Mesh Magazine

Capsule has been putting on excellent street fairs for the past several years, where I’ve picked up some cool gear (for cheap) from local designers and retailers, including a Nate Van Dyke bitter monkey t-shirt and a Lomo fisheye camera. They’ve got even more stuff for the ladies, lots of clothes and accessories. This year, Capsule is once again taking over Hayes Valley, around the Hayes Valley Green with 140 clothing and accessory designers, lifestyle product designers and graphic artists. And for the first time, there will be live music as part of the event. All that, plus right around the corner, RAG SF is having a sidewalk sale featuring even more local designers.

For those of you running, walking or drinking the Bay to Breakers this Sunday, we’ve got an unofficial after party for you to check out as our friends at The Bay Bridged present The Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival closing party at Thee Parkside with performances from folk-rock duo Pillows, the danceable indie-pop of The Old-Fashioned Way, Miguel Z. (of Harbours), the eccentric pop of Birds & Batteries plus Merch. All that plus a barbecue on the patio, drink specials and free Trader Joe’s snacks.

Pillows
The Old-Fashioned Way
Miguel Z. (of The Harbours)
Birds & Batteries
Merch

Sunday, May 20th
Thee Parkside (1600 17th St at Wisconsin)
1pm-6pm
FREE!!! All Ages!!!

As The Herms prepare for their Mission Creek Music Festival show tonight @ The Rickshaw Stop (with openers Citay, Leyna Noel & Jessica Pratt), we present this interview with them from the Mesh archives.

Photo by Irja Tannlund
By B. Acevedo

Bon Scott sang “it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock n’ roll,” a phrase that most bands only mouth the words to. The Herms, however, live it, slugging away over the last couple of years in a city often criticized for its apathy and disinterest. The Herms (Matt Lutz (guitar, vocals), Alex Tuzin(bass), Ryan Mulroney(drums), Matt Gereghty(keyboards), haven’t let the jadedness of burned out hipsters and scenesters slow their roll. The band laughs it off and has charmingly won the city over with solid music, a lot of hard work and a great big smile.

At the Emeryville Studio picked out for the photo shoot, the members of The Herms casually arrive, are in a jovial mood and joke about a variety of subjects in their opening gambit, while our photographer readies her equipment. Lutz is The Herms frontman and clearly its spokesman while Tuzin and Gereghty remain fairly quiet. Mulroney works through the first batch of photos mimicking the prehistorical squirrel from “Ice Age.” It’s quite a sight and he slowly pulls the others into trying their own versions of the look for a couple of shots. They banter back and forth about animal attacks from sharks to platypuses with remarkable attention to detail, usually reserved for commentary on “When Animals Attack.” As The Herms were gearing up for the release of its album, Record Machine, released this month, Mesh sat down for a few minutes to catch up with the band.
(more…)

…boo-fucking-hoo.

I had a roommate in college who would come home most weekend nights, plastered, as we all were, and blast Track Star’s Communication Breaks in his room, which was directly beneath mine. That was fine, it was one of my favorite albums. Unfortunately, the last track on the album, “West Coast Weather”, features a guitar riff that repeats for about a half an hour, maybe more. My roommate would be passed out and unwakeable and would usually lock his door, so I’d be stuck listening to that until 3:30 in the morning. Rad.

Despite this, Communication Breaks remains one of my favorite albums, and the now broken-up Track Star one of my favorite bands. The band mixed crunchy, fuzzed out and sometimes jangly guitars and quiet/loud dynamics mixed with brilliant pop songwriting and rock ‘n’ roll angst to create songs, though simple in arrangement, that sounded fresh and new with each listen. They channeled joy and fury in a way that made them stand out from other late ’90s, lo-fi rock bands.

Track Star’s Matt Troy, Wyatt Cusick and Brian Girgus got back together for a couple of shows at the end of April, which I unfortunately missed due only to the fact that I was 3,000 miles away. Fortunately for me, and you, the band plays tonight at Cafe Du Nord as part of the Mission Creek Music & Arts Fest with Troy’s current band, Calling All Monsters, Dear and The Headlights & Vedera.

$12, 21+

With the pack of clowns running for president taking over TV news these days, seemed like a good time to re-run this article from Matt Gonzalez on instant runoff voting, which could give voters a real choice, by letting them vote for the candidate they support, without worrying about throwing away their vote.

UNTIL WHEN? Democrats ask the Greens to delay party building—but for how long? By Matt Gonzalez

For the last three years we’ve heard it over and over: the Green Party spoiled the election for Al Gore and helped elect George W. Bush. But the question that rarely gets asked is what have the Democrats done about it? You’d think that since Bush won all of the electoral votes in Florida without winning a majority of votes cast, that the Democrats would have spent the last three years pushing for majority elections so that what happened in Florida couldn’t be repeated. But they haven’t.

