Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
This song is such a lovely little jam. It’s big, it’s cinematic. It’s dark and bright at the same time. It’s ethereal and a dance floor burner. I don’t really know what to feel with this song, and that’s what makes it so bloody great. “SYNESTHESIA” by Azam Ali is our single of the week, and all you need to know is that you should listen to this track.
“SYNESTHESIA” is the second single off the album of the same name, and it’s coming your way on November 14th. Preorder here!
This song is so very, very heavy. “LUSH” has all the elements of the perfect modern metal song… It’s such a ferocious bit of brutality, all without the overused scream/growl that’s a signature of today’s heavy music. Black Polish is bringing the double bass drum hits with the drop D guitars, and it’s definitely pit-ready.
“LUSH” is the latest single off Black Polish’s upcoming full-length, YUNA, coming your way October 29th- just in time for Halloween!
Canadian Power Pop is my ultimate comfort food. “Superglue” by Pony is giving me that joy in an aggressively stressful period of history. This song is joyful and catchy and just feels damn good on the ear drums.
Pony is on the road this fall with the great Pool Kids. You can buy/stream “Superglue” here, as well as learn all you can about the joy that is Pony.
There have been a LOT of high-profile comebacks in the last year or so… Oasis, Rilo Kiley, The Prodigy, TV On The Radio, to name a few. Somehow, the return of the literal greatest live band of their generation, The Hives, seems to have crept on the radar. They played a handful of club shows in 2023, plus a handful of dates opening for Foo Fighters in stadiums (and covering for The Sounds at Just Like Heaven at the last moment), but 2025 was the first full-scale tour since 2013.
And if you are sleeping on these shows, you are vastly mistaken. Continue reading “Show Review: The Hives with Snõõper at The Warfield, 9/20/25”
It’s been a really, REALLY stressful week. I mean, I even missed single of the week last week because, well, the rest of the internet can explain that to you. I kept wanting to find some intense, political call-to-arms this week. Be Your Own Pet did give us a good one, and I’ll let you enjoy that here. But I need some comfort food. I need some loud, fuzzy guitar. I need something infinitely relatable. And I need a nice, lighthearted video with just enough drag to remind me that there is a world where radical acceptance happens, and it can just be normal. Here comes Rocket. A band that people have been trying to get me onto for like two years now, and I’m finally in. And “Another Second Chance” is an excellent song, and the video is a pleasure to watch. It warms my cold and scared Gen-X heart, reminding me that the kids are more than alright, they are definitely better than us.
“Another Second Chance” comes from R Is For Rocket, coming to stores and streams on October 3rd. They are also heading out on a Fall Tour, and I think I’m gonna go to this.
I have a handful of show regrets. But one of the biggest was missing Raye when she played Rickshaw Stop in 2023. And everything that has come out from her since then has been exceptionally more and more brilliant. And today she dropped “Where Is My Husband?”, a proper funk banger if I’ve ever heard one.
She’s also hitting the road this Spring, playing Bill Graham Civic Auditorium here in SF, which is just down the street from Rickshaw Stop and literally 25 TIMES BIGGER! Stream “Where Is My Husband” here. Tour dates and presale sign up here! The presale begins on 9/23 at 10 am local time. Miss the sign-up? Try your hand at tickets on 9/25 at 10 am!
For those who follow this site closely, I recently posted a podcast where I said, “I work all day on a laptop. I don’t want to dance to one at night, too.” It may seem a little odd to you, my loyal reader, that I am attending the Portola Music Festival this year. Not only am I attending, but I am deeply excited about this. Indeed, there is plenty of laptop action happening on this bill, and numerous websites are highlighting it. Tickets are available here. Full schedule here. See you September 20th-21st!
This is who I’m excited about: Continue reading “The Electronic Music Averse Guide To Portola Music Festival”
Is this site becoming a Lexa Gates fan site? MAYBE?!?! But, holy shit, this one is good. It’s like a classic Chi-Lites jump groove (is that a real term?) with Gates’ signature fierce and snarky delivery. And that video is BONKERS. Such a solid track. One of my favorite new rappers to come out in a long time.
“Past It” can be enjoyed here. This is the first track from her upcoming sophomore full-length, but if this is the first taste, I can only imagine how gratifying the whole meal will be.
I recall as a wee 15-year-old, listening to the radio. Live 105, which, as a teenager in the Bay Area, was your source for a rock n roll education. This was shortly before I discovered KZSU and KALX, as well as similar stations, which really opened my ears. Anyway, I heard a song. It was the most deliciously naughty song I’ve ever heard at the time. It was a song called “Underwear.” I was OBSESSED. I found out that an older friend had a CD called Different Class. He dubbed it for me, and I listened to it nonstop. It was my opening to the genre known as “Britpop.” Later, of course, I’d delve into Blur, Elastica, Supergrass, and Kenickie. Eventually, this led me to spend my young college days at an 18+ nightclub called “Popscene.” Continue reading “Pulp announce 30th Anniversary Edition of Different Class”
Today’s episode of “How Did I Get Here?” features the amazing psych duo Ghostwoman. We talked at length about music, being in a band, and what to do when you find an excellent musical partner that happens to live on an entirely different continent!
Ghostwoman’s latest record, Welcome To The Civilized World, is out TODAY (September 5th!) on Full Time Hobby. You can either stream or order it delivered to your home FROM THIS VERY LINK!
