Broken Dreams Club 20 Best Albums of 2025
This year featured the further emergence of the “indie-country” genre, a coming-out party for Kai Slater and some fascinating debuts from promising young artists, but no band owned 2025 quite like Geese. The Brooklyn indie rock band fronted by Cameron Winter were ubiquitous this year, but their sophomore LP, “Getting Killed,” more than proved that they were entirely worthy of the endless hype.
Check out why they topped my list for best albums of the year and read more about my 20 favorite records of 2025:
20.) Instant Holograms on Metal – Stereolab: Not only did these British legends not lose a step in their first album in 15 years, but this might also be the strongest Stereolab release since their 1997 jewel, “Dots and Loops.” Returning (and with the most Stereolab-sounding album title imaginable) after a decade-plus hiatus, the band has no trouble finding its stride with this lush blend of electronica krautrock.
19.) Burnover – Greg Freeman: Maintaining the long tradition of witty, urbane singer-songwriters who can’t quite hit all the high notes, Freeman is a latter-day Stephen Malkmus, mirroring the Pavement frontman’s ability to deliver memorably funny lines in a deadpan, bemused manner. Album highlight “Curtain” in a rollicking good time, full or Wurlitzers and juke joint pianos.
18.) Gift Songs / Luster: Jefre Cantu-Ledesma / Maria Somerville: Yeah, this is a bit of a cheat, here, squeezing two albums into one spot, but these ambient releases were the soundtrack to my post-work living room veg sessions for 2025. Understated, delicate gems, the both, “Gifts Songs” is a barely-there compendium of fragile sound collages, while “Luster” is propelled by Somerville’s ethereal vocals.
17.) Lonely People With Power – Deafheaven: After experimenting with a more conventional vocal delivery for 2021’s “Infinite Granite,” Deafheaven frontman George Clarke returned with a vengeance on “Lonely People With Power.” His paint-peeling growls are once again accompanied by a gorgeous backdrop of shoegaze sounds, proving once again that there isn’t a black metal band capable of matching Deafheaven’s endless ability to reinvent itself.
16.) Season of the Peach – Black Lips: From the Broken Dreams Club archive: There isn’t a bad album in the Black Lips catalog, but their latest release, “Season of the Peach,” is one of the best records in their formidable history. The Black Lips' current iteration of guitarists Cole Alexander and Jeff Clarke, bassist Jared Swilley, drummer Oakley Munson and saxophone player Zumi Rosow is among the longest-running versions of the group and tellingly, the band has never sounded tighter or more cohesive.
15.) Balloon Balloon Balloon – Sharp Pins: Released late in the year, this album is the feistier, scuzzier and more adventurous cousin to “Radio DDR” (which you’ll read more about later.) Kai Slater, the brainchild behind Sharp Pins, made the production on his second 2025 release just a little bit more echoey and tinnier (those are actually complimentary notes of legitimacy for the lo-fi scene) and leans even more into his British mannerisms, sounding practically like a Manchester native on this one. The licks and hooks are all still there, though, with “Balloon Balloon Balloon” further proof that Slater owned 2025, and that this young musician is a generational talent.
14.) Joy Coming Down – Club Night: From the Broken Dreams Club archive: Every track feels like an operatic suite, but where lesser bands might create that atmosphere through indulgent bombast, Club Night’s variegated approach is driven by pure, desperate emotion. There has never been a false note or a single point of artifice in Club Night’s catalog and “Joy Coming Down” is no exception. The key to Club Night is a musical formula that can only be described as generous. Egalitarian to the core, Club Night songs are composed like a puzzle, with each member nestling their contribution within the bigger picture—all making their individual mark known without distracting from the end goal. Tatum’s guitar licks range from delicate, gossamer ribbons to thick, chunky riffs, Trainer and Cowman’s rhythmic concision forms the foundation of the sound and an array of samples and eerie voice manipulations add to the world-building feel of the music.
13.) New Threats From the Soul / Sounds Like… / Planting By the Signs – Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Gang / Florry / S.G. Goodman: Again, another cheat here, combining these releases into a single spot, but the inspired products of these three outfits helped make 2025 the year of indie country. Whether through verbose storytelling (Ryan Davis), howling, electrifying vocals (Florry) or mordant, vivid scene-setting (S.G. Goodman), these three acts introduced even more fans to their burgeoning niche genre, grabbing all the stragglers who might have missed the MJ Lenderman / Wednesday bus.
12.) Racing Mount Pleasant – Racing Mount Pleasant: Almost like a sister album to “Caroline 2,” this self-titled release from Racing Mount Pleasant is another example of an indie band swinging for the fences. Wielding a horn section that acts more like lead guitars, the tunes on this release are all slow-building, cathartic anthems—intricately crafted ballads that reward you with satisfying emotional payoffs.
12.) Headlights – Alex G: At the moment, there is no more consistent musical force in indie rock than Alex Giannascoli. Despite moving up to the majors by signing with RCA, Giannscoli keeps the feeling intimate and disarmingly offbeat for “Headlights.” Once again combining trace elements of Americana with Giannascoli’s special brand of indie rock eclecticism, “Headlights” is an inward, bedroom pop album, belying its major label roots. In an album full of standout tracks, the most memorable might be “Far and Wide” , a symphonic suite featuring Giannscoli’s most unique vocal delivery to date.
11.)It’s a Beautiful Place – Water From Your Eyes: A zig-zagging post-rock journey at breakneck speed, “It’s a Beautiful Place” highlights once again the unique creative partnership between multi-instrumentalist Nate Amos and vocalist Rachel Brown. Building upon their celebrated 2023 release, “Everyone’s Crushed,” this album has the band once again specializing in byzantine, winding sonic landscapes, anchored by Brown’s port-in-the-storm delivery—monotone, dispassionate vocals that never get caught up in the tornado of sound surrounding them.
10.) Glory – Perfume Genius: What a fascinating career Mike Hadreas has enjoyed. His first two Perfume Genius albums were filled with wounded, vulnerable piano compositions, before he discovered his inner vamp with the bombastic releases “Too Bright” and “No Shape.” His 2022 album, “Ugly Season,” was an amorphous and difficult no-wave treatise, but “Glory” finds him pursuing his most straightforward sounding music in years, highlighted by song of the year candidate, “It’s a Mirror.”
9.) Sinister Grift – Panda Bear: Decades into his career, Noah Lennox still makes Beach Boy sounds for the modern age, and that formula is still absolutely winning. “Sinister Grift” is full of melodic, majestic baroque pop offerings, highlighted by the lilting “Anywhere But Here,” and the aqueous, shimmering epic, “Elegy for Noah Lou.”
8.) Phonetics On and On – Horsegirl: From the Broken Dreams Club archive: For “Phonetics On and On,” which was released in February, Horsegirl pursued negative space and withdrawn, hushed atmospherics in lieu of cranked-out guitar histrionics. Inspired by the pared-down approach of the Welsh collective Young Marble Giants, who released one legendary album, “Colossal Youth,” in 1980, Lowenstein said the group found it thrilling to peel away layers of music until only the most elemental traces remained.
7.) Ripped and Torn – Lifeguard: Here’s our second appearance from our pal Kai Slater, who along with fronting Sharp Pins is a member of this precocious Chicago group. While Sharp Pins specialize in making approachable offbeat melodies, Lifeguard are more abrasive and icy. All jagged guitars and production minimalism, “Ripped and Torn” is a no-frills blast of indie rock perfection, evoking all the best elements of the late, great Calgary band, Women.
