Single Of The Week: “Too Many Things” by The Linda Lindas

The Linda Lindas are too good for how young they are. We have been trumpeting the brilliance of this formerly tween, now mostly teen rock band since 2019. Their debut record, 2022’s Growing Up, is possibly the most exciting and diverse debut of the pop-punk canon. However, my first listen to “Too Many Things” still surprised me. The pulsating, anxious bassline. The lyrics? A deep, introspective look at the feeling of being overwhelmed that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Sleater-Kinney or Go-Go’s record. (The two bands that, IMHO, have best conveyed “anxiety” on record) 

“Too Many Things” is out now in all the usual places. They are spending the Summer opening for Paramore everywhere (except the SF SHOW!!!!), and the press release teases that more is to come this year from The Linda Lindas, so keep an eye out! 

I will also note that this has been the hardest week for Single of the Week, and there are a TON of great new releases this week to give your ears a nice little treat! Veruca Salt’s Louise Post graces us with her debut solo single, “Guilty.” The triumphant return of Speedy Ortiz, “Scabs.” NYC’s soul group 79.5 has a genuine Summer anthem ready for you with “B.D.F.Q.” Pinkshift returns with a burner of a track, “to me.” And if you are looking for evidence of how blessed and lucky you are, the first Natalie Merchant album in nearly 10 years, Keep Your Courage, is out today! 

Film Feature: 66th SFFilm Festival Spotlights

The 66th SFFilm Festival opens tomorrow, Thursday, April 13th, and will run through Sunday, April 23rd. Tomorrow’s opening night premiere – a documentary about Steph Curry — is sold out for advance tickets and at rush (if you want to show up and take your chances), but luckily there’s tons more cool stuff to see over the next week and a half. Here we present just a taste: a look at four upcoming screenings — two documentaries and two narrative features. Continue reading “Film Feature: 66th SFFilm Festival Spotlights”

Single of the Week: “Salad” by Blondshell

I usually don’t like picking multiple tracks from the same album as “Single Of The Week.” But each track off Blondshell’s self-titled debut record has been better than the last. “Salad” is a brilliant piece of work. Like, it’s positively chilling. This is the kind of storytelling in song that I thought was perfected by Nick Cave and Kristin Hersh. Vocalist Sabrina Teitelbaum sings with a haunting quiver, bending her voice around the vulnerable ferocity of her backing band. This song is simply amazing. 

You can find Blondshell’s debut everywhere TODAY! This record is fantastic. Do your ears and your heart a favor and pop it on today! 

Film Review: “Air”

Affleck’s basketball shoe tale is a slam dunk

Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) meets with Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris (Viola Davis).

If you love basketball and you want to see an in depth movie about Michael Jordan, watch Netflix’s The Last Dance. But if you love stories about high-stakes gambling, go see Ben Affleck’s Air. What Affleck gives us here isn’t a sports story. It’s a tale about business, and a wonderfully juicy one at that. Air tells the story of how Jordan’s contract with Nike nearly single-handedly transformed the middling Oregon-based company into the world’s greatest apparel empire, thanks to the story’s main characters placing big bets: on Jordan by Sonny Vaccaro, a then little-known Nike marketing executive; on Vacarro by his boss, Nike founder Phil Knight, and on Nike by Jordan’s family, particularly his mother Deloris.

Continue reading “Film Review: “Air””

Show Review: alt-j at The Fox Theater, 3/23/23

Ten years got behind alt-j’s seminal record, An Awesome Wave. The still-fresh sound, now topped with nostalgia and ten years of collecting new listeners, filled the Fox in Oakland to the rails. The record flummoxed reviewers when it dropped. Did they love Joe Newman’s creaky tessellating shrill, yet palatable scree? They were confused and transfixed. The romance and journey of each song alt-j spins are solidly complicated layers. It could easily be written off as a neo/hippy/gen x-z Dj tricks. It’s simply an unexpected sound and a labor to hear all the detail packed into such a small scape of one song. The lyrics are not the first thing a listener will hear. A world music or drum and bass mask is removed upon several listens, then the intimacy of Joe’s lyrics are more decipherable. Sigur Ros comes on like a drug in a similar way. An opium lull takes over the body before making sense of what’s being said. The assumed keyboard or effects are often woven tapestries of one note sung over and over by Newman, Unger-Hamilton, and Sonny. It’s incredibly well thought out. Syncopated laser lights beat along to bass lines and drums. Chris Koruda style. Props to the lighting guy they have with them on this limited run. Continue reading “Show Review: alt-j at The Fox Theater, 3/23/23”

