The very first time I heard Sacramento band San Kazakgascar way back in 2008 at a small show at Javalounge, I was hooked. What wasn’t to love about their “Quasi-Middle Eastern/Indian psychedelia” sound? First off, they have a badass clarinet player (Mike Woo), which I’d like to see more of in live band settings, and secondly, they play a style of music that, at least to my knowledge, nobody else in town even comes close to. Imagine Sonic Youth jamming with a sitar player at an open-air market. Imagine that killer backing track you just couldn’t put your finger on in a VICE documentary. Imagine The Black Lips tinkering on weird instruments after smoking a “peace pipe.” Imagine tribal drumming and sweet weaving melodies from an electric violin with drone-y, chant-y vocals. Smash all that together played by a bunch of dudes here in the Sacramento area and you’re getting close to San Kazakgascar. Well, sort of. After releasing two full-lengths their newest EP, titled Drought Times, will be their first self-recorded release. The band recorded it at bassist Greg Hain’s “modest wood dwelling,” and it is also their first release with new violinist John Cypher. A clutch addition I must say. Guitarist and vocalist Jed Brewer, drummer Paul Takushi and the aforementioned Woo (on clarinet) round out the group. On songs “The Switchbacks Are Crumbling” and “Crispy Lords,” Brewer used a custom-made gourd guitar that the band says “creates a quasi-sitar like sustain.” They will be performing new songs at their show on Nov. 3 at Luigi’s Fungarden, where you can also snag their new EP. Knock Knock and Nacho Business will also perform. Show starts at 8 p.m., all ages are welcome, $5 cover. For more information on the band, visit http://latherrecords.com/sankaz/

Guide yourself through Sacramento’s many murals–with our help, of course

May is Bike Month occurs once a year, encouraging all Sacramentans to forgo gas-guzzlers and hit the streets on two-wheeled transportation. Learn to tune up your ride by attending the free bike clinics at any Mike’s Bikes location or participate in the Capitol Park Neighborhood Bike Ride pedaling over bridges and through trails with friends. But if it’s eye candy you’re after during a leisurely ride with fellow cyclists, Submerge has once again created a list of murals around the Midtown area you can appreciate while on your fixie, cruiser or single-speed. Artists featured this year include Shaun Burner, Alex “Cabron” Forster, Skinner and plenty more. Since last year’s map, a growing number of new murals have added a colorful touch to coffee shops, convenience stores and even a wildlife nonprofit building. Let this guide be your real-life Choose Your Own Adventure, except better, with bicycles and artistic expressions. Just plug these addresses into Google Maps and have at it!

Ishi
Valley Vision building – 2320 Broadway

Cabron
(Start of the tour)

Alex Forster, known as Cabron, won the Valley Vision’s mural contest in 2010, choosing to represent the Sacramento Valley’s past by painting the Native American Ishi of the Yahi tribe on the side of the non-profit building.

“I just wanted to show one iconic figure from that era and how demographics have changed,” says Cabron of the mural. “Ishi’s story was told in all the schools. He was supposedly the last of his tribe and he epitomizes that shift from the old world and the modern world clashing.”

Ishi’s intense eyes watch busy traffic whizzing by the intersection; stare back at Broadway and 24th Street.

A mural of monsters
Javalounge – 2416 16th Street

Skinner

Off the beaten path in the alleyway of the Javalounge coffee shop are a gang of monsters painted by local artist Skinner. His mural of ghouls survived a truck smashing into the art piece a couple years back according to the artist, who plans on touching up the piece before summer.

“I create because it is a function of who I am,” he says. “It’s in everyone. Everyone has an instinct to explore; it just depends on how much you pay attention to that aspect of yourself [and] how much you nurture your path of discovery.”

Skinner is currently at large in Florida doing what he does best.

Time to Wake Up
Royal Market – 1701 T Street

Shaun Burner

Living so close to a blank canvas was too tempting for artist Shaun Burner. Often frequenting Royal Market, Burner bugged owner Haripal Singh for permission to paint the building until he finally gave in.

