San Francisco Blog

Put down your Stop Making Sense DVD tonight: Architecture in Helsinki, 8 at Bimbo's 365 Club. $16.
"Architecture in Helsinki's music is art-pop with its heart in the early 1980s, when new wave bands countered the reductionism of punk with full-tilt eclecticism. The band can't help echoing Talking Heads, which dipped into many of the same styles, and when Mr. Bird pushed his voice into a cartoonish rasp to be answered by Kellie Sutherland belting clear melodies, there was an unmistakable echo of the B-52s." --New York Times

They're an indie band, you perv: The Long Blondes, 9 at Popscene. $12.
"Put simply, this is fantasy pop, performed to perfection. And with a music scene awash with Monkeys copyists, such gritty realism is a welcome relief. The Long Blondes have had enough of life-kicking around takeaway trays on the streets of Planet Earth. Instead, they've made a record that's in a world of its own." --NME


More fun than the Trail of Tears: Social Studies, 9:30 at Hemlock Tavern. $6.
"The Deli Magazine called Social Studies "extremely talented and relentlessly inventive songwriters. Whether it's trumpet accompaniment or four part chant-like harmony, Social Studies' songs often go in unexpected and wonderful directions." Never ones to slow down, Social Studies is already working on their first full length album and will head out in May 2007 on their first tour of the Pacific Northwest." -- SocialStudiesBand.com

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