[Wax Idols @ Cake Shop by Phil Maier]

Tuesday
Thee Cormans, Uzi Rash, Sweat Lodge @ Vitus, 9pm

Wednesday
Bare Wires, Meat Market, Big Drag @ The Knockout, 9pm
King Lollipop, Wild Ones, Up All Night @ 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, 7pm [all ages]
Religious to Damn, Wax Idols, Alexis Blair Penney @ Elbo Room, 9pm
Ty Segall, Shannon and the Clams, Hank IV, Lenz, DJ Primo @ Mezzanine, 9pm [jonathan toubin benefit]

Thursday
Dirty Ghosts, Swiftumz, City Deluxe @ The Knockout, 9pm
Deep Teens, Jealousy, Dadfag, Nathan Grice @ Amnesia, 9pm
The Soft Moon, Blouse, Blank Dogs DJ Set @ Cafe Du Nord, 9pm [captured tracks showcase]
White Cloud, Jeffertitti’s Nile, Moccreto, Arms N Legs @ Thee Parkside, 9pm
Zodiac Death Valley, Mister Loveless, The Spyrals, Baby Talk @ Brick and Mortar Music Hall, 8pm

Friday
Fleshies, Big Eyes, Wild Assumptions @ 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, 7pm [all ages]

Saturday
Terry Malts, Balaclavas, Rat Columns, Yi @ 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, 7pm [all ages]

Sunday
Bare Wires, Unko Atama, Deadbeats, Adults, Glitz, Shop Talk @ Eli’s Mile High Club, 6pm [day 1 of Rock 'N' Roll Madness Fest]
.
Anything else?

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The Bay Area absolutely smashed it in 2011, with some of our favorite artists releasing amazing albums, EPs and cassettes that we’ve been listening to endlessly this year. It was incredibly difficult to cull the past 12 months to our favorite 15 releases, but we did it anyway. Check them out below and let us know what you think in the comments.

15 The Sandwitches // Mrs. Jones’ Cookie

mp3:
The Sandwitches // “Lightfoot”

14 Bare Wires // Cheap Perfume

mp3:
Bare Wires // “Cheap Perfume”

13 King Lollipop // Woodland Whoopee Songs

mp3:
King Lollipop // “Cheeseburger and Fries”

12 Pamela // Pamela is Hungover

mp3:
Pamela // “Lie Down (Eye Contact)”

11 Weekend // Red

mp3:
Weekend // “Hazel”

10 Wet Illustrated // Wet Illustrated

mp3:
Wet Illustrated // “Gypsy Town”

09 Ty Segall // Goodbye Bread

mp3:
Ty Segall // “Goodbye Bread”

08 Swiftumz // Swiftumz

Hunx collaborator Christopher McVicker managed to release one of the most understated albums of the year under the moniker Swiftumz. “Don’t Trip” is an immersive collection of hazy, moving jams that transcends the limits of bedroom pop.

mp3:
Swiftumz // “4EVA”

07 Rank Xerox // Rank Xerox

Rank/Xerox // “Sterile Regions”


Rank/Xerox // “Nausea”

06 Blasted Canyons // Blasted Canyons

Never before has an ode to weed and ice cream sounded so raw, explosive and all-together effortless.

mp3:
Blasted Canyons // “Ice Cream Man”

05 White Fence // Is Growing Faith

mp3:
White Fence // “And By Always”

04 Ty Segall // Singles 2007-2010

mp3:
Ty Segall // “Bullet Proof Nothing”

03 Wax Idols // No Future

The debut LP by Wax Idols features singer/songwriter Hether Fortune elevating the charming pop sensibilities found on her earlier work to a complete full-length, with lyrics veering from the lovesick to the macabre.

mp3:
Wax Idols // “Gold Sneakers”

02 Mikal Cronin // Mikal Cronin

This scuzzed-out compilation of pop songs marked a solid debut album from Moonhearts/Ty Segall collaborator Mikal Cronin. Unexpectedly wistful and incredibly catchy, this is a record we’ve been spinning endlessly.

