Lo-fi melodies, swirling guitars, four hot guys ... The Soonest brings the indie rock to Hyphen's SF party.

Hyphen's San Francisco Bittersweet Issue Release Party

Date: Friday, June 3, 2011

Time: 9:30pm-2am

Place: 111 Minna Gallery (SF)

Bay Area, are you ready? Hyphen is putting on one big party to celebrate Issue #23, our Bittersweet issue! San Francisco’s 111 Minna will be the spot to be at on June 3rd -- and you won't want to miss it.

The Soonest makes music that melts our indie rock-loving hearts -- think haunting guitar hooks, swirling melodies and four hot guys making perfect late-night tunes. It makes perfect sense that they're playing our Bittersweet Issue party this Friday, because their songs are as beautifully bittersweet as our new issue: full of ambient, heady guitar bursts with sweet hooks that reel you in. They remind us of the best lo-fi indie rock bands of the late '90s, unearthed and updated for a new century of music lovers to enjoy.

Drawn together by friendship, Craigslist, and a love of lo-fi sounds and Mission burritos, singer/guitarist Young Lee, guitarist Greg Sammis, bassist Alex Stack and drummer Andrew Wales formed The Soonest in San Francisco last year. Young and Andrew had played in another band together since 2003, during their days at UC Berkeley. Once they secured Greg and Alex, they christened themselves Lion Riding Horses (a name somehow inspired by Young's trip to China), then morphed into The Soonest. The band put on an excellent live show -- you may have caught their gigs at venues all over the Bay Area, from Hotel Utah and El Rio in SF to La Pena in Berkeley.

The Soonest's first album, “Quarters,” has already garnered critical praise -- online music publication The Deli aptly describes it as an “emotional journey of guilt, denial and exuberant happiness.” Moody soundscapes of songs like "Ghosts" and "I Don't Mind" recall gothic post-punk bands like Interpol, but with lo-fi hooks like the SF band Creeper Lagoon -- sad songs somehow uplifted by Young's deep, rich vocal melodies and re-fashioned into bittersweet lo-fi treasures. 

Fans of The Soonest are in for a great surprise at our event -- the band will play three new songs for our crowd! Catch them at our Bittersweet Issue Release Party before they hit the big time!

***

For a tantalizing teaser of The Soonest's perfect sounds, check out this acoustic version of their song "Ghosts" as they roam the streets of downtown San Francisco: