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...
When Worlds Collide: Music Sampling as a Contact Zone
The intersectionality of two genres is much more than meshing two separate sounds because subcultures, histories, and aesthetics are ingrained within those sounds. When conjoined, opposing genres can communicat...
In the garage with SOBO: Inside Berkeley’s Student Music Scene
Live music is foundational to Berkeley, from the performances at the history-filled 924 Gilman to the frequent band nights near campus. I have grown familiar with feeling the bass buzz through my body as my fri...
Finding the Full Picture in the Chaos: An Interview with Megan Claire
Nor-Cal based artist Megan Claire released her first single “I-5” nearly a year ago. That year had been filled with live shows, a brief stint in Los Angeles, the finding of a full band, and overall growth a...
Songs that make me gag: soundtrack to my high school years
One evening during my sophomore year, my roommates and I sat in our living room and scrolled through our Spotify accounts in search of songs that we could not stand to hear anymore. Whether these were songs tha...
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...
Sleater-Kinney: Navigating a “Modern Girl” sound with 30-year punk roots
My experience on Friday, October 4th, Day 1 of San Francisco’s annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival starts with a harrowing journey, full of twists and turns (literally, physically turning around and w...
Sun Room: The Final Breaths of a Carefree College Lifestyle
Last Thursday (April 11, 2024), I had the privilege to catch a performance by the band SUN ROOM as they made a pit stop in Northern California, playing two shows in Sacramento and Berkeley. This weekend, th...
Only in Your Wet Dreams: A Double Feature on Snow Wife & Wet Leg
Skydiving off of a building. Skinny dipping with your best friend. Committing arson in the dead of night. Have you done any of these actions that I cannot legally condone? No? Well, neither have I. This, howeve...
The chaos of catharsis: Doom Loop Festival, starring Yeule
Doom Loop at the Regency Ballroom wasn't your standard music festival—some six-stage, three-day festival with name-brand flags and sponsored water stations. Instead, Doom Loop was a one-night, five-act festiv...
Love like religion: A Dollface album review
Hana Bryanne released her debut album titled Dollface on September 15, 2023, at twenty years old. It was written entirely by Bryanne and produced by Carter Jahn and Maxwell Bienert. Its namesake deriv...
“Stuffed and Ready” for Cherry Glazerr
How long can you hold onto your teenage angst? More specifically, how long can you hold onto the image of being a teenage angst band?
If you’re looking for a quintessential rock sound, Cherry Glazerr is th...
It’s a basement blitz with the Lemon Twigs!
San Francisco’s glitter-faced, mini-skirted, tailor-made crowd is alive and well, and the place to find them is in the Castro, clad in cheeky Beatles buttons and stomping through neon-lit basements in velvet ...
Freak the Freak Out!
Last weekend, right on the heels of San Francisco’s multi-day, multi-venue Psyched! Fest, we crossed state lines for a Pacific Northwestern analogue: Freakout Fest in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. The ...
A Triumphant Return: Palehound at The Chapel
On March 10th, 2020, Palehound played at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco for their headline tour with Adult Mom. The next day, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and their tour was canceled. For Palehound, this m...