mp3:
Mikal Cronin // “Get Along”

01 Thee Oh Sees // Carrion Crawler/The Dream

Thee Oh Sees scorched through 2011, releasing two mind-blowing full-length albums and a singles only double-LP all while maintaining a frenetic touring schedule that recently concluded (with Total Control). Carrion Crawler/The Dream was announced only a few weeks after Castlemania, and proved to be the “pummeling” record John Dwyer promised it to be. An instant classic and our unequivocal favorite record of 2011.

mp3:
Thee Oh Sees // “The Dream”

Thee Oh Sees // “Carrion Crawler”

Mission Creek Oakland Music and Arts Festival continues in Oakland tonight, with a Nectarine Pie/Bare Wires show at Eli’s Mile High Club later with Courtney and the Crushers, Lotus Moon, and Smokestacks. That’s at 9pm for six bucks.

The fourth (!) annual Rock Make Street Fest is all-day tomorrow (Saturday), starting at noon and featuring a bunch of local artists, food carts and more sprawled out across 18th and Treat Street. The event is free and all ages. More details - including the bands performing and a list of vendors -can be read over at TBB here.

Nick Waterhouse, who’s had a hand in producing some of the Allah-Las’ recent releases, plays a pre-party at Engine Works tomorrow (Saturday) starting at 6pm in advance of the Allah-Las show at Hotel Utah later that night (who are on tour). The Engine Works show is $5 at the door and will also be commemorating some recent Waterhouse releases, including ‘Is That Clear’ b/w ‘ I Can Only Give You Everything.’ He’ll be joined by The Tarots. Primo will be DJing early on, more details over on the facebook page (edit: link fixed). Tickets for the Hotel Utah show are available here.

Peter Hook may be ‘saddened and upset‘ that New Order has decided to reunite without him, but that hasn’t stopped him from going on a national tour to play Joy Division‘s seminal album Closer. Peter Hook and the Light play at the Mezzanine Saturday night at 9pm — will call tickets are still available.

There’s also a Rank/Xerox show at Hemlock Saturday night with Kitchen’s Floor (from Australia), Fat History Month and Yi. Listen to a cut off the excellent Rank/Xerox debut release over at Night Fog Reader (via Make a Mess). It’s their record release party.

And don’t forget, Lumerians play a saveKUSF benefit at Bottom of the Hill Sunday night with Naked Lights and Infinity Rider. Read our interview with the psych quintet that we did before their show at Great American Music Hall awhile ago. This one is $10 and is all ages. More details on the facebook event page, or you can buy tickets directly from the venue.

-

Anything else? (I’m exhausted.)

Tickets are pretty cheap too at 5 bucks. Get those here. Doors at 8, show at 9. 18+.The band’s upcoming album Cheap Perfume can be pre-ordered from our friends at Southpaw Records now and ships 10/11. Listen to the LP’s namesake song below, and watch a new Younger Lovers vid after that:

mp3:
Bare Wires // “Cheap Perfume”

(see Part Time @ Thee Parkside this Thursday)

Monday
Ty Segall, RTX, Heavy Cream // New Parish, 9pm $10/$12 (18+)
La La Vasquez, Terry Malts, Pamela // The Knockout, 9pm (21+)

Tuesday
Cull TV Launch Party // John Colins Bar, 8pm $FREE
Teen Daze, Yalls, Speculator // Public Works, 8pm $6 (21+)

Wednesday
White Hills, Carlton Melton, Dirty Ghosts // Rickshaw Stop, 8pm $10/$12
Blackbird Blackbird, Radiation City, Appetite // Bottom of the Hill, 9pm $8 (21+)
Symbolick Jews, We Are Hex, Endroit, Catharsis For Cathedral // Elbo Room, 9pm $7

Thursday
Part Time, Pamela, Permanent Collection, Surf Club // Thee Parkside, 9pm $5 (21+)
Personal and the Pizzas, Straight Arrows, Angora Debs // The Knockout, 9pm $5 (21+)

