New music: Chill out with the ambient dream pop sounds of Ghost Party
Plus, an It'll Grow Back gig review and your weekly events list
This week, Lauren Lum, the artist/designer behind the spiritual/urban jewelry brand Fresloca, started teasing Ghost Party, a music project and “two-piece art collective” with Sahab.
“Our purpose is to take you to places in your mind that you didn’t know you could tap into,” Lum wrote in a post on Instagram.
“And I have full faith we will be able to do that.”
Sahab has been making music (and art) for a long time in Fresno and is known for synth wave pop tinged with hip-hop. He landed a spot on the lineup for this year’s Tree Fort Music Festival in Boise, Idaho.
Ghost Party keeps the synth vibes, playing against Lum’s vocals, while embracing more ambient sounds.
“We started out just doing cover/remixes with a ’90s kinda vibe and now we’ getting really into ambient stuff,” Sahab says.
“We’ve been getting booked for this yoga event once a month so we’re starting tot really lean into the ambient thing.”
The pair’s album, released in six parts, is on Soundcloud, now. It alternates between ambient vibes (tracks 1-4 clock in at 6-plus minutes each) and super solid straight forward pop music.
Check out: G Party 2, 6.
You can (and should) catch Ghost Party live on Instagram Oct. 1 and 2.
Gig review: 1335, MKC, It’ll Grow Back @La Maison Kabab, 9/10/21
This was a first gig back after a two year hiatus (maybe more) and it felt both more and less weird than I expected.
It’ll Grow Back: You don’t get a real sense of how out of playing shape you are until you are forced to flail around for a 15-song, 30-minute set of punk rock (it was probably more like 25 minute, really). The playing and showmanship felt solid and the reaction was good for an ego boost.
MKC: This is a hard band to pin down. They are an anti-fascist band that bills itself as playing ska/punk/reggae funk. And there were clearly elements of each in the band’s 30-minute set (played here as a three piece). But MKC is at its best when its tosses the genre stuff and goes almost experimental with a kind of throw-back freak-out party rock (with the song “Brain Salad No. 3,” for example).
For fans of The Shrine, ect.
1335: This was the first show for 1335 and seem to have come out of the box rather fully formed as a band. Ostensibly, they play ska/reggae in that third-wave/west coast kind of way, which means there is some punk mixed in (they did a Misfits cover), but also other influences (I dare say some southern rock vibes?? in some of the guitar work).
An engaging band to watch, with broad appeal that is ready for much bigger stage (both literally and figuratively). I’d like to see what they can bring to a full-stage set up.
The venue: La Maison Kabab is the place that was once Peeves, and before that Milano’s, and before that the Fulton. So, the space works for these almost cafe-style, not-quite club shows.
The place has been redesigned since last I was inside some with extra seating to better work as a venue space.
Weekly events list Sept. 12-18
Strummer’s, no joke, has a full week’s worth of shows lined up.
Sunday: Strawberry Girls 10 Year Anniversary tour with Andres, Amarionette, The Color 8, 7 p.m. $15, all ages.
Monday: Trever Keith of Face to Face with Russ Rankin of Good Riddance, 8 p.m. $13-$15. All ages.
Tuesday: Xavier Wulf, Midnight Club tour, 7 p.m. $25. All ages.
Wednesday: AJJ Knife Man 10th Anniversary tour with Xiu Xiu, Emperor X. 7 p.m. $20. All ages.
Thursday: Weathers, a low dough show from New Rock 104.1. 7 p.m. $10.41-$11. All ages.
Friday: Moonshine Bandits, 8 p.m. $22. All ages. Original tickets will be honored.
Saturday: Rosie Tucker. 7 p.m. $10-$12. All ages.
Elsewhere:
Guns and Hoses, benefit show, 4 p.m. Sept. 12, Fulton 55. $10-$15.
Brother, with Golden Boy, 8 p.m. Sept. 14, Fulton 55. $12-$15.
Rock en Espanol, 6 p.m. Sept. 15, Full Circle Brewery District. Free. All ages.
Ben Napoles, 6 p.m. Sept. 16, Full Circle Brewery District. Free. All ages.
Legends of the Bay, with Andre Nickatina, Nef The Pharaoh, Luniz, Clyde Carson, Mac Mall, RBL Posse, San Quinn with Reign, Bully Goat and DJ Jalinche, 7 p.m. Sept. 18, the Wakehouse Reedley. $25 early bird ticket.
Tab Benoit’s Swampland Jam, 7 p.m. Sept. 18. Fulton 55. $35-$39.
Octoberfest, with AC Myles 7 p.m. Sept. 18, Full Circle Brewery District. Free. All ages.
That’s it for this week. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com