The
Sound of San Francisco
alive0050 CD. V.A.
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There's
a bevy of talent boiling over, captured on this surpringly consistent
compilation. The hard-rocking Joan Jett-meets-AC/DC riffage of
Nagg opens things with the smug "Beauty of the Bitch."
the Coachwhips and Boyskout serve up cool synth-heavy tunes.
Big Midnight and Black Cat Music layer Iggy Pop-style confessional
rock with ominous layers of guitars and organ. the Holy Kiss
sounds desperate and desolate like the finest work of Rowland
S. Howard and The Aktion deliver solid power-pop hooks. The Sound
Of San Francisco is just about as splintered and random as when
I'd left it, but the bands of that time seem to have grown exponentially
good extremly quickly. - Dave Clifford / Skyscrapper |
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No
matter what acts you tend to favour after you spin this a few
times, you'll get a great cross section of what's going down
these days in Dirty Harry's stompin' grounds. Lot's of angst,
depravity, messy guitar tones straight from your neighbour's
garage, and big fat meaty hooks. Put down that MTV, and check
out the real stuff. - Urotsukidoji's
Pad |
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Apparently
there's still a lively rock scene happening in the City by the
Bay. It's nothing as startling as the acid and sunshine funk
quake of the late 60s or the subversive Gilman revolution across
the Bay, but surprisingly fresh, nonetheless. Better yet, these
tracks were all produced just for this collection, adding a unity
of purpose and continuity of sound. Rock 'n' roll 2003 includes
echoes of the new wave, with Mon Frere recreating lo-fi jangle
pop, and Deborah Iyall's boredom echoing in Boyskout's "School
of Etiquette." Big Midnight's "Push on You" winds
down the Stones path trod by the Black Crowes, and the megaphone
vocal of The Coachwhips is a nice match for their frenetic guitar-and-drums
backing. Two Gallants waltz "Fail Hard to Regain" vacillates
winningly between folk passages and Who-like bombast, while The
Flakes' "Cryin' Shame" heads straight for the garage
with a mid-60s electric blues riff worthy of a Pebbles compilation.
Rock isn't so much dead as it's moved back underground, found
in clubs and on indie compilations just like this. 3-3/4 stars,
if allowed fractional ratings. - CD Universe |
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Another
year, another scene, another resetting of the rock/soul/garage/R&B
clock to year zero, and let's see what happens. So if every generation
gets the Cramps or the White Stripes or whatever it deserves,
then there are all the other bands along the same lines -- or
else vaguely fellow travelers -- out there as well. Thus Alive
Records' boss, Patrick Boissel, finding a whole crop of folks
to record up in San Francisco circa 2003 presents his new generation
of finds here. To be fair, the bands here aren't all trying to
be Meg and Jack White, by any stretch of the imagination, and
unlike any number of garage fetishists of recent years, just
about all the groups are fine with sounding downright radio friendly
in a big, expansive way. Maybe in an early-'80s, new wave sense,
possibly the secret to what's here -- if New York has gone no
wave again, then the Bay Area seems open to the idea of revamping
skinny-tie sounds of a different sort, and songs like Mon Frere's
"Hello" are most of the way there already. The female
vocalist for Boyskout, on "Secrets"
and "School of Etiquette" sounds like she could be
a cousin of Romeo Void, for instance, while the soulful turn
of the singer on Big
Midnight
is a welcome touch in context. They're actually, generally, a
better listen than a slew of the male singers, frankly, who tend
to have a strained, hiccupy approach, or else are too dedicated
to calling attention to themselves instead of to their respective
bands. Musically, a fair amount of the members could probably
switch off without much of a hitch, but there are definite moments
of individual flair : the compressed snarl of the Coachwhips'
"The Alarm"; the dark, swaggering shuffle of the Hotwire
Titans' "Thieves and Fakes"; the Low Flying Owls' moody
art/psych/goth "Thieves for Hire." Like all samplers,
it's a mix of promise and time killing, but some folks may yet
go on to something more. - Ned Raggett / All Music Guide |
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Although
I'm familiar with only one of the groups (Big Midnight) on this
raucous and crunchy compilation, I can honestly say that I'm
now a raving, maniacal fan of each and every band that sonically
struts their stuff throughout the dazzling, mesmerizing, and
spectacularly riveting journey that is The Sound Of San Francisco.
A grand total of 13 sonically unruly combos blaze a tempestuous
path of distorted garage rock mania, noisy amphetamine-tweaked
inner city blues, and other psycho-crazed, fuzz-freaky rock'n'roll
madness. There's 17 explosive, earth-quaking numbers in all,
feverishly presented by Nagg, The Coachwhips, Boyskout, Black
Cat Music, Hotwire Titans, The Aktion, Low Flying Owls, the aforementioned
Big Midnight, The Holy Kiss, Two Gallants, The Flakes, Mon Frere,
and Young Trade. Judging by the thunderous grit of this disc,
it sounds like the streets of San Francisco are once again rockin'
with the utmost of trashed-out vibrancy, and the bands all have
buzz bombs and bottle rockets in their hair instead of the hippy-drippy
flowers from days of yore. - Moser / Under The Volcano |
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For
those who need to rock, San Francisco salutes you! This 17-tracker
courtesy of the Bomp! Records-aligned Alive label brings together
the cream of the current underground crop in the famous Bay Area
burg. Following in the proud tradition of most good scene comps,
TSOSF offers a narrow stylistic range represented by some of
the better bands available. Standouts include the sassy chick-punk
of Nagg, the Aktion's heavy, Raging Slab-esque thunder and the
new-wave-on-speed tenderness of the boss Boyskout. For those
who dig such things there's even some rootsy, stoner-drudge by
the Low Flying Owls and The Hotwire Titans. As an extra bonus,
the liner notes are written by none other than Deviants founder
and all-around high-energy author Mick Farren. Expect some temporary
and some timeless sounds. - Jeff Monk / Uptown Mag |
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Man,
things have changed- last time I checked, the sound of San Fran
was the manic thrash metal of Metallica and Exodus. Ok, that
was 20 years ago, man, what a difference. These days, SF is a
hot-bed of nu-wave inflected garage-skrawk, and baby, they do
it better there than just about anywhere else. This is a damn
fine collection of "serious new meat" (as DNA Cowboy
Mick Farren calls 'em in the snappy liner notes) that's bound
to unearth an indie-superstar or two. Blasting out of the gate
like a greyhound with it's ass on fire is The boogie-woogie,
honky-tonkin' swagger-rawk-cum-flash metal suicide of Nagg, who
could easily be my new favorite band, if there wasn't already
a line halfway out the door of bands vying for that title. Picture
the Dolls and the Hangmen and that chick from the Bellraysall
tearing it up together around 3 AM or so, and you've got "Beauty
of the Bitch". Goddamn, you could shut this fucker down
now, and I'd be satisfied. Bit hell, there's a long way to ride
here- the all-girlBoyskout channel their inner Missing Persons
for a creepy little slice of icy, keyboard driven 80's detachment
called "Secrets", The awesomely named Hotwire Titans
are all thunder-bass booming and roots-rock menace on "Thieves
and Fakes", the ever-swanky Big Midnight slather on the
mascara for million dollar glam rocker "Push on You",
the Holy Kiss lay on the dirt blues and greasy desperation like
vintage Poison 13 or Beasts of Bourbon on the bitchin' "Sister
Temptation", and, wellthere's a bunch of other great stuff
here too, from The Aktion, The Flakes, The Coachwhips, and plenty
more cool cats with "The" in their name. This is one
far-out comp, with a whole jukebox worth of dance-crazy garage
rockers. Best of all, unless you're a Superhipster or something
(or you're actually from Frisco), then most of these bands will
be brand spankin' new to you. How about that, something to look
forward to. You can take your head out of the oven now. - Sleazegrinder |
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There's
been such a plethora of 'best of NYC' CDs out lately, so it's
about time another city was given its due. And what better city
than San Francisco where rock & roll has been going strong
all along, not just since the press 'rock is alive' frenzy. (...)
