Experiencing FOMO over Portola? It's impossible to miss out, and here's why...

New releases this week by space rockers Terry Gross, shoegazer Tanukichan, SF rapper-journalist Rocky Rivera, and delightful indie surprise dog eyes

Sep 26, 2024

Every week, it’s overwhelming how much good live music is happening in the Bay. This week alone, we have experimental showcases by Other Minds and the Lab, a forest fairie gathering in the redwood-cooled mountains, a special singer-songwriter spotlight night in downtown Oakland, a handful of epic album release shows, and—not to mention—a bazillion Portola pre-parties and afters.

So: If you missed out on tickets to one thing, there’s always something else just as good, if not better :)

— White Crate

BLAST INTO SPACE

“Sheepskin City was always a perplexing oddball place on a busy corner in San Francisco’s Mission district. They hung the same weathered ragged sheepskins out front daily. Was it a front for something else? Something about it just made you smile when you drove by it. If Sheepskin City is still there, things are alright. And then one day after decades of being there, it’s gone! Things are still alright, but they’re different.” — Phil Becker

Don’t you love when lovers of sound… make their own sounds? With their band name taken from one of NPR’s most important hosts and a Bandcamp profile picture riffing on album art by The Police, you get the idea that these guys don’t take themselves that seriously.

Huge Improvement is the second full-length album by Terry Gross, made up of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. Owners and engineers at El Studio in SF, the three started a band after enjoying their times improvising in the studio back in 2021. Like the first album, Huge Improvement favors long, meandering space rock jams, smoothly careening from episodes of high-energy, fast-driving prog rock (“Sales Pitch”) into slow, plodding swamps of noise and distortion (“Full Disclosure”). It’s a feast for the ears, and a fun one too.

As Becker notes above, the album art and opening track are inspired by a Mission district business that raises interesting philosophical questions about life in the city and impermanence—themes that undergird the four songs here. They may not take themselves too seriously, but they’re serious about cranking out sounds worth blasting. Out now on Thrill Jockey Records.

See Terry Gross alongside Mammatus and Wife on Friday, November 15 at Bottom of the Hill.

— Ronny Kerr

GLAZY FUZZY MELODY

“It feels easier to let go of situations or people that don’t serve me.” – Hannah van Loon

Successfully channeling 1990s alt rock and shoegaze sounds, Circles is the latest five-track EP by Tanukichan, the musical project of Oakland’s Hannah van Loon. Written in collaboration with producer Franco Reid (a shift for van Loon, who last worked on a few projects with Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi), the songs explore “internal struggles” through the lens of maturity and memories. Opening track “City Bus” sets the tone with glazed guitars, fuzzy bass, and punchy drums as the artist gently ruminates lullaby-like on her childhood bus rides in San Francisco. “It Gets Easier,” featuring Natalie R. Lu of Wisp, barrels ahead with messy noise and melody, a metaphor for the trip to self-worth and self-confidence. Out now on Carpark Records.

— Ronny Kerr

HEART COLDER THAN THE FOG

“We eatin’ Dungeness crab with garlic noodles
Livin’ hella good, I’m a Frisco foodie
I don’t drink wine but my mafiosos do
Taught ’em how to roll and now I never have to
I’m from the place that put Capone on a stone isle
So don’t you ever ask me why the fuck I don’t smile”

With a “heart colder than the fog when it roll up,” Filipino-American rapper and journalist Rocky Rivera lays out hard-earned truth and wisdom in clear, plain language on her new album Long Kiss Goodnight. Produced by Otayo Dubb and dotted throughout with references to the Bay, the album has a Tribe-like quality, twisting luscious funky walking pace beats with Rivera’s relentless expression of pain, maturity, responsibility, social justice, sexual desire, self-confidence, joy, and more. Basically, it’s unapologetic San Francisco realism in all its messy, beautiful complexity. Out now on Beatrock Music.

Celebrate the album release with Rocky Rivera—performing live with DJ Roza & Otayo Dubb, Tia Nomore, and Jenset—this Sunday, September 29 at Crybaby.

— Ronny Kerr

INDIETRONIC MUMBLECORE

“I don’t want to get all nice dressed
Just want you to be soft like you said
Thought you were supposed to be a better guy than the last ones”

Bashful in its beauty, holy friend is the second full-length album by Oakland duo dog eyes (Davis Leach and Haily Firstman). The lyrics quoted above come from “firsts,” carried along by a sort of indietronic mumblecore, like what you’d get if The Postal Service’s Ben Gibbard stopped enunciating every word so perfectly clearly. Dedicated to friendship, the whole album is reminiscent of those emotional early 2000s heartstrings, breathing soul into sad synthesizers and strumming little side-of-the-road, passenger seat truths. It’s gorgeous as heck and mercifully won’t make you wanna cry, but it’ll make you think of the times when you did. Out now on NYC/Richmond-based indie label Grand Jury Music.