San Francisco Blog

Black Lips, 10 at Popscene. $10/12.
“Truth be told, all the talk surrounding the live document Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo has been slightly incredulous. PR firms and Rolling Stone have promoted Black Lips with the impression that they never existed before this album, seemingly unaware that hundreds of kids with flattened soft packs in their jeans and beer-soaked hair already think they’re the greatest band in the world. 2005’s Let It Bloom barraged the eardrums of bored teenagers and self-destructive twentysomething punks stretching from the trash-soaked streets of New Yawk to the chestnut-chalked California desert, and apparently no one outside of zines and maybe one or two internet mags took notice.” --Stylus

Brett Dennen, 9 at the Fillmore. $20.50
“I’ve reached a significant conclusion in my life. I need to quit my day job. What made me realize that was that even though Bret Dennen’s album So Much More was released in late 2006, I am just now getting around to listening to it as he is releasing his follow up EP More So Much More. So my creditors are just going to have to understand I have to spend more time listening to music. The album is lyrically poetic and spiritually reflective. Musically, Dennen is soulful in way very similar to Martin Sexton. The mood of the album balances his personal and political pessimism with a refreshing hopefulness. Sometimes it is almost as if Dennen sees opportunity in his struggles as he muses in the title cut, “I’d rather be stuck up in a tree than tied to it.” --Amber Waves of Twang

Cary Brothers, 9 at Café Du Nord. $12.
“I recommend Who You Are not only as a snapshot of one of the better pop-songwriters making music today in his young prime, but also because when you strip away all the visual media cameos and soundtrack placements; Cary Brothers is one heck of a songwriter—nothing more, and nothing less.” --Sound The Sirens