“The open hand with the light coming out [signifies] letting go and the clenched fist with the dark oozing out is holding on,” explains Burner. “The diamond from the third eye for the crown Chakra and also in western culture, the diamond is revered as such a precious gem when the real gem is the mind.”

Artist and friend Mike Rodriguez also helped with Time to Wake Up, which is still a work in progress according to Burner.

El Tigre
Born Free USA non-profit building – 1122 S Street

Cabron

First Ishi, now El Tigre. Cabron once again brightens up the side of a non-profit building, this time, for Born Free USA near 12th and S streets.

“When I paint, I like to tell stories. When I hear a story, when I read a book, I visualize it,” he says of his art.

Catch the 85-foot-wide, monochromatic tiger during May is Bike Month and be sure to attend the soft opening in celebration of the mural on June 9. This Second Saturday event features DJ Dom Som, indie craft vendors and you can even meet Cabron himself.

Labor of Love
Limon’s Barber Salon – 1423 21st Street

Gabriel Romo and Joshua Silveira

Gabriel Romo is currently painting an exposition in Guadalajara, Mexico, with artists Shaun Burner and Miguel Perez. Romo’s Labor of Love mural rests on the side of an old, wooden shed next to Limon’s Barber Salon.

“That was the first mural I painted outside,” admits Romo. “That piece was inspired by heartbreak. It started out as an ‘emo piece’ about the labor of love, but it was something the owner was not too interested in. I reworked the idea to include the barber, his labor of love and the piece itself was my labor of love to the community.”

Artist Josh Silveira helped complete the mural alongside Romo, who says painting outside has become his new labor of love.

Psychedelic mural painted in 1973
Old Tower Records – 726 K Street

Frank Carson

K Street businesses have come and gone, but one iconic mural still remains. Chipped away in some areas, but still as bright and psychedelic as ever, is rock concert poster artist Frank Carson’s work. The mural was completed in 1973 and resides on the old Tower Records building. Check it out–man.

Sunday Morning in the Mines
Masonic Temple – 1123 J Street

Stephanie Taylor

Inspired by the original art piece that hangs in the Crocker Art Museum by German artist Charles Christian Nahl is Stephanie Taylor’s digital reprint on the side of the Masonic Temple on J Street. Whiz down the busy street, safely of course, and catch a glimpse of the men who appear to be climbing out of frame.

Ancient Futurism
Shine Coffee – 1400 E Street

Shaun Burner
(End of tour)

Slapped on the 14th Street side of Shine coffeehouse is another piece by Shaun Burner. Burner admits to just going with the flow when it came to painting this piece, throwing it up in a couple of hours.

“For me, it is a complete release… If I mess up I just make it into something else, not worrying about the line I just dropped or the one coming up, but the one at hand. For me, this is meditation,” says Burner. “It’s my tai chi. It’s a metaphor for life. Do the best you can with whatever you do. Don’t reflect on the past too much or worry about the future, but be present in this moment that is continually happening, and own that shit.”

Burner’s on-the-spot Ancient Futurisms make another appearance on the front of the Midtown Furniture & More store on E and 16th streets.

Anton Barbeau, Scott Miller / After Excreta, Side Effects

Javalounge – Wednesday, Dec. 28 & Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011

DCOI, a punk rock band based out of Davis, just finished hanging their black and white banner last Wednesday night at the Javalounge when an argument between members of the band and venue owner Toben Woodman took place, ending the evening of music immediately.

After Excreta from Vacaville, Calif., and Side Effects of Oakland performed at the Midtown coffee house, more than 30 attendees waited for DCOI to close out the night, but when words between the band and Woodman during stage setup escalated, the evening of punk rock music was sealed with missing equipment, damaged property and plenty of angry show-goers.

“I’m not going to point the finger at anybody, but there were only like five people left in here, so it’s a real short list,” said Woodman about the missing equipment and added a group of people threw chairs into a dumpster and broke the venue’s signs.