6.) Waiting Room – Kathryn Mohr: From the Broken Dreams Club archive: Empty noise brims throughout the record—every missing note hums with tape hiss or pulsing feedback. That ghostly apparition is a character that recurs throughout “Waiting Room,” a lurking specter hiding in the recesses of the vast, cavernous industrial plant. You can practically see the wintry breath that accompanies each song. Mohr recorded nearly the entire record in a large windowless room, and that harshness bleeds into the songs. “Diver,” the album opener, is an austere acoustic number, with Mohr’s simple guitar strumming rising barely above her voice, which mordantly repeats, “This comfort/Discomfort is bad for your health /but what can we do / when it comes to you?”
5.) 45 Pounds – YHWH Nailgun: If a knife fight was distilled into album form, it would sound just like “45 Pounds”. Propulsive and percussive, YHWH Nailgun makes a warped kind of dance music—the feeling of having a raging party in the trunk of a car or in the boiler room of the Titanic. Vocalist Zack Borzone’s howling, feral deliveries add an explosive delivery to the electroclash adjacent tunes, but it’s drummer Sam Pickard’s polyrhythmic, disarming beats that are the true MVP of “45 Pounds” (and likely resulted in a Google search surge for Rototom.)
4.) Caroline 2 – Caroline: Evoking all the great kitchen sink collectives, from Broken Social Scene to The World is a Beautiful Place, this British outfit makes grand, ambitious statements from the most intimate of feelings. Employing twisted string sections that make songs feel tormented instead of exalted, songs like “Two Riders Down” are haunted, plaintive pleas for acceptance and belonging, delivered by group vocals that seem just beyond the horizon, desperate to be heard.
3.) Raspberry Moon – Hotline TNT: From the Broken Dreams Club archive: “Julia’s War” is just one example of Anderson and Hotline TNT honing the blown-out, maximalist sound of their previous two records into a tighter, more polished approach. They haven’t abandoned their roots—there are still plenty of wonderfully loud moments of white noise on the album—but “Raspberry Moon” represents an intriguing step forward for the band.
2.) Radio DDR – Sharp Pins: And here’s the final showing for our pal Kai. If you told me this was a lost Guided By Voices album between “Bee Thousand” and “Alien Lanes”, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Slater is clearly enamored with both British Invasion bands like the Kinks and with the universe of GBV’s Robert Pollard. From the fuzzed out opener, “Every Time I Hear,” to the sparse, guitar ballad closer, “With a Girl Like Mine,” the album is filled with earworm, lo-fi pop nuggets.
1.) Getting Killed – Geese: Believe ALL the hype. It just so happens that the most culturally relevant, zeitgeisty band of 2025 is also the year’s BEST band. Once just another intriguing art-rock collective from Brooklyn struggling to distinguish itself, Geese and its charismatic frontman Cameron Winter completely came into their own with “Getting Killed,” a noisy, bounding, ambitiously fearless guitar rock masterpiece. Containing no less than five of the year’s best songs, the album contains moments of blissful, liberating freedom and claustrophobic, painful paranoia—a perfect encapsulation of the dizzying times we live in. Although powered by an unstoppable rhythm section and weaving, intricate guitar work, the album is ultimately a calling card for Winter’s indescribable, undefinable voice—a powerful, rangy warble that captures a lifetime of frustrations, joys, triumphs and defeats in a single, beautiful document.
Other Great Albums from 2025: Turnstile – “Never Enough”; Bloodsports – “Anything Can Be A Hammer”; No Joy – “Bugland”; Bon Iver – “Sable, Fable”; Rocket – “R is for Rocket”; Preoccupations – “Ill at Ease”; Crushed - No Scope
Broken Dreams Club Interview: Magic Fig
Photo Credit: Kirby Stenger
A San Francisco supergroup of sorts (although what Bay Area band isn’t a “supergroup”), Magic Fig bring an undeniably unique sound and aesthetic to the local scene. Comprised of members from the Umbrellas, Whitney’s Playland, Almond Joy and Healing Potpourri, among others, Magic Fig specialize in proggy, psychedelic tracks that recall both the late 60s acts of San Francisco’s hippie heyday and 70s English bands like Yes and Rush.
Made up of Matt Ferrara (bass), Muzzy Moskowitz (guitar), Jon Chaney (keyboards, piano) Inna Showalter (vocals, mellotron), and Taylor Giffin (drums and percussion), the band released their debut self-titled EP last year to much critical acclaim. They recently followed with their first full-length album, the dazzling and daring “Valerian Tea,” which came out on November 21 via Exploding in Sound Records.
Broken Dreams Club connected with Showalter and Chaney prior to the band’s album release show on Saturday, which will take place at the 4 Star Theater:
You’re all accomplished musicians who play in a ton of local bands. I’m sure you’ve all known each other for years. But how did this collection of individuals come together to form Magic Fig? When did you all start practicing together? Was the intention from the beginning to form a band?
Inna Showalter: We had all been acquainted through the music scene and mutual friends. Jon, Muzzy, and Matt first started playing together in 2020 and tried out several drummers before Taylor joined. They had already recorded demos of some of the songs that would end up on the self-titled EP by the time I was invited to join the band.
Jon Chaney: Muzzy asked me one day if I wanted to start a band and then he asked who should play bass. I knew Matt liked music from the 1700’s so I thought he’d be a good fit.
The band has such a specific aesthetic—it’s very proggy and ethereal. It doesn’t really sound anything like your other bands. When did you all discover that you liked this kind of music, and do you all see Magic Fig as an outlet to pursue a specific kind of sound you couldn’t in your other groups?
IS: I didn’t really have much of a background in prog music before joining Magic Fig but loved the songs right away. They were very creative and evoked lots of interesting thoughts and emotions.
JC: After agreeing to be in this new band I asked Muzzy to make a playlist so I could get an idea of what kind of stuff we should do. I listened intently, spending hours by candlelight, pondering the harmonic language of all the greatest rock bands. Eventually I felt ready and purchased a moog.
Your self-titled debut album was really well received and led to some great shows for the band. Did the success of that first record inspire you to quickly record this second release?
IS: We were already writing and playing new songs by the time the first EP was being finalized, and wanted to keep the momentum going.
The instrumentation on “Valerian Tea” is incredibly unique and varied—mellotron, glockenspiel, a bunch of synths. Were you all already familiar with these instruments, or did you see this album as an opportunity to try them out?
JC: If Joel Robinow is the knight, I am the squire.
IS: I have mainly been a singer for most of my life and only played a bit of guitar here, glockenspiel/bells there. Magic Fig has given me an opportunity to challenge myself and add some instruments into the recordings and performance. I’m still very much a beginner at keys but it’s been fun. As a band, we definitely incorporated a lot more instrumentation into this album. The general methodology was to record every idea and then remove whatever sounded erroneous or “too much.”
From the visual elements of the album cover and the music videos, to the song titles and even how you present yourself live—this album feels very much steeped in the fantasy mythos. Are you all fantasy fans? If so, what books, video games, authors or movies are your favorites?
IS: Not so much fantasy for me, but I am a big fan of mythology, fairy tales, and various esoteric topics. Lately I’ve been seeking to build more of a connection to my witchy Slavic roots.
The album also evokes the classic San Francisco psychedelic sounds from the 60s and 70s. Any bands from that era serve as a particular inspiration for this album?
IS: A few personal favorites that come to mind are Skip Spence’s (of Moby Grape) fantastic solo album “Oar,” Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow,” and “Cauldron” by Fifty Foot Hose. But I wouldn’t say we were directly inspired by that era of San Francisco sounds, to be honest.
JC: I get that being an SF band we should be influenced by that scene somewhat but we are more just influenced by the English and German bands of that era. Muzzy is a big dead head though and I dabble.
The album feels to have a connective tissue throughout. Would you consider this a concept album? It definitely feels like it takes you on a journey…
IS: We had previously decided that our first album followed the arc of the hero’s journey, and “Valerian Tea” feels similar; like a continuation of it.
