San Francisco’s Pllush have mastered the art of hazy harmony, as evidenced by their forthcoming debut record, Stranger to the Pain. The band ( were formerly known as Plush) have released three singles: including the sprawling sentimental rock ballad “Shannon” the wailing and screeching track “Ortega,” and “Big Train” which continues in the same dreamy shoegaze vein— with bolder guitars and even bigger drama
Stranger to the Pain, will be the San Francisco foursome’s debut full-length, It surges with this kind of heaving, inspired song craft, its downcast indie-pop core awash in gauzy static. Pllush, for years a standout among the BayArea indie set, has recently drawn praise from national outlets such as The Fader and NPR ahead of the release of the album,
Pllush formed in 2014 after Helm mentioned wanting to start a band to Eva Treadway and Dylan Lockey, With the addition of Sinclair Riley, who also plays with Treadway in The She’s, then going by Plush they released a three-song demo, Pale,
by the end of the year. Pllush appeared on those few songs with its sauntering gait and teardrop melodies already intact, a sound that’s only grown more booming and confident. The demo also includes that very first composition, which is titled like a statement of intent: “Soft in the Dark.” Helm, made a series of key music connections: her short-lived garage-pop group The Sweethearts played with Duterte’s pre-Jay Som group Summer Peaks, who were then still high schoolers. A couple years later, Pllush performed one of its first club gigs in San Francisco, opening for Jay Som.
‘Stranger to the Pain’ out June 8th, 2018. Released by: Father/Daughter Records
San Francisco’s The Love-Birds have been tearing up their local scene, breaking hearts and making fans across the city’s disappearing DIY spaces and proper venues alike since 2016. After releasing a 7-inch EP in early 2017 via local label Empty Cellar Records, they’re ready to unveil In The Lover’s Corner, their debut album & first release on their new home, Trouble In Mind Records.
The album eases into view with the first track, “Again”; it’s gentle acoustic strum augmented by guitarist Eli Wald’s chiming electric twelve-string. From there the listener is treated to dynamic, life-affirming power-pop; bell-ringing, fuzz stompers (”River Jordan”), warm, carefully crafted fragile pop (”Clear The Air”, “Failure and Disgrace”), and urgent, crystalline rockers (”Hit My Head”, “Weak Riff”). The Love-Birds approach their craft with a classicist’s ear; with nods to their Seventies originators as well as Nineties torch-bearers, composing near-perfect future classics that ooze with subtle, interesting melodic twists and hummable, finger-pricking hooks that are instantly memorable. Aside from mastering by Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), In The Lover’s Corner is a decidedly local affair, with album art by Shayde Sartin (Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets) and recorded in two sessions, one with engineer Glenn Donaldson (Art Museums, Skygreen Leopards) and another with Kelley Stoltz.
When first arriving on the Bay Area music scene in late 2014, Pllush made a dent with a powerful set of tracks that fit nicely within the rising wave of shoegaze/dream pop revival bands at the time. However, due to an undeniable songwriting prowess that extends far beyond convoluted pedal-board setups or louder amps, Pllush had elevated themselves into a league of sonic mastery, not dissimilar from obvious touchstone influences (i.e. Mazzy Star, Slowdive, Portishead). The quartet’s second batch of songs, Please, furthered their growing following and replaced their initial gravitation towards maxed-out guitars and splashed cymbals with an eerie, groove-filled bent, channeling Drop Nineteens at their most tender, and imbuing Grass Widow-esque layers of harmony into songs already dense with melody.
As the world around the band has changed in the interim between releases, they have followed suit- they added an “L” to the name, and undergone the whirlwinds of personal flux that naturally occur in such extended periods of time. But rest assured: the only dynamic of the band that has changed is by each member doubling down into the personal qualities that made this group so special in the first place. Which brings us to the year 2018, and the release of Pllush’s debut LP, Stranger to the Pain.
