Natalie Merchant, “Keep Your Courage.” It’s hard to believe that the career of Natalie Merchant has now spanned decades. She started out at 17 as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs, the radio-friendly alt-rock band of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Such deep, smoky vocals came out of such a wisp of…

Arctic Monkeys, “The Car.” If you’re one of those Arctic Monkeys fans who headbanged in the early aughts to “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” you might be disappointed in the band’s latest album. With their seventh studio longplayer, The Car, the Brit rockers leave behind the…

The Chemical Brothers perform at Portola Festival in San Francisco on Sep. 25, 2022. Chloe Catajan/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — The sunshine and chaos of Portola Festival’s drama-filled Saturday were smoothed down for Sunday, which brought mellower vibes, less crowd pandemonium and the chill of evening fog. That meant attendees…

Flume performs at Portola Festival in San Francisco on Sep. 24, 2022. Chloe Catajan/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — The inaugural Portola Festival brought dance vibes old and new to Pier 80, nestled amid old shipyards in a once mostly abandoned and now-burgeoning neighborhood just downwind of Chase Center. An industrial…

Erasure, “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story).” Since 1985, Erasure has churned out pop hits that have been no less subtle (or less fun) than a queer revival. They’re kind of like an Erasure live show, with background singers in rainbow-colored lamé suits and an equally colorful Andy Bell,…

The Shins perform at The Warfield in San Francisco on July 12, 2022. Chloe Catajan/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — It’s not creepy to care about certain watermarks of the early aughts indie scene. Trading lo-fi for some-fi, drifting away from unrehearsed evocations toward well-manicured moodiness, making songs for soundtracks for movies…