I’m not going to lie—I assumed that Valerian Tea was something you all made up. But it’s a real thing. How did you all discover this drink and what prompted you to name the album after this concoction? Again, it definitely feels like it would be the drink of choice for a fantasy book character.
IS: It’s definitely a real thing! As a child in Ukraine I remember valerian extract in a tincture; my mom and grandma would take some drops diluted in water when they were feeling anxious or couldn’t sleep. Nowadays I drink valerian tea on occasion myself. It’s a root with a very pungent smell but if you can stomach it, it’s quite effective. The song “Valerian Tea” came together very quickly and naturally. Lyrically it’s an exploration of my childhood experiences and becoming friends with my shadow. We weren’t sure what to name the album but once I saw Muzzy’s painting for the front cover, it seemed fitting.
The short instrumental snippets—“Percolations,” “Riders at Dawn” and “Splinter”—seem like such important parts of the album. These moments of respite or reflection along this kind of musical voyage. Was it always the intention to add these short kinds of page breaks into the album when you were making “Valerian Tea”?
IS: These were originally introductions of the subsequent songs (“Pecolations / Valerian Tea”; “Riders at Dawn / Sensation Seeker”; “Splinter / Goblin”), but decided that they would work as standalone pieces.
JC: Sometimes a decision is made in a split second at the studio and it sticks and it’s like we never made the decision in the first place. Splitting these into their own tracks was one of those decisions.
Here’s an important question: How come more songs aren’t titled “Goblin”?
JC: My first choice was hobgoblin but it had too many syllables for the melody.
Ok—you have your album release show on December 13 at the 4 Star. Are you all pretty excited to share all these new songs live?
IS: We’re excited to have our record release show at 4 Star, especially since we had the record release show for the EP there last year, too. It’s such a special place, and I’m always very pleased and honored for an opportunity to perform there. Also thrilled to share the stage with Mayya, who will be playing her solo music with a full band, and abracadabra’s new dub duo arrangement.
JC: 🫡
Have you determined how you’re going to play them all live? The songs are very dense and layered, with many moving parts…
JC: We play them a little differently but it’s mostly the same. Muzzy and Matt improvise a lot so I make sure to play the underlying harmonic material so we don’t sound terrible.
IS: We have already played all but one of the songs on “Valerian Tea” live, and I think we’ve made the arrangements work nicely. I play some of my own vocal harmonies on the mellotron, and am bringing my little glockenspiel as well.
Any future live shows on the horizon? What about potential touring plans? Perhaps a West Coast jaunt?
IS: We’re playing at Gold Diggers in Los Angeles with Vinyl Williams and Tiny Music on January 17 and are currently planning the rest of the west coast tour which will take place later that month.
Show Details:
Magic Fig album release party presented by THrowin’ Bo’s, with abracadabra and Mayya
Where: 4 Star Theater
When: 8 p.m., Saturday, December 13
Tickets: $19, available here.
Bay Area Record Spotlight: Girls – “Album”
I’m excited to start a new monthly feature where I spotlight some of my favorite local albums from the past few decades.
The first choice for this column is an obvious one–”Album,” the seminal 2009 release from Girls. One of the greatest albums of all time, and perhaps the single most impactful record to ever come out of San Francisco, this 12-song masterpiece helped introduce the world to Christopher Owens and kickstarted the too-brief, but wonderful tenure of one of the city’s most beloved bands:
Perched on the outer edge of the continental United States, overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean, San Francisco has always been viewed as a strange, welcoming beacon for outsiders.
People move here from afar for a variety of reasons, some anodyne (a new job, or whimsical wish fulfillment), and some serious (escaping an insular community or a cloistered, repressed family life.) Either way, it has long been a city of transplants—a place for urban nomads living thousands of miles away from their homes.
As a result, the relationships borne here take on ever greater significance. Without the immediate ties of a traditional family to bind and guide people, friends assume that role.
Like so many others here, I consider my friends my family, and no one has captured that specific San Francisco dynamic more articulately and profoundly than Christopher Owens of the band Girls.
It is only natural that Owens would be the avatar for all romantically marooned San Francisco wanderers, given his bio. Born into a religious cult, Owens moved constantly during his childhood, never having a stable family life.
He fell in with a benevolent benefactor in Amarillo, Texas, before moving to Los Angeles where he connected with like-minded outsider musicians Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck. Eventually, Owens found his way up to San Francisco, where he connected with producer and bassist Chet “JR” White, who was from nearby Santa Cruz.
White and Owens quickly bonded, and as a result, Girls was formed in 2007. From the beginning there was something indescribably unique and exciting about the duo.
I have such vivid memories of being captivated by the early photos of the band—one in particular, in which Owens—long-haired, youthful and beaming—and White posed on a Muni bus with a coterie of female friends behind them. They seemed like a throwback from a different era—but which one?—and the fact that they called my city home only heightened my curiosity further.
The hype train began pretty early for Girls—I cannot ever remember anticipating a debut release album more—much of it to do with Owen’s uniquely tragic backstory, but that endless chatter was more than justified by the band’s early songs. The two lead singles that first leaked out as part of their inaugural 2009 release—simply titled “Album”—were the defining tracks of the band’s tenure—“Lust for Life” and “Hellhole Ratrace.”
The former was a spitfire, ringing indie-pop number highlighted by Owens’ wounded, knotty lines like “I wish I had a father,” while the latter was a titanic shoegaze number, a slow-burning masterpiece about the vitality of defying expectations and convention.
Those twin releases offered a preview of what made the Girls’ sound so vital. Equally infatuated with the Beach Boys as they were Spacemen 3, the band were fearless genre-hoppers, blending the melodic sensibilities of 60s doo-wops groups with the exploratory, lo-fi approach of 90s indie rockers.
If “Lust for Life” and “Hellhole Ratrace” were the only two songs to come from Girls, the band would easily sit among the pantheon of great San Francisco bands, but incredibly, the rest of “Album” nearly matches the towering heights of those early releases.
“Ghost Mouth” is a starlit pop ballad, the kind of song you’d hear playing at your high school prom; “Morning Light” is a thrilling shoegaze race through the empty streets of San Francisco, while “Summertime” is an inverse Lynchian number, a creation that reimagines “Twin Peaks” taking place in the sunny climes of California instead of rain-drenched Oregon.
But as mentioned before, what makes this album so special and so uniquely San Franciscan, is Owen’s clear devotion to his friends and the city they inhabit. It’s no coincidence that two of the best songs on the album—“Laura” and “Lauren Marie”—are named after people (and Owens always seemed to connect better with his female friends, which is perhaps why he named the band Girls.) The videos for “Lust for Life” and “Hellhole Ratrace” so vividly encapsulate the wildness and wonder of being in San Francisco in your 20s. They’re brimming with shots of youthful people—partying, playing, cavorting, communing, living and loving in this great city.
From cramped Mission District apartments to Dolores Park to the dearly missed Silver Crest Donut Shop, these scenes gloriously pinpoint that wondrous moment in time when you can stay up all night partying and still keep it going through the next morning, provided you have enough loose change to pay for breakfast. All these things are possible because you’re surrounded by the ones you love—fellow misfits and outsiders who also found comfort and solace in a distant city.
That euphoria can make you feel unstoppable, permitting you to scream out “I wear my short jean shorts on a sunny San Francisco day/I like to heal by the water in the sunny San Francisco Bay.” Plenty of bands have played up their San Francisco credentials, but none have been more suited to represent this city than Girls. I mean, there is a reason I named this website after a Girl record.
Paradoxically, Owens also expertly and heartbreakingly details the downside to living in a place with such an ephemeral nature. Without longstanding roots keeping people moored here, transplants vanish from San Francisco as frequently as they arrive. Friends you’ve bonded with so closely over the years feel the urge to return back to their true home, something that’s particularly true for a place that’s as prohibitively expensive as San Francisco.