Whereas on earlier releases, singer/guitarist Karli Helm merely teased her abilities as a singer, here she fully embraces her natural pop-tinged mastery of the human voice, on standouts like “Restart”, pushing the boundaries of the Rock and Roll genre while layering dizzying harmonies over an instrumental track that Built to Spill would kick themselves for not thinking of first. Meanwhile, Eva Treadway provides a perfect foil with an effortlessly cool approach to laying her sometimes light-hearted (“Ortega”) and frequently heartbreaking (“Fallout”) lyrics over her more driving style of guitar playing, as indebted to Slanted and Enchanted era Pavement as it is to the best work of The Donnas, seamlessly working clanging guitar abrasion into pop gems. Dylan Lockey and Sinclair Riley fill out the rhythm section on drums and bass, respectively, with Lockey’s snap-tight precision guiding the mood and tempo of the record (i.e. highlights such as “3:45”), and Riley’s complex bass work constructing a rich and deeply melodic backbone for Helm and Treadway to build upon. Stranger to the Pain is the kind of record that reintroduces a band whose previous catalog stands assuredly on its own as a new and fresh face- and like a conversation with an old friend, once it’s over, you will want to restart.
San Francisco’s Pllush will release their debut album, Stranger to the Pain, on June 8th, 2018. Listen to the track “Ortega” which the band calls “an honest reflection on growing up.“Stranger to the Pain” will be available on Oxblood + Bone Half & Half (limited to 300) and Bone (limited to 300) vinyl. Both variants come with a full color, double-sided insert, download card, and exclusive postcard illustrated by artist, Faye Orlove.
The Ty Rex corner of Ty Segall’s oeuvre represents the nom-de-rock behind which the artist puts his spin on favored Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex compositions. With previous releases now dwelling in out-of-print nether-regions, the album compiles the six-song Ty Rex EP (a.k.a. Ty Rex I, originally released by Goner Records as a limited edition 12-inch for Record Store Day 2011) and the two-song Ty Rex II 7-inch (RSD 2013). As if this wasn’t enough of a corrective gesture, Ty Rex is expanded to include a previously-unreleased cover as a bonus
For those who missed out on this nook of Segall’s rapidly-growing footprint across the rock landscape, here is a cursory rundown: The compilation showcases a nice balance between T. Rex’s ’67-70 psych-folk incarnation under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex and the better-known pioneering and perfecting of glam-rock that defined the initial ’71-73 era under the shortened T. Rex moniker. Kicking things off is the thick, woozily rocking interpretation of “Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart,” one of two covers pulled from Tyrannosaurus Rex’s fourth and best album, 1970’s A Beard of Stars. Segall then double-dips into the consummate T. Rex (and for that matter, the entire glam-rock movement) achievement, The Slider, with a rendition of “Buick MacKane” followed by an excellent dirtying-up of the title track.Clearly executed with the ear and understanding of a super-fan, next up is Segall’s awesome tackling of “Woodland Rock” an Electric Warrior outtake that also surfaced on the B-side to 1971’s non-album “Hot Love” single. Returning to Tyrannosaurus Rex fare for the two tracks that originally concluded the Ty Rex I EP, “Salamanda Palaganda” originates from 1968’s Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages and “Elemental Child” from A Beard of Stars. “Cat Black” (from Tyrannosaurus Rex’s 1969 album, Unicorn) and Electric Warrior’s closing song “The Motivator” follow, before wrapping up this compilation of Ty-Rex material is the aforementioned previously unreleased bonus track, Segall’s cover of “20th Century Boy” (a non-album T. Rex single from 1973).
San Francisco psych wunderkind Ty Segall continues a tireless musical assault on ears and minds with his third album, Melted. Segall says it sounds like “cherry cola, Sno-Cones and taffy.” Indeed! Over the past two years he’s released records more often than most people do laundry, but somehow there is still a heap of anticipation for this new album on Goner packed full of truly psychedelic pop songs with great vocals and exciting arrangements.
