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
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.
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.
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.
Indie Legends Superchunk Coming to the Independent on October 21
Photo Credit: Alex Cox
Upon seeing an album with track titles like “Care Less,” “No Hope” and “Everybody Dies,” the baseline assumption would be that the listener is in for a miserable experience.
In fact, “Song in the Key of Yikes”—the latest Superchunk album that is home to those songs—is the farthest thing from a bummer record. It’s an absolutely fucking ripping good time and one more reminder why the North Carolina band is a beloved indie rock institution.
Thematically, the group’s chief songwriter, Mac McCaughan, doesn’t cover his eyes or stick his head in the sand for the album—we are living in dark, authoritarian times and the lyrics reflect those miseries. But underpinning those narratives is a fierce, ragged collection of up-tempo, guitar-heavy anthems, forcefully emphasizing that while the world might be shit, we don’t have to be happy about it.
“An important aspect of our music has always been that contrast between the content and the form,” said McCaughan. “Some artists can make music that’s both dark lyrically and dark musically, but we’re never gonna sound like The Birthday Party—that’s just not who we are. We make this kind of loud guitar music. The lyrics reflect reality—we’re not trying to put a happy face on everything, but at the same time, music can be this escape, and so we want to play the kind of music that can get people into a different place for a moment.”
Superchunk will offer that place of escape for San Francisco fans on Tuesday, when the band plays at the Independent. In addition to performing tunes from “Songs in the Key of Yikes,” the band will dip into its lengthy catalog, which dates back some 35 years to their self-titled debut album (which includes the song “Slack Motherfucker,” a generational anthem that helped give rise to the “slacker rock genre”.)
The band took a lengthy hiatus in the early 2000s, allowing for McCaughan to pursue his other project, Portastatic, but open returning with their 2010 album, “Majesty Shredding,” Superchunk has been remarkably and brilliantly consistent. Despite being more than three decades in the business, the band sounds as vibrant, vital and urgent as ever.
“Songs in the Key of Yikes” starts off with “Is It Making You Feel Something,” a propulsive indie rock number that plants its foot firmly on the pedal and doesn’t relent at any point. That kind of taut, manic energy remains throughout the album.
Again, belying their mordant titles, tracks like “Everybody Dies” and “Care Less” are blistering anthems of defiance, with the former featuring scorching, through-the-roof choruses and the latter specializing in chunky, heavy riffs burnished with white noise surroundings.
Adding to the underlying sense of oppositional potency are McCaughan's impassioned vocals. He’s always had a boyish, lilting cadence and his deliveries on this album imbue each track with a youthful rascality. His unique singing gives lines like “Yeah, I'm a train that's on fire/ Drag me away,” (from “Train on Fire”) a little extra boost of irascibility—an ever-present middle figure to punctuate his dispatches of distaste.
“I’ve never really loved the sound of my voice—I have to write words to sing, but I always thought of my voice as more of just another melody happening,” said McCaughan. “I wish I could sing like Torres or Sharon Van Etten, but I’m not that kind of vocalist. I do think we’re making efforts to not bury my vocals as much like we did on our early albums, but for the most part, we’re just trying to make do with what we have.”
McCaughan’s modesty notwithstanding, his voice is a trademark of sorts for the band, a reminder that Superchunk have and always will be at the forefront of the indie rock scene. That’s due in large part to McCaughan’s other job—as the co-founder of Merge Records, one of the most hallowed labels in the business. Along with consistently churning out amazing releases on an annual basis, Merge is responsible for foundational indie rock records like “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” “69 Love Songs” and “Funeral,” among countless others.
“When we started Merge, we really thought we were just joining a bunch of people who were doing the same thing,” said McCaughan. “We just wanted to be K Records or Amphetamine Reptile Records—a place to put out our friends' singles or tapes. That’s all we had in mind and it wasn’t until we put out a few albums from bands outside of North Carolina that we realized something might be different.”
Few bands have that kind of legacy to contend with and uphold, but as evidenced by “Songs in the Key of Yikes,” Superchunk have no interest in mining the past or basking in passive nostalgia. They’re still doing their thing, angry and righteously pissed off. It’s an approach we should all appreciate right now.
Show Details:
Superchunk with Case Oats
Where: The Independent
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 21
Tickets: $38, available here.
Crushed Elicit Deep Emotions with Beguiling Mix of Confessional Lyrics and Hazy Atmospherics
Photo Credit: Ben Rayner
With its lowercase styling and arcane spelling, “cwtch”—one of the highlights of Crushed’s great new album “no scope”—may seem at first glance to be a masterclass in obliqueness and opacity.
