SF Weekly interviews Chris Shaw about forming and playing in GØGGS
SF Weekly
GØGGS is aword that means many things: It’s the name of a band, the title of a record, and one of the nine songs on said record.
GØGGS is aword that means many things: It’s the name of a band, the title of a record, and one of the nine songs on said record.
Ezra Furman is a transformative performer. The last time I saw him wield a guitar was in February 2013 at a San Francisco acoustic Sofar Session. He was reticent, solo, and jarringly genuine. He was also dressed as a man in corduroy slacks. This was when he was on the verge of giving up as a touring musician, as he recently admitted in an interview with The Bay Bridged.
“The tracks, “Rat Race” and “Pollinate,” are just a small taste of the the trio’s follow-up to its 2013 self-titled debut LP, II, which is slated for release October 23 on In The Red…”
Guitar chops, drum chops, and most definitely bass chops: The Fuzz has it all. The band has a reputation for knowing how to improvise, jam, and shred through a set list. That’s why it sold out the Great American Music Hall Wednesday night on a double bill with only the support of Los Angeles’ Lamps.
Manipulator, Segall’s longest album yet at 56 minutes, represents a departure from that breakneck pace — it took him 14 months to complete — and the payoff is immeasurably satisfying, with an immersive, ‘70s psych-tinged mood that swells over the course of its 17 tracks.
Next year’s festival runs from March 13 to 22, but the buildup/lineup reveal is a gradual striptease of sorts, with Round 1 announced today. At first glance, we’re happy to see locals The Stone Foxes, The Dodos, The California Honeydrops, and Thee Oh Sees.
Overall, DeMarco’s composed yet enthused show on Tuesday reinforced the sense of his growing maturity, dispelling the L’enfant terrible myths — and despite his clothing choices.
In a May cover story, we declared Mikal Cronin the best rock songwriter in San Francisco, based on the strength of his first album for the titan indie label Merge. Now that it’s December, we have no regrets.
For Floating Coffin, Dwyer involved the other band members in the songwriting like he hadn’t in a long time, and the result is a vicious, grin-inducing document of fuzz-guitar brutality and seductive, boundless grooves.
,,,The Bay Brewed will be headlined by none other than local breakout star Mikal Cronin, and the full lineup includes Shannon and the Clams and…
Mikal Cronin, whose set at that point in the afternoon sounded the most contemporary, took stage with a additional guitarist, bassist, and drummer.
…Fuzz, elicited an even stronger crowd reaction the next day with its homage to ’70s proto-metal and the low-end heavy dirges of Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath.
“…But his new album for Merge, MCII, is not a garage-rock record, or a punk record. It’s a gorgeous, deeply personal pop record — jangly, hooky…”
“By selling out this hallowed ballroom, the good-natured USF grad officially crossed that line from popular local artist to major national touring act, and cemented his place among the most successful local bands of the last few years.”
“…The foursome never strayed from the fuzzy, fast-paced, assaultive garage rock for which they’re best known…”
Tim Presley of White Fence talks to SF Weekly.