Tash Sultana performs at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco during the 2017 Noise Pop Music Festival on Feb. 24, 2017. Paige K. Parsons/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — Tash Sultana, the young Australian upstart who catapulted to fame via their ingenuity and a little help from YouTube, hit the stage…

SAN FRANCISCO — “It’s been five fucking years, man. Damn. And San Francisco was the first place to sell out.” Thus began Los Angeles band Electric Guest’s triumphant return to touring, as they hit the quaint stage at the Independent. Lead singer Asa Taccone (brother of the Loney Island’s…

Dawes. Photos: Matt De Mello and Gary Chancer SAN FRANCISCO — Southern California folk-rockers Dawes came to the Fillmore Tuesday during the second night of Noise Pop 2017. They brought their Laurel Canyon sound to a city drenched in rain for what feels like the entire winter. It was billed…

Tim Darcy, the lead singer of Ought, has struck out on his own. Darcy decided that he has a wealth of music inside of him that must be released and it must not be within the confines of his post-punk band. Saturday Night could have been a great album, but…

It’s “love and hate” week at RIFF. We’ve taken on the theme of Valentine’s Day to talk about breakups, both sides of it. We’re finishing off with my Top 10 breakup songs, but there are some caveats: These are only since 1980. So, there’s a whole bunch of old really good soul,…

Chicago-based rockers The Orwells are back with their latest effort, Terrible Human Beings. This is their third full-length album, following Disgraceland and Remember When. The Orwells have a formula and it’s evident early on in this record. It’s in that formula where the listeners decide whether they are fans. Terrible Human Beings The…

It’s been five years since Jens Lekman dropped I Know What Love Isn’t, an album full of such negativity that the normally optimistic audience failed to grasp onto it. In that time, Lekman became “sick over and over on those tours. And it continued when I came home, just feeling…

  Illustration: Vivian Shih It’s “love and hate” week at RIFF. We’ve taken on the theme of Valentine’s Day to talk about both sides of love. We’re starting off with my favorite love songs, but there are some caveats: These are only since 1980. There’s a whole bunch of really…

This isn’t the first time in this nation’s history we have discriminated against people based on their skin color or religion—just look at Native Americans, African Americans, Jews and Japanese Americans. Yet, in this era of knowledge available with a single click, many seem to be less tolerant than ever. As…

The United States was founded on activism. As an active group of people that wants to see the environment and indigenous people protected, action must be taken to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Keystone XL Pipeline from happening. It won’t be easy, because Donald Trump earlier this week decreed that…