Spark and Decay, Love is Chemicals, The Passionistas April 11, 2007

Spark and Decay formed in San Francisco in 2006. Alex Rogers (guitar, vocals), Gabe Ryan (guitar, vocals), Pat Elliott (drums), and Matt Fallon (bass, vocals) had all played in previous bands together and wrote their songs collectively. They recorded the three song '72 Hour Kit' EP in their rehearsal space and played a bunch of shows with bands like The Fucking Ocean, Love Like Fire, Form and Fate, and Finest Dearest. In early 2007 Matt left Spark and Decay and was replaced by Forrest Allen. The band is currently writing new material and looks forward to recording an EP in the spring.

Love is Chemicals' self-titled, self-released 2005 album has been described as "the delicious type of brainy bumblerock that indiebees will buzz about happily for hours" and "a harmonious sound that envelopes you in sweet sugary pop bliss". Formed in 2000 by Nate and Courtney Grover (guitar/vox and bass/vox, respectively), and eventually coming to include drummer Steve Galbraith and guitarist Nick Mirov in its lineup, Love is Chemicals' sound is rooted in the sloppy guitars and sunny melodies of Pavement, Built to Spill, and other titans of mid-90s indie-rock. The band is currently at work on its next album, due out in the summer of 2007.

"The Passionistas are a San Francisco four piece (sometimes just two or three) with a sound that you could compare to whichever little known late seventies punk act you wish to make the comparison to. Yet while I would be the first to argue that the band adheres to an actual "punk" ethic, the band is thankfully not lost in ripped black jeans and Misfits patches sewn into thrift store leather jackets. The band has in fact found solace in the sounds of Beyonce, the Game, Lil' Wayne and Timbaland, minimalist artists who've been the real barrier breakers while traditionalists were busy writing them off. Which leads us to God's Boat - a punk rock record inspired by modern hip hop and R&B produced by (Kelley Stoltz) a multitalent who mostly listens to Echo & the Bunnymen and obscure old stuff." -Will Benham, New and Used Records