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Petal

Listen to this band if you don’t already. If you like Pity Sex you will almost definitely like Petal, and who doesn’t like Pity Sex. Petal is essentially Kiley Lotz who’s from PA, but she’s also brought on members of Tigers Jaw and other RFC bands which is cool.

Also for fans of Cat Power, Waxahatchee and Lemuria (a SF band I love but you probably don’t know YET. I’ll post about them soon.)

Listen away. I especially like Nature which is track #9.

The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die

Welcome to my Sophomore year of high school. This band was my soul. I found them likely on Topshelf Records (a beautiful label) or maybe on Broken World Media (another lovely label worth exploring) or maybe on bandcamp. Before writing this I actually went on my old tumblr to check out TWIABP’s account. The band is infamous in our cozy little emo punk community for responding to everyone’s dumb questions about hot dogs and forks. Chris (guitar and trumpet) and Derrick (guitar and vocals) are the stars of said tumblr. They’ve mastered witty and slightly mean responses to stoned internet asks. In my search for their account I realized that they have a legit website not just a bandcamp now, and they’ve actually begun to charge for all their music. I guess they’ve made it. Who knew. I just saw them this summer in a tiny space with 40ish other people.

They are a wonderful band. The first time I saw them was at Slims back home sometime during my Sophomore year of high school. I forget who opened, but I remember being excited to see them. I was standing right in front of the stage leaning on one of those annoying poles Slims unfortunately has (SF people here know what I’m referring to). Three things amazed me about the show: they had approximately 15 people playing on stage, Derrick’s absurdly amazing pedal work, and that I knew the music so well I could sing along even though the music often devolves into seemingly impossible to understand yelling.

I also remember that they played Eyjafjallajokull Dance and Victim Kin Seek Suit off of their EP Formlessness. My ex-boyfriend who had yet to discover the magic of that particular EP was confused when I got really excited by the first few bars of Eyjafjallajokull Dance. He soon realized why. (We actually did some research later that night on the way home about the origins of the song’s crazy name. Turns out it’s a volcano in Iceland!!!!) That whole EP is incredible. After the show I bought a sea-foam green Formlessness 7″ which I treasure to this day. Though sadly my record collection and record player stayed at home in San Francisco when I left for college.

TWIABP has a post-rock vibe in some of their songs that moves up and down flawlessly. David’s shaky, cracky vocals add extreme emotion to already emotional songs. I find my life changes a little throughout the wild progression that is one of their songs. And this isn’t even considering their lyrics. Ponder these lines from “Getting Sodas” off of their first full length album, Whenever, If Ever: “We are ghosts in your homes. / We travel under the floor. / And when our voices fail us we will find new ways to sing. / When our bodies fail we’ll find joy in the peace that it brings. / The world is a beautiful place but we have to make it that way. / Whenever you find home we’ll make it more than just a shelter./ And if everyone belongs there it will hold us all together. / If you’re afraid to die, then so am I.” TWIABP, with the lyrics and the name and the tumblr, borders on absurdity but seems to always be cool instead.

When I was living in Spain I tragically missed TWIABP at Bottom of the Hill (my favorite music venue in San Francisco) in November 2014. Then I was all set to see them about a year ago at the Rickshaw Stop (not my favorite venue but not the worst), but then I had to be in New York for family. Finally I saw them again this summer with my friend Alex. They were just as good as my pent up anticipation expected.

Please go listen to them. Please go read their funny tumblr. Please go buy their plastic silverware.

NOT NOT FEST Reviewed

This evening I attended a small show held in a poorly ventilated Columbia suite. I’m complaining about the heat, but in reality I’ve been to house shows back in San Francisco that were FAR hotter and sweatier.

There’s really nothing like seeing music in a tiny little room of your friends; however, I am a first year student and truly know nobody beyond the friend I went with. It wasn’t like back home in San Francisco where I usually know the SF punk-house-show-goers. Or I suppose I used to when I was still with my ex. He was super involved in the SF scene and still is.

Regardless of our newness and semi loneliness (we did later make some friends at the show!!) we had a lovely time. We saw three bands play and enjoyed them all. We saw Kathryn Agatha play first. She had a great voice and presence–really glow/dream pop-y. We liked her.

Next we saw Maxy and the Beefcakes who were without doubt my favorite. The singer had a totally dope pop punk voice and his lyrics were witty and absurd. In this way they very much reminded me of Joyce Manor–one of my all time favorite bands (just realized I’ve never written anything about them on here! what the hell! I will soon.). Highlights of the set included a song about Selena Gomez. The Beefcakes also had excellent bass guitar parts (especially bass). I really enjoyed their fun little riffs. Definitely was bobbing my head around quite a lot!

Lastly we saw Drug Bug which felt very The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die-esque to me. (Sidenote: I’ve yet to write about TWIABP as well which is truly a travesty given how much they’ve moved me as a band and advanced my musical taste). In all honesty Drug Bug wasn’t nearly as interesting musically or aesthetically as TWIABP which is a fucking 15 part band, but they certainly held their own and had a good sound.

And so my friend and I are hoping to get involved further with Rare Candy (the music publication that hosted the show), and to ultimately write for the magazine and/or take photos. Big thanks to them for hosting such a cool event.