Our favorite Bay Area music of 2024... so far. Listen now!
Toro y Moi has a new album "Hole Erth" on the way, Oakland's Neutrals returns to Slumberland Records with a narrative of nostalgia and wit, plus our weekly show recs
It’s that time of the year!
Recognizing how much incredible music comes out of the Bay Area week after week, we just can’t wait for the end of the year to share our favorites. Now live: A three-hour megamix of our favorite releases from the Bay in 2024, spanning Latin grooves, folk & country, indie & alternative, club music, hip hop, experimental, and beyond.
— White Crate
POST-PUNK INDIE POP
Oakland-based Neutrals’ sophomore full-length New Town Dream contrasts jangly guitar and memorable melodic hooks with bleak mid-century UK imagery for a start-to-finish narrative of nostalgia and wit.
With this latest release (out on Slumberland Records in the U.S.), Neutrals build on their C86 associations and their signature post-punk indie pop sound, skillfully delivering deadpan lyrics and bright guitar riffs amid found audio, noise experiments, and new wave asides. New Town Dream rewards the top-to-bottom album listener: The singles “That’s Him on the Daft Stuff Again” and “Wish You Were Here” are obvious stand-outs, but this reviewer’s favorite tracks were smack in the middle of the album with “Last Orders”, “Steven Proctor, Bus Conductor”, and “The Iron That Never Swung”. Those songs in particular showcase their strength as storytellers applying classic mod and post-punk tools to transport listeners to another place and time.
Neutrals are fresh off playing Oakland Weekender, but mark your calendars for their July 19 show at Unimatrix Zero in Oakland and September 18 at the Knockout in SF.
— Ainsley Wagoner
CHAZ BEAR GOES EMO RAP
Toro y Moi loves the Bay. In the run-up to the release of MAHAL (whose album art was plastered with a photo of the foggy Golden Gate Bridge), you could watch “The Loop” and see Chaz Bear cruising around the Marina and Presidio in those yellow GoCars from the Exploratorium. Now he’s back at it with the video for “Tuesday”, opening with shots of Oakland’s quintessential hot dog spot Casper’s as well as Club Waziema in SF, the Ethiopian watering hole and historical landmark that has seen revival over the past two years thanks to shows put on by local independent musicians and promoters. Hole Erth, to be released by Dead Oceans on September 6, will be Chaz Bear’s eighth full-length studio record as Toro y Moi and the first time the artist directly explores the sound of “rap rock, Soundcloud rap, and Y2K emo.”
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[rock] Adam Graahs, Sucker Crush, Rosie Cima & What She Dreamed — June 13 at Unorthodox Artspace
[rock] Altar de Fey, Candy Whips, Pound Puppies — June 13 at Kilowatt
[rock] Kelley Stoltz (record release), Chime School, MAYYA — June 13 at the Chapel
[experimental] Sheena Dham (record release) — June 14 at Spire the Church
[country] Noelle & The Deserters (record release), Anna Hillburg, Mary Simich — June 14 at Cafe du Nord
[club] NO BIAS ft. Petty Getty, Tomu DJ, RITCHRD — June 14 at Underground SF
[club] Bored Lord, Three6Sashia, Finishher — June 14 at Ivy Room
[club] MOMENTUM X SUBDOM ft. Doggiechow, SNAQ, Ani Klang, Mnemonics, DE ALMA, Discnogirl, INFECTION b2b DJ Fridge — June 14 at F8
[experimental] The Lab's Second Annual 39th Birthday ft. Pamela Z — June 15 at the Lab
[rock] Aluminum (record release), Seablite, April Magazine, Buddy Jr — June 15 at Kilowatt
[jazz] Sal’s Greenhouse — June 16 at SFJAZZ
[indie] Sadie Alan, Enny Owl, Giulia, Mae Powell (DJ) — June 17 at the Knockout
[rock] Mojohand, Afterthought, Henry Plotnick — June 19 at the Hotel Utah Saloon
[rock] Cardboard People, Lisbon Girls, Goodtwin, Drugstore Lipstick — June 19 at the Knockout
[experimental] Zoh Amba, Bill Orcutt & Chris Corsano — June 19 at the Chapel
[club] BLACK TECHNO MATTERS ft. Xiorro, Sharlese, One A, Chuck Gunn, Fawks — June 19 at F8