With 17 tracks of tunes ranging from the purest rock and roll
to that on the new wave or psychedelic fringe, you'll find many
bands to bank on and find when they come to play yout own - Cleo
/ The Sentimentalist |
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This
is a sampler on which one can discover really interesting new
bands; from the 12, 13 bands (some with two songs) my favorite
so far are BLACK CAT MUSIC, the FLAKES and BIG MIDNIGHT; the
LOW FLYING OWLS (with two great songs!) and BOYSKOUT (dito) are
also worth discovering. A beautiful sampler, which I can only
recommend. - The
Ox
(Germany) |
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A
collection of a real cross-section of S.F. talent here. All styles
are covered, from rock to garage, new wave to psych. A good cross-section
of one facet of the present day indie rock music scene. - Artcore
(uk) |
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Como
todo disco compilatorio, el nivel del disco es imparejo pero
eso no quiere decir que el resultado final sea mediocre, al contrario,
son bastantes las alentadoras sorpresas que dan cuenta de un
promisorio futuro de la escena de San Franciso. En este saco
se encuentran Boyskout, Black Cat Music (con una deliciosa "lost
in the lights"), Nagg y Low Flying Owls. El resto de las
bandas que aparecen en el disco se encuentran en un nivel bastante
parejo, sin puntos bajos que hagan tedioso la audición
del disco. Un mas que interesante álbum, con una serie
de bandas que pululan en lo más recóndito del underground
de San Francisco. Quizás el mayor mérito de este
disco es que a todos estos grupos (donde tal vez, mas de alguno
llegue a las ligas mayores) aquí los escuchaste primero.
- Ivan
Daguer / Revista Especial (Chile) |
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A
flawless compilation to showcase the sensation that is the sound
of San Francisco. Great presentation, graphics and style with
superb liner notes by Mick Farren. - NFT (UK) |
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Si
vous voulez écouter, découvrir de nouveaux goupes
de la scène de San Francisco et plus particulièrement
de la Bay Area, alors cette compilation du label Alive Records
pourra vous aider... En fance, on a longtemps connu cette scène
grâce à ces groupes trash, mais sous ce déluge
sonore, se cache une pléïade d'artistes venant d'horizons
divers: cela allant de la pop, rock, punk, garage à la
new wave et en passant par le psycho... Biensûr, tout ces
titres sont inédits. Pêle mêle, on retrouve
des groupes originaux comme: The Coachwhips avec "The Alarm",
Nagg avec "Sniff", et autres Hotwire Titans, The Holy
Kiss, Mon Frere et The Flakes Boyskout. Ceci n'étant qu'un
pourcentage minime, je vous conseille donc cette compil pour
vous faire une idée. Underground Society (France) |
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Detroit
and New York are en vogue right now, with good bands like DIRBOMBS,
WHITE STRIPES etc, and the pseudo alternative swell like STROKES
and similar 5-car-garage rock bands. San Francisco has been famous
for it's vivid scene, with many unique rock combos like THE MUMMIES,
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, TRASHWOMEN, FLAMIN' GROOVIES and many
others. With this release, ALIVE Records is trying to put SF
back on the map, 13 Bands of whom I previously knew one one [THE
FLAKES] and 17 mainly great songs, of which some are really outstanding
(...) - TG / Choke Media |
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Jeff
Saltzman is the mastermind of this brilliant homage to the diversity
and quality of San Francisco's indie music scene. With such players
as Boyskout, the Low Flying Owls, Big Midnight, Black Cat Music,
Nagg and the Coachwhips representing everything from psychedelic,
new wave and garage rock, TSOSF is one hell of a comp, worthy
of its title. It is rare to find a collection of tracks that
keeps the listeners interest from the beginning to the end but
this disk does just that.
Two
exceptional bands within the amazing talent on the CD are Boyskout
and the Low Flying Owls who make their Alive Records debut here.
These two acts are a couple of the most talked about local surprises
in 2003. Unfortunately, Boyskout is leaving their Bay Area roots
to move to the Big Apple with big prospects in mind.
For
those who are unaware of Saltzman's credentials, he is the uber
manager who has represented Green Day, the Offspring and several
other noteworthy acts. In his liner notes, Mick Farren of the
Deviants refers to San Francisco's "awesome talent pool
of renegade rock and roll musicians" and TSOSF is an assemblage
of this pool that will stand the test of time. - Larry Trujillo
/ Album of the month - ZERO magazine
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What
we have here is a mighty fine collection of modern acts coming
out of the San Fran area that play rock n roll music without
regard for mass appeal. Without corporate funding. Without the
cookie-cutter pretentious flatulence that controls the airwaves.
The fun, the thrill, everything exciting and great that I love
about music is just oozing from my speakers right now. This collection
brings to mind old garage compilation albums such as Pebbles
and the like; but this actually features bands currently playing,
not obscure one-hit wonders thrown randomly together, massing
a 10 year span. I like the fact that a couple of the 13 bands
presented here have female vocalists. That's something that until
recently seemed to be virtually absent from rock n roll. Overall,
this album is outstanding, especially considering I only previously
knew one of the bands on it (The Flakes). The band that I was
most impressed with is Hotwire Titans. I gotta do some serious
scouring to find more from this band. (MS) - DeadBeat |
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