On the heels of two critically acclaimed solo albums, Ty Segall holed up in a basement studio in late 2009 to begin recording Melted. Friends occasionally dropped by to hang out and help–including Mike Donovan (Sic Alps), John Dwyer (Thee Oh-Sees) and Eric Bauer (Crack W.A.R.).
The result is a carefree yet precise balance of acoustic and electric elements. Distorted echo and thunder mix together with enough clean guitar lines and addictive choruses to deliver an album that recalls the ’60s without sounding like anything created during that decade. Time melts away, vision melts away, minds melt away. Get Melted!.
Raw, unrelenting, and careening out of the Bay Area of California is Coke. A quartet who craft angry and raw slabs of post-hardcore that chunk and chew with angular riffs and acerbic vocals. Plus, they have a song called ‘RayLiotta’.I mean everyone loves Ray Liotta. Right? for sure.
They also have a song called ‘Da Da’. Which is also the name of a red wine that I really love. I don’t think that Coke drink red wine. I think they bathe in the blood of their enemies and drink from their hollowed out skulls. Maybe.
Classic performance at the Boarding House, San Francisco from 16th September 1978. Includes the entire KSAN-FM broadcast. Digitally remastered for enhanced sound quality. Byrne’s unholy pact with loathing is primed, funked and punked for the stoically impassioned, but in contrast to the detached state of suburbia up front, the band party hard with a deep sense of funk and engaged complexity. The set draws from their debut album Talking Heads ’77‘ and the follow-up ‘More Songs About Buildings And Food’ taking it all to the flaming crescendo of ‘No Compassion’.
San Francisco’sThe Love-Birds have been tearing up their local scene, breaking hearts and making fans across the city’s disappearing DIY spaces and proper venues alike since 2016. After releasing a 7-inch EP in early 2017 via local label Empty Cellar Records, they’re ready to unveil In The Lover’s Corner, their debut album & first release on their new home, Trouble In Mind Records.
The album eases into view with the first track, “Again”; it’s gentle acoustic strum augmented by guitarist Eli Wald’s chiming electric twelve-string. From there the listener is treated to dynamic, life-affirming power-pop; bell-ringing, fuzz stompers (”River Jordan”), warm, carefully crafted fragile pop (”Clear The Air”, “FailureandDisgrace”), and urgent, crystalline rockers (”Hit My Head”, “Weak Riff”). The Love-Birds approach their craft with a classicist’s ear; with nods to their Seventies originators as well as Nineties torch-bearers, composing near-perfect future classics that ooze with subtle, interesting melodic twists and hummable, finger-pricking hooks that are instantly memorable. Aside from mastering by Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), In The Lover’s Corner is a decidedly local affair, with album art by Shayde Sartin (Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets) and recorded in two sessions, one with engineer Glenn Donaldson (Art Museums, Skygreen Leopards) and another with Kelley Stoltz.
“This record is ultimately about women and the ways in which we love men. It is the byproduct of me healing my need for male validation, or rather not letting male validation control my choices. The one thing I keep taking away from life through all the shuffle is that there is always both. Intense happiness and intense sadness mingle. The longer I’m alive, the more I can’t feel one without the other. It is the crushing beauty of existing.” — Anna McClellan
The road to Anna McClellan’s Yes and No was not just a metaphorical one. Born out of a long solo road trip McClellan took in 2015, the songs map her emotions of the two year period in which they were written like a highway is laid out before its driver. With decent savings, she set off due west, keyboard laid across the backseat, with little plan other than a call ahead to some friends and the idea that playing shows along the way would be cool. Though the trip lasted only four months, McClellan continued bouncing around from New York to Omaha and back, until finally settling in NYC in January of 2017. It is fitting that these songs were conceived in a period of restlessness.
