Fresh new, VERY UPBEAT playlist inspired by my TOP DISCOVERIES at this year’s NoisePop festival in San Francisco: Day Wave, Harriet, and HEARTWATCH. These three bands are all local, and their catchy, vibrant tracks capture the essence of sunny California quite perfectly. The playlist was also influenced by other bands in town – Joe Purdy, Milo Greene (Jukely event), Penny and Sparrow (soon to write a review), Elle King, Jamie Lawson, and Soren Bryce (reminds me of Daughter) – as well as recent album releases from Ra Ra Riot and Hey Marseilles (who I’ll both be seeing in March) and a new single release from Augustines‘ HIGHLY ANTICIPATED new album. Not only is Augustinesone of my FAVORITE BANDS OF ALL TIME, but this new song (Are We Alive) has FIRED ME UP moving into the new year (RISE: The Story of Augustines)- I can’t WAIT till they are back touring over here in the states – the UK has had them for long enough! Other inspiration comes from new discoveries – Funeral Advantage(thanks to my German roadtrippin’ buddies that I met at Penguin Prison last month), Tom Rosenthal (thanks to my London music guru buddy), Baby Brave and Joel Arthur Russel(NoiseTrade). ENJOY!
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Here’s the playlist on Spotify:
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You can download all of the songs (out of order) from my link on Box.com
Irish Margaritas- Harriet
Total Zombie- Day Wave
Are We Alive- Augustines
Foreign Lovers- Ra Ra Riot
Get Louder- Caught A Ghost
Eyes On You- Hey Marseilles
Nothing At All- Day Wave
Inheritance- Harriet
Lie To Me- Milo Greene
Faultlines- HEARTWATCH
Bread and Bleeding- Penny and Sparrow
Ten Steps- Harriet
Perfect Ok- Hey Marseilles
Chariot- Soren Bryce
Drag- Day Wave
America’s Sweetheart- Elle King
Burbank- Harriet
Broken Bones- HEARTWATCH
My Heart- Hey Marseilles
Gardensong- Funeral Advantage
Absolutely- Ra Ra Riot
See You Around- Joel Adam Russell
Sirens- Soren Bryce
Wasn’t Expecting That- Jamie Lawson
Never Let You Go- HEARTWATCH
Non-Verbal Communication- Tom Rosenthal
Newport- Soren Bryce
Plastic Skateboard- Brave Baby
As someone who actively seeks out new bands on a regular basis and averages about 2-3 shows a week, it’s always REAL REFRESHING to stumble upon new musical treasure when you LEAST EXPECT IT. That was the experience I had last Thursday when I walked into the Rickshaw Stop with zero knowledge and zero expectations on the scheduled acts, only to walk out ON CLOUD NINE from discovering what would be my TWO TOP PICKS of NoisePop: Day Wave and Harriet. ❤ 🙂
Harriet is band that difficult to describe with one genre, for they continually transition from rock to pop to electronic to jazz, tempting us with tasty teasers from each. Their debut album — American Appetite, released on Jan 29th by Harvest Records and produced by Sean O-Brian (The National)– is a magical menagerie of many different music styles, and I can’t help but draw parallels to a whole slew of bands: Dutch Uncles, Radio Dept., MGMT, Wolf Gang, Geographer, LCD Soundsystem, Passion Pit, Local Natives, Broken Bells, and Dirty Projectors(mostly Mark Longstreth). Formed in LA in 2011 by Alex Casnoff (former keyboard player for Dawes and Papa), Harriet consists of Patrick Kelly (bass), Henry Kwapis (drums), Matt Blitzer (guitar) and Casnoff (keys). Casnoff’s falsetto vocals are reminiscent of Wes Miles (Ra Ra Riot) and Mike Deni (Geographer), and even Matt Bellamy (Muse).