But the track is songwriting at its most vulnerable and candid—a fearless glimpse into the backstory of Crushed songwriter Shaun Durkan, who makes up one-half of the alt-rock duo alongside Bre Morell. Durkan, a Bay Area native, has long been open about his struggles with substance abuse, and “cwtch” is a tormented glimpse into the mind of an addict, punctuated by powerful lines like “I took the pills you gave to me/And now you live inside my spine.”
It's a powerful statement and one that’s almost painfully earnest. Nevertheless, Durkan said he had few concerns with publicly baring his heart on sleeve—he was merely continuing in the tradition of other musicians he’s long admired.
“When I can tell someone's opening up and they're having a conversation with me about something they're struggling with—I feel so much more invested in that song,” said Durkan. “All my favorite artists do that—those are the ones that I’m drawn to, because I can relate.”
Crushed, who will open for indie-pop outfit Cafuné on Wednesday at Bimbo’s 365 Club, have earned widespread plaudits for their interpretation of a unique blend of styles not typically associated with hipster circles. Their love of 90s alt rock artists like Duncan Sheik and Natalie Imbruglia is clearly evident in their sound, as is their appreciation for trip-hop artists such as Massive Attack and Portishead. But above all, Crushed embrace the confessional genre, as both Durkan and Morell pour their hearts out completely on “no scope,” a gorgeous and haunting album of lovelorn ballads and diaristic revelations.
“I think we both try to be as honest as possible,” said Durkan. “For me, if anyone can learn something, or feel like they’re not alone, by listening to something that I’ve gone though, then I feel like that’s a huge win for both of us. For me, and the listener.”
Durkan, who’s also the founder of Bay Area post-punk greats Weekend, first connected with Morell (a member of indie goth band Temple of Angels) over Twitter, as both publicly confessed their appreciation of 90s radio rock. That online communication quickly turned into a creative partnership, and the band’s 2023 debut EP, “extra life,” was a surprise hit, given that both members of the group had limited expectations for the project.
With glowing critical reviews and a string of well-attended live shows, the duo emerged on the radar of the music industry, and Crushed eventually signed with Ghostly International, a revered indie label that leans toward electronica-focused artists. Durkan conceded that making the follow-up to “extra life” had a different feel, as the band’s higher profile meant that there were new expectations for the group.
“I would be lying if I said that there wasn’t additional pressure,” said Durkan. “It’s a very different experience when you’re making something that you don’t ever expect anyone to hear versus creating something with the intention of people hearing it. That being said, we tried not to let that guide our decision making. I think one of the biggest lessons we learned from our first EP is that it really pays to trust your instincts. Audiences pick up on that, even if they don’t know necessarily what they’re picking up on. It just resonates because it feels authentic.”
Much like the first release, “no scope” is drenched with atmosphere, as swirling guitars, spectral samples and ambient soundscapes create a rich, textured feel to every song. Tracks like “starburn,” “weaponx,” and “heartcontainer” showcase the band’s ability to meld woozy, hypnotic beats with lyrics and narratives that pierce through that haze. Like Durkan, Morell is unafraid to pen lines that are desperately plaintive, highlighted by the opening couplet of “heartcontainer,” when she mournfully laments that “I’m on my knees/ I’m crying for you.”
Spoken word vignettes are interspersed throughout the album, acting as palate cleansers, with the final coda—“airgap 2”—feeling like the final moment before one emerges from a deep, dreamy sleep.
Despite their relatively new partnership, there is clearly a kinship and chemistry between Morrel and Durkan. During a recent interview with New Musical Express, Morrell described being brought to tears by a melody that Durkan wrote that eventually turned into “starburn,” the group’s lead single and one of the last songs recorded for the album.
“It felt like an honor to hear her say something like that,” said Durkan. “I guess sometimes when you’re in a band, it feels like some of this stuff exists in a vacuum and it’s not until you talk to someone that you realize how this music might have affected them. It definitely makes it worthwhile.”
Eliciting those emotions is clearly something Crushed specializes in—and the band doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Durkan said he wrote some 40 songs for the debut LP, so there is plenty of material to work with, and the band has plans to embark on some headlining tours after their current jaunt opening for Cafuné concludes at the end of the month. In short, there should be plenty of future opportunities for fans to bask in the cathartic, connective manner that first inspired Durkan and Morell to start this project.
“We both write very personal lyrics, but it’s not just the words that make it special,” said Durkan. “I mean, that’s why we love doing this and why we feel so inspired. There’s something about the words and music being paired together that makes it magical. It’s like the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Show Details:
Crushed with Cafuné
Where: Bimbo’s 365 Club
When: 8 p.m., Wednesday, October 8
Tickets: $35, available here.
Post-Hardcore Outfit Hundred Bliss Enthusiastically Lean into Absurdity
Photo Credit: Marisa Prietto
With its history of strident politicism, abrasive sound and unrelenting intensity, hardcore music is usually categorized by a handful of familiar codifiers—terms like visceral, raw and aggressive almost always make an appearance.
And so obviously, warm and fuzzy are not usually among those descriptors, but that’s exactly how guitarist and vocalist Jeff Day feels about his new band, Hundred Bliss, a post-hardcore outfit from Los Angeles that will be playing at 924 Gilman in Berkeley on September 27.
“I just feel so comfy in this space,” said Day. “I’m better at this kind of music then maybe the softer, indie stuff I’ve been exploring over the past few years. To me, this is how I express myself best. Of course, I like restraint at times, but I love being loud and crazy. This is an opportunity for me to explore that in a way I don’t get to in other places.”
Day’s endearing feeling of snugness is the result of several unique characteristics of Hundred Bliss. The band—composed of Day, vocalist/bassist Garrett La Bonte, vocalist/guitarist Nathan Burger and drummer River van den Berghe—has no sole primary songwriter, with all the members contributing equally. And their music—while punishing sonically—is remarkably playful and funny, full of sardonic humor and ridiculous narratives not normally found within the hardcore universe.
“There were always core reference points we turned to when making our music—bands like Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, and of course Fugazi,” said La Bonte. “And while I don’t think we pull directly from The Fall, we really tried to emulate that tongue-in-cheek humor of that band.”
The first Hundred Bliss release, a four-song collection called “EP1”, came out on June 27 and their second EP, with two additional songs, followed on September 19. The songs are marked by gang vocals, waves of blasting, thunderous guitar riffs and adventurous tempo changes.
For a group still in its early days, the band sounds remarkably tight and locked-in, a focused approach that’s a reflection of the group’s members. Each is a veteran of numerous bands, and Burger and Day most recently played together in a post-rock outfit called Cave Diver. La Bonte records under his own name in addition to performing in other collectives and van den Berghe is the drummer for the scrappy and beloved slack-rockers Pardoner, who formed in San Francisco.
“It felt like such a natural fit from the beginning,” said Burger. “Pretty much right away, it felt good—you don’t get that feeling too often. Just this sense of connection from the beginning.”
The band’s first EP starts off with the thunderous “Bounce,” a clanging, hard-charging number highlighted by staccato bursts of noise and Burger’s cheeky, hip hop-inflected vocal interlude. The breakthrough pace marked by “Bounce” never relents over the four songs, with sinister and spindly guitar riffs melding seamlessly with a propulsive and insistent rhythm section.
All the songs feature surrealist, stream-of-consciousness lyricism and a few are outright hilarious. On “American Motor,” La Bonte muses about being an angel, but realizes he’s “just touring the heavens in a Ford” and on the album closer, “Unreasonable Vibe,” Day breaks free from a bout of existential malaise by screaming out, “It’s fucking Mickey Rooney!,” a keen observation that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. The latter song descends into a gleefully chaotic wall of white noise, capped off by a feral trumpet performance from van den Berghe.
“I don’t know if it was my idea to add that last part in, but I did tell everyone I had a trumpet,” said van den Berghe. “We just piled like 20 – 30 takes on top of each other for that part, which made for a pretty fun day in the studio.”
Although the band’s lyrics don’t comment specifically on the shitshow that’s American society right now, a sense of absurdist anger and exasperation permeates the songs—something that can be only natural, given the dismal state of affairs today.
“It’s hard not to have things bleed into your music, especially these last five years, where it’s been one unprecedented time after unprecedented time,” said La Bonte. “And I think for Jeff and I, we came from these bands that had these overtly aggressive and frustrated lyrics. But Jeff talked about finding ways to kind of joke around with that frustration—to write these goofy lyrics and riff on weird shit. I think it was important for us not to, you know, all wear black and be a moody band.”
It's a formula that is as winning as it is refreshing, especially now, when lighthearted ridiculousness is in short supply. With just a handful of songs under their belt, Hundred Bliss said they’re focusing most of their efforts on recording new music, putting any major touring plans on the backburner, for now.
“I know we are all excited about writing together,” said Day. “We might play some shows in LA, and when opportunities come up, maybe get out of town. But our interests really are in putting out new music. I think we’re all excited to see what comes next.”
