Some geographically themed music today. The impetus: I spent a supremely entertaining day yesterday in San Francisco, topped off with a delicious burrito in the Mission District. So today seems like an ideal day to post about The Mission District. I mean, sure, they’re not actually from the Bay Area (or even from the US for that matter), but I’m doing my best to get some topical references going on here.
Just a warning: the band is on tour with The Bravery, which is a fair initial point of reference. I know that is an instant turn-off for a lot of folks, and even for me I can only take a limited dose before I need something with a bit more grit to balance things out. But if you’re looking for a nice interlude of ringing guitars and emo-drenched vocals, you could do a lot worse than these folks.
Sure, at times it all gets a little too precious (the well intentioned but desperately heart-on-the-sleeve dead-end of “Anchor” for example), but when they just let free and play a bit of well-filtered New New Wave pop, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. Along those lines, the highlight has to be the bouncing guitars and light-as-air beat of “The Age Of Pretending.” Also well worth a listen is the title track “Youth Games” which is like The Anniversary playing with The Get Up Kids, which may not sound like it but really is meant as an endorsement.
The Age Of Pretending – The Mission District
The LP is called Youth Games and its due for a full release on March 1. But if you’re hungry for me, you can pick up last year’s eponymous EP (eMusic).
p.s. – while in San Francisco, I spent most of the day at the totally awesome Exploratorium – where the clear highlight was the Tactile Dome. If anybody ever has an afternoon to spare in the Bay Area, I heartily recommend it. It’s almost convinced me I need to get rich somehow so I can build my own personal Tactile Dome…