FIDLAR – “Max Can’t Surf” video

Loveable L.A. garage punks FIDLAR have a new video for “Max Can’t Surf,” one of the best tracks from their self-titled debut record, built on classic-rock riffs with lyrics about Del Taco and a dude with no balance. The video follows band members on an acid trip via interstellar skateboards that look like the hoverboards from Back to the Future II. Too fun! See more pics from their Amoeba performance here, and read my interview with the band here. They’re also going on tour with Wavves, whose upcoming Afraid of Heights is due March 26 and it up for preorder; check ’em out together at the Echo March 20 and The Smell April 21.

The Soft Moon – “Insides” video

Oakland-based The Soft Moon aka Luis Vasquez has a video for “Insides,” a standout from last year’s darkwave release Zeros. Really nice effects on this, sort of looks like a graphic novel streamed through a projector and fits the gloomy nature of the song. It also puts the shy-seeming Vasquez in the center of the video, as does the song for an artist who primarily lets the music do the talking but who steps out of the shadows on this track.

LA’s FIDLAR ripped through most of their new self-titled album at Amoeba Hollywood Jan. 24 with hardly a pause for breath.

From the outset, when they broke into the four-chord, “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone”-style stomp of “Stoked and Broke,” things were loud, loud, loud. That continued through the next couple of songs on their album, the breakneck-speed “White on White” and quirky surf riffery of “No Waves.” It was a shame that you could hear barely a word of vocals from the band and its two singers, Zac Caper and Elvis Kuehn, whose true-to-life detailing of being in your mid-20s, in a band, without a proper job and getting drunk every night is a big part of FIDLAR’s appeal. Musically, though, the band never faltered, inducing trance with the looped opening notes of “Whore” before smashing through the song’s nasty, Sabbathy punk rock. Things came through loud-and-clear enough for the band’s shout along chorus to closer “Cheap Beer,” echoed by the sizable audience: “I! Drink! Cheap! Beer! So! What! Fuck! You!”

The show was a perfect example of FIDLAR’s ethos (“Fuck it Dawg, Life’s a Risk,” is what their name stands for). They don’t play the volume they should. They don’t wait to make sure their vocals are loud enough or fuss with the sound guy. They just play. And the kids went wild.

Alexander Spit – “Artesia” (ft. Action Bronson)

Like most with the travel bug, my desire to visit faraway places takes a backseat to a lack of funds or time to go anywhere. So I’m glad to have this new song by SF rapper Alexander Spit, who along with Action Bronson, “got the summer planned” and takes us on a train across Europe to eat, drink and flirt around the continent, ending up in Queens and Boise. I love how the end goes all Blade Runner cyberdelic with robot voice effects and eerie keyboards. It takes you on a trip, even if you’re just chillin’ in Artesia, California! His album A Breathtaking Trip to That Otherside is out Jan. 29 on Decon. Check out the recently released "That's Spit" as well.

Alexander Spit - Artesia feat. Action Bronson by Decon

Warm Soda Announces Debut LP and Tour

Great power-pop isn’t easy to come by, and Warm Soda spray out fuzzy guitar confection like it’s been bottled up and shaken — how’s that for an overblown metaphor? The Oakland band’s debut LP, Someone for You, is due March 26 on Castle Face Records. Their tour kicks off Jan. 25 at Oakland’s Night Light; they’ll be at SF’s Hemlock Feb. 1, Hidden Temple Feb. 16 and LA’s The Smell Feb. 20. Check out all of their dates on Facebook, and hear their song “Reaction” below.

It’s the first big release date of the year, with tons of much-anticipated albums hitting shelves.

Album Picks:

FIDLAR - FIDLAR

CD $12.98

LP $19.98

FIDLAR’s long-awaited debut album is a Pabst-soaked party record with strong songwriting anchoring its punk attitude. Pulling from hardcore, surf rock and pop-punk, and with the immediacy of The Clash’s first record, the foursome, made up of singer/guitarist Zac Carper, Brandon Schwartzel (bass), and brothers Elvis Kuehn (guitar) and Max Kuehn (drums), sing about being young and dumb and getting fucked up in songs with names like “Cheap Beer” (the chorus of which consists of the shouted lyrics “I DRINK CHEAP BEER SO WHAT FUCK YOU!”). But all the funny lyrics in the world wouldn’t mean a thing if the songs themselves didn’t captivate you, and they do, across FIDLAR’s 14 tracks. There’s nary a hint of cynical sneer, and though they play with sloppy punk abandon, their hooks are tight as a six-pack ring. FIDLAR sing about who they are and what they do, whether that’s waking, baking, skating in mechanical hedonism on the ferocious “Wake Bake Skate” or reflecting that said young hedonism can “kind of suck,” on the exhausted-sounding closing track. That’s a telling moment — for all of FIDLAR’s gleeful celebration, the record’s honed hooks are the sound of very hard work, and it pays off in spades.

FIDLAR's long-awaited debut album is a Pabst-soaked party record with strong songwriting anchoring its punk attitude. Pulling from hardcore, surf rock and pop-punk, and with the immediacy of The Clash's first record, the foursome, made up of singer/guitarist Zac Carper, Brandon Schwartzel (bass), and brothers Elvis Kuehn (guitar) and Max Kuehn (drums), sing about being young and dumb and getting fucked up. But all the funny lyrics in the world wouldn't mean a thing if the songs themselves didn't captivate you, and they do, across FIDLAR's 14 tracks. There's nary a hint of cynical sneer, and though they play with sloppy punk abandon, their hooks are tight as a six-pack ring. FIDLAR sing about who they are and what they do, whether that's waking, baking, skating in mechanical hedonism or reflecting that said young hedonism can "kind of suck."

The band has been selling its debut record at shows for some time now, but it's officially out in stores Jan. 22. FIDLAR is playing Amoeba SF Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. and Amoeba Hollywood Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. They're also playing a release show at LA Fort Jan. 22 with Pangea, Meat Market and Spaceships. I caught up with Carper as the band was set to play SF. WARNING: This will be a bit NSFW (Not Suitable for Wussies). There's poop involved.

PST: Fidlar has some of the best song titles in recent memory (such as “Cheap Beer,” “Stoked and Broke”). Do those usually come first before the lyrics and sort of guide them, or do you guys kind of joke and throw stuff around to see what sticks once the songs are written?

Carper: It kinda matters. Sometimes the title will just pop out and we’ll think of a chorus with the lyrics and base it around that. Sometimes we’ll jam it out and think of a topic to sing about. I remember with cheap beer, I said “I dunno, I just wanna write a song that says I drink cheap beer so what fuck you,” and someone said “why don’t we just yell that?” Sometimes we’ll just hear someone talking and say something funny and we’ll use that. It’s all a collaborative process and super fuckin’ fun.