Tuesday, July 17  9:30pm, $6
California Love

Conversions

Wednesday, July 18  9:30pm, $6

Pink Reason
"Pink Reason is always Kevin DeBroux and practically never anyone else. The self-released Pink Reason debut seven-inch from 2006 was an itch of such beguiling psychic ache that all the inhabitants of Siltbreeze Island scratched it until they bled. On this first full length, the resident of Green Bay, Wisconsin, continues to ooze muzzy melancholia by the bucket, ably and formidably clearing house in Sanguine Manor, whose previous tenants include Royal Trux, The Jacobites, Phantom Payne, Black Vial, and other marginal inhabitants whose sticky fingers glimmer in stoned adulation. Dominated by creeping synths, stark strums and rickety percussive splats that complement De Broux's heartscraping vocal catharsis, Cleaning The Mirror journeys far beyond any known perspective, practically insinuating an alternate otherworld where Tim Buckley's Lorca and Jandek's Ready For The House have been hybridized into a ripe-for-plucking masterpiece." - Midheaven.com

Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones
Currently on tour with Pink Reason, Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones' "sounds teeter from resentful heartbreakers to twangy introspective aural nooses, ringing a tone that's as uncouth as the awkward glue eaters in the back of the short bus. - Victim of Time

Thursday, July 19  9:30pm, $6

Form & Fate
"Form and Fate of Lakes is not a lesson in plate tectonics and isn't nearly as boring. Initially, the listener is wrapped in a soft blanket of gorgeous cello and mellow, muddy guitar lulling you into an imposing and unwanted rest. And when you least expect it, a grungy smash snaps you back to the land of the living and out of the rut of predictable instrumental arrangement. This album starts out like many other, artsy instrumental albums out there yet adds the right amount of almost startling variation. Pattern-wise, most of the songs are a slow burn, building momentum." - The Owl Mag

Cloud Archive
Fugues in shell and cartilage, counterpoint in fibers and capillaries, throbbing rhythm in waves of sound, light, and nerve. and oneself is connected with it quite inextricably-- a node, a ganglion, an electronic interweaving of paths, circuits, and impulses that stretch and hum through the whole of time and space. entire patterns swirl likesmoke in sunbeams or rippling networks of sunlight in shallow water. transformimg itself endlessly into itself, the pattern alone remains. (band mission statement)

Friday, July 20  9:30pm, $6

The Reaction SF
"Our times thus compel us, once again, to write in a new way. some elements will be intentionally omitted; and the plan will have to remain unclear. listeners will encounter certain decoys, like the very hallmark of the era. as long as certain notes are interpolated here and there, the overall meaning may appear: just as secret clauses have very often been added to whatever treaties may openly stipulate; just as some chemical agents only reveal their hidden properties when they are combined with others." Whew, all that, plus a mix of Small Faces and Black Flag!!

Saturday, July 21  9:30pm, $7

Intronaut
"Null, the debut EP by California’s Intronaut, was interesting enough. Excellent musicianship, mathy arrangements, screamy vocals. There’s a shit ton of bands out there that do the same sort of thing (Mastodon being the most obvious example, or at least the easiest one to draw comparison), but Intronaut rose above the fray. Void, their first full-length, keeps them above their like-minded brethren, and, if there’s any justice in the world, will push them to even greater heights.

What I like most about Void is that the songs are so nuanced and well developed, yet still manage to clobber you over the head. There’s a lot of give and take to their songs, with acoustic lulls preceding the full on distorted assault and forays into a more doomy territory. The jagged dissonance that’s the hallmark of this sort of metal is blended with melody, giving the songs more breathing room and allowing each instrument to shine. Normally with this style of music it’s easy to point out the drumming as the driving force, but that’s not the case with Intronaut. All four members contribute equally and their ability to trade off gives the seven songs on Void distinction.

Fans of Converge, Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Keelhaul should definitely check this out. Void is an impressive album and deserves your attention." - Stoner Rock.com

Book of Black Earth
"Book of Black Earth contains Teen Cthulhu members T.J. Cowgill on cookie monster throat and guitar and Hank Guthrie on epic, Hammer Horror keyboards. Dueling guitars and Joe Axler's double-bass drum pound pushes this stuff into serious mutant death metal-ville. But these sons of northwestern darkness know that the Old Gods cannot thrive on blast beats alone—each flesh-rippin' mini-epic cops to a beautifully realized central riff or six. Slow down the guitar shells on "Occult Machinery" and get them to swing a little harder and there's a thrashing slice of emocore in there. (Note: not an insult). "Let Us Worship the Dead" is a 93-second black mass, while "Serve the Adversary" pledges its undying loyalty and storms into battle. Like the man said, tonight, we ride." - Decibel Magazine

100 Suns
100 Suns enjoy malted beverages, freedom of expression and distorted guitars.

Sunday, July 22  9:30pm, $7

The Prids
Whether the seething chemistry between guitarist David Frederickson and bassist Mistina Keith is rooted in their overlapping personal lives, or just growing up listening to the same weird records, PDX pair, The Prids craft captivating songs: the rumbling "The Glow," the dense din of "Infection," lickety-split guitar licks woven into "Forever Again." Their sophomore full-length, ...Until the World Is Beautiful, relies on traditional post-punk timbres, melodic bass riffs, buzz-saw guitars, whip-crack percussion-yet heightens the tension with disquieting boy-girl vocal harmonies. - The Stranger

Red Voice Choir (CD release!)
Featuring ex-members of The Holy Kiss, Death of a Party, and Black Ice.

"Red Voice Choir closed out the evening with a thunderous séance. Plunging into a darkness very different from the velvety noir of the first two acts, the foursome created a sense of hypnotized, harrowing agony. Keyboardist Miss Kel fluttered her voice over ominously revving guitars, as guitar player Adam Beck added his own bloodcurdling yells, and the lights atop the microphones streaked both their faces with lurid brilliance. Like hearing possessed voices emerge from a whirlwind, the spooky, traumatic din of this new collective promised many nightmares to come." - Performer Magazine

Monday, July 23  early show - 8pm, $3 // Punk Rock Sideshow at 10pm, free

Slick 46 (Australia)
Aussie street punk.

Tuesday, July 24  9:30pm, $5

Prismatics
Prismatics are a duo of guitarist Joe Campbell and drummer Mike Shoun, although the latter also provides drum machine, electronics. Both do a little bit of vocals too. The drum patterns are usually slow in here and the guitar waves on top. Themselves they think it's a cross-over of 'early Cabaret Voltaire to late John Coltrane' but I think it's a bit dub like in a heavy way. Laswell, old Scorn those would be my references.