By Kimberly Chun

DON'T HATE VUE vocalist-guitarist Rex John Shelverton because his band are the darlings of splashy, fashiony glossies like Fader (which trumpeted the group as "the best band you've never heard of" almost a year ago). Like him because he's refreshingly frank, even clear-eyed, and his next album is a sharp blend of Strokesy new rock and Stonesy garage crunch.

Shelverton, for example, won't play politics with the mainstream music industry, which Vue know all about because they're on RCA, a company that promised them a certain delectable level of creative freedom. Even then, "you know, everyone wants to sell records, that's the main thing. Don't get me wrong, major labels, that's all they want to do," the 28-year-old says, chatting on the cellie from the Sunset District, where he's temporarily surfing a friend's couch. "It's definitely a business, and they would put a bunch of child molesters out if that would sell records. They would put out their records – they don't care."

And if we're to believe the Santa Barbara district attorney, they do. And quite successfully! But let's save that for the BBC documentary – unfortunately, despite the flashy, trendoid press coverage, it's likely you still haven't heard Vue, or even heard of them – because after several discs on Gold Standard Laboratories and Sub Pop, their major label debut on RCA, Down for Whatever, remains imminent – somewhat adrift in label limbo. Maybe it's coming in February, maybe March. The full-length is a punchy improvement over the taster EP, Babies Are for Petting, which slipped out last spring with some of the same songs glossed to a somewhat disappointing pop sheen by producer Don Was and their past producer Davy Vain. Their present knob-fondler, Nick Launay, has the curious distinction of working with INXS and Phil Collins as well as Gang of Four and the Birthday Party, so take that for what you will. Now Shelverton would just like the album to come out – it was edged out of the "fourth quarter," he explains, by all "the Alicia Keyes, Justin Timberlakes, and Idol Christmases."

"We're kind of a unique band on the label," he adds. "There's some smaller rock 'n' roll bands, and RCA is definitely trying to move in that direction. But it's kind of hard now because a lot of the rock 'n' roll stuff is not really selling that well. But it's not that much different.... It's just that the music that we're playing was never part of the mainstream before. Now it's sort of acceptable in the mainstream to be listening to rock 'n' roll, real rock 'n' roll, not Creed or some crap like that. So I think that it's been a real interesting time."

He's not jaded, though most members of the four-year-old Vue qualify as relative S.F. old-timers, from the sound of Shelverton's reminiscences of taking the bus to BART from his home in Moss Beach, just to skate at Justin Herman Plaza and flip through zines at Epicenter along with his Half Moon Bay High School mates, guitarist Jonah Buffa and bassist Jeremey Bringetto. And he betrays his Bay Area commuter roots by repeatedly praising his current Sunset digs for that extremely unglam asset: ample parking. "There's always parking. You don't have to get so many damn tickets," he says happily.

Shelverton, Buffa, and Bringetto's first musical vehicle was the local emo band Portraits of Past. Keyboardist Jessica Ann Graves, who roomed with Buffa at UC Santa Cruz, joined, and the group morphed into the Audience. After discovering another band called the Audience, they decided to take a name with similar spectator appeal. Vue "sounded neutral," Shelverton says. "It wasn't, like, 'the Hot Rods!' We were trying to come up with something that was a little more mysterious."

They're still a mystery, despite their popularity in other parts. "In a way we almost like it: we come here and we're just kind of anonymous, and then we have this double life where in Chicago, the weekly will give us, like, the record of the year," Shelverton says. "New York especially has been very good to us. But that's just part of where we're from.

"San Francisco is definitely more of an aloof city," he continues. "New York is so ambitious. Everybody is so interested in what everybody is doing.... People move here just to live, and they don't necessarily go around going, 'This is the new thing.' Even though the thing is, it's kind of sad, because – I hate to use the word hip – but San Francisco is definitely a hipper city than most other cities in the country, definitely more so than L.A., you know. But it's just more an underground thing here, and it doesn't have the support structure that New York has.... We've never been bitter about San Francisco, not having a huge following here or huge shows here – that's fine because we've never wanted to be hometown heroes. We live in San Francisco because we like the city, not because the city likes us."

