RIFF writers and photographers crashed 20-plus shows at this year’s Noise Pop Music Festival, spending many late nights writing reviews so you would have them by the following morning. A couple of the shows were duds, but most were terrific (thanks for asking). Now that the 25th incarnation of…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — “Sorry, we’re not exciting. You knew what you were getting.” Ben Cooper, the prominent speaker and member of Radical Face, was comically candid as he settled in on stage at The Fillmore Sunday. Cooper’s self-deprecating humor aside, he and the four supporting bandmates put on…

Photos: Paige K. Parsons SAN FRANCISCO — Two-thirds of the way through Adia Victoria‘s set at Bottom of the Hill Saturday, the South Carolina-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter busted out a song sugarcoated in French. Victoria’s genre was already not easy to pinpoint–a cross between garage rock and scuzzy, reverb-drenched soul–but, after she…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — The Radio Dept.‘s set of dream pop tunes at the Independent Saturday felt polished around the edges, but the band quickly fell flat, losing its audience, failing to gain any momentum and in the end, seemingly not even trying to make any concerted effort to improve.…

Photos: Diana Cordero SAN FRANCISCO — The Frights came out swinging from the get-go and refused to slow down for the entirety of the San Diego surf-punk quartet’s Noise Pop set at The Chapel Saturday. The band kicked off its set with “You’re Going to Hate This,” setting the tone for what turned into…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO —  Some bands care about more than playing a terrific technically proficient show, and The Joy Formidable proved just that with an intimate set at Swedish American Hall Saturday that included plenty of jokes between songs — which they performed largely acoustically — that spanned the Welsh alt-rock trio’s…

Photos: Gary Chancer SAN FRANCISCO — Gaze music took over The Independent with Deafheaven and This Will Destroy You. Both bands were engaging, but the animated stage presence of Deafheaven lead singer George Clarke roused the room more than anything. The San Francisco blackgaze band showed why they’re so good at their genre.…

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…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — The last time Julien Baker played Noise Pop, in 2016, she fell in with the ranks of rising artists. Thursday, she returned as a bonafide success by selling out the Great American Music Hall, and keeping an entire room on pins and needles…

SAN FRANCISCO — File The Rural Alberta Advantage under the tag of good bands that are even better on-stage. Guitarist-vocalist Nils Edenloff, drummer Paul Banwatt and newer member Robin Hatch (keys) headlined a Noise Pop show at the Bottom of the Hill Wednesday and the indie folk (rock? tribal?—it’s hard…