Matt and Kim perform at The Warfield in San Francisco on April 3, 2018. Kate Vides/STAFF. Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino are animal lovers, but because they’re on the road nine months out of the year as indie pop duo Matt & Kim, the Brooklyn couple isn’t able to…

Allen Stone, courtesy: Jason Tang. Whenever Seattle soul crooner Allen Stone happens to find himself in San Francisco at the beginning of a week, he makes time for Motown on Monday. Typically held at Madrone Art Bar near Alamo Square, this is where you can go to hear a…

Torquil Campbell (center) and Stars, courtesy. Torquil Campbell the actor should know a thing or two about stage terminology. The son of two Shakespearean actors, a veteran of the theater and with appearances on television shows in Canada and the U.S. under his belt, Campbell knows the music his…

Macklemore performs at BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa on May 26, 2017. Alessio Neri/STAFF. Ben “Macklemore” Haggerty doesn’t like to spend $50 on a T-shirt. That much is clear upon listening to “Thrift Shop,” a four-minute ode to the joys of finding a bargain that’s on the Seattle hip-hop…

Allyson Baker of Dirty Ghosts, courtesy: Molly DeCoudreaux. Allyson Baker may have black hair, play guitar and wear leather jackets and black clothes, but she doesn’t own any Joan Jett albums. Instead, she looks for inspiration to albums like Captain Beefheart’s Mirror Man, Chrome’s Red Exposureand Duran Duran’s self-titled…

Public Enemy, courtesy: David Wong. When Public Enemy burst onto the music scene in 1987, helping to popularize rap (along with the Beastie Boys and Run DMC), socio-politically conscious co-founder and MC Chuck D polarized the country with lyrics that criticized the justice system and the media. White Middle…

Garbage, with Duke Erikson (right). Courtesy. After electronic alt-rockers Garbage cut short their previous tour in 2005, vocalist Shirley Manson moved to Los Angeles and took up acting; most notably as a killer android on Fox’s short-lived series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Drummer Butch Vig followed suit, and…

The Hives perform at her Warfield in San Francisco on Sept. 10, 2012. For 2007’s The Black and White Album, Swedish garage rockers The Hives – backed by Interscope Records – brought in a cadre of big-name producers like Pharrell Williams, Jacknife Lee and Timbaland. The quintet always had…

The Family Crest, courtesy. San Francisco orchestral indie rock band The Family Crest is recording its second album, but staying far away from the studio. OK Go, The Family Crest 2 p.m., Aug. 24 Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, S.F. Tickets: FREE. To date, the sextet…

PAPA (Darren Weiss, left) performs at Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2012. Even before the future of critically praised San Francisco indie rock band Girls was thrown into uncertainty, when singer Christopher Owens quit last month, drummer Darren Weiss knew that his…