The Love of Beer
Mini Mansions
- Photo by Dustin Rabin
Wednesday, Dec. 28
PLAN A: Qwazaar & Batsauce, Amad Jamal, Lady Daisey, Generik & Anek, Travisty One feat. Solicit, Pla!n J.A.N.E. & We Da West Camp, Fourzone, The Take Off Movement @ Kava Lounge. A fixture of Chicago’s underground hip-hop scene, Qwazaar is more likely to cite Charlie Parker than Rakim as the inspiration behind his heartfelt, double-time rhymes. Berlin-based turntablist Batsauce makes a great companion, cutting up soul samples to make heady beats. PLAN B: Hanin Elias, Antiquark, Violent Vickie, Aaimon, Preteen pornstar (DJ sets) @ Tin Can Ale House. If you’re still bummed that German techno-terrorists Atari Teenage Riot had to cancel a September concert at Porter’s Pub because of the blackout, this is the next best thing. Sweet-voiced ATR singer Hanin Elias is more reflective and less riot-prone with her solo material, but she still deals in heavy beats and acidic political themes. BACKUP PLAN: Lank, DL, Swan Dive, Lazerwolfe, Austin Speed @ El Dorado.
Thursday, Dec. 29
PLAN A: Mini Mansions, Deap Vally, Dark Thirty @ The Casbah. L.A.’s Mini Mansions are maybe best known as the project of Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman, but they’ve graduated from side project to full-grown band. The Beatles are a main source of inspiration, but their pop songs also veer into dark territory with quirky vocal parts, dramatic organs and giant riffs. PLAN B: The Napoleon Complex, Incomplete Neighbor, Valley–OM, Icespeaker, DJ Serop Babayan @ Tin Can Ale House. Top-40 radio fans would dig The Napoleon Complex’s dramatic pop-rock, but I’d be more curious to see Valley-OM, a mysterious band featuring Sundar Whalen of psychedelic weirdoes Fantastic Magic. And show up early for Tijuana act Icespeaker’s delightfully trippy electro. BACKUP PLAN: The Bruises, The Fixtures, Skyhigh Karma, Lands on Fire @ Soda Bar.
Friday, Dec. 30
PLAN A: Daniel Jackson, Marshall Hawkins, Gilbert Castellanos & Joshua White @ Dizzy’s. In what’ll certainly be a musical Voltron, jazz piano wunderkind Joshua White will partner up with some of the city’s greatest, most well-known jazz musicians—including septuagenarian legend Daniel Jackson—for a special year-end session. PLAN B: Dazz Band @ Anthology. Back in 1982, Dazz Band defined a corny-as-cool aesthetic with their ridiculously catchy, Grammy-winning electro-funk hit “Let it Whip.” They’ve penned plenty of awesomely cheesy tunes in the years since, and they still get dressed up in sharp suits to perform them. PLAN C: Bonded by Blood, Warbringer, Damcyan, Eukaryst @ The Ruby Room. Like the great thrash-metal bands of yore, Pomona’s Bonded by Blood deliver nonstop riffs for your head-banging pleasure. Yes, please!
Saturday, Dec. 31
PLAN A: “Timewave Zero” @ Kava Lounge. Using magic mushrooms and DMT as a research tool, philosopher Terence McKenna argued that everything imaginable will happen simultaneously when the universe reaches a “singularity of infinite complexity” in 2012. Taking this as inspiration, San Francisco bass-music cosmonaut Eprom and nine other electronic-music artists will ring in the New Year with a carnival of pulsating beats, face-melting synth patterns and ginormous bass lines. PLAN B: Beehive & The Barracudas, Christmas Island, Mrs. Magician @ Bar Pink. At a party hosted by Swami, the FM-94/9 radio host and Bar Pink co-owner, cult favorites Beehive & The Barracudas will deliver a set of their freaky, grimy, oh-so-awesome garage-rock. Show up early for openers Christmas Island and Mrs. Magician, both fine local indie-rock bands. BACKUP PLAN: The Growlers, Tomorrow’s Tulips, The Abigails, Tropical Popsicle @ The Casbah.
Sunday, Jan. 1
PLAN A: Bad Antics, Vietnam Hardcore, Sleep Walk, Illustrations, Tidemouth @ Shakedown Bar. Even if you punk-rockers are still working off your New Year’s Eve hangovers, you’ll definitely want to check out Bad Antics, an Orange County punk band that plays the kind of brutal, in-your-face hardcore that made the cops hate Black Flag back in the early ’80s.
Monday, Jan. 2
PLAN A: Bent Knee, The Peripherals @ Tin Can Ale House. Describing their music as “avant-indie,” Boston’s Bent Knee sound like a cross between a doom-metal band and a symphony orchestra with their stomping riffs, ghostly vocals and operatic interludes. Gnarly, indeed.
Tuesday, Jan. 3
PLAN A: Terror Bomb, Great Like Cake, The Secret Samurai @ Soda Bar. Terror Bomb’s delightfully messy rock is good fun and Great Like Cake’s At the Drive In-style indie-rock harks back to the better side of emo. But don’t miss The Secret Samurai, a trio that plays hard-driving surf-rock.
Email peterh@sdcitybeat.com or follow him on Twitter at @peterholslin.
