Last night at the Knockout, Religious Girls killed it. It was a homecoming show of sorts for the local band after its late summer tour, and the feeling was all warm and fuzzy -- minus a drunken birthday boy fight in the crowd. The Knockout itself was crowded, but not that unbearable, sweat-running-down-the-walls packed it has been known to incur. The boys of Religious Girls, who we profiled earlier this week, played hard and tight; especially the drummer, who we're giving MVP for the night.

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A lot of bands these days have been resurrecting the C86-like pop music sensibilities of the jangly guitar heroes from the 1980s and early '90s, either sounding familiar and welcome to some, or new and au courant to others, as in the past. Captured Tracks, a small label out of Brooklyn, New York, has a few such bands under its wing, two of which played energetic, danceable sets at Slim’s last Thurs/5 – Brooklyn’s Beach Fossils and Seattle’s Craft Spells. San Francisco’s Melted Toys completed the trifecta, opening the night with pure pop bliss.

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The San Francisco pop-folk duo Two Gallants played to a sold-out crowd on April 23, at its familiar stomping grounds, Bottom of The Hill. It was a reunion show of sorts. Two and a half years had passed since Adam Stephens (lead vocals/guitar/harmonica) and Tyson Vogel (drums/vocals) played together. In the interim, Stephens went by his full name, Adam Haworth Stephens, when gigging solo, and Vogel played guitar under the moniker Devotionals. While those endeavors were undoubtedly strong, they didn't match Stephens' and Vogel's musical synergy as a duo. Read more »

Last day in Austin. The hot daytime ticket was the MOG.com party at Mohawk. That meant getting there early and committing the entire afternoon... but the payoff was catching headliners TV on the Radio and Big Boi with just a few hundred other folks.Read more »

As we walked through downtown Austin we ran into Red and Green of Peelander-Z, the outrageously festooned Japanese punk band. They sweetly obliged a snapshot and then continued on their way. Just found out that they'll be touring with Anamanaguchi, the frenzied "Nintendo-core" band I saw on day 1. Make sure to check them out at DNA Lounge on April 7th.Read more »

I caught up with the The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour as it made its stop at the Independent in San Francisco on Sat./5, and it was nothing short of magical. A dozen or so core members of the Elephant 6 Collective rotated instruments and played each others' songs. It was like a slice of Athens, Georgia performing on a holodeck-cum-stage for a bewildered SF audience that didn't know what to expect. Read more »

When you recommend an event, you're basically telegraphing expectations on an artist's body of work. However, there is risk involved with live appearances.

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