Category Archives: san diego music

Sheila & the Rainbow Colored Trash Bags

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Last night was the last show, at least for now, for Matt’s inventively named band of psychedelic garage rockers. He says he’s moving back to England but he hoped to return some day to play more music here in San Diego.  Last night he was joined by the Josh’s, Rudiger and Kmak, who helped Matt go out in a blaze of garage rock glory as he bashed out riffs so hard on the last song that he broke half the strings on his guitar. Bon voyage Matt!

Check out Sheila & the Rainbow Colored Trash Bags here on their bandcamp page

Creepseed – The Casbah, San Diego – Mar 14, 2016

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In keeping with the tradition that practically all San Diego musicians of note must be in at least three bands, Josh Kmak of The New Kinetics and Shady Francos launched his new band, Creepseed, earlier this week at The Casbah.  Joining him were O (fluff, Makeup Sex, Reeve Oliver, Systems Officer etc etc) on guitar; Josh Rudiger (Shady Francos, Sheila + the Rainbow Colored Trash Bags) on drums; and Ana Y (Makeup Sex, Spin Records) on bass.

Though they were the first of three bands that night (in support of Fred & Toody of Deadmoon fame) there was a good sized, enthusiastic, crowd on hand to catch the debut performance of this new band.  You would never know this was their first show though if Kmak hadn’t told us, though that shouldn’t be too surprising considering how much experience all the musicians have.  Kmak led the band through an energetic set of songs that combined elements of garage, surf and 50’s influenced rock.  The songs ranged from a mid-tempo modern take on Ricky Nelson or Buddy Holly to all out rockers with the band locked into a groove, bashing out riffs with a squalling lead guitar laid over the top.

Joining Creepseed for a few songs were Brian Reilly (The New Kinetics, Hiroshima Mockingbirds) who tried to contain himself on the slower song “This Dream I Dread”; and  Pat Beers (Schizophonics), who just barely contained himself (compared to his typically unhinged style) who came out near the end to help Creepseed close out a very successful first show. Hopefully we will see more of this new band in the months to come!

Video of “This Dream I Dread”

Instagram for Creepseed

Creepseed – “This Dream I Dread”- The Casbah 3/14/16

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Josh Kmak of The New Kinetics and Shady Francos has a new band, Creepseed. This video is from their debut performance at the Casbah.  Joining Josh in Creepseed are O from fluff and the Makeup Sex, Josh from Shady Francos and Sheila & the Rainbow Colored Trash bags, and Ana from The Makeup Sex and Spin Records.  Sitting in on this song is Brian Reilly of the New Kinetics on the right.

The Heartaches – The Casbah, San Diego – March 14, 2016

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Tonight was a reverse order concert for me as I came to see the first group up, the debut of Creepseed.  My plan was to stay and watch a couple songs by the second group, San Diego’s The Heartaches, and then take off unless they were really good. All I can say is that by the time they got to the chorus of their first song, I knew I wasn’t going anywhere during this set!

Somehow I had never heard of this band of garagey punk rockers who have been around since 2002. Apparently I need to pay better attention to what’s going on, since The Heartaches put on a blistering set full of massive riffs, shouted choruses, endless energy and just enough melody to attract more than just a punk audience.  The Heartaches seem like a real throwback group as I could hear influences from throughout punk’s early history – from the early days of The Damned and The Clash overseas to The Ramones and Dead Kennedys on this side of the pond.  All of it delivered with a ferocious attack on dual guitars, bass and drums and fronted by a singer with enough energy to power The Casbah’s sound system on his own.

Don’t make the mistake I did – check out The Heartaches – and for god’s sake, don’t look at your cell phone while they’re playing!!

Birdy Bardot – “Possibilities” – A Red Trolley Show

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This video is just another reminder of why I love music.  A great song played in a unique way in an unusual setting.  San Diego’s Birdy Bardot play their song “Possibilities” while riding the trolley (with passengers on board of course!) in San Diego.

Check out the Birdy Bardot website for more.

Birdy Bardot – The Casbah, San Diego – 2/24/16

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Birdy Bardot10I won’t pretend to understand how all the members of local super-group, Birdy Bardot, are interrelated.  It seems that every San Diego musician of note is in at least 3 bands and this group has collected many of them together. I do know that the creative duo in the group are Birdy Bardot, who also sings for of my favorite San Diego bands, The New Kinetics; and the indefatigable Al Howard, who must be in at least 27 bands including: The Heavy Guilt, Midnight Pine, Dani Bell & the Tarantist, Rebecca Jade & the Cold Fact, Cardinal Moon and Black Sands.

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I have wanted to catch Birdy Bardot ever since I read a great feature on them late last year in CityBeat magazine.  It was only after reading that article that I went to my first New Kinetics shows and I was curious to how the same singer would front both the frenetic garage rock of NK and the retro/psychedelic influence promised in the CityBeat piece.

It turns out that Ms. Bardot handles both styles with ease and though there is not a lot of overlap in sound, she does seem to lose herself in the songs in both configurations.  Where the New Kinetics are all about raw, relentless energy, Birdy Bardot is a much more restrained affair.  Though the group does let go and rock out, like on the track “Hearts and Smoke”, it’s really just enough to provide a contrast to the soulful, torchy atmosphere created throughout the rest of the set.

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The 7 pc band (which is a lot of players on a pretty small stage) creates a sound and mood on stage that mixes a lot of influences without ever camping out in any one style.  There’s touches of the blues, hazy psychedelia, retro-60′s pop and even some alt-country.  Mixed together, Birdy Bardot – both the band and the singer – put on a fantastic show and will clearly be a mainstay of the resurgent San Diego music scene, and hopefully can find a way to break out and receive more national, and even international, attention.

Check out Birdy Bardot and her label-mates at Redwoods Music/Birdy Bardot

Soft Lions: The Soda Bar 2/17/16

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Next up were local favorites, Soft Lions, playing their engaging blend of indie, surf, garage, and girl-group sounds.  I’ve seen Soft Lions a half-dozen times now, including their debut performance on the same stage back in 2014, and they always put on a great show.  This night was a surprise as I only discovered the day before that they would be opening for Sharkmuffin, who are on a national tour.

If I had a complaint about this band it’s that their sets are too short!!  Hopefully that will be solved soon as I spoke with the keyboardist, Ana Ramundo, who told me that the band will be heading up to the Bay Area soon to record more songs.

Soft Lions plays all over town, as headliners and in support of other local and touring bands.  Check them out soon!!

 

Here’s “Earth Energy” from this show.

More Soft Lions from MaxSounds:

 

Big Bloom: The Soda Bar 2/17/16

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This was another night that I was glad that I like to get to shows early to catch the opening acts.  You never know what you’ll find and the range is especially wide (wild?) at small venues like the Soda Bar in San Diego.  On this night the strategy paid off as I discovered local band, Big Bloom, who were the second to hit the stage (out of four total) in support of the touring Sharkmuffin.

I spoke with the singer, Katie Howard, who said the band had been together about 2 years – but their sound, and especially Howard’s command of the stage, would belie this relative inexperience.  The group switches between genres (and really, do bands pay much attention to genres anymore?) easily as they start off playing a souped-up alt-folk before settling into a spirited psych-surf-garage-rock stomp.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more shows of this up-and-coming band.  And speaking of eyes, I’ll try to get the story on the pink warpaint worn by Ms. Howard, which looked pretty cool under the blue lights of the Soda Bar stage!

Here’s a video of “Punk Song” that gives a good idea of what this band is all about.

Check out Big Bloom on Instagram and  at Bandcamp