“The PA’s missing, dude,” was overheard within the crowd of people congregating on the sidewalk in front of the venue.

“That particular style of music is more aggressive punk rock,” Woodman said. “We, me, I, the Javalounge, allowed that to happen here because we were reaching out to them. I am not reaching out to them any longer. They will not play here until my stuff is returned and even then, it’s debatable.”

Submerge’s attempts to reach DCOI for comment were not answered as of press time.

Other items broken that night, according to Woodman, were smashed microphones and chords.

Scott Miller

Despite a missing PA system, the show planned for the following night with Scott Miller and alternative rock singer/songwriter Anton Barbeau was still a go.

“I was going to go borrow the money if had to, to get another [PA system] because that’s what we do, the show goes on,” explained Woodman. “Fortunately the community reached back to us in positive ways and loaned us the equipment and a guy came forth tonight who had heard about what went on last night [and] offered to let us borrow one indefinitely if we need to.”

Thursday night’s show saw a wide demographic of attendees, from salt-and-peppered-haired adults wearing all black to children occupying the big orange sofa. The smell of coffee paired with reverb from the single microphone on stage dismissed the previous night’s incidents as Miller opened the show without introduction, taking requests from the crowd like, “Idiot Son” from the album Plants and Rocks and Things when Miller was in the San Francisco-based band the Loud Family. Not a seat was empty in the coffee shop during his entire performance, which included live excerpts from his book Music: What happened?, a cover of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and a duet with headliner Barbeau.

Barbeau, a longtime Sacramento musician, is known for his albums The Horse’s Tongue and Waterbugs and Beetles released in the early ‘90s, but the man has a never-ending musical resume that includes writing and producing the album Bag of Kittens with singer/songwriter Allyson Seconds.

Punk rock, indie or maybe it’s a noise rock booked night at your venue of choice–still the Sacramento music scene is both unpredictable and entertaining. One evening hardcore and punk rock reign supreme within the coffee shops and pizzerias that double as venues, but 24 hours later, the alternative singer/songwriters of the ‘80s are witnessed reviving the classics. Although few all-ages locations exist, it’s apparent from last week’s hiccup that venues will still find a way to put on a show.

Sacramento Punk Legends The Secretions Are Set to Release New Record

The year was 1991. The grunge movement, in all its flannel glory, had fully engulfed the country thanks to bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam; the Governator was just the Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgment Day; Will Smith was just the Fresh Prince in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; and two young punk rockers attending Sacramento State, Mickie Rat and Danny Secretion, would meet and form a band. “I would have to walk through the University Union and I would get my coffee and go to class and I would always see this guy wearing all black no matter how hot it was,” Danny recalls of Mickie Rat during a recent conversation outside Benny’s Bar and Grill. “Long-sleeve black shirt, black pants and motorcycle boots with these big metal plates on the front and he had kind of a Mohawk devil-lock. It was pretty awesome.”

Mickie was aware of his intimidating appearance and even admits that he was known as the “scary punk guy” around campus. The two would see each other often, but never really spoke until their paths crossed one afternoon under dreary circumstances. “We actually started talking at a funeral,” says Mickie, who at this point had already started a band. “Our original guitarist was the program director for the student-run radio and he passed away. I had seen [Danny] in the studio; we had shows near each other. We didn’t even really start talking until then,” says Mickie.

One thing led to another, Danny was invited to jam and The Secretions were born. “We still have cassette tapes of those practices and how we started every song with, ‘One, two, three, four!'” Danny says.”

The two recall that in those first days of practice, ending the songs in sync was not as easy as starting them. “Usually we would start out the song together but the ending would always end up disintegrating,” remembers Danny. “The guitar would stop, then the bass, then the drummer would just keep playing.”

Fast-forward 18 years and the two are still making punk rock music together. “We don’t know how to do anything else,” says Danny. “I think the thing that’s really helped attribute to us not throwing in the towel is coming to grips with the fact that we’re not going to be huge and famous.”

