her new EP, the powerful vocalist trades in the alt-rock chord progressions for a bluesy riff pulled straight out of the Mississippi Delta. Has…
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Bill Kopp on February 26, 2020
To listeners who have followed his work over the last few decades, it may appear that guitarist Eric Gales has evolved his technique. While quite good for what they are, the pair of albums he released in 2006 and 2007—Crystal Vision and The Psychedelic Underground—are characterized by what detractors might call overplaying.
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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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Metro Staff on February 26, 2020
Bridging the space between French Canada and the Caribbean, Jane Bunnett & Maqueque are a virtuosic powerhouse. While Bunnett’s smouldering soprano saxophone and flute take center stage, the group derives its gravitational heft from the roiling rhythms of Maqueque drummer Yissy Garcia and her supporting cast of all-female all-stars. Bunnett, a Juno…
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Wallace Baine on February 26, 2020
Miranda Lambert became a country-music superstar with her hit 2007 album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend—which showcased her great songs and her irresistibly combustible Texas bad-girl image. By 2019, Lambert was ready for a career pivot; it came in the form of her latest album, Wildcard, a collection of exuberant and upbeat songs that break…
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I saw (and heard you) talking cheerfully and loudly over the jazz band last night. You were having a great time with your friends, loudly talking, laughing, clapping at inappropriate times, like in the middle of a solo, and not paying attention to anything else around you, including an announcement from the…
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I saw you, pedaling through the neighborhood—my neighborhood—in your light blue denim jacket, the basket of your bicycle filled with various colors of Rust-Oleum. You circled back to spray the side of a light pole, which I found strange, but as I continued my walk to the office it all came into…
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Aaron Carnes on February 19, 2020
Back in the late ’90s, a trio of San Jose indie rockers released two full-length records and a handful of EPs, to little attention. Duster played dingy basement shows and never drove their tour van beyond the West Coast. Instead of recruiting a bass player, they dragged an old organ to shows…
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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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