In a way the area's citified vibe – the antithesis of the Sunset and more akin to their Tenderloin practice space – is what they wanted to capture on Down for Whatever.

"To me, a lot of the album has to do with hallway parties in San Francisco," Shelverton observes. "Great hallway parties where you kinda have to bump into people – you know, where you maybe wouldn't want to. There are the rooms that you can't go in because people are having sex or doing drugs or whatever, and there's the hallway where everyone's forced into close quarters with each other."

Vue play with Persephone's Bees and the Lovemakers Dec. 31, 9 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $20. (415) 861-5016.

Selected live music events on New Year's Eve

For more concerts, parties, events, and performances, see New Year's Eve listings.

Alphabet Soup Drink in the acid jazz survivors. 10 p.m., Bruno's, 2389 Mission, S.F. $15. (415) 648-7701.

Phil Crumar The Bay Area turntable test case bugs out, alongside Unagi. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., S.F. $20-$25. (415) 647-2888.

The Dead Who's dead? Mach II or III is haunted by Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Rob Barraco, Jeff Chimenti, Jimmy Herring, and Joan Osbourne. The Funk Brothers and Robert Hunter also play. Oakland Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakl. $71.45. www.tickets.com.

General Public The mirror in the bathroom is sure to be packed when '80s heirs – and '80s hair – come out to play. A Flock of Seagulls also play. 8 p.m., Bambuddha Lounge, Phoenix Hotel, 601 Eddy, S.F. $75-$149. www.bambuddhalounge.com.

Ghost Orchids The Bay Area-New York City combo put a nouveau goth veneer on the New Year. DJ Davey Havok of AFI also performs. 10 p.m., Luna Lounge, 1198 Folsom, S.F. $10. (415) 626-6043.

Greyboy Allstars Jam in the New Year, with a silvery slice of jazz-funk generated by Ubiquity orbitals and original members Karl Denson, Robert Walter, Elgin Park, Chris Stillwell, and Zak Najor. Bad Plus and DJ Logic also perform. 8 p.m., Warfield, 982 Market, S.F. $70-$85. (415) 421-TIXS, www.ticketmaster.com.

Harold Ray Live in Concert The good times go mono with the hard-working, -partying maniacs (Bay Guardian staffer Dennis Cabuco among them). Drunk Horse also play. 9:30 p.m., Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph, Oakl. $8. (510) 444-6174.

Mutilators The Bay Area punkabilly joint revel in their badness, promising distortion rather than that much overhyped sense of clarity. Whee. Tantrums, Amityville Horror, and Roadside Phantoms also play. 8:30 p.m., Roosters Roadhouse, 1700 Clement, Alameda. $15-$20. (510) 337-9190.

Lee Rocker A "Bulletproof" Stray Cat spreads the rockabilly around with two shows. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Biscuits and Blues, 401 Mason, S.F. $75. (415) 292-2583.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Curators including Nils Frykdahl, Dan Rathbun, Carla Kihlstedt, and Frank Grau trot out homemade instruments and junkyard percussion. Dredg and Brian Kenney Fresno also play. 8:30 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $20. (415) 474-0365.

Teenage Harlots Boys will be girls – or harlots – it's a mixed-up world, punk rock world. Soviettes, Radio Reelers, and Coppertones also play. 9 p.m., Parkside, 1600 17th St., S.F. (415) 503-0393.

Village People For those who can't deal with the dos at the Flock of Seagulls show: don the acid-washed denim or the naughty cop outfit, because you know you can't stop the music of disco's OGs. Doors open at 8 p.m., Hyatt Regency San Francisco, 5 Embarcadero, S.F. $75. (415) 675-6230, www.hyattsf.com.