Money and fame aside, The Secretions are a very successful band. They’ve toured the country many times and released a handful of records, but more importantly, they’re great friends who love playing music together. “My goal was to always be in a band with friends,” says Mickie. “That’s pretty much what it’s always been about for me. I’ve been lucky enough to do that. I mean, some people are like, ‘Oh I’ll hire a bunch of guys to play my music.’ That’s never worked for me.”

What has worked for The Secretions for nearly two decades now is booking smart tours: Gigging every other month as opposed to every weekend to avoid over-saturating the market; recording and releasing high energy, addictive punk rock records; and connecting with their dedicated fans, appropriately dubbed Secretins, more deeply than most groups these days. The band—which currently consists of Mickie Rat (bass, vocals), Danny Secretion (drums, vocals) and Paul Filthy (guitar, vocals)—truly has withstood the test of time. With a new record, entitled GREASYHOTMEATCHEEZY, due out in July, a slew of tour dates including two appearances at the Insubordination Fest in Baltimore, Md. in late June, two Sacramento release shows (July 3 at the Blue Lamp and July 20 at the Boardwalk) and a two-week West Coast run with The Bugs, they are not showing any signs of slowing.

Where did the name GREASYHOTMEATCHEEZY come from?
Mickie Rat: Paul’s girlfriend.
Danny Secretion: We were driving to Fresno to play a show; it was like a Friday night so we had all just gotten off work, went home, cleaned up, drove around and picked up everyone. We pulled over to get some gas and something to eat and I just asked, “What do you guys feel like eating?” And she just blurted out, “Greasy, hot, meat, cheesy!” It was just one of those things. On the inside of our van there is just Sharpie tags all over and written up there is “GREASYHOTMEATCHEEZY” and we just circled it and were like, “That’s a great album.”
MR: It’s a running joke, somebody will say something disgusting and you’ll be like, “Oh that’s what our next album is going to be called.” She also kind of did that to goof on me because I’m a vegetarian and I’m allergic to dairy so she was like, “Hm, what are all the things you can’t eat?”
DS: Yeah, Mickie can’t eat too many things that are meaty or cheesy.
MR: But I like hot things and greasy things.

What else can you tell me about the record? How does it compare to past releases musically and lyrically?
DS: Musically I think it’s on par with everything else that we’ve done, it’s nothing too complicated.
MR: I think a lot of people are shocked because I’m more singing than yelling. There’s some different songs. Usually if I write a pop-y song that sounds kind of smoother and I sing kind of pretty on it, I’ll save it and not put it on the album. I’m getting to the age where you just stop giving a shit. A lot of those songs I didn’t want on the album, but then I was like, “Eh, what the fuck do I got to lose? Let’s just put them out there.” The opening track is like three-and-a-half minutes long, which is like the longest song I’ve ever written.

Yeah, that’s like three normal Secretions songs!
MR: Usually I write stuff that’s a minute-15, that’s like my average song length. I kind of wanted to write this rockin’ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts kind of song.
DS: It’s a fun song. That was the big risk that we took was putting a song that was so different from the others at the beginning.
MR: Yeah I really didn’t want to put it first either but eventually they convinced me.
DS: We were just like, “No, this one has to start it.” It’s one of those things where it’s going to make people listen to it. The next song is just classic punk all the way through.
MR: There’s some different kind of stuff on this one.
DS: It’s just a fun album. We’ve got the songs pretty much telling off certain people. That’s always been what we do, just kind of poking fun at people.
MR: It’s what we do best: pissed off punk rock.

You’re doing a listening party at Capitol Dawg. Whose idea was that?
DS: That was Mickie’s idea.
MR: It’s one of my favorite places to eat. I always hang out and talk to the owner. My girlfriend and I actually went there for the first couple of weeks and nagged the hell out of him to get garlic fries because he didn’t have them yet.