McClellan’s singular voice mixes earnest intensity with nonchalant melancholy that puts the listener in a distant place, far away from other humans, as most of the subject matter deals with loneliness and internal emotional navigation. Often though, the songs stray outward and upward, pondering the confused nature of people, elaborating on the one thing we all cling to: the knowledge that no one is excluded from feeling weird sometimes.
Yes and No is out February 23rd, 2018 via Father/Daughter Records.
This was the day 49 years ago that San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Serviceunveiled their finest hour, at least in commercial terms. March 17th, 1969 marked the release of ‘Happy Trails,’ their second album for Capitol Records and their one LP to win gold certification in America. When it comes to groups graced with two lead guitarists, one often earns more ardor than the other. Sometimes that’s understandable, like when one player takes more of the solos. But in a case like Quicksilver Messenger Service, it’s a mystery. In their heyday, John Cipollina tended to get more attention than Gary Duncan, though they both made dazzling contributions to their albums and concerts.
Cipollina’s distinctly ringing tremolo, a kind of sonic special effect that achieved a shivery resonance on the highest notes. In fact, Duncan has his own distinct tone and his overall work showed nearly as much invention and scope as his partner’s. You can hear their interplay best in the band’s oceanic jams,
Quite unusually for a sophomore record, ‘Happy Trails’ was a live album, taken from performances by the band at the famed Fillmore East and Fillmore West venues. Even more ambitiously, the first side of the disc was a suite of songs, running more than 25 minutes in total, based around the theme of Bo Diddley’s‘Who Do You Love?’, in no fewer than six episodic interpretations. Quicksilver’s version divided into seven sections, with different sub-titles. One dubbed When You Love, featured a long, and highly creative, five-minute jaunt from Duncan that drew from jazz as well as psychedelia, underscored by a Latin-influenced bass line. It’s forceful and ruminative at once. Cipollina took the reins during the How You Love segment, letting his chilling tremolo spin through loop-de-loops, broken by distinct cries phased to shoot back and forth between the speakers.
The first and last of these were versions of the song itself, with notable roles for the band’s guitarists John Cipollina and Gary Duncan. The first even nudged into the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 91. But the middle passages were all written by the members of QMS themselves, titled (with a hint of humour) ‘When You Love, ‘Where You Love,’ ‘How You Love’ and ‘Which Do You Love.’
“Quicksilver goes into it at full speed,” wrote Greil Marcus in his Rolling Stone review at the time, “John Cipollina’s guitar alternately harsh and sweet, clashing with Gary Duncan’s rhythm, Greg Elmore’s drumming simple and solid, never an iota of sloppiness, not a note missed.”
Who do you love and Mona are excellent examples of QMS live , the audience interaction is exciting and enervating, Cipollina’s guitar playing is ecstatic and moving. Calvary is like a psychedelic spaghetti western and is quite in place and a good ol’ boys yippee ay yay ending in Happy Trails means a great trip is guaranteed for all you heads out there
This is simply the San Francisco live,’acid rock’, sound at its best. Obviously comparisons with the Dead will be made but for reasons well expressed by the other reviewers here they are pretty meaningless. I can understand why opinions are divided over this album, It is one of the great, maybe the greatest, guitar album(s) flowing in a way that no other has ever equalled. Don’t look for structured songs here just, to quote the Airplane,”ride the music”. One of the two or three albums that would be in my top ten whenever you asked me.
The second side of ‘Happy Trails’ started with another gem from the Bo Diddley catalogue, ‘Mona,’ and three more band compositions including Duncan’s 13-minute instrumental ‘Calvary.’
The album artwork was designed by Globe Propaganda, described as “an advertising agency specializing in hip, progressive material.” Soon afterwards, Globe designed covers for the Charlatans and It’s A Beautiful Day. 23 years after its release, in 1992, ‘Happy Trails’ went gold, testament to the lasting contribution of Quicksilver Messenger Service as was the fact that it landed at No. 189 on Rolling Stone’s all-time top 500 albums.
The Fat Angel Sings 