Rilo Kiley’s remarkable return
On Wednesday, May 7, I ventured to one of the last places on earth where twee appeared to be alive and well: the Rilo Kiley concert at Libbey Bowl in Ojai. Residents of the idyllic town and surrounding enclaves...
A vision in Doc Martens: Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards at Bottom of the Hill
I didn’t want to go all the way to San Francisco. It was the first day back from spring break, I was too cold to wear the outfit I’d laid out, and it was starting to rain. I was exhausted and all I wanted t...
Preview: An interview with Johnny Manchild ahead of the Double Vision tour
Piano-rock/alt-rock band Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards is coming to Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on 03/31. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Johnny to chat about music, thei...
Story of an artist: The life of cult singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston
"The best thing you can say about me is that I have been and I always will be in the twilight zone, and I'm serious. I live a different life. I'm lonely, but it's not just being lonely. It's the things that I s...
Partying like it’s the late 1900s: the Breeders and Belly at the Warfield
Working as a stagehand at a music venue, you see enough middle-aged men whose bands you’ve never heard of strut across a stage. Thus, attending the Breeders’ 30th anniversary tour of their 1993 album Last S...
Chicano Batman: They are vengeance, they are the night
The cover of Chicano Batman's 2010 debut, featuring its iconic logo
Chicano Batman is a newer-generation, soulful Latino band from East Los Angeles, California. East LA is a culturally rich urban area for ...
25 Years of The Lonesome Crowded West: Modest Mouse at The Fox Theater in Oakland
The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) is considered by many to be one of the greatest indie albums of all time; last Wednesday, Modest Mouse came to the Fox Theater in Oakland to celebrate 25 years since its release...
Hanging Out with Drugdealer this Halloween at The Chapel
Following the release of their most recent album, Hiding in Plain Sight (2022), Drugdealer returned to San Francisco to kick off their month-long North American tour at The Chapel. Hailing from Oakland, Califor...
Festival Diary: A Primavera Sound Experience
The iconic Primavera Sound festival finally made its way to Los Angeles, California on the weekend of September 16th-18th. For two decades Primavera Sound has been spreading music throughout the world. The fest...
Sex, drugs, and segregation: the influence of Black artists and the history of rock ‘n’ roll
To an angsty teenager, nothing is more appealing than music that repulses adults, alludes to sex and drugs, and was at one point, banned in the city of Santa Cruz. Rock music, and what it represents, not only d...
Serotonin with Girl in Red
It’s with electric guitars and flashing red lights that Girl in Red opened her sold-out concert in San Francisco on the 11th of April. At the Regency Ballroom, in front of a crowd of mostly young women, s...
The Wonderful World of Wolf Alice
On Saturday night of Halloween weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing Wolf Alice at August Hall in San Francisco. As I walked to the venue from the train station, I began to fill with excitement. The streets wer...
Cage the Elephant delivers a sorrowful masterpiece with Social Cues
Opening with lo-fi sound effects broken by a snappy snare drum and crunchy, bright guitar riff, Social Cues (released April 19, 2019) begins with a weird, alt-rock jam entitled “Broken Boy” that perfectly s...
EDEN brings new sound, emotion to the Regency Ballroom
Minutes before the beginning of his highly anticipated performance, 22-year-old Jonathon Ng (stagename EDEN) quickly peaked his head out from backstage to see a sea of fans closely monitoring the stage for any ...
The Pixies in bloom: An essential band makes its presence heard at the Fox
About two months ago, as I skimmed through a classmate’s short story, I came across a line that read, “Outside there is a boxcar”, and without thinking twice, the small jukebox in my brain began blasting ...