Owens has spoken at length about feeling devastated by those departures and on Girls’ equally beautiful second LP, “Father, Son, Holy Ghost,” he summarizes those emotions to a shattering degree, singing “It just feels like it's gone/All of it's gone, gone away.”
San Francisco is always changing, for good or for bad. Sadly, we can no longer claim Owens as one of our favorite native sons. Even more tragically, White—the truly underrated engine of the band and a wonderful, weary soul—passed away tragically in 2020. Already dormant for years, his death ensured that Girls would never live again.
I’ve been fortunate to talk with Owens on numerous occasions, including not long after the passing of White. He spoke with such profound sadness and regret about his close friend’s death. At the time, he was still living in San Francisco, and it seemed so utterly clear that the things he cherished most–those precious, invaluable friendships–were never to return.
Feeling utterly abandoned, Owens decamped to New York City, where he’s now happily married and fulfilling his promise as a teary-eyed troubadour—a forlorn soothsayer who sees both beauty and pain in the world. His withdrawal truly felt like the end of an era–I’ve encountered countless people my age who have lamented his departure, deeply saddened that San Francisco couldn’t hold on to its own poet laureate.
Perhaps knowing full well that the good times in San Francisco were eventually going to end made Owens and Girls find a special kind of beauty in living for the moment. “Album” is a document of a time and a place and scene that we will never get back. But we were all there—no one can take that away from us—and those memories will be relived for as long as we want. All we have to do is put on “Album,” and wait to be transported back.
“Album” is available for purchase on True Panther Sounds.
Live Review: Cut Copy at the Regency Ballroom
Photo Credit: Joel Wessel
There’s nothing quite like a hot, sticky and sweaty dance party to remind you that San Francisco’s still got it, even if you’re a decrepit oldster like me.
That’s exactly the kind of good time that synth-pop maestros Cut Copy delivered on November 13 at the Regency Ballroom, despite some technical hiccups. Touring behind their excellent 2025 album, “Moments,” the Australian veterans dazzled a packed house with their brand of irresistibly danceable electronica.
While the band played plenty of new tracks off “Moments,” they never strayed too far from their beloved album, “In Ghost Colours,” which set a high water mark for new-wave indie music when it was released in 2008. In fact, the band opened with two tracks from that release—“Visions” and “Nobody Lost, Nobody Found,”—before delving into newer material.
For a brief moment, the show seemed imperiled by wayward technical difficulties. Roughly 30 minutes into their set, the band left the stage for several moments due to ongoing issues with their sound connections, but after a feverish plea from an impassioned crowd, they made a triumphant return.
The rest of the set went on without incident, as the quartet combined a dizzying light display with a collection of dancefloor bangers. They closed their set with the “In Ghost
Colours” classic “Hearts on Fire,” before returning with an encore featuring the unstoppable one-two punch of “Need You Now” and “Lights and Music,” the best songs of the band’s enviable catalog.
By then, the entire venue was one sweaty, delirious mess—a mass of bounding bodies totally entranced by the music. So yeah—it ended up being a perfect Cut Copy show.
The Telephone Numbers’ Great New Album Evokes a San Francisco Brimming With Artful Nostalgia
Photo Credit: Arvel Hernandez
The Hemlock Tavern always smelled like stale beer. There was an ever-present cloud of smoke wafting from the venue’s tiny side room, where bar-goers would huddle to pull off American Spirits and Camel Lights. Cracked peanut shells littered the floor and loud punk music filled the air, ever-presently.
It was a dump, no doubt about it, but for San Franciscans with a deep love for the local music scene, it was our dump. And for Thomas Rubenstein, a city native who grew up sneaking into dive bars to catch glimpses of the local acts—who spent his youth idolizing the outfits from Bay Area labels like Slumberland Records—the Hemlock Tavern was not just a legendary music venue—it represented a romantic idyll.
Rubenstein, who heads the great San Francisco indie-pop quartet, The Telephone Numbers, transforms the Hemlock Tavern from a seedy dive into an Eden of doe-eyed wistfulness on the band’s great new record, “Scarecrow II,” released last month (on Slumberland Records, of course, bringing things full circle.) On “Hemlock,” a standout track from that album, Rubenstein waxes poetically about broken bottles, police sirens, and seedy alleys, earnestly declaring that “on Hemlock Street/We took a chance on love,” to the chamber pop backing of sinuous strings and trebly guitar lines.
“Hemlock was my introduction to the local music scene,” said Rubenstein, whose band will play at the Make-Out Room this Friday. “I remember using our fake IDs to sneak in there, and just being in love with the place. Tony Bedard gave my old record label, Melters a DJ night and being able to be involved with the space blew my mind. There is something about the Hemlock that will always feel really special. And I remember wanting to write a sweet love song, and having it be set in the Hemlock just made sense.”
While the song details the meeting of two kindred spirits in the smoky shadows of the Hemlock, Rubenstein said the story wasn’t quite autobiographical, although he probably shared many special moments at the dive with his fiancée, Morgan Stanley, who sings and plays guitar for The Telephone Numbers. What the song does chronicle eloquently is the passing of a bygone era—the Hemlock Tavern shuttered its doors in 2018 and in its place stand drab, indistinct condos. That element of weighty nostalgia is found tucked into most of the songs on the album—an apt reflection from a group made up of artists trying to navigate the challenges of urban life.
Like most local bands, The Telephone Numbers are an intriguing amalgamation of members from various other groups, with Rubenstein contributing to The Reds, Pinks and Purples, drummer Phil Lantz playing for Chime School and the Neutrals, Stanley fronting the Umbrellas and bassist Charlie Ertola is part of Never Bored.
Leaning into the group’s San Francisco origins, Rubenstein enlisted seemingly every local musician to help with the recording of “Scarecrow II.” Chime School lead singer Andy Pastalaniec plays organ on several tracks, local post-hardcore/power pop hero Tony Molina contributes guitar and Speakeasy Studios founder Alicia Vanden Heuvel (who also produced the album) helps with piano and bells. Perhaps the most noticeable collaborator is K. Dylan Edrich, whose elegiac violin work provides an undercurrent of whimsical pathos to the “Scarecrow II.”
That melancholic, autumnal feel permeates the album, which artfully catalogs a changing city, relationships in flux, endless career challenges and other reference points that feel hyper specific to modern living in San Francisco. Among the many standout tracks on the record is “This Job is Killing Me,” an austere, gleaming observation about the insecurities and daily drudgeries of musicians who struggle to make ends meet in a city that’s prohibitively expensive.
“There are so many great songs about just eking out a living and I thought it would be interesting to explore that motif from the perspective of a musician,” said Rubenstein. “I’ve never had the pleasure of actually making money off of music, but regardless of our day job, I think most of us would agree that we spend most of our day thinking about music. And then to care about something so much and maybe not have it resonate with people like you hoped it would, you start to feel these feelings of jealousy and envy. Like, ‘why not me?’ You end up playing mind games with yourself.”
It's an insider's point of view from a musician who’s spent his life loyally dedicated to the scene. Rubenstein went to the same high school as Ertola and the two bonded early over their love of music.
“I knew Thomas because he was friends with some kids I grew up with in North Beach,” said Ertola. “We didn’t really cross paths much in high school because I was a few years older, but I could tell right away that he was going to be part of this next crop of cool rockers.”
Ertola and Rubenstein first started playing music together when they were in Los Angeles. Rubenstein was going to college at the time and discovered that Ertola was in the city as well, so he moved in with his friend, living for a time in his closet. They had a short-lived project called the Dripmen before they both moved back to the Bay in 2016, at which time they formed a new band, the Love-Birds.
