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Martin Hirshland
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Girlpool
Thursday started with Brooklyn Vegan’s annual day party, held inside and outside at Red 7. The New York -based music blog hosted some of their favorite bands starting around noon and I spent a couple hours there, firstly catching shoegaze feels from
Elvis Depressedly.
Ultimate Painting from the UK, who channeled Brian Jonestown Massacre with catchy guitar hooks and very British psychedelia.
Emmy The Great, a one-woman performer, laid her tonal spread on think, coddling our heads like a pillow. Bashful and attractive, she smiled through her set, curing my hangover. Up next outside was one of the favorite bands of the day,
Girlpool. Cleo and Harmony, in perfect harmony, traded bass and guitar phrases that overlapped with whiney and well-timed vocals on love, boys, and existential meaning.
I headed over to Fader Fort on East 5th for
Wolf Alice, who has been riding a wave of good press from across the pond, crashing on our Texas shores with the force of a driftwood shipping container. Screaming guitars and vocals from Ellie Rowsell shook the senses.
Needing to get out of downtown for sanity’s sake, I met with an old friend who’s grad schooling at UT and we headed to the residential hills of the East Side. There was a party at Pendenjo Peak, aka someone’s house whose porch served as the stage and front yard the viewing area. Hot dogs rolled fresh off the grill and dogs wandered looking for scraps as
Juan Wauters,
Rattlesnake Milk, and
Natural Child reminded us all that a real, unsponsored and intimate setting is still the best way to see and hear live music.
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Martin Hirshland
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8th Grader
Night was reserved for the Polyvinyl and Aerobic International showcases, both happening at Cheer Up Charlie’s with a good showing of Bay Area bands. The sincere song crafting of
Jacco Gardner, bubbly electronic dance anthems of
Planet Booty, infectious indie rock droning of
Alvvays, soulful crowd pleasing RnB of San Francisco's own
8th Grader, surf-laced and Television-inspired jangling of
Luke Sweeney, thrashing guitar and drums of
The Dodos, algebraic awesomeness of
Deerhoof, and finally the on stage music circus of
Of Montreal kept the audience occupied inside and outside.
