Thundercat performs at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on Aug. 8, 2021. Matt Pang/STAFF SAN FRANCISCO — Concertgoers turned out in colorful variety Sunday to see Los Angeles’ Thundercat perform at Stern Grove Festival. Despite the overcast sky, the tree-lined natural amphitheater was packed. Ladies in leather…

In the video for the stressful “Sekwar,” Angus Andrew, the man behind Liars, appears to be on an esoteric mushroom mission. Looking like a crazed backwoodsman turned astro-spelunker, he stalks the gloom solo in a Martian sewer, fruitlessly casting a searchlight. On record, the song is both the lead…

In 2010, when funk legend Prince began work on what would become Welcome 2 America, there was no particular gravity to the proposition. The staggeringly prolific artist had released two albums only the year before. He then followed up with his 35th full-length, 20Ten, ultimately shelving the Welcome 2 America…

The singular career of folksinger David Crosby is, by and large, defined by his hippie coterie. Coming up and partying with many of the biggest names in the West Coast folk scene—such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Grace Slick, and Jerry Garcia, to name a few—Crosby seemed to belong.…

Back in 1996, on the heels of their career-defining Slaughter Of The Soul, Gothenburg, Sweden’s At The Gates suddenly called it quits. Band members persisted through the 2000s in heavy outfits like Skitsystem, Cradle Of Filth and The Haunted. Then the entire classic lineup of At The Gates reformed…

When a band gets to the level of entrenchment that England’s UB40 has achieved, it can make the album it wants. Referenced by jam-champions Phish and still a serviceable dad-joke punchline, UB40 has now logged more than 40 years as a band. Helped along by big hits in the…

Beartooth “Below.” Columbus, Ohio’s Beartooth may revel in themes of misery, but frontman Caleb Shomo’s real goal is to have fun. Perhaps that’s why their brand of punk-influenced hard screamo is so effective. Beartooth’s fourth LP, Below, roars of frustration and antagonism and gives way again and again to wails…

AFI emerged in the late 1990s, one of the last bands to get in on that era’s wave of anthemic, melodic emo bands. At the time they were known for Misfits-worship and Alan-Forbes-drawn album covers. Since then, AFI has charted repeatedly on Billboard, made a gold record, and developed…

The last 20 years have been an arid epoch for those rock fans who still worship at the temple of the electric guitar. Long gone are the halcyon days when radio and pop culture bowed before indulgent shredders and rude riffing. The fresh, six-string sounds of Mdou Moctar provide…

St. Vincent, “Daddy’s Home.” Americans, we like our heroes, heroines, alive with tragedy. A vicarious struggle pulls out our individualized triumphalism. The blessing is also the gift, as we like to say. Yet in truth, as St. Vincent sings on Daddy’s Home, casualties mount along the way. Daddy’s Home…