EP Reviews! Broadway Calls! Pepper! Wavves!

Sometimes full lengths are a drag. Not to mention, how many bands have put a song on a full length only to never play it beyond recording it? That shit is a waste. Here are some new EPs worth checking out.

Broadway Calls Toxic Kids



I interviewed Broadway Calls for SFist last year and in that interview, singer/guitarist Ty Vaughan mentioned that he had been listening to "lots of Green Day" as he was prepping songs for an upcoming release which at that time, appeared to be a full length. Apparently Broadway Calls didn't feel like waiting to put out a full length and decided to hit us with six of those "heavy on the Green Day" tracks via an ep entitled Toxic Kids. Vaughan wasn't lying when he alluded to Green Day being an influence on these newer songs, but what stands out the most about this EP is the raw, grimey production which is a far cry from the band's last full-length, Good Views, Bad News. Toxic Kids, with its gritty production, falls much more in line with the bands live sound and aesthetic than the super-slick Good Views, Bad News (but that's not saying we aren't fans of that record or anything). Stand out tracks include the opener, "I'm So Ready To Be Done With My Twenties" (a sentiment I found myself thinking when I left that decade of my life behind) as well as the peppy, upbeat title track, "Toxic Kids". The band just left on a month long tour which will take them out to The Fest in Florida, so check their website (broadwaycalls.tumblr.com) for tour dates and go get your pogo on.

Pepper Stitches



One of my best friends turned me onto Pepper about seven years ago. He and I are both Sublime fans (make all the fun you want, we give no fucks) and I want to say some girl he was hanging out floated him their first full length, which we found appealing as Sublime fans. Pepper were a solid reggae/ska band, nothing more, nothing less. I ended up getting wasted with the band in Atlanta when their tour played the downstairs room of the Masquerade (I was upstairs drum teching for Unearth). Their latest release, Stitches, is five songs of catchy ska/reggae that will be huge with college kids nationwide. The highlight of the ep would definitely be "Drunk Girl", which is an homage to that all too common party occurrence known as inebriated women. "Wake Up" lends itself well to some epic pogo-ing and sees vocalist Kaleo Wassmen doing his best Brad Nowell (and doing him justice, might I add). Stitches sort of trails off as it ends (the slowish "Lonely" and acoustic version of "Mirror" don't hold up as well against the ep's earlier tracks), but overall, fans of fun, reggae, summertime, partying, and bonfires are going to be REALLY into this ep.

Wavves Life Sux



At first, I wasn't really a fan of Wavves. That first lp was brutal on my ears and I was somewhat jealous that their singer/guitarist Nathan Williams was dating Bethanny from Best Coast. I saw Wavves open for Best Coast and even that particular live show left a little to be desired. On a whim, I decided to check out the King Of The Beach record and was totally blown away. I don't know what I hadn't been hearing before, but Wavves were fucking awesome. Life Sux dropped last month and has picked up where King Of The Beach left off and then some. Wavves mastermind Nathan Williams has perfected blending beachy surf rock with noisy pop punk so much that MTV can't stop using his songs in the background of Jersey shore almost weekly. "I Wanna Be Dave Grohl", the ep's first single, is one of those anthemic songs that lends itself well to epic car singalongs and serious public transportation air drumming. Life Sux features collaborations with Best Coast and Fucked Up, the former being laden with cute, female background vocals and the latter sounding basically like a Wavves song sans collaborators, but we all know Fucked Up blows so no one should be surprised. Life Sux will be all over several "best of 2011" lists, so cop this shit now because its that good.

Reggae Hit LA Then SF: The Aggrolites, Peelander Z, and Brothers of Brazil At Slim's on 9/15/11

When I walked into Slim's the night of September 16th, there couldn't have been more than 75 people in the club waiting for the show to start. I couldn't believe it. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands currently touring, and usually tend to pack whatever venue they come through in the Bay Area. However, it was still early and I didn't completely write off the taste and nightlife preferences of San Francisco and meandered around Slim's waiting for the show to begin. I strive to keep myself from being jaded and cynical and besides, I got to see The Aggrolites that night. Why be in a bad mood over the poor taste of others?

The opening act for Thursday's show was a band called Brothers of Brazil. There really wasn't anything that could have prepared me for them...



The two man group were a combination of Bossa Nova, Billy Bragg-esque folk, the furious punk attitude of the Sex Pistols, something French that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and a healthy dose of witty, pop culture inspired humor. As they kicked off their set, drawing heavily from their PunkaNova, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I almost felt like I was staring at a strobe light, unable to really process exactly what these two crazy looking dudes were doing onstage. As the set went on, it became apparent that the Brothers of Brazil were brilliant. They managed to blend several very unique musical styles and couple that with a very natural, humorous onstage banter, making for one of the greatest half hours of live music I have seen all year. As the set went on, I learned that they are actually brothers and from Brazil, so Brothers of Brazil isn't just a clever name. These guys were hilarious, captivating, and played incredibly refreshing material. I highly recommended catching these guys as well as picking up PunkaNova.










Then Peelander Z happened...



As Slim's began to fill up with people, I should have known something was up when I saw these random punker looking guys and girl walking around in neon-colored, leopard-print clothing lurking around the merch tables. What actually went down was mind-blowing. Peelander-Z play "Japanese Action Comic Punk", which I can assure after Thursday's set is far much more than just a unique subgenre of punk rock. Musically, Peelander-Z play fast, aggressive punk that at times is reminiscent of Bad Brains, but on copious amounts of nitrous oxide. The music isn't really the star of the Peelander Z's show though. The band has one of the most hilarious inactive live shows I have ever seen. The band would introduce each song by holding up handwritten signs (as seen in the photo above", hand out drumsticks and metal dog bowls to be struck, animal costumes, a crowd-wide limbo game, and bowling the guitar player bowled with the bassist. Words don't even begin to do this justice. While Brothers of Brazil played an amazing set to a crowd who still stayed back near the bar, Peelander Z made participating in their show mandatory. Even people who weren't loving their music, Peenlander Z had everyone in the room at the very least laughing and smiling with them. I can't say for certain that the magic translates onto their recorded albums, but you absolutely have to see Peelander Z live. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I took a lot of pictures, so bare with me.




















The Aggrolites



By the time Peelander Z had finished their set, I seriously wondered what The Aggrolites were going to do to top that set. Granted, both bands are very different at what they bring to the table live, but even with that taken into consideration, following up Peelander Z would be a daunting undertaking for any band, even another prop heavy live band, such as Gwar. Doubt never should have entered my mind. The Aggrolites not only eclipsed Peelander Z, but delivered one of the greatest live sets San Francisco has seen all year. The band blazed through an hour and a half of stop on a dime first wave ska meets rocksteady with a tinge of soul reggae, drawing from all four of their studio records. In addition to their own material, The Aggrolites brought the house down with two covers, The Temptations "Ain't To Proud To Beg" and the Beatles "Don't Let Me Down". The Aggrolites put their own spin on these classics and managed to make them their own while doing both songs justice. The band is touring in support of Unleashed Vol. I, a live album that dropped earlier this month and based on how good the live show was, this may be the first live record worth picking up in a long time. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands out right now, and got an entire room of random college kids, skinheads, and punkers dancing and singing along. If you are a fan of outstanding music, The Aggrolites need to be on your list of bands to see. They're on tour through the end of October. Go out and dance.