Five local shows over the next two weeks
By Dustin Lothspeich
Buddy Banter, Future Crooks, Mini Death, Dictator at Soda Bar
Saturday, Jan. 3 | 8:30 p.m. | $5
If you resolved to see more indie rock in the new year, this show will put you on the right track. Buddy Banter make a huge sound for just three guys — as well as some of the most infectious power fuzz rock melodies around. Future Crooks are no slouches either. Their recent album, “Future Crooks in Paradise,” is a punk pop powerhouse with old school emo leanings. This is the place to be after the NYE hangover subsides.
California X, Happy Diving, Causers at The Hideout
Monday, Jan. 12 | 9 p.m. | $10
With an upcoming album (“Nights in the Dark”) on the way, California X have made quite the name for themselves on the strength of their 2013 self-titled debut. Chock full of thick, luscious, fuzz-pop riffs a la Dinosaur Jr. and Superchunk, this Hadley, Massachusetts, quartet is on the way up — which most likely makes this intimate venue one of the smallest places you’ll ever be able to catch them at.
The New Kinetics, Schitzophonics, Gloomsday, The Cardielles at The Casbah
Thursday, Jan. 15 | 8:30 p.m. | $6
This show at that infamous, grimy club on Kettner Boulevard will be a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am vintage rock show. The New Kinetics, Schitzophonics and The Cardielles are all local authorities on ’60s-inspired rock — while Gloomsday, a noise/doom/pop duo, somehow coax some of the heaviest chest-rattling sounds out of a drum set and a guitar, serve up a slice of thick riff pie. Make no mistake: These bands will have you jumping around The Casbah like birthday party kids in a bouncy castle.
San Diego Freak Out feat. Wild Wild Wets, Burning Palms, Max Pain and the Groovies, The Swift Beats, Slow White, Moonshine, Sixties Guns at The Casbah
Friday, Jan. 16 | 8:30 p.m. | $8 advance/$10 day of
Calling all freaks! The San Diego Freak Out returns to The Casbah, which is curated by Mike Turi of Wild Wild Wets (who are coincidentally releasing their new album “14th Floor” at the show), and will be the fifth incarnation of the appropriately titled show. It promises some of the most far-out, psych rock bands in the San Diego music scene — all who seem to play delightfully updated twists on the sounds of The Soft Machine, The 13th Floor Elevators, and The Velvet Underground. Trippy, man.
(Photo by Adrian Carmona/AC Photography)
Glass Spells, Flaggs, Shady Francos, Tape Waves, Kooties at The Merrow
Friday, Jan 16 | 7 p.m. | $7
Last year, Glass Spells dropped their excellent debut EP, “Desperate Love,” and breathed some exciting new life into the typically dreary electro/goth genre. The deliriously hard-edged disco punk trio has been making waves ever since, with both local radio stations and blogs praising the group as one of the top San Diego groups to watch in 2015. Here’s your chance.
—Contact Dustin Lothspeich at [email protected].
