San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
Royal Bangs
- Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford
Wednesday, Jan. 19
PLAN A: Old 97’s, Langhorne Slim @ Belly Up. Old 97’s still have the swinging rhythms, blazing guitars and romantic lyrics they dished out back when they were a Texas bar band. But these alt-country pioneers have nearly 20 years of playing under their belts, and they’re all the more better for it. PLAN B: Brutal Truth, Shit, Downspell, Life's Torment @ Ruby Room. Throwing down metal riffs with car-crash intensity, New York’s Brutal Truth are one of the fiercest, fastest, most fucked-up grindcore bands ever recorded. Don’t believe me? Watch the video for “Collateral Damage,” which clocks in at just over two seconds. PLAN C: White Apple Tree, White Sea, Gun Runner @ The Casbah. Don’t miss White Sea, an intriguing new band featuring Ray Suen, a local violinist who’s toured with The Killers.
Thursday, Jan. 20
PLAN A: Jamuel Saxon, Lesands, TV Girl, Dirty Gold @ The Casbah. You can read all about TV Girl’s sudden rise to fame in our feature on Page 32, but don’t get the impression that they’re the only band worth checking out tonight. Jamuel Saxon is my favorite electro-pop duo in San Diego, Lesands always put on a visceral dance party and newbies Dirty Gold have been getting buzz for their sublime world-beat vibes. PLAN C: Kimya Dawson, Defiance, Ohio, Theo Zumm, Jehovas Fitness @ Che Café. When it comes to the punked-out acoustic genre called “freak folk,” there’s nobody quite as scathingly clever or brutally honest as Kimya Dawson. BACKUP PLAN: Rah Digga, Medusa, Miki Vale, Lady Carmen, Zane, DJ Pnutz @ Boar Cross’n.
Friday, Jan. 21
PLAN A: Best Coast, Wavves, No Joy @ SOMA. Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino and Wavves’ Nathan Williams are indie-rock’s cutest stoner couple—so, it’d be supercute if they played their Christmas duet, “Got Something For You,” tonight. PLAN B: Hieroglyphics @ Sound Wave. This visionary Oakland hip-hop crew helped craft a more intelligent kind of hip-hop back in the ’90s. Now, Del the Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love and all the other original members will get together to celebrate their 20th anniversary. PLAN C: Transfer, New Mexico, D/Wolves, DJ Claire @ The Casbah (7:30 p.m.). A guy as beloved as Justin Jay, a local drummer who died recently, deserves a lineup as solid as this—and a celebratory dance party to boot. PLAN D: Young Prisms, Melted Toys, Heavy Hawaii, DJ Mario New Mexico Orduno @ Tin Can Ale House. Young Prisms’ scrappy psych-rock is all the more hypnotic with the aid of hallucinogens, I’m sure, but it sounds pretty good while sober, too.
Saturday, Jan. 22
PLAN A: Abel Ashes, Randy Chiurazzi, Frank Melendez, Bobby Bray, Pall Jenkins, Henry barnes, The League of Assholes @ Soda Bar. There’s plenty of reasons to be stoked about the second annual “Experimental Guitar Show”—which includes a rare performance by Henry barnes, a renowned noise head formerly of Man is the Bastard. But what makes it all worthwhile is the opportunity to marvel at such inventions as the 100-stringed guitar. PLAN B: David J, DJ Darwin @ Bar Pink. David J is probably best known as the bassist for Bauhaus, but in recent years, he’s been putting out solo material that’s creepier, folksier and much more interesting. Tonight, he celebrates the release of a new album, Not Long for This World. BACKUP PLAN: Red Fish Blue Fish @ The Loft at UCSD.
Sunday, Jan. 23
PLAN A: Royal Bangs, Hotel St. George, Italian Japanese @ The Casbah. It might sound like Knoxville rockers Royal Bangs bought all their instruments at a junk shop, but they sure know how to write a catchy song. The ridiculously infectious hooks and groovy-as-hell beats of tracks like “War Bells” and “My Car is Haunted” put disco-punk leftovers like The Rapture and !!! to shame. PLAN B: Peter Wolf Crier, The Retribution Gospel Choir @ The Loft at UCSD. Of all the folk bands I come across each week, hardly any sound as folksy as Peter Wolf Crier, a Minnesota duo whose rough-hewn songs are all the more mesmerizing with Peter Pisano’s lingering falsetto. However, don’t mistake The Retribution Gospel Choir for an actual gospel choir—they’re a hard-rocking power trio, through and through. BACKUP PLAN: Typhoon, AgesandAges, Brainstorm @ Soda Bar.
Monday, Jan. 24
PLAN A: Weekend, Mrs. Magician, Plateaus, DJ Mario Orduno @ Soda Bar. Weekend bear a striking resemblance to local skuzz-rockers Crocodiles—and, by extension, to The Jesus and Mary Chain—what with their fuzzed-out riffs, which make you want to pump your fist and smoke a joint at the same time. BACKUP PLAN: Fake Problems, Dynamite Walls, The Tender Box @ The Casbah.
Tuesday, Jan. 25
PLAN A: Tomcat Courtney @ La Gran Tapa. I like my Texas blues with tapas, but you can catch this veteran bluesman (whom we profile here) almost any day of the week. In addition to this weekly gig, he plays at Chateau Orleans on Thursdays and at The Turquoise on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. BACKUP PLAN: Sundrop Electric, Misspent Warhead Premise, Sir Splendid @ Tin Can Ale House.
