Timeshares
Already Dead
Side One Dummy (2015)
This isn’t what I expected—there’s way more country punk twang than when I caught a short pre-Fest show from Timeshares last year. On Already Dead, the band takes that familiar Fest beard punk thing and mix it up. Using a core of gruff pop punk, they’ve tuned the guitars more clearly and chosen licks over chord progressions for their bridges, and it makes this record every bit Lucero or Uncle Tupelo influenced as with Hot Water Music or Iron Chic. It’s something different, which is always important when I mentioned that I first heard the band at a festival with close to 400 acts in the line-up. On Already Dead, it works best when it falls somewhere in between all the styles mentioned, with a foundation in punk but some sneaky and stylized guitar to add flair. “Same Day, Different Week,” for example, leans too far into crisp and produced pop punk and it’s a low point on the record. Meanwhile, “Spend the Night” has shades of Lucero, and “(Corner of) Park and Park” is a straight-up guitar song with some twanginess defining it. “Tail Light” has that soaring pop-punkish vibe, complemented by the bigger bridges and some rock out … Read more
Little Sister
Split Up
Independent (2015)
Little Sister is an East Bay post-punk group with a passionate and well-deserved local following. The trio consists of Monbon … Read more
