Foxtail Somersault, Working For A Nuclear Free City, The Rosebuds NOISEPOP '08!

Noisepop, 2008. A festival held yearly in our fair city of San Francisco featuring dozens of bands, independent film showings, art displays, and various other forms of expression.Out of the week long series of performances I only attend one: Foxtail Somersault, Working For A Nuclear Free City, The Rosebuds. It was held at the Mezzanine smack in the hustle and bustle of San Francisco. The club was ultra modern and über hip. The sorta place where "cool" people hang out but I only saw a few cool people. I don't really want to explain the place too much because it was embarrassing being there. Moving on... It was a decent turn out, this crowd of people who came out for some shoegazin' and dance post punk were in luck because none of the band tonight were aiming to disappoint.Kicking the night off was San Francisco's very own Foxtail Somersault. The funny thing was that although I've only heard them online once or twice, the group's sound was a very familiar one. Could have sworn I've seen them before and was about to ride them off as something common, but then it became apparent their sound is something rather unique if you care to take a deeper listen.??Foxtail Somersault??The group's nexus consists of singer Catherine Howland and lead guitarist Seiken Nakama. They both have a cool dynamic on stage with their sound. Seiken's loose style is easy to follow and incorporates some cool psychedelic jams in what would be an otherwise pop band. His style was impressive because he could make the adjustment from some of their more upbeat dance tunes to their more ballady type jams while maintaining a consistent sound. Foxtail defiantly have a sound all their own if you really pay attention to what they're doing. I recommend checking them out!??Seiken Nakama??The night had a great start was going well. Foxtail put on a great set and I brought along a few pals who like myself wanted to just have a good time. We begrudgingly paid $6 dollars for a bottle of beer at the venue. Normally when it's me and the boys we'll go down the corner store and get a tall can or two and just brown bag it, but not tonight. Before the show started we had a run in with an undercover cop. My friend had a big can of tea that an undercover cop thought was a beer. The man grabbed my buddy, flashed his badge, checked the can and then explained he though it was a beer and they're "cracking down around here." I think they're in cahoots with the Mezzanine to make people pay their outrageous prices for beer. Stranger things have happened.We'd be doing our drinking in the club and not next to it. Win some lose some. ??Working For A Nuclear Free City??Up next was Working For A Nuclear Free City from Manchester, UK. I checked them out before the show and I thought their sound was really cool. Figured I was in for a treat. Little did I know I was in for was to get my ears boxed in. Seiken from Foxtail Somersault told me earlier in the night they were borrowing equipment from his band because it's just too expensive to bring it out. Well, they must not have been comfortable with the gear or in the conversion from 230V AC to 110V AC something went wrong. On a few occasions I had to walk out of club because the feedback so bad it felt like a tiny little man was in my ear and having spasms and thrashing about. ??On a few occasion the feedback was so bad and wouldn't stop you'd look up at this guy and he'd be in a panic trying to turn down the culprit line out while everyone in the crowd would be gritting their teeth.?? Although, to Working For A Nuclear Free City's credit, when they were on ??they were?? on. They had some catchy dance beats and most everyone in club loved their set. Their sound is like robotic heavy-duty folk layered with psychedelic pop-rock. By the way, Berkeley is a "Nuclear Free City." I wonder if that means if they played a show there if it would be totally pointless. Headline the night was The Rosebuds. These guys were great. This Indie pop-rock outfit from Raleigh, North Carolina really know how to work a crowd. I've heard of these guys before the night of the show, but never really sat down and listened to them. Their set really ended the night on a great note. Their sound is uplifting and has a sense of innocence to it. ??The Rosebuds??Above is a video for The Rosebud's song "Box Car" off their sophomore release ??Birds Make Good Neighbors?? (Merge). Most recently, the group released ??Night of the Furies?? in April of last year.