Single of the Week: “Hand Grenade” by Be Your Own PET

When Be Your Own PET got back together last year to open a few shows for Jack White at his personal request, I thought those few shows were going to be it. They last graced our eardrums with new material in 2008, when the members of the band were still barely out of high school. Their frantic chaos still delighted me ever so much, and they stayed in my rotation for the last 15 years. BUT! Sometimes the future does hold something good, as Nashville’s finest (Suck it, Diahrrea Planet!) has gifted us with a brand new track, “Hand Grenade.” And, I know some of you might be disappointed, but the band has certainly matured over the years, living as civilians and not a bunch of punk kids riding around the country in a van. It’s a solid, heavy piece of rock n roll and I can’t wait for more. And a West Coast tour, please and thank you? 

BREAKING: Raphael Saadiq is touring with Tony Toni Toné!

I was walking down Grand Ave to get to my barber, and I looked up and saw a giant billboard with Raphael Saadiq, D’wayne Wiggins, and Timothy Riley and the words “Raphael Saadiq presents Tony Toni Toné” to the left and “Just Me & You Tour 23” to the right. This seems pretty obviously an old-school way to let the world know that 2023 is getting one of Oakland’s most important and influential bands back together. Digging deeper, there are no dates, nothing other than a cryptic “Text Raphael Saadiq at 310-861-2685.” 

This is one of the few bands left on my bucket list, and I’ve gotta say, I’m stoked and needed to share. Until we’ve got more info, here’s a sampling of their greatness from 1993: 

Film Review: “A Good Person”

Pugh’s performance not enough to save overwrought addiction drama

Allison (Florence Pugh) struggles with guilt and addiction.

Writer/director Zach Braff hasn’t made a solo feature film since 2004’s Garden State (2014’s Wish I Was Here had a co-writer), so you’d think that a 19 year incubation period would be enough for him to craft something truly great. But sadly, that’s not the case: A Good Person, his newest picture, is a disappointing misfire. 

Continue reading “Film Review: “A Good Person””

Single of the Week: “Come On Baby” by Alison Sudol

There is so much wrong with the state of abortion in the United States. The loss of Roe v Wade is causing widespread damage to the state of reproductive health, particularly in states where there is little support to begin with. One often missed issue here is that since caring for a miscarriage often requires the same procedure as performing an abortion, there are states where doctors are too scared of prosecution to do what is needed for both the physical health and emotional well-being of the mother. It’s heartbreaking. Especially since we are seeing some lawmakers BLAMING miscarriage on the mother. What does this have to do with our Single Of The Week? Well, Alison Sudol, the artist formerly known as A Fine Frenzy, has given us possibly the most potent, honest, and heartbreaking song about this, something we never talk about, yet happens to 10-20% of pregnancies. “Come On Baby” is a gut punch of a song that needs to be blasted in the halls of Congress and The Supreme Court. 

“Come On Baby” is off Sudol’s most recent record, Still Come The Night, which is out now in all the usual places, both virtual and physical. Also, if you know anyone looking for support in this regard, HAND of the Bay Area is an excellent organization that I highly recommend. 

Single of the Week: “Fuck Around Phase” by Housewife

Do you know what trend I LOVE? The return of the heavily overdriven guitar tone of the 90s. So many young songwriters, most of whom weren’t even alive yet when alternative radio was littered with the most glorious walls of noise, are incorporating this sound. “Fuck Around Phase” by Housewife is definitely in line with that. Spine-tingling guitars combined with honest, bold, well-crafted lyrics? Sheer Perfection. 

“Fuck Around Phase” is available in all the usual places. Housewife is, somehow, touring with Paolo Nutini? I bet this band is gonna scare a few people at those shows.