So I have you to thank for my stinky breath after I eat those, eh?
DS: The reason why he didn’t have them was really cool. He didn’t want to do garlic fries, because Jack’s next door had garlic fries and he didn’t want to disrespect them.
MR: But Jack’s has terrible fries, the only reason they are good is if they put garlic on them. A fry must stand alone, by itself, before you put anything on it. I am a total fry aficionado. If a fry doesn’t taste good with nothing on it then I don’t want to eat it.

You guys have a widely renown connection with your fans, a listening party seems like a good way to keep that strong. Have you done anything like this before?
DS: We did it last year at the Javalounge. I think prior to that it had been much more informal, maybe just inviting friends over to our house to get drunk and play our new CD. For Faster Than the Speed of Drunk we did something a little more formal, we had an actual listening party where we told everyone to come on over to the Javalounge and we played the CD. This year we thought about doing it again and Mickie had the idea of doing it at Capitol Dawg.
MR: We’re going to have a special hot dog recipe for the evening; it’s going to be the “Greasy, hot, meat, cheesy.” I somehow convinced the owner to do the 88-cent Pabst long necks for that night. He usually only does that on Mondays, but he’s agreed to extend it to a Thursday.
DS: Oh, that could be bad news for us!

What is this Insubordination Fest all about? Are you pumped to be a part of it?
DS: It’s a big festival, I think this is the third one; it’s basically Lookout Records mid-’90s: bands like the Mr. T Experience, The Queers and The Parasites. They just have this huge festival with all these pop-punk bands back East.
MR: It’s put on by Insubordination Records.
DS: This year the surviving members of The Dead Milkmen are going to reunite and play. Lots of other huge bands will be there. We play on the Friday night just as the Secretions. Then on Saturday we’re backing Wimpy Rutherford, who is the original singer for the Queers, so we’re going to be doing like all the old Queers songs.

That seems like kind of a big deal for you guys!
MR: It’s a huge deal.
DS: It was one of those things where I was talking to Wimpy about the possibility of him playing and us backing him up. I let the guys know, and Mickie didn’t want to get his hopes up.
MR: I was like, “I’m not going to hold my breath.”
DS: Then when we finally got the OK when Wimpy was given a slot and he said, “I want you to be my backing band, learn the songs,” then I let the guys know.

You guys recently did a video shoot for the song “Back in the Day Punk.” Will it include footage from your recent Club Retro show?
DS: Yes, we worked with our friend Rob Young, aka Rob Fatal. He’s a local DJ here in town. He’s an awesome filmmaker, and he’s absolutely punk rock. He’s very fast about how he films things; he’ll have you do everything about five times until he gets what he thinks is just right and then moves on to the next thing. We filmed the first part during the day at our friend Tom from the No-Goodniks’ house and that was a good time. Then we played at Club Retro later on that night and we played the song three or four times. And he just filmed the kids and filmed us. If you want to get people to really go crazy during your set, put a camera right in their faces. Everyone wanted to be on camera for that. We had a trampoline on-stage for people to jump out into the crowd.
MR: It was for stage diving assistance. In full disclosure, we stole the idea from Sloppy Seconds. It looked like fun.
DS: The first kid to do it was this kid named Tony Silva; he’s from Woodland, Calif. Mickie wrote a song about this kid because he’s from Woodland but he takes the bus, because he doesn’t have his drivers license yet, to Sacramento to go see punk shows. So all these kids complain about, “There’s nothing to do, this scene sucks.” And you got this kid taking the bus to pay a cover to go see a punk rock show.

