Tag Archives: Rafter

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Transfer Return to San Diego

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It’s not every day a San Diego band gets to tour Europe. But that’s just what hometown heroes Transfer got to do in recent months, traipsing across countries like Germany and Poland.

Fun as all that globetrotting sounds, Transfer have finally returned to America’s Finest City™. You can welcome the boys home on Thursday, April 21, when they play the latest edition of Fluxx Live.

Transfer will be joined by Rafter, whose eccentric, dancey tunes can always be counted on to keep local butts shaking. In January, he released Quiet Storm, a surprise album that added black metal to his otherwise brightly colored palette of influences.

Rounding out the San Diego trifecta, Republic of Letters will open the night with their radio-friendly rock. If you miss them on Thursday, you can catch them on April 25 at Soda Bar, where they’ll play with the UK band Brother.

As usual, this month’s Fluxx Live event will be hosted by the omnipresent Tim Pyles. Ikah Love, who was recently voted the Commune’s Local of the Month, will handle DJ duties. You can RSVP on the Facebook event page, and tickets can be purchased here.

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Rafter Releases Surprise New Album

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Photo credit: Lizeth Santos

San Diego’s musical mad scientist Rafter is releasing his newest LP, Quiet Storm, as a pay-what-you-want download. The album comes hot on the heels of last year’s critically acclaimed, booty-shaking Animal Feelings. Whereas that album’s aesthetic was firmly rooted in pop — filtered, as always, through Rafter’s trademark gonzo sensibilities — Quiet Storm‘s genesis can be traced to an altogether different genre: metal.

“When [drummer Nathan Hubbard] and I were touring around the US after Animal Feelings came out, we listened to a lot of black metal demo tapes in the car,” Rafter explains on his website. “It was really inspiring, extreme, blown out, ridiculous but heartfelt… I made [Quiet Storm], fed by those inspirations and a wave of existential freakout, human mind explosion. In my fantasy, it’s like Darkthrone meets The Kinks meets Lee Perry…”

For a taste of Quiet Storm, check out the hard-hitting “Oh No” (MP3), then head over to his Bandcamp page to download the whole album. Be sure to show your appreciation by paying generously.

Or if you prefer music of the live variety, head on down to the Tin Can tonight for Rafter’s impromptu record release show. He’ll be joined by the equally dancey Jamuel Saxon, who just released the 3-song Time Is Money EP for streaming and download on his own Bandcamp page.

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The Casbah Drops the Ball

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Photo credit: Tessa Angus

For San Diego’s music scene, 2010 has been a good year. Bands like Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls found national acclaim, Wavves made an unexpected comeback following their much-publicized 2009 meltdown, and upcoming acts like Cuckoo Chaos and Tape Deck Mountain are poised to make their own waves next year, thanks to some freshly inked deals with Lefse Records. It’s fitting, then, that the Casbah has lined up three of San Diego’s finest bands to help ring in the new year. Continue reading…

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Smile Now Cry Later – “Big Booty Butt” (Video)

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Smile Now Cry Later just began playing shows, but has already become something of a local sensation. Until recently, one-woman band Lizeth Santos was the backup dancer for electronic dance wizard/husband Rafter, but decided to pursue her own music after a song of hers used in a MAC Cosmetics commercial left people clamoring for more.

Santos is continuing her fashion industry flirtation with the video for “Big Booty Butt.” Created for entry in the H&M Battle of the Bands contest — you can vote for her here — the video captures a typical, high-energy Smile Now Cry Later performance. It was shot by Jeannette Deron during the April 17th show at the Tin Can Ale House and edited by Rafter. The kinetic clip captures Santos hard at work, serving up drums, loops, and vocals for the eager crowd. It’s not easy to get San Diegans to shake their booty butts like that, and that bodes well for what is likely to be a prosperous career for Santos.