With South by Southwest leading much of independent music to converge in Austin later this month, tons of bands are hitting the road. All of them, it would seem, are playing in the San Francisco Bay Area in March. Even if you aren’t going to SXSW this year, you can still catch plenty of buzzed-about acts, like Thurston Moore’s noisy new band Chelsea Light Moving, or the experimental electronic pop of Autre Ne Veut. Also touring are Veronica Falls, bringing top-notch jangle pop to the Rickshaw Stop, and Ducktails, the solo project of Real Estate guitarist Matt Mondanile.
Things are a bit quieter on the local front — what with the many bands gone on Austin-bound tours — but there are still notable highlights. Led by Hether Fortune (also of Blasted Canyons), Oakland’s Wax Idols is celebrating the release of Discipline & Desire this month; the album’s coming in April on the always-reliable Slumberland Records. Meanwhile, Cruel Summer has been wowing our writers for over a year now, and the band’s prepping for the release of its debut EP.
Enjoy the podcast and then go see some shows!
About the bands:
Veronica Falls — “Teenage”
Headlining the Rickshaw Stop with Brilliant Colors and Golden Grrrls on March 26