Crib Notes

STONED ORB: San Francisco’s the Sleepy Sun play music beyond their years.

Is it ever a surprise when a new psychedelic rock band emerges from San Francisco? Mind-altering music might be Northern California’s second-largest export, right after the cash crops budding in Humboldt County. The six fresh-faced twentysomethings who play music as Sleepy Sun — from San Francisco by way of Santa Cruz — are well-acquainted with Northern California’s rich musical history and somewhat criminal agricultural output. Judging by their debut LP, Embrace, they’ve been eating pot brownies and digesting Neil Young guitar solos since grade school.

Calling from a remote cabin in the mountains outside of Tahoe, bassist Jack Allen joked about being pigeonholed as a San Francisco act. “Actually, we’ve been talking about just changing our name to Haight Street Acid Beard,” he says.

Continue reading “Sleepy Sun’s rays of psychedelia shine with confidence”

(Photo by Brett Wilde)

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The Creative Loafing team survived the brutal drive to and from Austin for this year’s South By Southwest festival, kept alive only by gallons of gas station coffee and truck stop tacos.

While we chased down every free meal and drink ticket we could find, we also managed to see a tiny fraction of the 1,900 bands that played this year. Sure, everyone is talking about it today, but we didn’t see Kanye or Metallica. We’re OK with that. Check out a rundown of our favorite moments from the festival after the jump.

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“Haven’t you talked enough today?” Ian McCulloch, lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen, asked the audience at Emo’s in Austin last night. He was in a typically dour mood, playing their late-night set clad in a pair of dark sunglasses and a heavy, black pea coat that didn’t make much since in Austin heat.

Despite all the industry schmoozing that seems to happen in the room of every single show at SXSW, Echo played an absolutely killer set to an otherwise rapt, packed crowd last night. FLickr has a ton of photos from the event.

The shows at Emo’s were among the biggest draws last night — a big line formed to see actress Juliette Lewis prance around in a cape with her new band Juliette and the New Romantiques. I wasn’t exactly impressed. The Leafy Green showcase next door at Emo’s Jr. had a great back-to-back line up, with sets from creepy folksters Larkin Grimm, recent Sub-Pop signees Vetiver, and San Francisco newcomers Sleepy Sun.

We missed Atlanta hero Janelle Monae last night, but we’re really happy to see Rolling Stone giving her some much deserved blog love.

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This week, half of the people who work on the Internet, half of the people who write about music in North America, and half of your friends are all going to head to Austin, Tex. for the sweaty, drunken party known as South By Southwest.

A few of us from Creative Loafing are making the drive and plan on watching about 1,000 bands, drinking 1,000 Lone Star beers, and swimming in the Barton Springs Pool. Out of all the bands playing, we’re excited about a few of them more than all the others. Check out more videos of our favorite new bands after the jump.

Sleepy Sun might be the best new rock band from San Francisco. They’re a bunch of young kids on their first cross-country tour, so expect some serious enthusiasm and a potential disaster wherever they go. This live clip is a psychedelic mind-blower.

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