Ian Birnam/Staff

If you would like to see live performances and interviews of the three bands down below, please check out our multimedia page.

Now in its sixth year, the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is once again about to take over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Much like you don’t need to be reminded about the fog that will roll in around late afternoon, you don’t need a preview guide telling you about how rad Vampire Weekend is or how amazing it is that you have the chance to see Paul McCartney. Rather, this brief preview is meant to bring some smaller bands to your attention, three of which hail from the Bay Area. Try to catch these bands in between chowing down on pastrami cheese fries and dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Soft White Sixties

When you hear the term “Working Class Soul,” what do you think of? Perhaps the funk and jive of soul mixed in with some old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll? This combination in conjunction with a dose of pop sensibility gives an idea of what The Soft White Sixties bring to the table. The San Francisco five-piece have been playing numerous stints, including this year’s SXSW festival, where they’ve been performing tracks from Get Right., their upcoming LP. Album opener “City Lights” melds fuzzy keyboard riffs and guitar licks reminiscent of the Black Keys as vocalist Octavio Genera melts through the wall of sound. If the keys and six-strings make up the wall, though, then Ryan Noble’s bodacious bass is the foundation, fortified by the catchy drum beats from Joey Bustos. Those in need of some gritty pop tunes can catch The Soft White Sixties opening up the Lands End stage on Saturday.

Midi Matilda

If anyone has told you the spirit of the ’80s is dead, tell him or her to listen to the dance-inducing rhythms of Midi Matilda. With a nostalgic flair and silky, smooth beats, the duo of Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grime have formed a partnership made in electro-pop heaven. After they both graduated from Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, Kilborn and Grime released their EP, The Red Light District, and are planning on releasing a debut album in the near future. Tracks like “Ottawa” combine melodious synth riffs with harmonious “ooohs” as Kilborn’s vocals swim gracefully alongside them. Others consist of falsetto swoons and blaring horns mixed with soothing keyboard swells, such as on “Day Dreams.” If you’re an early riser and manage to get to the festival when it begins, the groovy duo will be opening up the Twin Peaks stage this Friday.

The Mother Hips

It is truly a rarity for a band to say they’ve been around for 10 years. It’s even more surprising to hear a band has stayed together for more than 20, such a statement that Bay Area folk-rock band The Mother Hips can confirm with pride. The band released their eighth record, Behind Beyond, this year, continuing their venture through the dusty trails of bluesy California twang. Not all tracks shine bright through the Bay fog, though. “Song For JB” serves as a memorial to friends of the band who have passed away in recent years, including Wilco member Jay Bennett, whom the song is named after. Other tracks have a much lighter tone, such as the hip-swaying narration of “Toughie.” Fans old and new of these veterans of rock can watch them take over the Panhandle stage at 6:05 p.m. this Saturday.

Atlas Genius

Other than porting over the delectable chocolate Tim Tam cookies to the United States. via Pepperidge Farm, Australia has also been successful in popularizing its rock bands in the States. Almost everyone has heard of Jet — you know you remember “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” — and Powderfinger had their time here as well. However, the latest band to make it from down under are the brothers Keith and Michael Jeffery, better known as Atlas Genius. The duo first hit it big in this hemisphere with the swirling string plucks of “Trojans” but have become increasingly popular this year with their debut album, When It Was Now. Other tracks to watch out for this weekend include the lofty guitar strums and bass-toned synth of “Symptoms” and the blaring high-energy velocity of “Electric.” Sway away with the Aussie duo and their tourmates at the Twin Peaks stage at 2:10 p.m. this Saturday.

Ian Birnam covers music. Contact him at ibirnam@dailycal.org.

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Damian Ortellado/Staff

Alright, let’s get one thing straight. The Fox’s sound system needs some fixing up, since all three of the bands at Wednesday’s show suffered from it. The vocals of all three bands varied in audio levels — School of Seven Bells being hit the hardest — and it made for a less exciting show.

Thankfully, the electric performances of the night made up for the venue’s poor vocal mixing. Atlas Genius opened up the night with a stunning set that consisted of more than just their three song EP. The band played tracks that they said would appear on their full length album, which is one to look forward to if their performance was any indication. If Foster the People grew some balls and varied up their sound so that each track actually stood out on its own, that would almost be as good as what Atlas Genius sounded like. Although they started out a little stiff, the band quickly warmed up to the crowd, sharing some of that Australian flair and charm. The set was short, sweet, and to the point, as the band concluded with their single “Trojans.”

School of Seven Bells should have taken a note from Atlas Genius in the brevity of the set. While the semi-gothic, electronic rock band started out strong, their set felt much longer than it should’ve been.  With the songs starting to meld into each other, the set quickly become monotonous, especially since they were only delaying the main act from coming on.