What’s the song called that you wrote about him?
MR: It’s called “Tony Silva Rides the Bus.” It’s on our new record. He’s a really nice guy, but he’s kind of a klutz and always ends up hurting himself, you know the bad luck stuff always happens to him.
DS: Well, he was the first one to use the trampoline. I motioned to him with my head as I was playing the drums like, “Tony, go!” So he runs offstage full force, just jumps on the trampoline, soars into the air and the crowd parts like the Red Sea. He had gotten so far out he didn’t have the time to level out so he could land feet first, so he pretty much did a big elbow drop on the ground. It was captured on video by Rob and we’ll see if it makes it in the video or not.
MR: After our set he comes up to us and was like, “Yeah it kind of hurt, but I got right back up because I didn’t want anyone to think I was a pussy!”
DS: If anyone deserves a song, it’s Tony. I don’t know if we’re going to be bringing the trampoline to the Boardwalk though, because that’s a pretty tall stage.

Preview The Secretions new record, GREASYHOTMEETCHEEZY, at Capitol Dawg on July 2. Catch them live at the Blue Lamp on July 3 and at the Boardwalk on July 20. For more information visit myspace.com/secretions or secretinlifeline.blogspot.com

20,000 Breaks into the Sacramento Music Scene

Comprised of locals David Mohr and girlfriend Meg Larkin, the band 20,000 is relatively new to the Sacramento music scene—but with their youthful energy and down to earth attitudes, it’s no wonder that fans are quickly tuning in. “By default, I usually just say it’s dance music with guy/girl vocals and synthesizers,” Larkin says about their style. Even if you’re not typically a fan of dance music, there is no doubt that the upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics of 20,000 will have you up and out of your seat in no time.

It started as a dream—literally. Mohr says, “I had a dream a while ago that we had a band and we named it 20,000.” Both Mohr and Larkin are adamant that if you dream it, you must do it, and thus 20,000 was born. “If you do what you do in your dreams in real life, then it’s almost like you’re predicting the future,” Mohr says.

“Yeah, it’s true,” Larkin adds. “If you dream that you’re wearing red socks, you have to buy a pair of red socks and wear them.”

About two years ago, sparks started flying, musically, that is. Mohr began writing music on his computer, and then he and Larkin started adding vocals. Mohr says, “When I was writing the songs for the album, I was listening to music that has a lot of synths in it, but not necessarily electronic music.” They cite musicians such as Prince, Talking Heads and Hot Chip as being very influential during that time period. Larkin says, “Up until a couple of years ago I never really listened to dance music, but it’s some of my favorite music now.”

The goal for their music is simple: create songs with a good beat that people will want to party and dance to. Mohr says, “While we were recording the album, I was thinking it would be cool to just have a good CD for people to listen to in their houses at parties.” He writes all of their songs, and is no stranger to the music world. He played with some of his high school buddies in a band called Didley Squat for about six years, and when that gig dissolved, he naturally transitioned into forming 20,000.

While they had been diligently practicing and recording songs at home for many months, their first live performance happened this past August, at Old Ironsides. “We were apparently really visibly nervous,” Larkin remembers. “I was wearing short shorts and this crop top, just trying to be funny, but it was the most intimidating outfit to wear in front of people as a joke.” While their first show was definitely nerve-wracking, a lot of their friends came out to show support and it was a fun experience that paved the way for future shows. Other than Old Ironsides, they’ve played at Javalounge, Luigi’s Fun Garden and Blue Lamp.

When transitioning to live performances, Mohr says that one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to make everything sound right in such a drastically different environment. After spending two years perfecting their songs in their apartment with only a tiny set of computer speakers—and trying to keep the noise level down so as not to disturb the neighbors—they now had to create a seamless performance in a real venue.

For Larkin, there was the added challenge of being brand-new to the music scene. She had been involved with musicals during high school but had no prior experience with playing an instrument. “When we decided to start playing live shows, I learned how to play rudimentary keyboard,” she says. This was completely terrifying at first, and she remembers being nervous for six or seven hours before a show, to the point where she could barely eat or drink. But as time went on and performing became more commonplace, her nervous energy eventually went away, and now she loves the thrill of shows. “When we have a show and there’s people responding to it and everyone is nice it’s like, yes! We’re the best band ever! Let’s do this every night!”