Friday
Zounds, Culture Kids, Dadfag // Thee Parkside, 9pm $10
Th Mrcy Hot Springs, Uzi Rash, Nectarine Pie, Fut // Hemlock Tavern, 9:30pm $6
Bare Wires, Courtney and the Crushers, Lotus Moon, Nectarine Pie, Smokestacks // Eli’s Mile High Club (Oakland), 6pm

Saturday
Peter Hook and the Light // Mezzanine, 9pm $22
Robbers on High Street, Allah-Las, Freedom Tickler // Hotel Utah, 9pm $10
Rank/Xerox, Kitchen’s Floor, Fat History Month, Yi // Hemlock Tavern, 9:30pm $7
Tartufi, Battlehooch, Birds & Batteries, Bare Wires, Phantom Kicks & more // Treat and 18th St., 12pm $FREE

Sunday
Lumerians, Naked Lights, Infinity Riders // Bottom of the Hill, 9pm $10

-

mp3:
Positive Destruction // september 2011 (29 mb)

[right click/save as]

[image]

01 The Art Museums // “Other Times”
02 Ganglians // “Drop the Act”
03 Weekend // “Hazel”
04 The Fresh and Onlys // “I Would Not Know the Devil”
05 THEMAYS // “THEWORKS”
06 Seatraffic // “Beach Life”
07 Bare Wires // “Cheap Perfume”
08 The Art Museums // “What’s a Boy to Do?”
09 The Art Museums // “Hostile Street”
10 Mikal Cronin // “Gone”

[Thee Oh Sees at NXNE]

Earlier last week we discussed more details concerning Carrion Crawler/The Dream, the band’s follow-up LP to Castlemania and second of 2011 - now we know the release date (11/15) courtesy of Pitchfork and details about another Bay Area stop at the end of Thee Oh Sees‘ monster, four-month US/Canadian tour with Total Control. The new album, as described by frontman John Dwyer himself, will “pummel and throb.” Carrion Crawler will be released on LA-based label In The Red. Tour dates below, reprinted from P4K:

09-04 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore Cabaret @
09-06 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar @
09-09 Portland, OR - Musicfest North West
10-16 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Music Festival
10-19 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Halifax, Nova Scotia
10-20 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret du Mile End
10-21 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
10-30 Los Angeles, CA - Ukrainian Cultural Center $
10-31 San Diego, CA - Bar Pink
11-04 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11-07 New Orleans, LA - TBA $
11-09 Memphis, TN - Hi Tone $
11-10 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree $
11-11 Atlanta, GA - The Earl $
11-12 Winston-Salem, NC - Krankies $
11-13 Baltimore, MD - TBA $
11-14 Philadelphia, PA - TBA $
11-17-18 New York, NY - TBA $
11-19 Providence, RI - TBA $
11-21 Rochester, NY - The Bug Jar $
11-22 Detroit, MI - TBA $
11-23 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle $
11-25 Lawrence, KS - TBA $
11-26 Denver, CO - TBA $
12-04 San Francisco, CA - Verdi Club #
02-10 Miami, FL - Bruise Cruise Festival

$ with Total Control
# with BRONZE
@ with Bare Wires and Chains of Love

-

Listen to Thee Oh Sees cover Sonic Youth below, one of their two tracks off the awesome, limited-run Castle Face Group Flexi Book:

[more Slumberland showcase photos]

Monday
R. Stevie Moore, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Kelley Stoltz // Make Out Room, 7pm $SOLD OUT (limited ~20 tix at door)

Tuesday
Swiftumz, Lilac, English Singles // Engine Works (190 Capp St.), 9pm $5

Wednesday
The White Wires, Personal & The Pizzas, Wrong Words, Okmoniks // Thee Parkside, 8pm $7

Thursday
Bare Wires, Burnt Ones, Hollow Earth // The Uptown (Oakland), 9pm $10
Uzi Rash, King Lollipop, Buffalo Tooth, Cool Ghouls // Thee Parkside, 9pm $6
Nobunny, White Wires, Younger Lovers, Spencey Dude & The Doodles // Stork Club (Oakland), 9pm

