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Listings are
in the opposite order of appearance: headliner is listed at the top,
next is the support band(s),
and the last band listed is the opener.
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Wednesday February
26 2020 7:00PM doors -- music at 7:30PM ••• ALL AGES $13 in advance / $15 at the door Noise Pop Festival 2020 presents... Rosie Tucker [co-headlining] www.rosietuckermusic.com/ alternative indie Pom Pom Squad [co-headlining] www.facebook.com/pompomsquadsux/ riot grrrl, alternative, punk Diners www.dinersmusic.com/ guitar pop Pendant pendantusa.bandcamp.com/releases pop Rosie Tucker  -from Los Angeles, CA -Rosie Tucker’s songs are worlds in themselves. They start in conversation with an immediate environment: small, detailed, the characters and landscapes drawn vividly, with life and wit. Then they zoom out to reveal a wider world. Indelible new single "Ambrosia" capitalizes on these strengths with its wry, cautiously optimistic, sharply observed scenes: "you've got money stress so I pick up the check / I check my balance as I lean to one side," goes one lyric. Then as the story unfolds, "Nothing is simple just 'cause you wish that it is," the last line pines. Tucker (who uses they/them pronouns) sings each line with a reassuring lilt, their voice welcoming, warm, thoughtful and questioning. Then, halfway through the song, and again at the end, Tucker bellows out an extended and loud sigh: "AAH-AAH-AAH-AAH-AAH-AAH-AAAAAAAAH" as the band bangs away in a cathartic gust of frustration. Made with close collaborators Wolfy, Anna Arboles, and Jessica Reed, who form a muscular, guitar-driven quartet, "Ambrosia" (out September 23 on the New Professor label) follows up Tucker's 2019 label debut "Never Not Never Not Never Not," an album heaped with praise by NPR, who called Tucker "sincere, with a gift for metaphor and a clear understanding of just how precarious life can be," as well as Stereogum, Paste, Uproxx, LA Weekly, The Grey Estates, and The Alternative, who wrote, "There are many moments on Never Not Never Not Never Not when all of the components (vocals, lyrics, instrumentals) conjoin into one, succinct display of perfection." Tucker’s songs call to mind a few contemporaries: Hop Along, Frankie Cosmos, Mitski. And they evoke a few predecessors: cult-favorite singer-songwriters from the 1960s like Dusty Springfield, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sibylle Baier, Norma Tanega, Karen Dalton. But Rosie Tucker songs are set apart in their specificity, self-awareness, and obvious care for the craft of songwriting and the practice of making art. “I’m a big fan of musical eccentrics,” Tucker says. “I really appreciate creativity and zaniness. The spontaneous approach to music that Erik Satie took: he was very eccentric. He only ate eggs for a long time. He bought seven velvet suits and tried to start a religion. He composed music toiling in obscurity. "I like art that happens when people toil in obscurity, although I guess that's not my goal right now.” Pom Pom Squad Mia Berrin - Vox, GTR (head cheerleader) Mari Alé Figeman - Bass (witch) Shelby Keller - Drums (camp counselor) Alex Mercuri - Lead GTR (token male) -Brooklyn, NY -Pom Pom Squad are a New York City band fronted by Mia Berrin. They have an EP, 2017’s Hate It Here, and last year they put out another one, OW. “Heavy Heavy,” from "Hate It Here" is a mess of tangled guitars and a snarling outlook. It’s about feeling so empty you feel full of it, and Berrin’s lyrics spill over into chaotic, knotted screams: “It’s getting heavy, heavy/ Telling everybody that I’m fine,” she sings towards the end. “I’m feeling heavy, heavy/ Does it mean I wanna fucking die?” Ultimately, Pom Pom Squad can help you find yourself and lose yourself at the same time. On stage and in her music, Mia assumes a persona that many young womxn can identify with. “The character that I’m always drawing from, is the difference between the quiet girl in the back of the class who is always more interesting, and then the girl atop the cake — the cheerleader and pageant queen.” The band aims to support listeners on their path to self-discovery or self-love, as well as those that feel immobilized by their mental health circumstances. “The energy of this band is definitely here to help pick you up when