Noise Pop Music & Arts Festival is back with its week-long event (Monday Feb. 24- Sunday Mar. 1) of introducing the San Francisco Bay Area countless talented artists. Every night is filled with numerous live performances at various Bay Area venues, with this year’s lineup featuring over 170 artists. This year’s lineup is features many established artists including Raphael Saadiq, Best Coast, a DJ set from Washed Out and Maya Jane Coles and also numerous emerging local and national acts. Check out our list of acts to check out while you’re roaming about Noise Pop Fest 2020!
Injury Reserve
Phoenix rap trio Injury Reserve will be playing at The New Parish and Oakland is about to get hyped with their group dynamic that Pigeons and Planes claims, “one of the best new groups in hip-hop”. The New Parish will be hearing a lot from their debut mixtape (released last year) that was actually recorded in a dentist’s office.
The Jungle Giants
Australian band The Jungle Giants (vocalist/guitarist Sam Hales, guitarist Cesira Aitken, bassist Andrew Dooris, and drummer/ trombonist Keelan Bijker) all met in high school and have been playing together since 2011. Combining their signature electronic sounds with dancey hooks the band has three albums under their belt, including their most recent ‘Quiet Ferocity’ (2017) that garnered millions of streams and commercial radio airplay while enabling them to play numerous sold out tours across Australia. The Jungle Giants released their first new music since that album with the single, “Heavy Hearted” in late 2019 and just released a new single, “Sending Me Ur Loving,” that was written and produced by Hales, who also entirely produced the band’s third album. They’ll be playing at The Independent with Fast Times Tuesday on Feb 25th.
Joshua Radin
Ohio folk singer Joshua Radin will be joined by friends Ben Kweller and William Fitzsimmons on the first night of Noise Pop Fest at the Great American Music Hall. Hailed for his emotive, heartfelt songs delivered via his signature ‘whisper’ soothing vocals, Joshua Radin puts on a memorable show that will get you all up in your feelings.
Kilo Kish
R&B, hip-hop, and electronic singer Lakisha Robinson aka Kilo Kish was in a pop group D’Angelz before breaking out as a solo artist. Kilo Kash has worked with Vince Staples, Childish Gambino, Gorillaz, just to name a few and just wrapped up her tour with King Princess. Her latest release, ‘REDUX’ is a five-song EP that follows up her sophomore studio release, ‘mothe’ from 2018. Kilo Kish isn’t slowing down, as she already has a new album in the final stages and hopefully, will test-drive a few of the new songs when she performs at Starline Social Club on Thursday 2/27.
The Seshen
San Francisco band The Seshen will be celebrating the release of their third studio album, ‘CYAN’ at Rickshaw Stop. The six-piece group creates a wonderful live fusion of electronic, hip-hop, also R&B with their percussion, drum machines, and synths. Their live shows have earned them critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase on multiple continents, as they’ve shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Petite Noir, tUnE-yArDs, and Thundercat. Join The Seshen at their album release party Thursday 2/27.
Chaos in the CBD
Brothers (Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales) from New Zealand formed their techno-jazz duo group Chaos in the CBD in 2011 that created a growing dance community of chill summer vibes with their music. “It’s testament to just how chill we are; we grew up by the beach.” Not only has their music brought fans together, but a closer bond between the siblings. “We wouldn’t be here doing this if there wasn’t two of us. There’s just been too many scenarios where I couldn’t have done it without him and vice versa. So we lean on each other a lot emotionally.” The duo released an EP of new music late last year that features their collaborative work with Lee Pearson Jr. Collective, known for their huge influence in Chiago house music. Catch their set Friday 2/28!
Habibi
Playing Saturday night at Bottom of the Hill, the all-female Iranian-American quintet Habibi (English translation “my love”) will give San Francisco a taste of the band’s Middle Eastern heritage embedded within their catchy psychedelic sounds. Singer Rahill Jamalifard stated, “Middle Eastern culture is very heavily influenced by the arts.” Habibi just released their second full-length release, ‘Anywhere But Here’, which features the earworm, “Angel Eyes” and could easily fit into the San Francisco sounds of the 1960’s during the Hippie Movement.
Pom Pom Squad
New York grunge punk band Pom Pom Squad have released their second EP Ow. They’ve shared the stage with Soccer Mommy and will be playing at Bottom of the Hill Wednesday the 26th with Rosie Tucker. Their music has been featured on Sirius XM Alt Nation and Pitchfork had this to say, “Plucky fingerpicked guitar and thrashing rock riffs, with Mia Berrin’s voice at the center, adding glimmering force.” If you’re feeling riot grrrl vibes then check out their set!
Video Age
New Orleans synth-pop duo Video Age (Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli ) are making way to Brick & Mortar Wed. 2/26. Their mission is to “vision the past, leaning on an invented nostalgia to soundtrack an ideal future that never arrived.” Their overall sound is between 70-80s with hooks, guitar-driven melancholy, and sentimental love songs. Their upcoming album Pop Therapy will be out this Summer under Inflated Records.
Boy Scouts
Oakland native, Taylor Vicks, who goes under the artist name “Boy Scouts” began her music career as a DIY artist, recording songs on her laptop and using Garageband as her framework. Her debut album Free Company was released under Anti-Records (label mates as The Drums). Boy Scouts blends her simplistic folk melodies and unique instrumentation to her heartfelt songs. She’s opened for Jay Som and has played many local shows.
Young Culture
Albany punk-rock with a mix of pop and hip-hop Young Culture (Alex Magnan, Gabe Pietrafesa, Troy Burchett, and Nick Cavin) are playing Thee Parkside on Saturday night. Fresh off the recent release of their new song, “Holiday in Vegas”, the trio has confirmed that their new album will be released this year. Discussing how their music fuses multiple genres, Magnan mentioned, “A lot of our influences come from hip-hop and pop music; that’s the stuff that we really like.”
The Red Pears
The Red Pears, consisting of Henry Vargas(uitar and vocals), Jose Corona (drums) and Patrick Juarez (bass), formed in 2014 in El Monte, CA. Evolving from their first gig together at an open mic at a church, to their latest record, ‘For Today, For Tomorrow, For What Is, For What Could’ve Been’, the group continues to grow and build from their performance at Coachella last year.
Torrey
Bay Area indie-pop four-piece Torrey (Ryann, Kelly, Eric, and Adam) released their debut EP Sister, last year, which was recorded at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco. Specializing in sweetly melancholic and hook-heavy pop tunes, Torrey is an exciting band to see live who will be opening for Sasami at The Chapel on Friday.
RALPH
Canadian singer Raffa Weyman aka RALPH will be opening for Joan at Swedish American Hall on Tuesday the 26th. With her effortless fusion of danceable, disco-inspired instrumentation and bittersweet pop sensibilities, RALPH covers topics ranging from heartbreak, desire and self-love. Having recently toured with Carly Rae Jepsen, RALPH puts on an energetic set that will have the audience dancing. She recently released her new single, “Superbloom”, which fans hope is a lead-up to a new album.
Fredo Disco
Fredo Disco will also be joining Young Culture on Saturday. Singer Fredo Fosco, whose name kept getting autocorrected to Fredo Disco, began songwriting as a high schooler in 2017. He uploaded his songs and recordings of his EP School Spirit on SoundCloud. While in college, he formed his full band and released his LP VERY COOL MUSIC FOR VERY COOL PEOPLE under Fueled By Ramen and Elektra Records. If you think you’re cool enough for indie emo pop-punk music with angst, you probably should head over to Thee Parkside 2/29.
