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Boy In Static (Podcast #161)

April 28, 2009 by The Bay Bridged · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under News, Podcast

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Boy in Static - Photo by: Sean T. Drinkwater
Subscribe to the The Bay Bridged weekly podcast to get each new episode downloaded free to your iTunes the moment it’s published!

This week’s podcast features Boy In Static, the San Francisco-Boston indie pop project of Alexander Chen (viola, vocals, assorted instruments) & Kenji Ross (drums, beats). The band’s origin story is not exactly an oft-heard one: a classical musician (Chen) with an interest in computer audio begins writing pop music with electronic elements and gets the interest of The Notwist’s Markus Acher, who released Newborn on his Alien Transistor label before he ever plays a show. Over the past five years, Chen and Ross have released three albums and toured the US and internationally with bands like 13 & God, Freezepop, and Lymbyc Systym.

Candy Cigarette is Boy In Static’s third album, and it represents significant and exciting developments for the band, both in terms of sound and Chen’s approach to songwriting. While 2007′s Violet drew more heavily from shoegaze influences, the new record is considerably brighter, fusing bubbling Notwist-esque electronic pop with layers of viola and toy instruments. It also marks new levels of collaboration, between Chen and drummer Ross who road-tested these songs while touring, and with outside collaborators like Liz Freezepop, Ulrich Schnauss and Her Space Holiday. Freezepop’s vocal contributions are particularly notable; her and Chen have some beautiful melancholic duets that mesh wonderfully with the beats and textures. All told, it’s a very strong release that indie pop fans will greatly enjoy. [More...]

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Ticket giveaway: Garrett Pierce @ Cafe du Nord 5/3

April 28, 2009 by Nicole L. Browner · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Mp3, News

Garrett Pierce
This Sunday, local singer-songwriter Garrett Pierce presents to San Francisco his second full-length on Crossbill Records, All Masks, with a record release show at Cafe du Nord. Check out our recent podcast with Pierce for several cuts from the celebrated release, which centers around mythological journey and mystical instrumentation (he’ll be supported by a few of these musicians on Sunday, such as Jen Grady, pictured above).

02-running-from-the-face.mp3
Garrett Pierce – “Running from the Face”

He’ll be joined by Window Twins (members of Black Fiction) and Agent Ribbons (Sacramento), a sassy femme duo known to squeal and shred among other exhibitions of theatrical stage presence. This July, expect a new 7″ from Agent Ribbons out on Acuarela Records (Madrid), entitled “Your Love is the Smallest Doll.”

To win a pair of tickets to the show (which happens Sunday at 8pm with a $10 cover), send an e-mail to contest[at]thebaybridged.com by Friday at noon with your name and mailing address. Make sure to tell us which musician is best to stalk on Twitter, and why.

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Papercuts Bring it Back to the Bay

April 27, 2009 by Michael Pistorio · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Feature Article, News, Show Reviews


Friday night’s show at Café du Nord was a homecoming for local act Papercuts, the four-piece led by guitarist and vocalist, Jason Quever. “I can’t remember the last time we played at home,” remarked Quever. The night also welcomed the release of the band’s new album, You Can Have What You Want, a ten-song medley put out by San Francisco label Gnomonsong.  The set was a forty-five minute trip through the new album peppered with hits from the band’s previous albums Can’t Go Back and Mockingbird. To pigeonhole the group as psychedelic, pop, folk, or alt-country wouldn’t be a fair shake, as the group breaks the rules of each sub-genre.

The show, similar to the tracking on the new album, meandered through major and minor progressions of vintage organ phrases coupled with the dreamy and easy voice of Quever.  The sold out crowd swayed from the start and picked up energy with “Future Primitive,” a solid single off the new album characterized by the bassist’s wet reverb, a distinct snare pop, and Quever’s candy voice.

“John Brown,” a single from Can’t Go Back was another cut the band used to move the crowd, most effectively at the two and a half mark when the song breaks down into a rhythmic interplay of drum and bass while Quever slowly strums his reverb-heavy double cutaway. The song builds back up into the chorus with Quever’s crescendoing wail, “Oooh John Brown where you gone now? Oooooooh, ooooooooh,” moving the crowd like marionettes. [More...]

