Sonny and the Sunsets - 2010-10-26 - Great American Music Hall SF

credit: Julie W.

Opening for the exploding Best Coast's first San Francisco headlining show (I had caught them earlier in the year opening for Vivian Girls...stay tuned for that show) was Sonny and the Sunsets, fronted by Sonny Smith, who has more melody and garage pop hits in his little finger than most cities have in their population.  This is the guy responsible for the '100 Records' project...create 100 imaginary artists, each with their own single and artwork.

Kelley Stoltz and the cat-kit

The drummer for the Sunsets is none other than Kelley Stoltz, who's no slouch as an recording artist himself...he's probably best known for covering Echo and the Bunnymen's Crocodiles album start-to-finish, helped out by the guitarist from Pavement in live settings.  There's definitely something going on here with bands that capture a California sunny-dark psych-surf garage-punk-pop sound...another group that will be extensively featured here in an upcoming post, Thee Oh Sees, is also a purveyor of this sound, as are some of the other groups that have graced these posts over the past month.

In any event, it was the second time that I had caught the Sunsets, and they didn't disappoint.  Two new songs (Reflections On Youth, I Wanna Do) are featured in this set, which was chock-full of unreleased gems like 'Teenage Thugs'...hie on over to the Daytrotter Sessions site to check out some of the tracks that haven't yet made it onto their new album Tommorrow Is Alright.   The tunes are sticking to my head like glue, helped out by having tomzero also capturing some of the magic inside the Great American.

Recording details after the jump...

Delphic w/The Hundred In The Hands - 2010-10-21 - 330 Ritch St. SF

James Cook, a young Jez Kerr?  Sorry, couldn't resist.

Delphic
2010-10-21
330 Ritch St (Popscene)
San Francisco CA

Multi-source audience blend taken from following sources:

#1: Sonic Studios DSM-6  > Edirol R-09HR (tomzero)

#2: Sonic Studios DSM-6L > Sony PCM-M10 (thehappyone)

Tracklist

intro / Clarion Call / Doubt / Red Lights / This Momentary / 
Halcyon / Counterpoint Acolyte


Total: 42:59

Delphic have been described as the next Great White Hope of Manchester[tm], fusing rock and dance elements into a juggernaut of sound.  No need for me to remind the reader who else from Salford had managed that feat, especially as their place of origin seemed to be something every review of the group goes to battle over (and I just realized this one is no exception) which must be awfully tiring for the band to deal with, since who honestly *hasn't* been influenced by "Retro When"...read that backwards very slowly.  I'll spare you the Pitchfork review.  In fact, I really didn't listen to them closely, much less "get" them until I watched the video to 'Counterpoint' while listening back in on my live recording earlier today.  That, with 'Acolyte' then hit me...absolutely MASSIVE tracks justifying all the accolades and 'album of 2010' mentions.

With that, I do have to concede that 'Clarion Call' (their opening song) is a bit too Doves-y...but thankfully the electronic elements and playfulness hearken back to their Sub Sub incarnation...if you're going to play the comparison game, at least pick a more accurate basis for comparison.  Or better yet, do as I haven't and just forget...and enjoy intelligent people's craft while you have a fun night out...or if you missed it, you can listen in...

The openers after the jump...

THITH: Indie-dance guitar heroics

The Hundred In The Hands

2010-10-21
330 Ritch St (Popscene)
San Francisco CA

Multi-source audience blend taken from following sources:

#1: Sonic Studios DSM-6  > Edirol R-09HR (tomzero)
#2: Sonic Studios DSM-6L > Sony PCM-M10 (thehappyone)

Tracklist

Dressed In Dresden / Last City / Sleepwalkers Pigeons / Lovesick (Once Again) / Ghosts
Young Aren't Young / Commotion

Total: 42:20

Wow, these guys were good.  Jason Friedman makes one of the most unlikely guitar heroes of our modern age, as during 'Commotion', he was standing over the front lip of the stage, shredding away on his cream-colored Rickenbacker (if that's even possible to imagine)...turns out like most of these "new" bands, most of the protagonists have some history and have been at it for years and years playing and playing...so it's great to see when they finally catch some buzz, and get people to sit up and pay attention. 

