Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
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.
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!
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.
Today is a pretty bonkers new release day, with new records from Sabrina Carpenter, The Beaches, and The Hives that were all queued up for my eardrums. And then I landed on something completely different- this deliciously dark, prog-psych-free jazz brain swim of a track from Brazil’s Oruã. The song is “México Suite.” I love it.
“México Suite” is off Oruã’s upcoming release, Slacker, coming out October 24th on the legendary K Records.
SIGRID IS BACK! Norway’s finest import has returned with a funky, infectious single, and it’s the thing that’s keeping me moving today. And that vocal fry?!?! “Fort Knox” is the second single from Sigrid’s third full-length record, There’s Always More That I Can Say, coming your way on October 3rd. Preorders and such here!
I *love* Ivy. The faux French Pop project from married couple Dominique Durand and the late, great Adam Schleisinger was almost certainly a thing of the past when COVID stole the life of one of America’s greatest songwriters in 2020. However, while working on remaster / reissues of Ivy’s fantastic catalog, Durand started listening to various demos from over the years, called up bandmate Andy Chase and, bam! We have a new Ivy album! And much like a ghost giving you a warm hug, these are all songs worked on by Schleisinger. Even though COVID is still frustrating our lives, its impact has reduced in the last year, and hopefully will continue to wane. That being said, “Heartbreak” sounds as fresh and inviting as anything off their classic record Apartment Life, and I’m eager for more music and to hopefully see them live again.
“Heartbreak” comes from Ivy’s upcoming record, Traces Of You, in stores and at your friendly neighborhood DSP on September 5th!
Jorja Smith keeps knocking out banger after banger. “With You” is a bright and happy tune perfect for detaching from the stress of life, holding your loved ones, and enjoying the sun. It’s delicate and just housey enough that it’s got a sexy groove without being, well, annoying.
Jorja Smith is playing Outside Lands on Sunday evening (6:50 / Twin Peaks Stage), and I can’t wait to hear this one in Golden Gate Park.
I get scared when a member of a band I like mysteriously goes “solo.” I noticed that Julia Kugel Montoya of The Coathangers, a brilliant punk band, was releasing a solo album, I initially wouldn’t listen to the single. It took me two weeks, and I’m gutted I missed two weeks with “Bound.” First of all, it sounds NOTHING like The Coathangers. But this song is GORGEOUS!!! It’s a stunning, intense ballad. You can’t mosh to it, but you easily cry to it.
“Bound” is the first single off Julia, Julia’s Sugaring The Strawberry, which is out September 9th. Preorders are available here. Although full tour dates have yet to be announced, she will be playing a free festival, Happy Sundays, curated by Julia herself, in Long Beach on August 23rd & 24th.
90 seconds of build-up. That’s it. 90 seconds is NOT the perfect song length. “SOME WOLVES,” however, is a perfect metaphor for the reality of life. It’s simply unresolved tension that hangs there with no resolution. Which is right where we are living- everything is tension upon tension, and the closest we can get to relief is a new tension.
So fucking good.
“SOME WOLVES” is the lead track off torpedo’s latest record, What the fucked do we all do now |- Lights, the perfect album title the fuckery of now, and happens to be out NOW on Broken Clover Records.
West Coast Tour Dates began, um, yesterday?
TORPEDO – LIVE 2025:
07/10 San Diego, CA – The Tower Bar
07/11 San Pedro, CA – The Sardine
07/12 Los Angeles, CA – The Redwood Bar
07/13 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing
07/15 Visalia/Fresno – TBA
07/16 Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
07/17 Sacramento, CA – The Press Club
07/18 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
07/19 Chico, CA – Naked Lounge
07/20 Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
07/23 Portland, OR – High Water Mark
07/24 Yakima, WA – Bearded Monkey
07/25 Bremerton, WA – The Charleston
07/26 Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown
07/27 Seattle, WA – Substation