Friday
Japandroids, Bass Drum of Death // Hemlock Tavern, 9:30pm $SOLD OUT

Saturday
Handsome Furs, Suuns, Talk Demonic // Slim*s, 9pm $17
Grails, True Widow, White Cloud // Rickshaw Stop, 9pm $12
RTX, White Fence, Heavy Cream, Burnt Ones // Thee Parkside, 9pm $8/$10
Devon Williams, The Mantles, Twin Steps // Abco Art Space (3135 Filbert St., Oakland), 9:30pm $5
Dreamdate, Lilac, The Ian Fays, Wild Assumptions, DJ Mike Schulman (SLR) // 1, 2, 3, 4 Records (420 40th St., Oakland), 6pm $6

Sunday
Twin Sister, Devon Williams // Rickshaw Stop, 8pm $10/$12

Anything else?

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*If you haven’t already, check out the rad mixtape made for us by Kid Frostbite aka Mike Schulman, owner/operator of Slumberland Records.

*We’re hosting our first event Thursday, September 15th at Thee Parkside. We couldn’t be more psyched about the line-up. Read more about our first “Presents” event here and buy advance tickets (and save a few bucks) here.

*We’ve been nominated by SF Weekly for Best Local Music Website.

[Shannon and the Clams in Austin]

Monday
Painted Palms, Norse Horse, Brother Mitya // Milk Bar, 8:30pm $FREE

Tuesday
Tortured Genies, Roommate, Sunbeam Rd // Hemlock Tavern, 9pm $6
Bare Wires, Burnt Ones, Lenz, Younger Lovers, Moon Rockers // Radio (435 13th St., Oakland), ?PM $FREE

Wednesday
Outdoorsmen, San Francisco Water Cooler // Hemlock Tavern, 9pm $5
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Kelley Stoltz // The Independent, 9pm $SOLD OUT
Personal and the Pizzas, Xmas Island, Cowabunga Babes // The Knockout, 9pm $6
Nectarine Pie, TRMRS, Welcome Home Walker // White Horse Bar (6551 Telegraph, Oakland), 9pm $5

Thursday
The Greg Ashley Band, Wrong Words, Gravy’s Drop, Chuckleberries // Disco Volante (347 14th St., Oakland), 9pm $5

Friday
Bronze, Erase Errata, Nature, Loto Ball // El Rio, 9pm $7
King Tuff, Shannon And The Clams, Wounded Lion, Trashies, Audacity // Lobot Gallery (1800 Campbell, Oakland), 8:30pm $10

Saturday
King Tuff, The Mantles, Audacity, Eat Skull // Duke’s R&B (201 Broadway, Oakland), 9pm $10

Sunday
Bare Wires, Liquor Store, Natural Child // Hemlock Tavern, 9pm $8
Mom, Guitar Magazine, Cowabunga Babez, Dirty Cupcakes // Venue TBA, 4pm $FREE

Anything else?

-

[via]

Fresh off announcing details to their upcoming west coast tour with Thee Oh Sees, Oakland’s Bare Wires returns with this sweet little ’60s-flavored garage-pop number off of their upcoming album “Cheap Perfume,” available September 20th via Southpaw.

Bare Wires, along with the Groggs, Nectarine Pie, Poor Sons and more will be playing this year’s San Frandelic Summer Fest at Thee Parkside this Saturday, August 6th. Tickets are on sale now. Tour dates below:

Aug 6 - San Frandelic Summer Fest @ Parkside Lounge - SF
Aug 14 - The Hemlock w/ Natural Child- SF
Sept 1 - Uptown - Oakland CA
Sept 2 - Sam Bonds - Eugene OR
Sept 3 - Funhouse - Seattle WA
Sept 5 - Biltmore Cabaret w/ Oh Sees - Vancouver BC
Sept 6 - Lucky Bar - Victoria BC
Sept 8 - Northern - Olympia WA
Sept 9 - MusicfestNW (Wonder Ballroom) w/ Oh Sees - Portland OR

mp3:
Bare Wires // “Cheap Perfume”