After School of Seven Bells left the stage, Silversun Pickups finally graced the Fox. Opening with “Skin Graph,” the opening track on their new album Neck of the Woods, the band then jumped into the dark, fast-paced rhythms of “The Royal We” from their sophomore album Swoon.  Unfortunately, after their third song in, when the crowd was riled up and ready for more, singer/guitarist Brian Aubert’s guitar rig suddenly died out. While the stage crew frantically tried to fix the faulty electronics, the band soothed the crowd with a guitar-less rendition of “Three Seed,” which is a rare track for the band to play live.

The guitar rig was fixed shortly after the band finished the song, and they continued to romp through most of the new album. Some tracks from Swoon were thrown in as well such as “Substitution” and “Catch and Release,” but the majority of the set was dedicated to the new album. As the band left the frenzied crowd with the combo of “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye,” the band was more than welcomed back for an encore.

The band closed with the upbeat classic “Well Thought Out Twinkles.” Although they didn’t dissapoint in terms of performance and energy, there was a lack of the usual crowd interaction that the band — especially Aubert — is known for. There definitely was some interaction, just not as much as they usually do. Perhaps the double opening acts forced the band to rush? Regardless, it’s a minor complaint, as the band still gave a phenomenal performance. If you didn’t see them last Wednesday, it might be awhile until you get another chance, due to the visible pregnancy of  bassist Nikki Monninger.  When they do come back, though — pregnant bassist or not — the band will surely please the crowd again in a display their trademark distorted riffs and melodic synth grooves.

Ian Birnam is the lead music critic. Contact Ian at ibirnam@dailycal.org

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Kira Walker/Staff

It’s been a while since the U.S. got hooked on an Australian band. There was the Jet phase — how can you still not bob your head to “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” — and even Powderfinger made some noise for a while. There seems to have been a lapse in communication with the folks from Down Undah. However, the connection has now been reformed by the trio known as Atlas Genius.  Although they only have one EP out right now, the band has been steadily gaining popularity through their catchy, hip-swaying single “Trojans.” This Tuesday, the trio will play at The Fox Theater as one of the openers for Silversun Pickups.

Before they were opening for Silversun Pickups, the trio (made up of two brothers and a friend) would casually jam every week. “We are brothers with an Englishman on keys. We met Darren at a show in Adelaide. We realized pretty quickly that we all shared the same passion for music and music production,” said vocalist and guitarist Keith Jeffery in a recent interview. “It started out with us all getting together every Wednesday. Once a week, we would spend the day putting different sounds together. Just enjoying music really.”

The relaxed mindset Atlas Genius brings only reinforces their standing as a band; they sincerely come off as just a few guys who really just like what they’re doing. The level of popularity that their single, “Trojans,” has reached was unexpected by the band. Jeffery said that they uploaded the song online one day and hoped for the best. Since then, the track has been circulating beyond Australia, getting numerous plays on the Bay Area’s Live 105 radio station, for example.

Now with their feet planted in the music scene, the band has had nothing but a good time during their recent tour. “It’s been great, having people know the lyrics and singing them back to you is an epic feeling,” said Jeffery  when asked about their touring experience. “We are all huge fans of [Silversun Pickups], so we have no doubt it’ll be a fun next few months.” Although Silversun Pickups and Atlas Genius come from different areas, both bands share a similar love of ambient keyboards and swirling guitar effects. However, the distinction lies in the strings, as Atlas Genius prefers crisp, semi-clean guitar tones as opposed to the usual fuzzy, distorted guitar riffage that Silversun Pickups generally apply to their songs.

For example, “Trojans” forgoes any major use of distortion throughout the song, slowly building up the slightly twangy riffs with each passing chorus. “‘Trojans’ is a song [in which] we wanted to contain this subtle musical ‘evolution’ throughout its three and half minutes,” said Jeffery when asked about a breakdown of their single. “It has a bunch of different elements that come in and out during the song. The lyrics are a ‘stream-of-consciousness.’ They represented what was floating around in my head at that point in time.”

The trio also seem to take most of their song inspiration from Adelaide, their hometown in South Australia. Both of their other songs on the EP were drawn initially from places in Adelaide. Jeffery stated that the lyrics of their drum and bass groove “Back Seat” was inspired from a street that the band would frequently walk down when leaving a particular nightclub in the area. Similarly, the song “Symptoms” has a root in their city as well. “It’s a story about the haunting feeling a place can have when you return to it after a period of time,” said Jeffery.“We had this amazing beach at the end of our street in Adelaide that we would spend our summers at. The song happened when I knew we were going to be moving from that house.”

Atlas Genius is the perfect example of how the internet can assist bands in finding their audiences. Just through putting a track online, the band was able to amass fans on the other side of the globe. With online indie music bundle providers like Humble Bundle and Music Rage, the gap between bands and listeners is shrinking. Although Jeffery said that they are having trouble finding a good of a cup of tea in the states, the trio seems to have relaxed the physical distance from their home continent by bringing Adelaide along with them through their musical adventures.

“Every song has a different path to completion,” said Jeffery. “We treat each song as a little journey. You never really know where they will take you.”

Ian Birnam is the lead music critic. Contact Ian at ibirnam@dailycal.org

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