Their entire set was one giant swoon, quickly capturing the interest and adulation of the crowd.  Highlights for me include the intro, Dressed In Dresden...my recording comes in a bit late, so the first few seconds of the song are just from tomzero's recording...and the gorgeous 'Sleepwalkers'.  Elinore was singing into a handheld mic (seen above) that were treating her operatic vocals through shimmering reverb and other assorted FX, as well as handling keyboards, while Jason played his Rick and twiddled with the beats.  I seemed to have a lot less angst about THITH were supposed to sound like, since I hadn't even heard of them before getting to watch them perform.  And now that I have, I wish everybody gets a chance to see them too.  Or at least hear them.

The Vaselines w/Dum-Dum Girls - 2010-10-20 - Great American Music Hall SF

I recently had the extreme pleasure of witnessing The Vaselines, supported by up-and-coming LA group Dum-Dum Girls.  Excellent show, and yet another reason to continue to chronicle all the amazing performances I've been exposed to in 2010.  Interesting random fact:  The current guitarist/bassist playing with Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee are moonlighting from Belle And Sebastien.

The SF Weekly Blog Review gives a pretty accurate summary of the proceedings, except that "You Think You're A Man" wasn't an off-setlist track, despite what the onstage banter would have you believe, as it has been played throughout their tour.

credit: autumnsweaters

I've linked to a couple of YouTube videos from the show that I've found. Hint: click on 'autumnsweaters' under the photos.

The first video is the title track from their latest album, Sex With An X.  They played about half the album, and were definitely up to the standard of their older material.

credit: autumnsweaters

The other track which was uploaded features members of the opening act Dum-Dum Girls appeared on stage with Mr. Kelly and Ms. McKee to perform 'Molly's Lips'.

And of course, I'm sharing my own recording.
Details after the jump...

Crocodiles - 2010-07-01 - The Echo, Los Angeles

MarkB:  "Here's my Crocodiles recording who opened and blew away Dum Dum Girls (as much as I love DDG they probably shouldn't have been on the same bill but the bands are friends and appeared on a comp 7" together). My recomendation is to listen to DDG first then Crocs. I'm really proud of this recording and my ears are still ringing two days later!"

Crocodiles

2010-07-01

The Echo

Los Angeles, CA

Recorded by MarkB (bcingyou)

M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F>WAV(44.1/16bit)>CD Wave Editor track split> FLAC level 8

1.  Neon Jesus

2.  Sleep Forever

3.  Summer Of Hate

4.  Mirrors

5.  Hollow Hollow Eyes

6.  Hearts Of Love

7.  Stoned To Death

8.  I Wanna Kill

Total time 34:07

I caught them the following month at 330 Ritch St. in San Francisco and in conjunction with Tomzero, put up a blended version of our recordings.  These will be making your way shortly.

Dum Dum Girls - 2010-07-01 - The Echo, Los Angeles CA

credit: rockscope.com

DUM DUM GIRLS

01 July 2010

The Echo, Los Angeles, CA

Audience Master Recording by Mark B. (bcingyou)

Recorded behind persons pressed against stage, four feet from in front of singer Dee Dee.

M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F>WAV(44.1/16bit)>CD Wave Editor track split> FLAC level 8

01. soundchecking

02. Play With Fire (Rolling Stones)

03. Hey Sis

04. Catholicked

05. I Will Be

06. It Only Takes One Night

07. Yours Alone

08. Bhang, Bhang, I’m a Burnout

09. Jail La La

10. Everybody’s Out

11. Rest Of Our Lives

Encore:

12. Don’t Talk To Me

Total Time – 36:20

Review by Liz Caruso 

credit: bcingyou

This includes video shot by bcingyou of the encore track.  I've uploaded an improved version incorporating audio from the M-Audio instead of the clipped camera mic, as well as brighting the visuals a bit.

I've subsequently seen DDG several times since sampling this recording.  All of their performances have been well worth attending.