Bandcamp, the popular music streaming and merchandise platform, in February opened an office in downtown Oakland. Considered an artist-friendly alternative, or at least supplement, to streaming services such as Spotify, it’s the city’s highest-profile music industry arrival in recent memory. Attached to the office is a record shop lodged within a small concert venue.
The third installment of “Bandcamp Presents,” a free monthly show series, features Oakland five-piece Club Night. The group has a restless, springy energy reminiscent of the chiming effervescence of 2000s indie-rock: zigzagging melodies, stardust keys and, from front-person Joshua Bertram, an ecstatic yawp. Club Night emerged with a cassette in 2017, and their Bandcamp show Friday, Apr. 5 marks the release of debut album What Life on Tiny Engines.
Locally, Club Night have a unique profile: Their sound is not one that’s particularly associated with Oakland, but they have close ties to the DIY scene. Without much label machinery, they’ve also earned note in many of the national music publications that habitually overlook the Bay Area. Perhaps most surprisingly, Club Night’s buzz has not whisked them to Los Angeles. But in a new alignment, the group’s apparently preferred streaming platform is now based in Oakland.