Both members play keyboards and sing, and their drumbeats are on an iPod. This means that they can carry all of their instruments to a show and set everything up on their own—no roadies required. “It’s super easy for us to set up,” Larkin explains, adding that it literally takes about four minutes. “Just put the keyboards on the stand, plug it in, turn the iPod on and we’re set.”

Although perhaps they hadn’t planned to “make it big” in the music business, the Sacramento music scene has been good to 20,000. Larkin is surprised at how easy it has been to get shows that they really enjoy. Their friends have also been extremely encouraging in this new venture. Larkin says, “It’s definitely been cool to see how supportive our friends have been, getting them to come out and pay for shows over and over and over again.”

20,000 will likely become a common name in the Sacramento area as time progresses. The couple is ecstatic about their 2009 New Year’s Eve show at Blue Lamp, which has been the biggest show they’ve played so far.

You can check them out on Myspace: www.myspace.com/20000music.

Java Lounge, Sacramento
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sunday evenings for me are usually reserved for the couch, a six-pack and a movie. It’s like clockwork. So naturally I found myself in a bind when I learned there were some killer bands set to play at Javalounge last Sunday. It was indeed a tough decision, but ultimately I determined it was good to get out of the house and go see a very small, intimate show. It was a wise choice.

As I walked through the doors of the small coffee shop I immediately thought to myself, “I bet everyone is laying on their couch watching a movie,” because there was maybe nine people inside, including San Francisco’s indie-fuzz rock group Calling All Monsters. As the band began their set, I quickly realized that all those not in attendance were missing out big time. CAM’s songs were short, sweet and jam-packed with loud fuzzy guitars and shouted vocals. None of the songs seemed to last more than three minutes, which gave the set a very punk rock show feel. They earned brownie points for that right there. Overall, Calling All Monsters’ set was very fun to watch and ended much too quickly. I highly advise you check these guys out if you like loud, feedback riddled rock ‘n’ roll crafted in a tasteful, elegant manner.

The next group of bearded men set to play was West By Swan out of Chico. I’ll be honest; this was the band I really came to see. I have had the pleasure of witnessing them perform many times and never once have I been disappointed. I think it’s mainly because they sound like two of my favorite bands that are nothing alike (Fugazi and Explosions in the Sky) all mashed together. After a spacey instrumental intro full of ambient noises and guitar loops via vocalist/guitarist Dan Greenfield, the group launched full force into their heavier distorted songs. Toward the end of the set Dave Greenfield (guitar) pulled out an electric 12-string guitar, which added an awesome chorus effect. The rhythm section, consisting of Daniel Taylor (drums) and Conrad Nystrom (bass), played so fiercely that my cup of water had ripples in it. I found this to be quite humorous because I had been watching Jurassic Park right before the show and the T-Rex was causing water in puddles to ripple. So, I guess you could say that West By Swan rocks as hard as a T-Rex walks, which is real hard. Keep an eye out for these guys because I know they will be back soon, hopefully with their new record (rumor has it it’s almost done) in tow.

As the third and final band began to set up their equipment I realized they had a clarinet player and I was immediately intrigued and excited to hear what would become of this rare instrumentation. I soon learned they were dubbed San Kazakgascar, a local group made up of Jed Brewer (vocals, guitar), Greg Hain (bass, vocals), Paul Takushi (drums, vocals) and Mike Woo (clarinet, vocals). As their band’s name suggests, they have a very Middle Eastern vibe. About halfway through their set, Brewer introduced the song “National Anthem of San Kazakgascar” by saying, “People have trouble with our name so we wrote a song where we say it over and over again.” It was definitely effective because after that song I had no problems trying to properly pronounce their name. That’s damn good marketing right there, all bands should have a song where they just repeat their own name. OK, maybe not all bands. Anyways, San Kazakgascar plays a very interesting and unique (at least to this scene) style of music full of vocal chants and barks and all kinds of other fun noises. I suggest you step outside your comfort zone and give them a shot. I did, and I don’t regret it one bit.