Upon Rubenstein’s relocation to San Francisco, he started working at Amoeba Records, where he met Stanley. Eventually Stanley was enlisted in The Telephone Numbers, adding a female vocalist dynamic to the group. The group was later joined by Lantz, who was a fan of Rubenstein’s music.
“I was always a big Love-Birds fan and used to see them play a lot,” said Lantz. “I think I might have drunkenly said, ‘if you ever need anyone to play drums, I’m in!’ And Thomas actually called me up on that idea. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was stoked to hear from him.”
By virtue of their time working at Amoeba, Rubenstein was introduced to Glenn Donaldson, the creative force behind the Reds, Pinks and Purples. Donaldson mixed the first Telephone Numbers album, “The Ballad of Doug” and enlisted Rubenstein to play in his band. Donaldson, whose foggy dreampop has helped define a sound with roots in the Richmond District, added a few songwriting contributions to “Scarecrow II,”—as if the album needed any further proof of its deeply communal vibe.
But whereas Donaldson’s Reds, Pinks and Purples embrace purring feedback dissonance to create a soft undercurrent of white noise, the Telephone Numbers are defined by a skylarking clarity. The songs are vibrant and ringing, and unusually expansive for an album with such a homegrown feel. Strings, horns, whirling organs and pianos dot the track list, recalling the boundless baroque approach of mid-2000s indie rock groups like Broken Social Scene, The Fiery Furnaces and, especially, The Clientele.
Rubenstein’s voice rises and falls according to the emotional tides of the album, echoing ragged defiance (“Battle of Blythe Road”), forlorn resignation (“Ebb Tide”) and starry rumination (“Hemlock.”) Stanley nearly steals the show with her impassioned vocals on “Telephone Numbers Theme,” a jubilant rallying cry for the band.
The album is filled with love songs, although they feel less like observations on personal relationships and more about being enraptured in a specific time and place. Despite its stirring narrative, both Rubenstein and Stanley concede that “Hemlock” is not a direct take on their fateful meeting. Instead, it’s an homage to a piece of San Francisco history that acted as a warm embrace for fellow outsiders, despite its occasionally unappealing aroma.
The Hemlock might be gone, but in the starry recollections of The Telephone Numbers, its memory will persist.
Show Details:
Telephone Numbers with The Goods and Joel Cusumano
Where: The Make-Out Room
When: 6:30 p.m., Friday, November 21
Tickets: $15, available at the door
The Telephone Numbers new album, “Scarecrow II,” is available for purchase via Bandcamp and Slumberland Records.
Los Angeles Newcomers Rocket Specialize in Dizzying Attention to Detail
Photo Credit: Tanner Deutsch
As a debut record, “R is For Rocket,” the dazzling alt-rock release from the Los Angeles quartet Rocket, is almost shockingly professional and self-assured. The sonic palette is clean and crisp, the vocals are bright and shimmering, the track list flows effortlessly and the overall production evokes the work of seasoned veterans—not young neophytes.
While there is always something endearing about a loveably ramshackle affair, it’s equally nice to hear a band at the height of their powers—to bear witness to a group confident enough in their abilities and talents that they don’t need to bury their final product under a wave of feedback and dissonance.
For Rocket, that poise stems in large part from an overriding sense of purpose—this young foursome poured countless hours of preparation and attention into their inaugural release because they felt they really had no choice. From the beginning, it was band or bust.
“From the literal beginning—from our very first days together, we never really had a Plan B,” said guitarist Baron Rinzler, whose band will play at Bottom of the Hill on Friday, November 21. “This was never going to be like a side project for us. We planned to take this thing and see how far we could go with it. It was incredibly fun for all of us, but we were always very serious about being a band.”
The four members of Rocket—Rinzler, bassist/vocalist Alithea Tuttle, guitarist/producer Desi Scaglione and drummer Cooper Ladomade—all group up together in Los Angeles, bonding over a love of DIY music. They spent many a night attending shows at The Smell, the legendary all-ages venue in downtown LA.
But while the Smell was famed for ushering in abrasive noise rock acts like No Age and Health (seriously, wear your earplugs when seeing those bands live), Rocket’s sound is distinctly more accessible. There are plenty of loud, amped-up moments on “R is For Rocket,” but the album is teeming with earworm melodies, juicy riffs and blissful vocal harmonies. The band’s closest predecessor is probably the Smashing Pumpkins—whom Rocket toured with in Europe this summer. That band and other 90s influences are frequently mentioned in connection with Rocket (and yeah, guilty as charged here, too.)
“We all grew up listening to 70s classic rock that was on the radio,” said Rinzler. “And then we got into the power pop bands and groups like the DBs and of course we all love the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s a little strange at times that so many people mention the 90s alternative rock influences, because we really all have very eclectic listening habits right now. I really think we’re just making music for our time—continuing the thing that other bands started before us.”
What sets Rocket apart from their peers is their uncanny attention to detail. “The Choice,” the inspired opening track for “R is for Rocket,” is an immediate tone setter, offering a preview of the full suite of sounds to come on the record—controlled blasts of feedback, gliding guitar lines, syncopated percussive movements and lilting vocals from Tuttle. It’s a formula the band weaves in and out of on the album before arriving at the title track, the record’s monstrous closing track that is more than six minutes of Sonic Youth-inspired squawk.
Even for that wending, amorphous coda, there seems to be a distinct course of action—no unnecessary notes, no needless musical meandering. Every note played and tempo change executed was carefully planned.
“Before we even go to record anything, the song is done—about as done as it can be,” said Rinzler. “We wanted to make sure that before we got to the studio, we knew exactly how we wanted to play everything. When you have access to that kind of equipment, you really have to take advantage—and we wanted to make sure we were fully prepared for that experience.”
That approach has helped Rocket earn plenty of plaudits for their worthy opening album. The band has received glowing reviews from Rolling Stone and Stereogum and after opening up for the Smashing Pumpkins (an experience Rinzler called “absolutely amazing”) the group is looking forward to embarking on their first ever headlining tour.
With their roots in Southern California, they’re particularly excited for their San Francisco stop at Bottom of the Hill.
“We love San Francisco—every time we play there, we have a blast,” said Rinzler, who said he’s looking forward to snacking on some Banh Mi at Saigon Sandwich in the Tenderloin. “We’ve always been the opener so we have a few nerves about being the headliner, but we’re all super excited. We can’t wait to come up and play.”
Show Details:
Rocket with World’s Worst and Rotten Charms
Where: Bottom of the Hill
When: 8:30 p.m., Friday, November 21
Tickets: $15, available here.
Live Review: Cautious Clay
Talented multi-instrumentalist R&B musician Cautious Clay recently performed to a sold-out crowd at Bimbo’s 365 Club.
Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins and local journalist Yael Bright attended the show.
Photos: Aaron. Words: Yael.
For the longest time, I thought I would associate Cautious Clay’s soulful R&B-meets-intimate pop with driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with salty hair after bombing a calculus exam over Zoom during lockdown. Little did I know I would find myself half a decade later, writing a review of his tour following the release of his deeply introspective album “The Hours: Morning” at a historic San Francisco institution pushing 100.
Cautious Clay’s performance threaded the theme of cyclical time and space throughout the duration of the show. A concert with an established theme elevates the experience. Anything from visual cues on the stage, crowdwork with guided questions or activities, extend the opportunity to ponder and interact with the sticky subtext of a song. It amplifies the sentiment of the album and guides conversation out the door as concert goers exit the venue (and they will proceed to talk about it to any person who will listen, in my case).
Cautious Clay and his band took to the 94-year-old stage at Bimbo’s 365 in Russian Hill with a clear understanding of this concept. His eight-track album, “The Hours: Morning,” chronicles the process of waking up hour-by-hour. Each track is labeled with a time stamp (e.g. 5 am, 6 am, etc). “I wanted to make something personal, but also make it something we’ve all kind of been through,” the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter told the audience.