Showcasing the band’s eclectic influences and constant creativity, American Appetite serves up a smorgasbord of rotating themes, tones, and mood, keeping us on our toes from the beginning to end. It’s obvious that this album cultivated creative challenges in favor of crushing complacency, a devout mindset that Casnoff practices in his daily life and hopes everyone else will to: “My wish for myself and all of my very talented friends, is to never stop scaring ourselves. I think we can handle more than the leap we’ve taken. Complacency is the same as dying. Let’s push ourselves, let’s inspire each other. I want us all to be brave enough to be terrible, and comfortable with the fact that we will always be in “process.” Product is something that’s dead already. Push.” AMEN.
The more I listen to American Appetite, the more I want to be back on that platform at The Rickshaw basking in these beats straight from the source. Harriet had definitely built up our appetite and now we are HUNGRY FOR MORE. Come back soon.. PLEASE!
(more show details and videos below)
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You know it’s a CATCHY SONG when you’ve never heard it before in your life but yet find yourself CRYING OUT the chorus like a crazy person. Yup, that was me that night with their soon-to-be chart topper, Inheritance: “So you wanna save my soul?… what do you know?…Cause I will take it slow… I ain’t gonna be the one to change.” Damn straight.
Having recently released a video for this one a few months ago, Burbank is quickly gaining high visibility and becoming an hard-fast hit. It’s undeniably sexy and seductive, and the racy lyrics that coincide with the alluring guitar chords, slow base, and simple drum beat only add to the seduction. Harriet was surely aiming for an arousal with this one… 😉
A song that I WISH I would have caught on video is Ten Steps, which deserves TEN THUMBS UP and was ringing in my ears all night: “Ringing in my ears as I’m coming in closer, I just hope my heart don’t stop. Ten steps but it feels like am crossing an ocean, One wave and I’m on the rocks. ” It reminds me of a mix between Ra Ra Riot’ Beta Love and Passion Pit’s Make Light/Little Secrets/The Reeling, carefully distilling the best of both bands’ elements (e.g. unique sampling, distortion of guitar and keyboard, falsetto vocals, unusual lyrics) into an intoxicating blend of %100 pure BLISS. (insert goofy grin face)
Inheritance and Irish Margaritas serve up that same sampling of compelling hooks and catchy melodies, and you would have needed to be PASSED OUT on the floor to not be shaking your hips and bobbing your head to these tracks. Irish Margaritas triggered flashbacks to the 2010 Austin City Limit music festival when I first discovered LCD Soundsystem (and so thankful for it): “These Irish margaritas bring me right back to the start… And I’d say, One more drink and I might tell you all my secrets… And I’m pretty good at keeping them alive …(YES)… I could take you higher.. But I can’t take you home… You’re a tough desire… You may be all I needed but it’s not like we’re alone.”
Bring Me When You Go is also a fun one, and upon first listen had me thinking Wolf Gangmeets Geographer meets Local Natives (all band I LOVE). The tempo drops a bit with Up Against It, but that doesn’t mean your interest will drop with it. The simple strums of the guitar and Casnoff’s persistent, penetrating plea (“You won’t bring me down…”) had elements of Radiohead, Muse, and even The Beatles, as did This Time I Was Right(a true masterpiece of melodies). SO GOOD. I’m ready for more. ❤
SO STOKED that I got to catch the DREAMY Day Wavefor their first ever headline show at The Rickshaw Stop last week as part of SF’s NoisePop festival. It was no secret that Day Wave was to be playing NoisePop this year, for the musical mind behind Day Wave – Jackson Philips– was actually featured on the cover of this year’s NoisePop magazine. In fact, it was my friend -the incredibly talented and very much in-demand music photographer, Paige Parsons– that took the awesome photo. Initially trained as a jazz drummer at the prestigious Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) from the age of nine, Phillips eventually found himself trapped in a Whiplash (yes, the movie) kind of world where people were “very competitive” and “not very nice to each other.” During college especially, he realized that he was more interested in making songs than in perfecting his drumming technique, and this epiphany inspired him to learn piano and song production. By the end of junior year, he was already creating his own synth-based songs and releasing these through his first band, Carousel.
