By Glenn Donaldson

Hippyfuckers – Pink Eye Demo (Self-released)

A random Bandcamp score, the name and cover art caught my eye (a lesson for those of you who are trying to get noticed in the sea of mediocrity out there!). This is snotty savagery, PUNK the way old Texas freaks were punk and a little scary even for the punks who came to see them. The Offenders and Crucifucks spring to mind, but I’d say this is joyous modern stuff with a nasty primitive edge like say Lumpy and the Dumpers. The guitar is noisy like a gas-powered chainsaw hitting aluminum siding. Tapes are sold-out, but you can stream.

Whitney’s Playland – Sunset Sea Breeze (Meritorio)

Spain continues to pillage the SF underground for great pop vinyl releases like this one from ex-Blades of Joy vocalist Inna Showalter and her collaborator George Tarlson. It has elements of pop, folk, and alt-rock, the good stuff, like say Belly or The Breeders. Covering a GBV song is of course something the Breeders did making “Shocker in Gloomtown” alt-radio friendly, but Whitney’s Playland turns “Motor Away” into a gloomy ballad. The songs have rich mid-fi sounds, acoustic guitar, lo-fi string synths, crispy lead melodies coming at you in stereo, a drum machine pounding out a simple rock beat like you might hear on Jesus & Mary Chain’s Automatic. “Tiger By the Tail” is stunning, a ballad with an almost baroque feeling. Inna continues to be one of the more compelling vocalists we have in SF, and this colorful new album will turn some heads.

Blues Lawyer – All in Good Time (Dark Entries)

An odd choice for Dark Entries, who normally stick to darkwave and synths, but lucky me this is (ragin’) full-on guitar pop. They’ve got some Blake Babies and some Small Factory and that hard-to-define Bay Area thing made of Flying Nun and garage pop influences. It’s not “fog pop” and apologies for coming up with that phrase (although it’s miles better than “freak folk”. To whoever coined that: I’ll see you in hell). This band was great from the start doing their own blend of simple pop styles with two complimentary songwriters/vocalists, but they are fully blossoming here, the songs catchier and deeper. On “Make-up”, their voices harmonize on the chorus and honestly it’s giving me chills. If you liked the sadly defunct Mantles or that Idle Ray LP from 2021, you will love this.

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