you’re down,” Maria said. “But it can also help you go down safely.” Despite jokes about being a “depression band” throughout the interview, Pom Pom Squad is able to confront the complexities of mental health in a meaningful way. - Diners  -from Phoenix, AZ -DINERS is a Phoenix, AZ band playing clean, fun pop-rock music influenced by shows, parties and sometimes nonsense. Band members Tyler Broderick, Andrew Kendall, Tristan Jemsek and Kyle Daniels have all played in various projects around Phoenix and have found a great harmony together as DINERS. Pendant  -from Oakland, CA -Pendant is the recording project and creative outlet of Oakland-based musician Christopher Adams, who has played in numerous bands in his career, most recently noise-rock outfit Never Young. Throughout his tenure in the industry, Adams took great joy in the collaborative nature of his bands, but as the years went by, he realized the need to embark on a mission that wholly reflected his musical vision. “In the past, my default strategy was to love something and then share it with others,” said Adams. “I needed another level of fulfillment. And that was to follow the notion of taking all my favorite ideas and dedicating them to my own music.” Following that sentiment led Adams to create Pendant, a one-man endeavor in which he writes all the songs and plays every instrument on every track. First surfacing in 2016 with a four-song EP, Adams is slated to release Pendant’s debut full-length November 8th on Tiny Engines. Titled Through A Coil, the new album is an ambitious collection of gauzy slowcore, haunting shoegaze and rollicking Britpop tunes. Adams started writing music for the album in late 2018, following the dissolution of Never Young, and earlier this year he began recording, working alongside a trio of acclaimed Bay Area producers – Melina Duterte (of Jay Som), Shaun Durkan (of Weekend) and Jack Shirley (whose production credits include Deafheaven and Jeff Rosenstock). While the songs on Through A Coil range from coarse, biting numbers to balletic, slow-burning ballads, each one has a unifying theme—an unmissable pop hook living underneath waves of feedback and dissonance. “I’ve always appreciated guitar pop songs that are also abrasive and chaotic,” said Adams. Adams said he was inspired by bands like Autolux, Ride and Slowdive, along with the legendary Scottish imprint Creation Records, and Oasis, who he credits with “impeccable, effortless,” songwriting skills. Those aforementioned groups all embrace a maximalist approach to their craft—creating stadium-sized anthems, no matter what the audience, so it’s remarkable that Pendant’s one-man shop ably follow in their footsteps. Through Adams’ craftsmanship, each track on Through A Coil is a fully-realized epic, ebbing, rising and abating with a flurry of dramatic moments. “Rubber Band” is a stirring power-pop nugget, filled with chunky guitar riffs and through-the-roof choruses, while “Name Around My Neck,” is a hazy and expansive dreampop production. “Plexiglass” is an urgent, lilting shoegaze number, while “Dovetail” is pure snarling English energy, a la Oasis and Pulp. Those evocative sonic landscapes are underpinned by Adam’s weighty lyrics, which explore issues of grief, sadness and contrition. He describes “Through a Coil,” as about being “on the end of an emotional crisis, looking back and forgiving yourself wholly.” “Name Around My Neck” details the dichotomy of “losing your faith in the world while falling in love with someone,” and “Rubber Band” speculates on the difficulty of “finding the right balance within one’s self.” Adams’ candid and spirited confrontation of those vulnerabilities provides pathos to the album, forging a thematic arc that is both introspective and universal--a connective, relatable tale of a personal journey. Throughout, the album is imbued with a brazen, restless energy that reflects Adams’ pure artistic focus. On the title track, Adams sings that it’s “Nice to see you realize/You are constantly alive,” a statement that feels like a commentary on his creative rebirth. Surrounding yourselves with others can be comforting and cozy. But to truly find yourself, sometimes you need to go it alone. Pendant’s Through A Coil is a stirring monument to that fearless approach. (Bio by Will Reisman) |
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