Fast forward a few years, and Philips decides to leave Carousel to pursue his own solo project, Day Wave. This pursuit involved him teaching himself guitar (for which he learned all by ear) and moving away from synths. By July 2015, he was ready to release his debut “lo-fi guitar-based indie rock EP” – Headcase – that was recorded entirely by himself at his home studio. I can definitely see him as a music hermit (similar to Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon) that spends ALL DAY in his bedroom crafting different arrangements without leaving the house for hours on end (I learned from Powers that this was indeed the case for him). All of that intense introverted-ness and die-hard devotion eventually paid off for Philips (and Powers too of course), for the five tracks on his Headcase EP prove to be a unique brand of dreamy, lo-fi surf rock that is CATCHY AS HELL. With influences of New Order, Joy Division, and The Beach Boys/ Brian Wilson, Day Wave’s wistful, melancholy lyrics are perfectly matched with happy hooks (guitar) and persistent percussion (you can tell he was a drummer). This EP is MY JAM right now, and a SOLID CHOICE for your summertime playlist!
Only 26 years old, Philips has a COLOSSAL career ahead of him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins “best breakout band” (or something along those lines) at this year’s The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK (just outside of London). I went to this festival both years that I lived in London, for it reminds me of Europe’s mini SXSW and is a SERIOUS stomping ground of international music talent (3 days = 400+ bands/artists from 30 different countries). I’m still shocked by all of the budding bands I was lucky enough to see there before they BLEW UP (including two recent Brit award winners, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Jack Garratt, James Bay and a Australian Recording Industry Association winner, Courtney Barnett). I’ve already given a heads up to my music pals in the UK to make sure they check out Day Wave– they are a MUST SEE!
Although Dave Wave hadn’t sold out their show at the Rickshaw (would have been pretty impressive for their first headliner), they were surely greeted by a roomful of dedicated fans hailing from Oakland and the surrounding Bay Area. The guy standing next to me was just one of many, and he kept raving on about how Day Wave’s Headcase EP was his favorite album right now.
Kicking off full force, Day Wave started the set with Nothing at All, one of my favorites from the EP and arguably the CATCHIEST of their collection. Nothing at All was the first song Philips wrote for Day Wave, and the first time he put himself out there with such open, honest lyrics:
“What am I good for? Somebody tell me Cause I don’t know anymore What am I good for? Somebody tell me Cause I don’t know anymore.” SO GOOD.
Next up was Total Zombie, the track that I must admit to having the strongest connection with the first time I heard it. Like a “total zombie,” I fell numb to this dreamy ditty and was instantly lured into joining the catchy chorus: “So just close your eyes and I’ll close mine.. Let me close your heart, it just takes time… And we’ll be alright, we’ll be alright.” Apparently, this song was recorded all instrumental before the lyrics came. Whatever the process… it worked well!
Then came Drag, a sweet gloom-pop melody that was apparently a drag to finish (Philips’ “most tedious song to write”) but we are sure glad he didn’t give up on it: “I’m stuck in my head.. I don’t wanna let you in.”
Soon after was a song called I’ll Be Fine (I think?), another gloomy ditty that just WORKS and is undeniably addictive: “I’ll be fine on my own, as long as I’m waiting I’ll be fine alone, so leave me alone.”
Similar to that was Wasting all my time(I think?), one that again lures you in to a certain gloomy-but-gleeful state: “I’m wasting all my time… I push it all away.”
… as well as another track for which I don’t know the name:
Nearing the end, Day Waveplays Gone, an unreleased track that has already gained a lot of popularity on SoundCloud: “I feel this way alone and i feel this way… I feel this way alone and you’re gone, you’re gone..”
It’s no surprise that Philips saved Headcase for last, as he once noted in an interview that this track was his “favorite of the bunch” and his “favorite to play live.” He described it as “summing up the whole theme of EP” (hence the title track). Cheers to the ‘headcase’ in all of us: “Cause I don’t feel right anymore… so bury me alive… this time.” EPIC ENCORE.
I definitely left the Rickshaw on “cloud nine” that night, and thanks to the EP, have been keeping my headcase self “in the clouds” ever since. 🙂
Bands they’ve played with: Rogue Wave, Blonde Redhead
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