Show Details:
Hundred Bliss with Facet, Trough and Animal Planet
Where: 924 Gilman Street, Berkeley
When: 7 p.m., Saturday, September 27
Tickets: $15, available at the door.
Hotline TNT Embrace Pop Leanings on Great New Album
Photo Credit: Sara Messinger
Just after the one-minute mark on “Julia’s War,” the standout track from Hotline TNT’s brilliant new album, “Raspberry Moon,” there is a glorious cascade of “na na na nas”—the latest continuation of a time-honored vocal tradition used by musicians for decades.
That classic wordless interlude—employed by everyone from the Beatles to One Direction to Michael Jackson—has long been a staple of pop music, and Hotline TNT’s choice to include that section in “Julia’s War” elevated the song into instant classic realm. But for Will Anderson—the Hotline TNT songwriter known for perfecting the anti-pop genres of shoegaze and slowcore—the decision to include those well-worn flourishes was not an easy one.
“Those were originally not supposed to be in the song—they were just placeholders until I could come up with real lyrics,” said Anderson, whose band plays at the Great American Music Hall on September 24. “And then I just never did. So, we got into the studio and started mixing the album, and I kind of got cold feet. I looked at Alex [Farrar], who was mixing the album and just flat out asked him if this was a good idea. I was definitely scared of going that route. But he told me to go for it, and I’m pretty happy we kept those in the song.”
“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.
After playing in various groups for years, Anderson started Hotline TNT in 2018, and the band’s breakthrough came in 2023 with the release of “Cartwheel” a critically lauded release (the best record of the year, in this writer’s opinion.) “Cartwheel” saw Anderson find thrilling ways of wrestling and harnessing dissonance and squalling feedback into unconventionally catchy tunes.
For “Raspberry Moon,” those big hooks and earworm melodies come easier, with the band sanding down the rougher edges from “Cartwheel.” Anderson’s vocals are clearer and the guitars and synths aren’t quite as layered—that mountain of noise has been terraformed into more of a large hill.
“’Julia’s War’ is definitely the most straightforward pop song we’ve done so far,” said Anderson, who has made news recently for his principled stand to abandon Spotify and the company’s amoral owner, Daniel Ek. “When we finished that one, it almost felt like a radio song, we thought that could be our ‘Shrek 5’ soundtrack song. And the rest of the album has more clean guitars—there’s even an acoustic ballad in there. We definitely cleaned things up, but I wouldn’t say it was because of some reaction to ‘Cartwheel.’ It really just happened organically.”
Not only do Anderson’s vocals rise above the din of noise on the album, but his lyrics represent some of the more hopeful and endearingly candid declarations he’s ever penned.
In the past, Anderson has been a master of chronicling fractured, fraying relationships, but on “Raspberry Moon” his outlook is downright romantic. Songs like “Candle”—with the couplet “I wanna try/Get butterflies,”—and “Dance the Night Away” offer unashamed avowals of love—hopeful departures that are rooted in real life contentment.
“This album has more triumphant love songs than anything I’ve ever written before, for sure,” said Anderson. “There are a lot of songs about my current relationship, which is the happiest one I’ve ever been in. There are still some sad songs on the album—there will always be memories of the bad stuff, and sometimes those sad songs are easier to write. But, overall, I find this album very hopeful.”
Anderson and Hotline TNT have frequently been the (reluctant) centerpiece of the ongoing topic of “shoegaze revival,” but “Raspberry Moon” proves once again that the band is not limited to a single genre. Always more of a Teenage Fanclub power-pop group than a maxed-out My Bloody Valentine noise rock outfit, “Raspberry Moon” further roils the debate of the band as shoegaze saviors.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the gorgeous ballad “Lawnmover,” a sparse, acoustic guitar number that feels like a lost track from Big Star’s “#1 Record”.
“It’s not like I sat down and tried to write a Big Star song, but I’m definitely not shying away from that inspiration,” said Anderson. “That song was definitely new territory for us, which made it really exciting to write.”
Hotline TNT have extensive touring plans for 2025—jaunts that will take them all across North America and Europe—and Anderson said the band will likely continue playing live into 2026. After that, they’ll return to the studio to write the next chapter of the Hotline TNT story.
“We’ll probably take some more time on this next record, but we already have 3 – 4 demos written,” said Anderson. “I definitely have bigger ideas for this one. We are eager to keep building on this thing.”
Show Details:
Hotline TNT with Big Bite and Combat Naps
Where: Great American Music Hall
When: 8 p.m., Wednesday, September 24
Tickets: $28.50, available here.
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Features
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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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