This is odd given how relatively easy it would be to fix this problem. In the event that no candidate for President obtains a majority of the vote, you could have a runoff between the top two vote getters. Such a runoff could take place a month later (as is done in state and municipal elections around the country) or it could take place the same day using new voting technology to implement instant runoff voting (IRV), also known as “rank choice” voting. By allowing a person to vote for their first, second, and third choices, in one trip to the ballot box, you gather their candidate preferences thus allowing for a same-day runoff, if necessary. IRV has worked to elect the President of Ireland, the Mayor of London, and for a variety of offices throughout Australia. But interestingly, the Democrats haven’t pushed this reform. In fact, the Democratic Party recently opposed Measure 1 in Alaska that would have called for IRV in all Alaska elections, including the upcoming presidential election of 2004. Imagine that.
(more…)

Here’s tonight’s lineup for the Mission Creek Music & Arts Fest:
Rickshaw Stop- Rykarda Parasol
Start: 8:00 pm
ATA: Opening Screening (BYOMV: Bring your own music video)
Start: 8:00 pm
Makeout Room- Local Stars
Start: 9:00 pm
12 Galaxies: White Tigers (So So Many)
Start: 9:00 pm
The Argus: Mariee Sioux
Start: 9:00 pm
The Eagle- Extra Action Marching Band
Start: 9:00 pm
Hemlock Tavern - CLUB CHUCKLES
Start: 9:30PM

They’ve got lots more events coming up over the next week and a half. For more info visit mcmf.org.

Pracitically jumping off the Web pages of Suicide Girls (& Boys) tomorrow night, The Ant Show Presents the third annual Boxer Rebellion Fashion show @ The Red Devil Lounge. Work from fashion designer Vintage Joy, painter/illustrator Cara Barnard, multimedia artist Kristin Farr and graffiti artist Buder will be on display and music from:

The B-Cups
Stiletta
Sputterdoll
8Past
Plus DJs spinning electro-pop
$7
21+

Hotel des Arts hosts its final Painted Rooms opening tomorrow night, as the ambitious indoor mural projects reaches its culmination with rooms from Shepard Fairey, Chor Boogie, Sugarluxe, Pure Evil, Jeremyville, Phase Two, Tricia Choi, The London Police, Peat Wollaeger, Plasticgod and Alayna Magna.

The hallways will also feature new artwork from Vulcan, Chor Boogie, Apex, Casey O’Connell, Nome, Sugarluxe, Tricia Choi, Tim Gaskin, Misk1, Owen Maigret, Yury Frolov, Nicole Buffett, Mark Wasyl, Amandalynn, Alayna Magnan, Jesse Kramer, Down 6, Bradley, Plasticgod, Bask, Tes One, Holly Ellis, Sever, Brendan Carlson, Dame, Dave Flores, Stormie, Fate/Venem, Reyes, Megan Shaffer, Krista Valla, Yutaro Sakai, Chris Kelley, Jessica Cooke and Antonia Kao.

You must RSVP to info [at] startsoma.com to attend.

Dubious, aka Shady McGrady. El Presidente of the New York Mustache May Chapter. El Chingón numero uno.

Back from spring break spent in New York and Boston, there is much Mustache May news to report.

• This year, Los Machos have taken on a new moniker, Los Chingones. All of you brave enough to sport a ’stache this Mustache May are our brothers.
• I visited the offices of a major record label in New York, where I met many of the fine men taking part in this year’s festivities. Quotes from that visit:
• “It’s an honor to meet you.” -from a man who mistakingly believes that I invented Mustache May.
• “You’re the reason my May is ruined. I can’t even look at these guys.” -from the female boss of the office.
• Fund-a-Stache is well under way.
• There have been poems written:
• Smell my moustache / In the morning, I dip it in coffee and breakfast/ In the mid-day, I get some sandwich in there / In the eveningtime, it is dripping with beer suds and hot sauce / Always it is waving in the wind /Always it is flawless and nice /Always it is drawing you near to touch / Give us a kiss, baby - Dubious
• And songs written (to the tune of “That’s Amore”)
• If you want to be free/just like Don Mattingly/grow a mustache
  If you’re stuck in a rut/do like Kurt Vonnegut/grow a mustache
  If the mustache is large/then you know who’s in charge/Los Chingones
  Win a 50-yard dash/while I’m combing my ’stache/Los Chingones
  (just the first verse)

El Presidente, San Francisco Chapter, shaving the beard into a ’stache, April 30, 2007.