The stage was certainly designed with that in mind. Wedged in the middle of the platform was a vintage grandfather clock with LED lights embedded under the glass. Throughout the show, a spotlight beam emerged from the clock and gradually circumambulated the stage, as if mimicking the passing of time. His outfit was also bejeweled with subtle nods to time. He walked onto the stage wearing a tank count with a large spiral, (a known symbol indicating cyclicality) accompanied by funky flare jeans featuring a button fly and pockets both at the waist and the bottom of the leg; as if to suggest there’s no way to know where they truly start or end.
Though the music on the album is highly produced, the instrumentation of the concert remained the traditional bass, guitar, and drums, along with the gaggle of instruments Cautious Clay picked up; a tenor saxophone, flute and tambourine. Eyes closed, brows furrowed and light glimmering the instruments, the band performed incredible, tasteful accompaniment and solo. The drummer and guitarist both frequently brandished several pieces of equipment: a metal slide, a yarn mallet and brushes gave the songs immense texture and the occasional head-bangability.
“Speaking of time passing, jetlag sucks,” he told the crowd. He explained he and his band haven’t toured in two years due to his desire to protect his artistic vision for his previous album, “Karpeh,” a 15-track collaboration with Bay Area-native singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq. The songs highlighted in his hour-and-a-half-long set ranged from features of the new album, a song on “The Hours: Night” that was released at midnight EST the night of the performance, as well as his classic sultry ballads.
“I don’t know if we got any mathematicians in the room tonight,” Cautious Clay retorted, “but there’s 24 hours in a day, so y’all do the math. There’s eight songs on “The Morning” and then there’s eight songs on “The Night”...I don’t know...anyway...you do the math...”
Well, if I did the math correctly, as I am a journalist and not in fact a mathematician, I cannot wait for the release of the three consecutive albums. This concert was an incredibly well done end to a successful tour.
- Yael Bright
Broken Dreams Club Interview: No Joy
Photo Credit: Samuel Fournier
No Joy, the creative brainchild of Canadian musician Jasamine White-Gluz, is currently on tour behind the band’s excellent 2025 album “Bugland.” A captivating collection of IDM, shoegaze, 90s alt rock and metal, the album quite simply sounds like nothing out there at the moment.
Despite the various electronica elements to the record—there are beeps and bloops aplenty—“Bugland” feels strangely organic and earthy. White-Gluz attributes that natural sensibility to the recording process of the album, which she made in the rural hinterlands of Quebec along with her collaborator, Angel Marcloid, better known as Fire-Toolz.
Prior to No Joy’s November 11 show at Thee Stork Club in Oakland, White-Gluz answered questions from Broken Dreams Club via email:
The band just wrapped up a tour of the UK and Europe. How were those shows?
So amazing! It had been forever since we played over there and it was such a warm welcome. I can't wait to go back.
And now you have this string of West Coast shows coming up. How are you regrouping and preparing for this new tour?
We have about 72 hours in between tours so I am trying to get over jetlag while preparing for the next jetlag. I love sleeping so this is a challenge for me.
The No Joy sound is very dense and layered, with so many moving parts, digital snippets, samples and other elements usually perfected in a studio. How do you all translate that sound to a live setting? Is that part of the fun of performing these songs—deconstructing them to the point where a band can play them in front of audiences in an engaging and interesting way?
It's always a work in progress. “Bugland” wasn't created with a live set in mind, truthfully, so we spent the last year testing out the new songs to see what worked. The setup depends on so many factors, but for now we keep the set pretty rockin' and loud, giving the songs a different life in the live setting. Some songs off “Bugland” aren't ready to "hatch" live so to speak, so we'll be saving some of the album songs for the next tour.
“Bugland” is the first No Joy release in five years, and your first with Hand Drawn Dracula. What was it like working with the new label and was there any particular reason it took five years to write and record “Bugland”? (Not like five years is that long of a time now, with the recording industry model not really functioning anymore.)
We actually released “Motherhood” with Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada as well as the Wait to Pleasure re-issue so we are very familiar with the label and they are like family now. I take my time creating - I have phases where I am in writing mode, production mode, etc... and don't like to release anything that I am not 10000% confident in. I took my time developing my demos before even bringing them to Fire-Toolz, and then from there we spent many months working on them and getting them to the place where we were happy with them. I also spent time doing non-music related things, for the first time really. I started open water swimming, spending time in the garden, and really just getting inspired by new things. There were five years between “More Faithful” and “Motherhood” too, so that's maybe the length of time I need to take to make something I'm happy with.
This album is marked by your amazing partnership with Fire-Toolz. How did you and Angel first meet, and what made you want to work together with her for “Bugland”?
I discovered Angel's music and was just blown away by how both melodic and psychotic it was. It is a perfect blend of so many genres and evoked such visual imagery. I cold emailed her and asked if she would want to try working on some songs I had lying around. Whenever I collaborate, I really want everyone to push themselves and just do their thing, and it just happened that she and I were always on the same page and inspired each other a lot. She is an amazing talent, and I'm so fortunate to have been able to create with her.
This album seems to be inspired by everything from Caribou to Boards of Canada to 90s alternative rock acts. Was there a band or artist who had a particularly outsized impact on how this sound was shaped? Or was this completely the result of a couple of artists ensconcing themselves in the studio and shutting out all the noise? (It really sounds incredibly unique and timeless, in so many ways.)
I was not taking much inspiration from other music for this one, more so being inspired by the nature around me. I would say if any music inspired me during the process, it was more abstract; For example, we said, "let's make this song as if Boards of Canada were a noise band" and created from there. Angel and I had both respectively moved out of the cities we had lived in to more rural settings and really took inspiration from the new places we were in. Cheesy to say, but it was more inspired by the bugs, trees, weather, water, birds, fields around me.
“Garbage Dream House” is this really inspired track to lead off the album—within the first 40 seconds, you get a glimpse into the range of sounds and noises you’ll hear on the album. When you were recording that track, did you know immediately that it would be the album opener? Garbage seems like one of the bands that might have inspired this album—was that title a reference at all to the group?
While I absolutely adore Garbage (Shirley Manson is the icon!) I wasn't really listening to them when making this record. I was really just making sounds, trying not to be inspired musically by any particular band or era or anything. So maybe somewhere deep in my psyche there was an influence but it wasn't intentional at all. I love how this song feels like you are scanning the radio or something and it's almost as if there are two different songs that somehow clash together at the right time, one electronic and one rock, to make this new sound. It felt like the right opener to introduce the Fire-Toolz collaboration and it's a really fun one to play live.
“Jelly Meadow Bright” is this absolutely epic album closer. Similar to “Garbage Dream House” being a perfect opener, this just feels like a great way to leave the record. Again—did you know that this particular song would make for a great final track?
“Jelly Meadow Bright” was the last song we finished mixing for the album, and it just felt natural it should be the closer. I like how in Garbage Dream House there are these hints of Angel being there with the bleeps and bloops, and then the album culminates with her really taking more of a center stage of the performance. When she sent me the final mix, I was driving and out the window there was a double rainbow. What more of a sign do ya need?
So many of these songs have a collage-like feel to them. When there are so many different elements to each track, how do you know when something is a finished product?
It's hard to explain, but it's a gut feeling. There's no real way to quantify it, but I just get a sense that it's ready.
Ok—looking ahead to this show in Oakland. Are you excited to come back to the Bay Area? Do you feel like you get a nice reception when you play here?
Bay Area is definitely one of those "second home" places for me. I have so many friends there and that area was a spot that embraced No Joy early on, so I'm always happy to be back.
