Rich Girls (Noah)

As a relatively long-term resident of San Francisco, one who crash-landed in “The City By The Bay” amidst the blooming of a now vacant garage rock scene, it’s been a hard year. San Francisco’s music is changing, the fuzz is gone, a sweeter, cleaner, folkier sound is cresting, and call me an old bitter hipster, but I’m profoundly unhappy about it. Most of the time. Though the void left by the departure of bands like Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall is being filled by the sort of whining 90s synth-rock I happily left behind in high school, the flip side of that coin, the one marked by crunching, simple guitar chords, and angst-filled lyrics, is quietly developing.

Rich Girls, the solo project of former garage rock stalwarts The Black’s Luisa Black, are a logical progression from the 60s fueled swagger of John Dwyer and his lot, carrying over the thrashy guitars and sneering attitude but adding a bouncy layer of 90s powered bass that pushes the sound into a rollicking amalgam of grunge and goth. The band dips a toe into the tepid waters of Beach House, but Luisa Blacks voice, crystal clear with just a hint of broken-toothed attitude lingering on the edges, flips the tone, turning Victoria Legrands mope-heavy indie-jams into rollicking rock and fucking roll.  Look for the Fiver EP on October 10.

:Rich Girls – Worse: