Author: Dakin Hardwick

Sleater-Kinney’s Social Media Profiles Are All Black?

UPDATE?: Spin may have uncovered an album name and a blurb from Carrie

It seems that Sleater-Kinney have set their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profile pics to the color black. Now it’s time to speculate wildly as to what that means… Is the new album coming sooner than expected? Or does it mean something else? I’m just really excited about this and needed to tell the world.

In the meantime, they also have a contest running to win a signed Stratocaster and a Sleater-Kinney Prize Pack! You can enter that here!

Single Of The Week: RoMaNcE by ShitKid

This week’s Single Of The Week comes from Sweden’s ShitKid. We have one of the most wonderfully weird videos I’ve seen in a while, accompanied by some catchy as fuck LoFi garage punk. Lyrically they’ve produced some of the best late adolescent angst since the heyday of The Donnas! (Please come back, Donnas!) 

ShitKid’s sophmore album, [DETENTION] can be found in all the usual places, including Bandcamp. They are also hitting the road later this year supporting The Melvins & Redd Kross, so make sure you know where your ear plugs are. Those tourdates can be found here!

Continue reading “Single Of The Week: RoMaNcE by ShitKid”

Single Of The Week: Bill, In Consideration by Enablers

This week’s Single Of The Week comes from SF’s Enablers. Not that SF needs any Enablers, because this town is basically Neverland for people with too much money, but the band is solid. Imagine if Parquet Courts decided to start taking a ton of acid, and let loose whatever stream of consciousness ramblings that came to mind. Only with a heavier dose of psychedelia. This band is trippy in all the right ways, and heavy when you need it to be heavy.

Their record, Zones, is out on June 14th and can be preordered here!

Single Of The Week: Loss & Relax b/w Half Colored Hair by Black Belt Eagle Scout

This week’s single of the week is notable because, well, it came with a b-side. So you’ve got two songs to help you make it through your Friday! Portland’s Black Belt Eagle Scout has followed up last year’s nearly perfect Mother Of My Children with two songs that manage to be delicate and noisy simultaneously, perfecting the sound that Neil Young & Crazy Horse had been fighting to find for decades. The church organ that kicks in for the second half of “Half Colored Hair” is downright chilling.

The 7″ can be purchased here, or find Black Belt Eagle Scout on tour with Julia Jacklin this spring!

 

Show Review: Bikini Kill, The Linda Lindas at The Hollywood Palladium, 4/26/19

All Photos by Steve Rose unless otherwise noted.

When I was 16, I was heavily invested in the world of punk rock. But it was the commercial version of it that was found on the local alternative radio station Live 105, 120 Minutes on MTV, and PBS documentaries of a bygone era.

Then I got a job at a telemarketing company, and a coworker began introducing me to the lovely world of riot grrrl. I was given tapes of music by Team Dresch, Sleater-Kinney, and Bikini Kill. The pure ferocity of it all spoke to me. It opened so many sonic doors for me, and helped me realize that I preferred listening to female voices—and found that women writers were easier for me to relate to than men.
Continue reading “Show Review: Bikini Kill, The Linda Lindas at The Hollywood Palladium, 4/26/19”

Single Of The Week: Mission by The Midnight Hour

The end of A Tribe Called Quest still hits me really hard. The fact that they never ended up playing a Bay Area show after their twice cancelled Outside Lands set still makes me feel a little bitter. And then I stumbled across Tribe’s beatmaker, Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s new band, The Midnight Hour. They do classic jazz, but retain that specific flavor that is Tribe. They dropped a live record today, complete with a solid single, “Mission.”  It’s the perfect Friday song… It is mellow enough to take the edge off the work week, and energetic enough to motivate you to get through it.

Their record, Live At Linear Labs, is out today and available in all the usual places, including Spotify and Bandcamp!

Single Of The Week: Shitty Ballet by Bleached

The last time we heard from Bleached was back in early 2017, when they released their brilliant EP and companion zine, Can You Deal?. Two years isn’t a long time in normal situations, but these last two years have felt like twenty. So, this has been on repeat on my headphones all day, and it will be in going with you, too.

Bleached are on tour right now with The Hives and Refused, but, sadly, do not have any Bay Area dates yet. Tour dates can be found here!

Outside Lands 2019 Line Up HAS BEEN UNLEASHED

PSSST! Outside Lands has released their line up a little bit early… Like, um, 9am PST on Tuesday, March 26th early. And it’s pretty exciting! As usual, we are going to deep dive into the best acts from the bottom half of the calendar closer to the event. But, first, the headliners: both Paul Simon and Childish Gambino are postponing their retirements to visit us in Golden Gate Park. And, if you missed last year’s farewell shows at Oracle Arena from either of them, both were practically religious experiences. (I cried twice at that Childish Gambino show) Those two are pretty universally loved acts. The third headliner is twenty øne piløts, and, well, the moment I read that, I could see the Reddit page explode! That being said, just because a band sells a lot of records and crossed over to Top 40 radio, doesn’t devalue them. This duo first played early on the day in the 2013 Outside Lands Fest, and has taken their dissonant, tribal brand of dark pop rock, and continued to experiment with it while crossing over to the mainstream.

Other highlights include gospel legend Mavis Staples, R&B avant gardist Santigold, the most aggressive hip hop performer I’ve ever seen, Denzel Curry, 2018 Grammy winners Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and Kacey Muscgraves, LA rock n roll heroes Cherry Glazerr, and SO MANY MORE! GA, VIP, and the brand new “Golden Gate Pass” with special elevated viewing area, a clear bag for your things, and much, much more. Tickets can be purchased starting Thursday, March 28th here!

Full line up below: Continue reading “Outside Lands 2019 Line Up HAS BEEN UNLEASHED”

Spinning Platters Interview: Niki Bodemann of Noise Pop

This year marks the 26th year that the Noise Pop Festival debuted at The Kennel Club (now The Independent). Since then, it’s grown to become one of the primary tastemaking music festivals in the world! Past performers that have broken shortly after their Noise Pop debut have included The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Tash Sultana, Vince Staples, and many, many more. Spinning Platters recently got to speak to Niki Bodemann, one of the bookers of the festival to talk about what it takes to make a week of music that even frustrates the most decisive music fan.

Festival badges, single show tickets, and a full schedule can be found here!

Spinning Platters: How long have you been booking for Noise Pop?

Niki Bodemann: So, I have been a full-time talent buyer at Noise Pop for like a year and three months now. Then before that, I was an assistant talent buyer. So, I would like help with the support bookings like all the openers on our shows and stuff um, but like booking actual headliners and stuff. Uh, it’s been a little over a year, yeah. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Niki Bodemann of Noise Pop”

Burger Boogaloo 2019: NEW BANDS ANNOUNCED!!!

This year is the 10th Anniversary of the best little punk rock festival the Bay Area has to offer, Burger Boogaloo! It’s hosted by John Waters, who will tell stories and introduce each band. The initial lineup was announced a few months back, but today they added a SLEW of amazing bands! We now get the amazing Nobunny, The Dwarves, who will be coming to make up for the set they had to cancel last year (maybe Blag Dhalia will steal the mic for “Sonic Reducer” from the Dead Boys), King Tuff doing the classic record King Tuff Was Dead, Davila 666, The Chats, and Timmy’s Organism!   Also, The Jesus + Mary Chain will now be playing both Saturday and Sunday, doing a completely different set each night! All of this, plus the previously announced Shannon & The Clams, Scientists, Sheer Mag, Amyl and The Sniffers, and MORE!

The whole party is happening July 6th & 7th in Mosswood Park in Oakland, CA! A limited number of Valentine’s Day Special tickets went on sale today, as well as single day passes. Those can be purchased here!