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The Splinters play with Buzzer, Brilliant Colors @ BotH tomorrow

April 27, 2009 by Nicole L. Browner · 1 Comment »
Filed Under Mp3, News

The Splinters
In every town live few riot grrrls, and in Oakland reside The Splinters — peppery and adorable, which has probably been said more than enough. I’ve encountered a few of the girls, as friends of a friend at a party, of course — and I can say just after a brief encounter that I’d want to hear/see their band. What’s the difference but a change in environment and a couple instruments in their hands? These girls definitely have figured out how to have fun, independent the setting.

splintered%20bridges.mp3
The Splinters – “Splintered Bridges”

Playing carefree, 3-chord carols is a hard way to disappoint, especially when a tambourine and Rickenbacker are involved. The Splinters have a southbound show approaching May 23 at The Smell with Dreamdate and Protect Me (LA), then a return to the city on June 12 at The Hemlock.

Tomorrow night at Bottom of the Hill, they’ll be playing with more neighborhood garage punks: Brilliant Colors (opening), and Buzzer (Oakland). The show starts at 9pm with an $8 cover.

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Rock and Kidney Pie: D Tour at the SFIFF

April 27, 2009 by Ben Richardson · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Feature Article, Film Review, News

D Tour
D Tour opens with the familiar trappings of a band-on-the-road movie–we meet drummer Pat Spurgeon in the practice space, tweaking his drumset as his band, SF indie-heroes Rogue Wave, prepares to set off on tour. Well into middle age and sporting a riotous caucausian ‘fro, Spurgeon is the picture of a friendly, articulate indie musician, talking earnestly about how his lack of a “back-up plan” keeps him committed to his musical dream.

Having shrugged off penury and failure in the past, Spurgeon finally feels at home in Rogue Wave, poised to hit the big time with their clever, catchy indie-pop. Suddenly, however, he is devastated by news of the worse kind: His kidney is failing.  Diagnosed with kidney problems as a child, Spurgeon received a transplant some fifteen years ago, allowing him to live his life in comparative stability.  Now, the first replacement kidney is no longer working, and he will need a new transplant, landing him on a donor list some six years long. He’s about to leave on the biggest tour of his life, and he will need dialysis, up to four times a day. [More...]

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Goodbye, Emily

April 24, 2009 by The Bay Bridged · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under News

Emily Logan - Photo by: Agata Kamler
As some of you probably know by now, we’re sad to announce that Emily Logan has left The Bay Bridged and is leaving the Bay Area for literally greener pastures, as she’ll be traveling across the country, working at organic farms along the way. You can find out more about her trip at her personal blog, Rose Noise.

In the fourteen months Emily was with The Bay Bridged, she worked tirelessly to ensure that our blog was always full of interesting content, and she leaves an impressive collection of interviews with some great bands. We’ve collected some of our favorites here for you to check out below. Bye, Emily!

- The French Kicks

- Tippy Canoe

- My First Earthquake

- Halou

- Ghost Mansion Records

- Why?

- Maus Haus

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Metal on Metal

April 24, 2009 by Ben Richardson · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Feature Article, Film Review, News

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Anvil! The Story of Anvil is the kind of movie people pregame for. I know because some dude blew chunks all over the floor at Slim’s, hastily erected rows of folding chairs and a teeming mass of heavy metal cinemaniacs denying him the solace of the bathroom stall. Anvil is a little-known Canadian metal band, an acknowledged influence of the 80′s “Big Four” (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer) that never really got their due, never really hit the big time. Screwed over by labels, promoters, and Lady Luck (perhaps the biggest offender), they toil in obscurity, trudging through the Ontario snow to work thankless day jobs and dreaming of the heavy metal big time that, in their graying, balding state, seems increasingly unlikely.

The stars of the movie are Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner, two nice Jewish boys who bonded as teenagers over visions of rock and roll stardom, visions that they are constitutionally incapable of giving up. Despite the misgivings of their families (who provide hilarious, skeptical commentary throughout), they first appear in director Sascha Gervasi’s movie ready to give it one last go, with a big tour of Europe lined up–a chance to storm the gates of the world’s metal stronghold, and finally bask in the limelight they’ve worked so hard for.

Kudlow is a inimitable fellow, a buffoonish frontman with a showman’s soul and an inexhaustible well of optimism. His philosophy of life and music is simple, delivered with an earnestness that belies its essential hilarity: “it could never be worse than the way it is now.” Reiner, his opposite number, is more level-headed, though no less committed, and his soft-spoken caveats often make him the target of Kudlow’s bromantic ire. [More...]

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