Upon further research, I found that the more likely source for the unique band name is probably this gem, a direct-to-vhs tale about a gang of do-gooders, The ButterCream Gang. Regardless of where the name comes from, The Buttercream Gang are sure to please with their infectious brand of indie-pop.

Delicious Indie Pop is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Click here to view the embedded video.

Like what you hear? Catch them with Yuck  at The Independent in San Francisco on July 26th!

Need A Summer Soundtrack? is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Nick 13 Is Back! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Recalling the likes of Dawn Landes, Alela Diane and Feist, this bay area quartet’s multi-harmony take on indie-folk has caught on like wildifre ever since the band began performing together last year. The group’s profile has seen itself rise as they have opened for the likes of David Gray, Jackie Green, and Ray LaMontagne among others. The group released 2010′s After The Flood EP to a rapturous welcoming at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, and have more to come in 2011.

Tune in tonight to hear Honeymoon talk about their meteoric rise in the folk music world, preview some brand new unreleased music and talk about their upcoming tour with the Truth & Salvage Co. which will be kicked off with a performance at the Fernwood Lodge in Big Sur this Saturday night.

Also on the show this evening, Birdhouse.

Birdhouse make no bones about their sound: They are devoted acolytes of The Grateful Dead. In fact, the group began as a Dead tribute band back in 2009. However, along the way, the group began writing their own songs and building a grassroots fan base that has followed them loyally as they’ve gone on to perform at various venues around the city of Santa Cruz, most recently a star-making performance out at the Brookdale Lodge.

Tune in tonight to hear from Birdhouse as they perform a special acoustic set in our studio, answer our questions about what 2011 holds, and tell us about their upcoming performance opening up for Ploughman in the Catalyst Atrium on saturday night.

These and more if you tune in to The Rising Tide tonight at 8:30pm on KZSC Santa Cruz. 88.1fm or listen online at www.kzsc.org!

Honeymoon & Birdhouse on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

These Santa Cruz musicians have been kicking it since way back in 2009. Though individually schooled in different forms of music, the group takes on indie rock, Afro-beat, math rock and dance rock with equal parts fervor and ambition. The group draws on influence as far flung as Fela Kuti, Discovery, Ryland Bouchard and Tera Melos.

Good People have pulled off a couple coups in Santa Cruz. They opened for local folk punk heavyweights Blackbird Raum and shared a Crepe Place bill with Hermit Convention however after that the band stayed largely inactive. Since summer Good People have rarely performed in public, venturing forth only for a couple of shows. The reason? The  group’s been working on their debut full-length (which has ten official titles, reflecting the band’s quirky nature….for simplicity’s sake we’ll call it Good People) which is coming out soon.

Good People will be in our studios to talk about their band, what it’s like to balance the pressures of being students at UCSC while also trying to make a band work and what’s ahead for them in 2011  this Friday night during The Rising Tide program, starting at 8:30 on KZSC.

Good People on The Rising Tide Friday Night is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Tonight’s show is going to feature two very special local guests that are sure to delight those of you who tune in:

Jeremy Lyon is an emerging singer-songwriter originally from San Francisco who moved to Santa Cruz to attend UC Santa Cruz.

Jeremy’s songwriting prowess reveals the influence from classic rock staples like Tom Petty and Elvis Costello, though he takes the foundation laid down by such legends and brings it up to date (and funks it up) resulting in a modern rock sound that places his sound closer to artists such as My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon.

His most recent work, January’s Take It Back EP, clearly shows an artist who is growing both musically and thematically without losing one ounce of the ambition that makes him an artist to watch for in the near future.

Jeremy, a KZSC DJ in his own right who programs the show Devil’s Music every Sunday night at 7:30pm with DJ Bobo Z, will be heading up to our tree cabin in the woods tonight to talk about his recent releases and his upcoming solo acoustic performance at the Santa Cruz Roasting Company this Saturday night where he’ll be performing with Thema Tillman.

After that, we’ll be joined by one of Santa Cruz’s most promising new bands, BIRDHAND.

Formerly known as Brown Irish, BIRDHAND consists entirely of Santa Cruz musicians who have found success in other local bands, and the pooled experience is evident in the way that the band has played things cool and calm, opening for bands like Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band and even the legendary Bad Brains like it’s no big thing.

As a live band, BIRDHAND draws on the blunt force derived from one of their chief influences, Queens of the Stone Age, but as music from their forthcoming-yet-untitled EP leaks out, the band is evidently taking a more adventurous, nuanced path with their music.

BIRDHAND will be joining us on Friday night to talk about their forthcoming EP and what 2011 holds for the group.

These and more on The Rising Tide, tonight starting at 8:30pm! Tune in to 88.1fm or www.kzsc.org!

BIRDHAND and Jeremy Lyon on The Rising Tide TONIGHT is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

It’s the second week of February, and we here on The Rising Tide are going to heat things up with a trio of performers that are sure to match the warmth of this indian winter we’re having up here in sunny Santa Cruz.

First off, we’ll be hearing from one of San Francisco’s most prolific artists, John Vanderslice.

With a career spanning nearly two decade, John has recorded with the likes of The Mountain Goats, Death Cab for Cutie, Beulah, Spoon and Mates of State, and also fronted the band MK Ultra. Aside from that, he has steadily put out solo records since 2000′s Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, most recently releasing his collaboration with the Magik*Magik Orchestra titled White Wilderness (you can listen to a preview of the record here).

John is also a major musical force in the city, not only constructing one of the city’s most treasured recording locales, Tiny Telephone studios, but serving on the board of advisers for The Bay Bridged and teaching songwriting classes for grade school children at a local non-profit organization.

We’ll be talking with John before he takes the stage tonight at The Crepe Place (with Hod opening) about White Wilderness, how he views his role as a stalwart of San Francisco’s independent music scene, and what the future holds for him and his music.