Show Details:
No Joy with Shaki Tavi
Where: Thee Stork Club
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday, November 11
Tickets: $18, available here.
Indie Icons Built to Spill Coming Back to the Chapel for Three-Night Residency
Photo Credit: Lilah Edward + Melanie Radford
With its emphasis on immediacy and raw emotion, and a subsequent disdain for studio largesse, the indie rock genre has never been one to valorize its guitarists. That said, if a Mount Rushmore of indie guitar gods was to be constructed, the general sentiment is that the faces up there would include some combination of J. Mascis, Johnny Marr, Annie Clark, Stephen Malkmus and Doug Martsch.
The general sentiment, that is, to everyone but Doug Martsch, the longtime frontman of beloved indie rock icons Built to Spill.
“If you and I went down to the local Guitar Center and sat me down next to almost anyone there, they would be able to outplay me on guitar,” said Martsch. “I can’t shred, I’m not learning any new scales, my fingers move too slow. I’m not really sure where this thing came about where I’m one of the best guitar players around—maybe it’s because I’m good at stumbling into some melodies? But I don’t really mind being shitty—as long as people understand that I know what my limitations are.”
Anyone who’s ever found themselves fully enraptured amidst the joyous solos of “Carry the Zero” or “Kicked it in the Sun” might take umbrage with Martsch’s assessment, but the indie rock veteran has always been notoriously self-critical of his own work. That humble, yeoman-like quality is the essence of the Built to Spill, which is probably why the group is still so admired and respected, some 35 years after the band’s founding.
Case in point—the band is set to play a three-night residency at The Chapel on November 11 – 13, the latest stop in a city where they’re always rapturously received. (They’ll also make an encore appearance at the Gundlach Bundschu Winery on Saturday, November 22.)
It doesn’t matter that Built to Spill hasn’t released an album in more than three years (2022’s “When the Wind Forgets Your Name”—another excellent contribution to the band’s faultless canon). And it also doesn’t matter that Built to Spill has featured a rotating cast of band members over the years, with Martsch being the only constant.
The latest iteration of the group—a power trio format featuring bassist Melanie Radford and drummer Teresa Esguerra—has been one of the more durable versions in Built to Spill’s history, with the lineup now in its sixth year of existence.
“I just love playing with them,” Martsch said of his current bandmates. “They’re perfect—they really just lay it down so that I can feel free to do whatever I want. I never have to worry about them. And they just exude all this joy and energy—which, you know, has never really been a Built to Spill thing in the past. The music just flows through them and I think the fans have really responded to their presence.”
Built to Spill has never been a band to tour exclusively behind one album, but with more than three years elapsed since their latest release, the group’s setlist are more expansive and wide-reaching than ever. Selections from most of their albums are played during their live shows, with an emphasis on the three albums that define the band (and indie rock in general)—“There’s Nothing Wrong With Love,” “Perfect From Now On” and “Keep It Like a Secret.”
Those three albums in particular showcase the dynamic, diverse outputs of Martsch’s guitar work. The first record, “There’s Nothing Wrong With Love,” is an endearingly low-stakes collection of indie-pop nuggets, with Martsch approximating a loveable, ramshackle approach reminiscent of his peers Guided By Voices. The follow-up album, “Perfect From Now On,” tacks in the exact opposite direction, with Martsch channeling an ambitious, space-rock focus that is expansive as the prior record was self-contained. And “Keep It Like a Secret” finds Martsch mining that middle ground, combining tight, harmonic pop riffs with trippy guitar solos.
With a peerless discography under his belt, Martsch said he’s in no rush to get back to the studio and crank out the band’s 10th album.
“We have one new song, but I just haven’t really heard anything come out of my guitar lately that’s excited me,” said Martsch. “I’m having a hard time finding magic in the music right now, but I don’t feel too heartbroken about it. I’ve written plenty of songs in my life. If I can’t write anymore, I’ll work on finding new ways to play the old ones.”
Even with songs that are deeply familiar to so many people, there is still something inexorably magical about watching Built to Spill live. His modesty aside, Martsch is a transcendent guitar figure—he might have not the technical chops of a Yngwie Malmsteen or whoever—but he coaxes and pleads and battles with his instrument every night, squeezing every little piece of energy imaginable out of one performance.
“One of the good things about us never really achieving a super high level of success is that I feel like I’m always motivated to work and play my face off every night,” said Martsch. “They’re some bands out there, who are just so good that they can show up and everyone will love them, no matter what. We’re not one of those bands. We always feel like we have to impress people, no matter what.”
That kind of approach has earned Martsch a billing as an indie rock guitar legend, despite all his objections to the fuss. And who cares about the dudes at Guitar Center, anyway. The only real metric you need for measuring the brilliance of Martsch’s work can be found at any Built to Spill Show. There you’ll see the blissed-out, reverent faces of Built to Spill fans, caught up once again in the majesty of their unassuming maestro. Don’t need any more proof than that.
Show Details:
Built to Spill with Larry Yes & Braided WavesWhere: The Chapel
When: Tuesday – Thursday, November 11 – 13, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $51.70, available here, here and here.
Built to Spill with Larry Yes & Braided Waves
Where: Gundlach Bundschu
When: Saturday, November 22, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $85, available here.
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Features
- Dec 11, 2025 Broken Dreams Club 20 Best Albums of 2025 Dec 11, 2025
- Dec 2, 2025 Bay Area Record Spotlight: Girls – “Album” Dec 2, 2025
- Nov 18, 2025 The Telephone Numbers’ Great New Album Evokes a San Francisco Brimming With Artful Nostalgia Nov 18, 2025
- Nov 11, 2025 Los Angeles Newcomers Rocket Specialize in Dizzying Attention to Detail Nov 11, 2025
- Nov 6, 2025 Indie Icons Built to Spill Coming Back to the Chapel for Three-Night Residency Nov 6, 2025
- Oct 15, 2025 Indie Legends Superchunk Coming to the Independent on October 21 Oct 15, 2025
- Oct 7, 2025 Crushed Elicit Deep Emotions with Beguiling Mix of Confessional Lyrics and Hazy Atmospherics Oct 7, 2025
- Sep 24, 2025 Post-Hardcore Outfit Hundred Bliss Enthusiastically Lean into Absurdity Sep 24, 2025
- Sep 18, 2025 Hotline TNT Embrace Pop Leanings on Great New Album Sep 18, 2025
- Sep 16, 2025 SF Janglepop Heroes The Umbrellas Promising Something New for Upcoming Album Sep 16, 2025
- Sep 11, 2025 Metal Legends Baroness Playing First Two Albums at GAMH On September 17 Sep 11, 2025
