The Coast of Pacific Beach Restaurant Walk
Amateur Pool Party
Live from Reno
OK, they got me. I fell for the live crowd noise they laid over the tracks. But after listening to nine ear-puncturing songs, I’m convinced this band has never played to a crowd larger than however many people you can fit in a garage / practice space / meth lab.
—Jim Ruland
Apoc & Brendan B
The Planet EP
Bringing back the playful edge of early hip-hop, The Planet EP is a hoot from beginning to end. While “The Life” expounds upon the days and nights of the MC lifestyle, the true gem here is the completely silly “100 Bars,” which name drops 100 different bars nationwide—quite a few of which happen to be local haunts. Lyrics like “Then I head to Open Bar, beware of the open sore” are proof that actual on-site research was conducted in the making of this song.
—Dryw Keltz
April Ventura & The Magnolias
Fine
This
alt-country group walks down that well-traveled road in between
heartbroken southern twang and sing-along rock ’n’ roll. The guitar work
is well executed, but not terribly original. The real star here is
lead singer April Ventura—at her best, her earnest, passionate vocals
sound like Lucinda Williams. But the overtly pop-oriented sensibilities
and clichéd lyrics (“Let your love shine all around / You’ll be just fine”) at times come off more like Faith Hill.
—Aaron Carnes
EXTRASPECIALGOOD
Day-Go Produce
Bottom Feeders the Mixtape
You’d be hard-pressed to find a local rap group more down-to-earth than Day-Go Produce. As they make clear on Bottom Feeders, J
Treel, Tramlife and Rolando are just humble up-and-comers who enjoy the
simple things in life—rocking Chuck Taylors with fat laces (“Smokin’ evergreen / Chucks hit the scene / complement the whole team”), going to the beach (“You can catch me in the swells”) and smoking tons of weed (“Don’t trust the marijuana if it came from Tijuana”). They
acknowledge that they’re low on the hip-hop totem pole—indeed, they’re
the “bottom feeders” of the mixtape’s title. But they’ve got solid
beats, refreshing flows and a disarming honesty, all of which should
serve them well as they climb their way up.
—Peter Holslin
Ass Clowns
Extraterrestrial
Human Reprogramming
Over-medicated, under-produced guitar wankery. Jesus Christ does this ever blow dead monkeys.
—Jim Ruland
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
This
earnest, five-song rock offering reminds me a lot of early Three Mile
Pilot. Plus, the drummer’s moustache is full-on Magnum P.I. I can see
this evolving in a lot of different ways—almost all of them good.
—Scott McDonald
Barbarian’s
double shot of echo-y, perfectly under-produced, harmony-driven rock
’n’ roll makes me want to keep listening. Let’s hope it isn’t just
beginner’s luck.
—Scott McDonald
Beat Panther
Feed
Sharp
production and fat-ass beats keep the party rockin’ on nine of the 10
songs here. And it’s hard to fault Justin Palicki and JFeather for
closing with a minimalist cover of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,”
even if they don’t sock it to us after that infamous drum roll. More
than 60 percent of the time, it works every time.
—Scott McDonald
Beta Lion
I Believe in Beta Lion
I believe in Beta Lion because the last track on this three-song sampler is the best song that Phoenix never wrote. “Love Aside” is that perfect blend of pop, dance and alternative that makes the pretty girls swoon and gives everyone a good excuse to hit the dance floor. The other two songs on here are decent indie-rock fare, but “Love Aside” is the hit.
—Dryw Keltz
Big Shot Reub and the Reloaders
Roundhouse Blues
In
the dullest wankfest I’ve ever heard, guitarist Reuben Vigil and his
two bandmates try their hands at swinging jazz, moody blues and good
ol’-fashioned rock and end up sucking at all of it. After multiple
dreary listens, the only thing that sticks with me is Vigil’s goofy
Muppet voice.
—Peter Holslin
This
isn’t the first metal / punk band to imitate Danzig and sing about
zombies, and it won’t be the last. But these guys could likely get some
dudes head-banging if they played at The Ruby Room or Eleven, and that’s
what matters.
—Peter Holslin
Blood Dancer
Demo
I’m
not sure if any members of Queensryche or Metal Church died right
around the time the dudes in this trio were born, but if they did, any
questions about the existence of reincarnation have been answered. Metal
from the heyday of metal, if you’re into that kind of thing. chbarcla@ucsd.edu
—Scott McDonald
Box Shift
Certified Color
I’m
a sucker for electro-pop, and Box Shift’s solid, infectious bed of
synths and light, danceable beats comes just the way I like it. Yet, the
songwriting and the melodies just don’t do it for me. A good
electro-pop song should beg you to sing along, but these songs are all
basically forgettable. I do have to give them props for the
super-reverb-y mix on the keys and guitars, though.
—Aaron Carnes
Broken Dreams x
Parker & The Numberman
Demo
Sometimes
a hip-hop collaboration never succeeds beyond being a
two-crews-for-the-price-of-one mash of styles, say Rappers 1-2-3 vs.
Rappers X-Y-Z. This three-track project between Broken Dreams and Parker
& The Numberman (shortened to “BDP&T”) eschews one-upsmanship
for a solid, jazzy demo that conforms to the gestalt theory: “The whole
is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Bruisecaster
A Canvas (Part 5)
Not sure how I feel about this video-as-demo thing. Kind of arty? Kind of douchey? A little of both? But if a band can put a CD in a record sleeve and call it a demo, why can’t Bruisecaster shoot a rehearsal and call it a movie? But it’s more than that: Directed by Shoko Hachiya, it’s a live show and a whole bunch of other stuff, too. Twelve minutes in, there’s a closeup of someone’s ear hole, and I kept looking at it until it didn’t look like an ear hole anymore. That’s Bruisecaster.
—Jim Ruland