After that, we’ll welcome our first of two live local acts, Skeletal System.

This two piece from San Francisco have been quickly making a name for themselves, exhibiting their own take on murky darkwave shoegaze very much in the vein of artists like School of Seven Bells, Memoryhouse and Tan Dollar, while having shared the stage with artists such as Sunbeam Rd., Woodsman and Maus Haus.

Skeletal System released a 5 song EP and single for Small Talk / Static Eyes last year that you can listen to here on their bandcamp page. Make sure to tune in and hear the group perform some of their songs and talk about what 2011 holds for Skeletal System.

To round out the show, we’ll be welcoming in Santa Cruz’s own Audiafauna into the studio.

This local six-piece has taken it’s indie folk-meets-electronic music sound all over the country, and is just coming off of a successful Kickstarter campaign to finance their debut full-length record that will be out sometime in the new year! Kelly Koval’s vocals recall Cat Power‘s Chan Marshall, and the band’s fusion of traditional folk instrumentation and electronic beat-making technology set them far apart from the rest of the field. You can listen to their three song EP, The Leaflet, on bandcamp by clicking that link.

Audiafauna will enter our studio on friday night to talk about their band’s whirlwind-like rise to the top of the local scene, and what 2011 has in store for the group.

This and much, MUCH more on The Rising Tide on KZSC, this friday night at 8:30pm. Tune in to 88.1fm or log in to www.kzsc.org to listen.

John Vanderslice, Skeletal System & Audiafauna on The Rising Tide is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

The Party Ain’t Over

KZSC Radio 200 Adds

KZSC Radio 200 Charts

Wanda On Top is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Allow me to introduce the first of Friday night’s guests: Blackbird Blackbird.

Blackbird Blackbird is the moniker of Mikey S., a San Francisco-based electronic artist whose work has attracted the attention of the press (The Bay Bridged, The Hype Machine and The Fader, among others) in recent months. Though firmly in the hypnotic and hazy world of chillwave at surface level, Blackbird Blackbird forgoes the vocally-focused approach of the genre for a more glitch-and-dream pop sound that fits nicely between Gold Panda and Baths. Remixes and covers of the likes of Beach House and Modest Mouse demonstrate that Blackbird Blackbird is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and not challenge himself.

Tune in tonight to hear Blackbird Blackbird talk about the upcoming CD release of his debut record, Summer Heart, his forthcoming performance at the SF Weekly’s All Shook Down event, and what ever else he has in store for us this year!

Blackbird Blackbird will be joined on air by the local group who will be backing him up at the SF Weekly event mentioned above, Old Arc.

This local two-piece has been burning up lately, amping up their psychedelic synth pop sound with a live show that’s equal parts MGMT-inspired tribalism and utter youthful exuberance. Similarly ambitious in scope as Blackbird Blackbird, Old Arc have remixed the likes of Toro Y Moi and Local Natives, and their collection of demo recordings, EPs and remixes have been on rotation on The Rising Tide for the last few weeks.

Old Arc will come into the studio tonight to talk about their live collaboration with Blackbird Blackbird, their forthcoming recordings, and what they have planned for the year as well.

And to wrap things up, we’ll be joined live in the studio by our third guests that evening: The Mystery Lights.

Hailing from Salinas, CA, The Mystery Lights relentless garage rock assault has terrorized this part of the state for several years. Sounding like something of a fever dream straight out of a 60s psych festival, The Mystery Lights are poised to deliver the goods in 2011, including the follow up to 2009′s Teenage Catgirls and The Mystery Lightshow. The band has been laying low for the past few months, but they are returning to help support the one-night-only reunion of The Spurts at the Crepe Place on Thursday, February 3rd (also playing are Sugar Shack).

Tune in tonight to hear from these artists and more, starting at 8:30pm on KZSC Santa Cruz!

- DJ PassiveTheory

Blackbird Blackbird, Old Arc & The Mystery Lights on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

The first of which is Gay Genius.

Gay Genius

This local two-piece group is comprised of Nessie from Nessie and Her Beard and Tyler from James Rabbit, both of whom are Rising Tide alum in their own right. The duo banded together as a result of a rapturous performance piece at one of SCUM’s Panbandamonium events that took place last year and got together to write last year’s release, Perfect Dark. The two trade harmonies and lead vocal duties over synth pop beats that recall Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Soft Cell, among others.

Gay Genius will be coming on to the show on friday night to talk about their collaborations, their forthcoming live performances (including a show this Saturday night, the 22nd) and what the future holds for Gay Genius!

Later on in the evening, The Rising Tide will host SF’s own The Art Museums as guests.

The Art Museums

The duo of Josh Alper and Glenn Donaldson have played in a number of folk and americana oriented acts both in Santa Cruz and in the bay area. However, joining forces as the Art Museums has taken their music in a decidedly different direction. As last year’s Woodsist-issued Rough Frame EP can attest to, the band plunders the sounds of lo-fi indie pop music from the genre’s forebears (i.e. Television Personalities), echoing The Pastels and Guided By Voices, among others.

The group will be performing alongside The Sandwiches, The Soft Bombs and local artist Rachel Fannan (formerly of Sleepy Sun) at Slim’s in San Francisco next tuesday, January 25th. But before that, the Art Museums will come on the radio to talk about the show, let us know about their upcoming work, and regale us with stories of being a band to watch for in the big city!

Tune in for these and more on The Rising Tide on KZSC! Tune in to 88.1fm if you’re in the Santa Cruz, Monterrey Bay or San Benito counties, or online at www.kzsc.org starting at 8:30pm!

You can also follow our blog at http://therisingtidekzsc.blogspot.com/

Gay Genius and The Art Museums on The Rising Tide Tonight is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz