Notes from the smoking patio

"It's not because I'm fucking one of them," said a friend of mine. She's a music-scene regular, a hunter. "They're just really good."

I didn't agree at the time. The early demos by San Diego's Vinyl Radio were by-the-numbers rock 'n' roll-a bit like The Strokes without the lead guitar. Still, my friend has taste, even if she was rooting a member. I figured I'd take a look.

Before the show, I meet the lead singer, Matt Binder. He has curly hair and a ruddy teenage complexion. He speaks with a barely detectable lisp. He seems supremely innocent, like a 20-something who still eats Pez.

He hardly seems like a rock singer. I fear he lacks the necessary pomposity, isn't dangerous enough for the job.

The mic, however, changes him. On stage, he's swagger and spit, sex and drugs and all other seedy lore we like to project onto rock vocalists. What he lacks in range, he atones for with attitude. The songs are religiously anchored to the beat. If Arcade Fire plays like six musicians playing 12 different ideas, Vinyl Radio plays like five musicians pummeling one good one.

"The drums and the bass are the backbone of the band," says Andrew Bernhardt, the shaggy, sandy blond guitarist and keyboardist who always plays like he's lost in the moment, as if inspired by something instinctual, molecular.

"I had the remaining members of The Beat Farmers play at my wedding," adds drummer Buddy Rose. "I played [guitarist] Joey Harris some of our earlier material, and he told me, ‘Don't ever get rid of that bassist. Just keep adding pieces.'"

The bassist, John Foley, is a quiet mountain of a bearded man from Northern California. He moved here in 2001 to pursue his academic career; all told, he estimates he's finished six units at Southwestern College. Every morning, he leaves San Diego Bay on a fishing boat at 5:30 a.m., returning with bloody, gutty boots 12 hours later.

"I feed the band," he says. "I catch the fish and Keith [Hilton, rhythm guitarist] is the chef. Together, we feed the band."

Hilton and Rose are Ocean Beach natives. Hilton spent a year in L.A., jamming with Beachwood Sparks guitarist-vocalist Dave Scher. Rose's claims to fame are playing on Black Eyed Peas' first demo tape and defecating in Christina Applegate's desk while attending Loyola Marymount (she was escorted by security for the remainder of the semester). He recently quit his job as a used-car salesman to rejoin Vinyl Radio but still wears white shoes and speaks the part.

Bernhardt's tie to Ocean Beach is more recent. He was part of the defunct Cape May, one of the few rock bands besides Superunloader that didn't bore the hell out of the O.B. hippies. "I don't even consider Vinyl Radio a band until Andrew joined," Binder says. "He's a real musician."

Bernhardt does add the musician-savant edge. That's why the band's members were so bummed when they erroneously sent the copy of their debut EP to the printer without Bernhardt's lead guitar parts. They paid for all 1,000 copies of their mistake.

They've fixed that with their debut full-length, A Better Time Coming. It's basic, catchy, impressive rock 'n' roll.

Months after seeing them for the first time, I keep going back. They've grown on me, as good bands do. Although, now that I've heard some of the stories that I've heard, I no longer see Binder as a pistil of innocence.

His kindness is dangerous. He'd follow shady characters down shadier rabbit holes.

He's fit for his job.

Vinyl Radio plays with The Ringers at the Beauty Bar on Thursday, May 31. Doors open at 9 p.m. $5. 619-516-4746.

Notes from the smoking patio

Last week, Manu Chao's June 5 show became the first victim of the new noise ordinance enacted at Embarcadero Marina. Band representative Tom Chauncey said promoter Viejas failed to tell the band about the ordinance. "If we were told that we could not do a show at the proper volume, we would not have agreed to do the show," he said. The show has been moved to Plaza del Toros Monumental in Tijuana. Viejas reps did not respond to numerous phone calls and e-mails about the cancellation.

Eighties electronica hit-makers Red Flag, aka Chris Reynolds, will release a new album on June 1-titled Born Again, it's the first release by the former duo since brother Mark Reynolds died in 2002. www.redflag.org.

Local jazz icon Gilbert Castellanos gets major props in the June issue of Downbeat magazine, in which he's featured as one of the 25 best living jazz trumpeters. www.gilbert castellanos.com.

Meanwhile, reggae group Big Mountain probably aren't thrilled to be included in the June issue of British magazine Uncut. Their version of "Baby I Love Your Way" comes in at No. 3 of the "Ten Worst White Reggae Songs." www.bigmountain-onelove.com.

As I Lay Dying's next album is called An Ocean Between Us, but longtime vocalist Clint Norris won't be part of it. Norris was recently married and left the band to attend school. The band's new vocalist is Josh Gilbert. www.asilaydying.com.