Noise Pop (San Francisco) Weekend Music Options

Kudos to the bookers of the Noise Pop festival in San Francisco. A real variety of touring bands and then rounded out well with a lot of great LA and San Francisco bands.

Saturday Night’s Pick:
Spinto Band / Dios (Malos) / The Changes @ Rickshaw Stop ($12) – This show’s for the indie pop fans. The Spinto Band’s debut album is pure and simple, happy, toe tapping indie pop. If you like the Fruit Bats and the Little Ones give it a spin. I hear they’re a lot of fun to see live too. Dios (Malos) is one of my favorite LA bands (technically they’re from Hawthorne). You know who else is from Hawthorne? The Beach Boys, Emitt Rhodes and Black Flag. At times they’ve got gentle acoustic songs that could be inspired by Emitt Rhodes, at times they’re bratty like Black Flag and at other times they just play catchy pop-inspired music like the Beach Boys (or good Weezer). Download “Feels Good Being Somebody” I only heard Chicago’s The Changes new record once, but I remember really liking it. I need to buy it. It’s catchy, guitar pop too.

Also Recommended:
Clinic / Earlimart / Sea Wolf @ the Independent (Sold Out) – For the indie rockers. Clinic are an art punk band that I used to really like, then I saw them live and didn’t like so much. LA’s Earlimart haven’t put out a record in about three years and anticipation is high. They released three songs to Pitchfork earlier this year and fans of the critically acclaimed Treble & Tremble record (as the All Music Guide says – splitting the ground between Elliott Smith and Grandaddy) will not be disappointed. Sea Wolf is Alex Church’s (formerly of Irving) new band. They’re local to LA too. It’s not as poppy as Irving. They’ve got an EP coming out on LA label, Dangerbird later this year.

Ghostland Observatory / Honeycut / The Gray Kid @ Mezzanine ($15) – For the indie dance crowd. Austin’s Ghostland Observatory have a great reputation as a live act. If you’re into dancing and listening to Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem, you’ll want to check these guys out. The Gray Kid’s an LA based white rapper and he’s developing a big following.

These have their charm as well:
The Ponys / Lemon Sun / Gris Gris @ Bottom of the Hill ($10/12) – For the noise pop fans. Chicago’s The Ponys recently signed to Matador. Their new album comes out on March 20th. Their music is best described as noise pop, so this is the perfect festival for them. Download “Double Vision” Lemon Sun is an LA band that I don’t know much about. Gris Gris

Dead Meadow / Starlight Desperation / Spindrift @ Café du Nord ($12/14) – For the psych rockers. Washington D.C.’s Dead Meadow are a riffing, psychedelic stoner rock band on Matador. They’re currently finishing up their fifth album at Sunset Sounds in LA. Download “At Her Open Door” Starlight Desperation are an LA band that I don’t know too much about. Spindrift are an LA band that could do a spaghetti western soundtrack.

Brightblack Morning Light / Women and Children / Karl Blau @ Great American Music Hall ($14) – For the freak folkers. Brightblack Morning Light are yet another Matador band. They’re extreme LA-hating hippies who play freak folk. We’ve got hippies here too dude? Why all the hate? Download “Everybody Daylight” Download Karl Blau’s “Into the Nada”

Sunday’s Pick:
Midlake / Ester Drang @ Bottom of the Hill – Afternoon Show (Sold Out) – I saw Denton’s Midlake a couple of years before I’d heard anything about them. The only thing I remember about the show was that there were a bunch of famous scientologists there. Last year their new album came out to great reviews. Having already dismissed them, I didn’t pay much attention. Then I download “Roscoe” and immediately understood what the critics were talking about. Midlake’s been studying their Fleetwood Mac records and it’s very good. If you don’t believe me, go to their website and listen to it. Ester Drang are a good shoegaze, noise pop band from Oklahoma. Download “Come Back Alive”

Also Recommended:
Comedians of Comedy: Patton Oswalt / Brian Posehn @ the Independent – 2 shows 5:30 and 8:30 ($24) – Nerd comics. I used to spend a lot of time at Largo’s Monday night comedy night. There would usually be a couple of young comedians who had a couple of nice jokes. Then Patton would come out with great material. He’s one of my favorite LA comedians. Brian Posehn’s pretty damn funny too. They may not be household names, but you’ll recognize them from a lot of sitcoms. Oswalt’s a regular on King of Queens and Posehn was on Just Shoot Me all the time.

Maybe this is your speed:
Cake / Money Mark @ Bimbo’s (Sold Out) – I saw Cake back in 1995 or so. Money Mark plays the easy, breezy keyboard rock. He’s the unofficial fourth Beastie Boy and an LA artist too.
The Dwarves @ Bottom of the Hill ($12) – Veteran punk band.