Friends and Fauxes: Four Bands in One Night at Cornerstone

Touring with The High Curbs along their west coast stint, King Shelter breathed OC air into the Cornerstone at Berkeley Tuesday night. “Berkeley, you’re an interesting place,” declared lead singer Taylor Hecocks, ‘Pick a lane! Are you SF or Oakland?” This group of four has been playing together since 2015 and it shows. They performed “Blue Pigz,” their most listened-to song on Spotify. Its lyrics seemingly refer to police brutality, yet fail to really pack a punch, i.e. “but I’m a basic white boy so you can’t trust me.” Following this came a silly mash-up of Wheatus, Green Day, Oasis, Weezer, and Soulja Boy.

Next up was Fauxes (pronounced foes), and I can now say with confidence that god is a woman and that woman is Scarlett Levinson. Dawning a bright red slip against the background of her bandmates all dressed in black, she made her presence known for the whole of their set. Based in San Francisco, Scarlett and the band consider themselves to be psychedelic garage mud. Her vocals range from brooding and grunge to cosmically angelic, magnified by the psychedelic nature of guitar tones around her. Their most recent single “Heavy” (2022) rips, and Scarlett draws you in with their 2021 self-titled EP. In fact, she literally beckoned the audience closer to her like a siren, meanwhile swaying to the beat of her own drums, and we happily obliged. It was a hypnotic experience, to say the least, one that I did not want to end.

Also hailing from San Francisco, Buzzed Lightbeer was on deck. On the heels of what can only be described as Scarlett’s hex, this fem-slop rock trio did not come to play. Through alternating vocals, and drum solos too powerful for their now-cracked cymbal to handle, Buzzed Lightbeer rained their 2019 EP “Hell” upon us. As the groovy, queer antithesis to Charlie’s Angels, this unholy trinity set the stage for the band of the hour.

The High Curbs have come a long way since their early days in Chino. From backyard shows in the inland empire to the Tropicalia festival, they’ve been making SoCal Latin punk for nearly ten years at this point. Despite previous collaboration with Burger Records, lead singer Ed Moreno, guitarist Alberto Alvarenga, drummer Aaron Korbe, and bassist Kenny Huerta continue to churn music out for a fanbase that definitely includes every single member of the previous three sets. Moreno and co. brought Scarlett and Buzzed Lightbeer together on the dance floor, performing tunes about getting older, juxtaposed with an ode to Tony Soprano, and finally bringing the night to a close with their hit single “Want” (2017).

They can be found playing with Death Lens in Santa Ana later this spring, and for those in the bay, I highly recommend that you check out Buzzed Lightbeer (3/10 Peacock Lounge) and Fauxes in particular. Scarlett is taking the band up north during the first week of March, but she can also be seen with Choke Cherry and Psyched Radio SF.