- Sep 11, 2025 Real Estate Touring Behind “11-year, 7-month” Anniversary of Classic Album, “Atlas” Sep 11, 2025
- Aug 19, 2025 Singer-Songwriter Luke Sweeney Playing His Impish New Album At 4-Star Theater on Aug. 29 Aug 19, 2025
- Aug 6, 2025 Horsegirl and Their Thrilling, Newfound Minimalism, Coming to GAMH on August 16 Aug 6, 2025
- Jul 29, 2025 North Carolina Artist Rosali and Her Resolute Tales of Defiance Coming to Rickshaw Stop Jul 29, 2025
- Jul 15, 2025 M. Ward, Coming to Bimbo’s on Monday, Specializes in Finding “Light and Shadows” Jul 15, 2025
- Jun 23, 2025 Beloved Actor Michael Imperioli Bringing His Band Zopa to The Chapel Jun 23, 2025
- May 22, 2025 Two Formidable Local Songwriters Team Up To Form The Pennys May 22, 2025
- May 8, 2025 Bartees Strange Bringing His ‘Neighborhood’ of Music to The Independent May 8, 2025
- May 6, 2025 Peter, Bjorn and John Returning to SF to Play Classic Album May 6, 2025
- May 2, 2025 Club Night Embrace Friendship on Inspiring and Improbable New Album May 2, 2025
- Apr 11, 2025 Lauren Matsui Embraces New, Softer Sound as Rhymies Apr 11, 2025
- Apr 4, 2025 Album Preview: Hectorine’s Ethereal and Ambitious “Arrow of Love” Apr 4, 2025
- Apr 2, 2025 Processing Grief Through Music Apr 2, 2025
- Mar 5, 2025 Oakland’s Kathryn Mohr Stuns With Stirring Debut Album, “Waiting Room” Mar 5, 2025
- Feb 20, 2025 Al Harper Highlights Standout Collection of Local Artists At This Year’s Noise Pop Fest Feb 20, 2025
- Feb 11, 2025 Wild Pink Bring New Muscularity to The Independent For Two Sold-Out Shows Feb 11, 2025
- Feb 4, 2025 Will Oldham Fittingly Brings Tales of Grace to Show at Grace Cathedral Feb 4, 2025
- Jan 7, 2025 Lucky–the latest brainchild of musicians Andrew St. James and Peter Kegler–to play at the Independent on January 11 Jan 7, 2025
- Dec 23, 2024 Broken Dreams Club Best Local Albums of 2024 Dec 23, 2024
- Dec 13, 2024 Broken Dreams Club 10 Best Songs of 2024 Dec 13, 2024
- Dec 12, 2024 Broken Dreams Club 20 Best Albums of 2024 Dec 12, 2024
- Dec 6, 2024 Alicia Vanden Heuvel: A Bedrock of the Local Music Community Dec 6, 2024
- Nov 27, 2024 Dave Benton of Trace Mountains Coming to Thee Parkside on December 7 Nov 27, 2024
- Nov 11, 2024 Ted Leo Marries the Political and the Personal Nov 11, 2024
- Oct 31, 2024 David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors to Play Two Shows in Intimate Point Reyes Venue Oct 31, 2024
- Oct 29, 2024 Black Lips Celebrate 25 Years of Vital, Irreverent Garage Rock Oct 29, 2024
- Oct 15, 2024 Friko Return to Bay Area Supporting one of 2024’s Best Albums Oct 15, 2024
- Oct 14, 2024 Stars Performing Classic Album at the Chapel on Sunday Oct 14, 2024
- Oct 7, 2024 Sunset Rubdown Continue Victory Tour after Unlikely Reunion Oct 7, 2024
- Sep 19, 2024 As Silverware, Ainsley Wagoner Captures the Profundity of Music Sep 19, 2024
- Sep 16, 2024 Been Stellar Embrace Role as Gritty NYC Ambassadors Sep 16, 2024
- Sep 2, 2024 Occupying a Distinct Spot in SF Scene, Galore to Take Stage at Bottom of Hill Friday Sep 2, 2024
- Aug 20, 2024 Chime School To Celebrate New Album With Record Release Party Friday at the Make Out Room Aug 20, 2024
- Aug 13, 2024 Neo-Psychedelic Outfit Woods Returning to The Chapel on August 20 Aug 13, 2024
- Jul 10, 2024 Peerless janglepop practitioners Ducks Ltd. playing at Rickshaw Stop on Monday Jul 10, 2024
- Jul 8, 2024 Post-Disco Band De Lux Celebrating 10th Anniversary of Debut Album with Show at Rickshaw Stop on Friday Jul 8, 2024
- Jul 1, 2024 Movie-theater concert embodies a thriving music scene in the Richmond Jul 1, 2024
- Mar 12, 2024 Real Estate mixing things up for their latest tour Mar 12, 2024
- Feb 28, 2024 Torrey siblings to bring shoegaze magic to Make Out Room Feb 28, 2024
- Feb 21, 2024 Art-pop duo Water From Your Eyes coming to Regency Ballroom Feb 21, 2024
- Feb 21, 2024 Delightfully offbeat Being Dead can't wait for first-ever SF performance Feb 21, 2024
- Feb 21, 2024 Snail Mail to host two days of music at Great American Music Hall as part of annual Noise Pop fest Feb 21, 2024
- Dec 7, 2023 Adventurous art-rock outfit Mandy, Indiana to make its SF debut Friday Dec 7, 2023
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Interviews
- Dec 10, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Magic Fig Dec 10, 2025
- Nov 6, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: No Joy Nov 6, 2025
- Oct 16, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: The Black Lips Oct 16, 2025
- Aug 11, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Wild Pink Aug 11, 2025
- Jun 18, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Whitney’s Playland Jun 18, 2025
- Mar 20, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: This is Lorelei Mar 20, 2025
- Feb 5, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Stuart Murdoch Feb 5, 2025
- Jan 15, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Tim Heidecker Jan 15, 2025
- Oct 18, 2024 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Christopher Owens Oct 18, 2024
- Sep 30, 2024 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Cindy Sep 30, 2024
- Sep 23, 2024 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Built to Spill Sep 23, 2024
- Jul 18, 2024 Broken Dreams Club Interview: Google Earth Jul 18, 2024
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News
- Jul 16, 2025 Mosswood Meltdown, Oakland’s Gloriously Offbeat Music Fest, Returns This Weekend Jul 16, 2025
- Sep 11, 2024 Iconic Music Venue Announces “Fall At the Fillmore” Sep 11, 2024
- Jul 22, 2024 Japandroids Return for One Final Ride Jul 22, 2024
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Reviews
- Nov 25, 2025 Live Review: Cut Copy at the Regency Ballroom Nov 25, 2025
- Nov 7, 2025 Live Review: Cautious Clay Nov 7, 2025
- Oct 17, 2025 In Photos: Nation of Language at the Fillmore Oct 17, 2025
- Oct 15, 2025 In Photos: LaRussell Oct 15, 2025
- Oct 13, 2025 Live Review: The Decemberists with the SF Symphony Oct 13, 2025
- Sep 29, 2025 In Photos: Destroyer at August Hall Sep 29, 2025
- Aug 25, 2025 In Photos: “Weird Al” Yankovic at the Shoreline Amphitheater Aug 25, 2025
- Aug 18, 2025 In Photos: Keshi at the Chase Center Aug 18, 2025
- Aug 5, 2025 In Photos: Gogol Bordello at the Mountain Winery Aug 5, 2025
- Jul 28, 2025 In Photos: Legendary Hip-Hop Trio Deltron 3030 Take Over the Regency Ballroom Jul 28, 2025
- Jul 1, 2025 Broken Dreams Club Video Premiere: “Bastard” from Galore Jul 1, 2025
- Jun 24, 2025 In Photos: Metallica Lights Up Levi’s Stadium Jun 24, 2025
- May 27, 2025 In Photos: Panda Bear Brings Pop Bliss to the Chapel May 27, 2025
- May 8, 2025 In Photos: Model/Actriz and Dove Armitage Deliver Smoky, Steamy Atmospherics At Rickshaw Stop May 8, 2025
- Mar 3, 2025 Soccer Mommy Delivers Predictably Great Performance at the Fillmore Mar 3, 2025
- Nov 7, 2024 Porches provide much-needed reprieve at Bimbo’s Nov 7, 2024
- Sep 20, 2024 Future Islands’ Fox Theater Show Proves They’re Dynamic As Ever Sep 20, 2024
- Sep 17, 2024 Pulp Amaze with Performance for the Ages at Bill Graham Sep 17, 2024
- Aug 19, 2024 Alvvays Embrace the Bigger Stage with Sold-Out Show at the Fox Theater Aug 19, 2024
- Jul 16, 2024 Ageless Indie Rockers The Walkmen Dazzle Sold-Out Crowd at Bimbo’s Jul 16, 2024