Seen the Noise Pop 2001 lineup yet? Taking place from February 22-27, there's still a while before the city's finest music fest appears on stage. I'm going to think of this as a kind of "rough draft" because there are more artists yet to be announced.
But what of the artists already set to dazzle our ears? Yeah, there's heft behind the choice of genre-defining band Yo La Tengo that will make people who were in college in the 90s happy. For a band known for their catalogue of cover songs (as well as their supreme original material, of course), let's hope they whip out a few to supplement the rest. Best Coast might be suffering from over-exposure in San Francisco; Bethany Cosentino and the gang just played two shows here in October, not to mention 2010's Noise Pop and other SF dates. Yeah she's big now, but how much has the band evolved?
Wavves, brainchild of Nathan Williams (who is Best Coast's Bethany's boyfriend), will undoubtedly jam on all the new stuff from the completely listenable King of the Beach, but I hope he'll fill in the blanks with his way more charming material from Wavvves. I also hope he and Bethany will duet, but not make out on stage.
Ted Leo is a reliable firebrand behind the mic with his band the Pharmacists, but this solo outing will mix things up. Over the years his voice has become wizened, giving his yelps and melodies a seasoned soulfulness, which'll be perfect with an acoustic guitar. How To Dress Well is Tom Krell, who plays gorgeous lo-fi R&B full of nimble vocals and plaintive keyboards and I've always been curious as to how it all comes together live.
Local band Dominant Legs, comprised of Ryan Lynch (who looks like the main character from The Dark Crystal and also plays guitar for Girls) and Hannah Hunt, bring enough glittering synths and punchy, funked-out Belle & Sebastian-esque slide (check out their SF Giants ode "Finally Champions") to get any crowd moving its feet. I'm excited for them to rep hard for the city. On the subject of dancing, Dan Deacon's stylings are too kinetic to not translate into your own frenzied movements. If you're mad about anything, Deacon will give you a reason to get it all out.
The rest is here:
Tamaryn (!)
No Age (!)
With a roster so varied, Noise Pop's going to need some glue to hold it all together. What do you think it will be?
