Sic Alps: Show Preview

Brian Pritchard

Sic Alps

Details

Find out when Sic Alps plays with Thee Oh Sees, the Sandwitches, and Ty Segall on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Great American Music Hall. 8 p.m., $13 advance, $16 doors; www.gamh.com.

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More About

• Napa
• Sic Alps
• Mike Donovan
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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Sic Alps may seem like the perennial also-rans of the local garage-rock scene, but this nearly-decade-old trio deserves higher esteem. And if earning the approval of indie headmasters like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo hasn't been enough to yank the band into a broader spotlight, maybe its second full-length will be. Napa Asylum is a massively gritty, determinedly listless double album named after a cage for the insane located to our north. Over 22 songs, Mike Donovan and Co. wander through dreamy folk, distressed microditties, and semiconscious psych-pop, all under the constant glare of pretty much no fidelity — the squeaks, squawks, hisses, and pops of old, cheap gear are nearly constant. But Napa Asylum isn't all grainy atmosphere — songs like the woozy "Do You Want to Give $$," the jaunty "Trip Train," and the positively anarchic "Soil" rank among Sic Alps' most satisfying. So is this one underrated S.F. rock outfit?