Photos: Chloe Catajan OAKLAND — Sisters Klara and Johanna Soderberg are known, as First Aid Kit, for writing sad songs and wrapping them in beautiful, romanticized Americana. And they accomplished that easily at their tour opener at the Fox Theater on Wednesday. But First Aid Kit also brought another, previously…

First Aid Kit, courtesy. After touring the critically acclaimed third album, Stay Gold, in 2014 and 2015, sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg—First Aid Kit—burned themselves out. The duo, which rose above the indie circuit for the first time, had been writing, recording or touring its songs for years. And…

Photos: Alessio Neri MOUNTAIN VIEW — Thomas Mars and Phoenix brought their traveling Italian disco show to radio station Live 105’s BFD festival at the Shoreline Amphitheatre Saturday. The Parisians, the final of 25 acts to perform at the annual radio station start of summer show, played three songs off…

Radio station Live 105 Monday unveiled the lineup for its annual BFD concert at Shoreline Amphitheater, and while most will be buying tickets to see French Anglo-rockers Phoenix and Scottish angular pop revivalists Franz Ferdinand, among many others, the festival again will feature a full lineup of Bay Area acts…

Every week there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does! We’ve pooled our resources to find some of…

Van William. Surprise! Van Pierszalowski has a solo side project. We at RIFF love WATERS and his previous band, Port O’Brien. We’re also huge fans of First Aid Kit’s golden harmonies. And with “Revolution,” Pierszalowski gives as the perfect blend of indie rock and Americana. The friendly-sounding song, which debuted at…

WATERS performs at BottleRock 2016 in Napa, California. Jon Ching/STAFF. This is a song Van Pierszalowski and co. have been playing for a while, but if you’re not from the Bay Area, or perhaps Los Angeles, you likely haven’t heard it yet. This is another tune that Grouplove fans are…

Van Pierszalowski (center) and WATERS, courtesy. Former indie-folk band Port O’Brien frontman Van Pierszalowski has been busy regrouping — and recovering from a turbulent few years. WATERS, Cathedrals 8 p.m. Thursday, July 10 The Chapel Tickets: $15. As 2012 crawled to a close, the San Francisco musician admittedly was…

Foster the People perform during Live 105’s BFD festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on June 4, 2014. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Check out images from the 2014 Live 105 BFD festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. The highlights included Foster the People and Bleachers. There are…