.Local Licks

This week we review Shareef Ali & The Radical Folksonomy, Unko Atama, The Fresh & Onlys, and Nodzzz

Shareef Ali & The Radical Folksonomy, Holy Rock & Roll . Shareef Ali gets four gold microphones for the packaging of his music, which included a wax-sealed envelope and two TCHO chocolate bars. The music therein boils over with come-ons and enticements. Lofted by a large rhythm section, singers Ali and Jay Thompson handle all the lovelorn melodies. “You’re a Fox” is a blues ballad that presents the problem right away: I got a crush on you. Ali is a master of charm. (self-released)

At The Hotel Utah (500 4th St., San Francisco) on Saturday, Apr. 9. 8 p.m., $8.

Unko Atama, Another Creature. The Ramones have been resurrected in the power trio Unko Atama, a group that grounds itself in sci-fi mythology (something about the Planet Unko) and driving dance numbers, all of them sustained by a primal three-chord crunch. The song choruses all come out as chants (e.g., Destroy the world, destroy the world, destroy the world, etc.). (self-releaesd)

The Fresh & Onlys, Secret Walls EP. The apparently indefatigable garage rock four-tet The Fresh & Onlys just added another five ballads to its catalog, all of them a little more gloom-and-doomy than in EPs past. This time around, the band members ask, in low, baritone harmonies, whether honesty is really worth it (“Keep Telling Everybody Lies”). The guitar solos are sprawling and meditative. Many songs hover in a minor key. Perhaps the band has entered its blue period. (Sacred Bones Records)

Nodzzz, Innings. Hello, sunshine. On their new full-length the three members of bubbly electro-pop band Nodzzz sing cheerily about the stuff that concerns them, which ranges from the particular (my therapist is a bottomless hole for money) to the general (time is wearing out my shoes and bringing me closer to death). Every lyric sounds like a proverb, and each chorus is sung in cute, off-key harmonies. (Woodsist)

At Bottom of the Hill (1233 17th St., San Francisco) on Friday, Apr. 15. 10 p.m., $10.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

East Bay Express E-edition East Bay Express E-edition
19,045FansLike
14,592FollowersFollow
61,790FollowersFollow
spot_img