Ep 383: Hits of the Bay 2025 pt 2

Playlist

1. 1′22″ Woman In White by Sachi's Mirror on Woman In White (self released)

   Local The resonant pluck of the violin, the percussion falling like footsteps, the vocals a spectre in the wind: this EP by a Juicebump gives me goosebumps.

2. 5′27″ Zinger by Galore on DIRT (Speakeasy Studios SF)

   Local Fun and punch in the passion play of life, with an emphasis on play, interplay, and Dirt.

3. 6′53″ In Pathécolor by Now on Now Does the Trick (perennialdeath/ k)

   Local Refrain “Where’s the action at?” is the only question that matters once one stops consuming culture and starts seeking it at dusk— if this reminds you of the classics, you’re not paying attention to the Now.

4. 8′59″ Depression Drawer by Country Risqué on Live at the Rickshaw Stop (self released)

   Local Good country will hang your sorrows on a rust gold hook, but the best country knows where you’ve hidden the real shit. Live at the the Rickshaw Stop showcases how fun it is to drag your depressed ass to the show.

5. 11′52″ Linger by Mae Powell on Making Room For The Light (Karma Chief/Colemine Records)

   Local Powell’s immersion in jazz, and a turn toward the melancholy, results in her most layered work to date; it lingers indeed.

6. 16′45″ Star by Mox on Spit (Cherub Dream)

   Local Leave it to Mox to make a massive hook from a dive into the ditch, this track’s warmth and inimacy is assuredly built to spill.

7. 19′58″ Helena Duel by 55CASTLES (self released)

   Local 55CASTLES took their sound to the next level with this headlong gothic dance rant, putting a cherry on top when her French accent says “I love you.”

8. 21′25″ I Dream Watching by Rhymies on I Dream Watching (Dandy Boy Records)

   Local On the I Dream Watching EP Seabliter Lauren Matsui creates a shimmering halls of mirrors, as synth begets synth, and the tempo runs away with your noir pop fantasies.

9. 24′35″ Sweet Emotion by M.U.T.T. on Toughest Street In Town (Quiet Panic)

   Local With fake-out song titles like “Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Dazed and Confused”, M.U.T.T.’s Toughest Street in Town makes hesher hay of classic rock, but the riffs are 100% Frisco asphalt.

10. 27′15″ Long Rehearsal by Whitney's Playland on Long Rehearsal (Dandy Boy Records)

    Local Evoking GBV’s R.E.M. side and The Feelies, the band carries Inna Showalters’s earworm vocal melodies with jangly ease, their long rehearsal would be this fan's heaven.

11. 29′23″ Hot Boy by Johnny Maraca & the Marockers on Little Heart (perennialdeath)

    Local Neither poetry nor pun for these punks, just a hot boy, with his hot boyfriends.

12. 31′31″ don't you know my name by samplelov on the look of adoration (1049562 Records Dk)

    Local Album The Look of Adoration captures Samplelov’s unqiue combination of relaxed sun-bleached beats, and vocals that bravely confess, testify, and yes, adore.

13. 33′33″ Again by Brown Dog on I Thought I Was Gonna Dance (self released)

    Local The song intro’s incidental grace stirs the band, who then raise up a brokedown palace, its floors lacqeured with buttery pedal steel.

14. 36′35″ Mr. Gima by Lizzy Dutton on See It All (self released)

    Local 2025 saw a wave of sophisticated East Bay chamber song and Dutton is an uncommonly nimble architect, with melodic/harmonic sensitivity that makes each turn of the song a captivating selection of ivories.

15. 41′22″ grass mouth by above me on above me (Dandy Boy)

    Local I ran into Bobby from Dandy Boy and he was stoked on an upcoming release from one of the Blue Ocean guys and I was like oh hell yeah and then I heard it and yep, he was right again.

16. 45′43″ Mercurial by Pillowprince on pretty, baby! (Dune Altar)

    Local If Olivia Lee’s previous project Let’s Talk flew her vocals over vast planes, Pillowprince unravels a glorious narrative line, even as the chorus crests with “unfathomable form.”

17. 48′32″ Well's Gone Dry (Sucker Crush) by Free Key Choir on Live - Vol. 1 (self released)

    Local Sucker Crush’s original recording was a personal appeal for rest and care when all vital energies are depleted; but here rendered in the many voices of the Free Key Choir, the well positively overfloweth. Free Key Choir is an immense presence in the vicinty.

18. 51′32″ 1999 (cherry) by figure eight on S/T (cherub dream)

    Local No one stirs the storm or stands still in its eye like this band, they riff right up to the edge and then drop you far into singer Abby’s bottomless height.

19. 54′43″ Salute Deez Nuts by Piss Mist on Piss Mist / Wrinkled Rat Split (self released)

    Local Punk with metal characteristics: hardcore but the lead guitar laces the track, channeling the vocalist’s rage, there was no better summary of our failing, reactionary institutions than “blah blah blah blah.”

20. 57′23″ The Shape's Gonna Shift My Way by Anna Hillburg on Dangerously Impressionable (self released)

    Local Hillburg is no stranger to anthems of self-actualization, but the luminescent synths of the Dangerously Impressionable EP suggest the shift is danced out of you.