The Heavenly States
See Performers.
Girls
Girls are on a meteoric rise. Their local shows sell out, Pitchfork and Spin rave about their singles, and while we're at it, it's just plain freaky how perfect the song "Lauren Marie" is. Recent months have seen the group — Christopher Owens and Chet JR White, plus friends — play a string of buzzed-about New York shows, land two tunes on RCRD LBL and the video for "Morning Light" on Urban Outfitters' blog, and sell all 500 copies of July's "Lust for Life" 7-inch. Not bad, but then no more than you'd expect from a band that expertly merges Ariel Pink's twisted AM pop, the Pixies' quiet/loud dynamic, and My Bloody Valentine's experimentation with sculpted feedback.
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Metal/Psych/Punk
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Wooden Shjips
Psychedelic warlords Wooden Shjips deliver an echo-drenched, guitar-heavy drone pairing the earsplitting repetition of the Velvet Underground with elements of Krautrock and psych. This year, the band has toured Europe and melted faces stateside at the Terrastock and ATP festivals. The Shjips' Volume 1, compiling way-out-of-print EPs, was released in June. A limited split 7-inch with U.K. tourmates the Heads followed in July. The group has a second full-length for Holy Mountain slated for early next year.
The Traditional Fools
We're proud to tip our hats to the city's young and furious neo-garage rockers, the Traditional Fools. The trio has been crashing parties, alleys, art galleries, and clubs for some time now, and the buzz is catching on. They're led by Ty Segall, whose solo project — featuring the singer flying around on a kick drum while holding his electric guitar for dear life — similarly gives the kids raw, pop-conscious, acid-dosed punk rock. This year saw the release of the Traditional Fools' highly anticipated full-length, available on white vinyl from the fresh-faced and locally built Make-a-Mess Records.
Saviours
Furthering our proud legacy as a hotbed of cutting-edge metal with brutal riff architecture, local juggernaut Saviours nods to the East Bay's pioneering thrash forebears Exodus and Testament as well as headbanging local contemporaries High on Fire. Punishing ears and speakers since its formation in 2004, the quartet pushed its corrosive sound to new heights of dueling-guitar savagery this year with its crushing sophomore album Into Abaddon. Logging a solid eight months of hard-core touring across the globe in '08, the band is building a rep as one of the Bay Area's leading ambassadors of heaviness.
Hank IV
San Francisco quintet Hank IV pulls no punches when delivering anthemic, twin-guitar rock. The band's new sophomore album, Refuge in Genre, on Philly's Siltbreeze label proffers 11 tracks of full-bore roar. Expect to see the album named on best-of lists at year's end, as songs like "Celebrity Virgin" and "Dirty Poncho" bring sneering humor to its caustic commentary. Live shows feature the amusing and/or disturbing spasmodic gesticulations of frontguy Bob McDonald, who helped wow 'em at South by Southwest in March. In September, Hank IV was invited by legendary Boston band Mission of Burma to open its California shows.
Jazz/Blues
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Devin Hoff
Devin Hoff plays the acoustic bass, as well as its electric sibling. For those who haven't seen the instrument, it resembles a violin with a glandular aberration; he plucks, strokes, strums, and bows this peculiar beast with the élan of a pro and the zeal of an anarchist. Hoff has employed his acumen in several combos, local and otherwise, including Good for Cows, Redressers, Odessa Chen, and the Nels Cline Singers. Through his curvy temptress, he channels inspiration from a wide range of influences (Ornette Coleman, the Carter Family, Black Sabbath) that show this musician has few, if any, genre boundaries.
Ben Goldberg
Ace clarinetist Ben Goldberg got his master's in composition at Mills and studied under jazz sax giants Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano. Since the late '80s, he has been a major contributor to the Bay Area's fertile creative jazz scene, starting with the New Klezmer Trio, wherein the music of his Hebraic heritage was infused with holy strains of free jazz. Aside from leading his own groups, Goldberg has been making wonderful noise lately with homies Tin Hat (formerly Tin Hat Trio), Beth Custer, and esteemed guitarist Nels Cline.
Tin Cup Serenade
Quick, name a jazz band with a hat endorsement! Tin Cup Serenade can claim that honor — it's backed by the San Francisco–based Goorin Brothers. It's a fitting match, as the group's brand of classic swing sounds as if it could soundtrack a film noir where every actor has a stylish accessory cocked on his head. Tin Cup's rhythm section churns out Count Basie–style four-to-the-bar swing and gives vocalist and guitarist Rolf Wilkerson all the room he needs for his Chet-Baker-by-way-of-Harry-Connick croon. But these guys don't subsist on jazz alone: Tin Cup dips into blues and some countryish nods to Hank Williams along the way.
The Nice Guy Trio
Who says nice guys finish last? The Nice Guy Trio takes three of the Bay Area's leading lights — trumpeter Darren Johnston, accordionist Rob Reich, and bassist Daniel Fabricant —and disproves that axiom with original music that offers an innovative take on jazz, klezmer, Caribbean music, and more. This year the group further displayed its flexibility in a "Nice Guys +1" residency at the Red Poppy Art House, where it collaborated with clarinetist Ben Goldberg, guitarist John Schott, and percussionist Sameer Gupta, among others. Wrapping up with a finale at the de Young Museum, the series pointed to a higher profile for these Guys in the months to come.
