Searching for freebies (bbq, beer, etc) is becoming futile. Everywhere is running out before the one o’clock hour. Oh well, find places with cheap drinks and good bands and who’s complaining. I was urged to the Bay Area Takeover party just to see Thee Oh Sees, but was pleasantly surprised by the inside stage’s Two Sheds. The singer had the blues bad, and the others in the band knew their way around a similar kind of folk—so everything worked to their advantage. I’m not going out on limb to give them the Black Keys, but for 12:00 on a sunny Thursday, it was unique.

It was Thee Oh Sees, however, that cannot be missed the rest of the week. Setting up on the concrete, not the stage—for maximum effect? For start time efficacy? It gave the aura of a Lightning Bolt show… in 2009. Jon Dwyer remarked that he felt like a “condom full of dogshit” and that he was “sweating battery acid” before ripping through 20 minutes of the finest garbage punk I’ve seen so far. Thee Oh Sees seem like Dwyer’s vision coming to an apex, the noise and fury of everything he’s done before stretched into an all-star cast of stooges.

Again, on this day it was all about seeking out new bands. Once Ron and I made the loooooong walk east of Downtown (Little Mexico) to the Peacock, I discovered one such band. San Francisco’s Girls made the best of an awkward situation. The stage was nearly a half-foot lower than the crowd, and the tiny, cramped room in which they were playing was sweltering sauna hot. Hearing their first few songs, one could assess that they were similarly awkward, perhaps dressed in Oxfords and coifs that would not move with the wind. Upon closer inspection, of them and their music, geek-chic inspired pop is just one of their many colors. Yes, there’s the brilliant “Lust for Life,” a hand-clap, helium, confection, but from there they have plenty of Spacemen 3 psych-waves welling up and bursting into momentous epics. Be on the lookout.

Speaking of Wavves, Nathan Williams played again. My head is hurting thinking about it right now. Not sure if that’s bad or good.

Good for our bodies, We hiked it back West only to be pulled aside by the allure of Ms. Bea’s outdoor patio and the beginning of my deja vu. Thankfully it would be my first Nite Jewel show of the day. At dusk, in the calm wind, the two native Californians brought a breezy, West Coast vibe to their low-key bedroom disco. This was the perfect environment for their mellifluous beats and creeper synths as opposed to the actual night (seeing them at the Beauty Bar later was less inspiring). They do rock an Ipod for their backing band, but the ethereal Roger-esque treatment of the keys is the good stuff anyways, and it looks as if Ramona’s forever experimenting.

The Fader Fort was my portal from day to night. But there isn’t much going on there besides the personification of a Hipster Runoff universe. Skipped right through Wonderland. Have a feeling I’ll be back, with or without Tricky and Kanye.

The night portion of started at the Siltbreeze showcase with the rapid hardcore of Ratas del Vaticano and quickly followed up by Eat Skull’s continual blistered-blast of pop hits.

I had to split in order to see Gun Outfit at the Red 7. Later in the evening GO’s Dylan Sharp revealed this was only the third or fourth show they’d ever played. While the sloppiness showed through, it never discouraged the songs. Witty and incisive, ragged and loud. I like to think they are resurrecting grunge and making it better in the process. Grunge needs resurrected, but it also needs a little inwardness and terror riffs, which this trio dishes out in equal manor.

I would have let my brother down if I didn’t go to see Flower Travellin’ Band, yes the ‘70s monolith from Japan responsible for one of the great wonders of Psych in Satori. I had assumed this would be horrible, the Smoking Music venue (shoving American Spirits down your throat) didn’t help, but Hideki Ishima rolled out the classic record right from the start, tickling his 12-stringed tree-trunk into a dizzying haze. It did get a bit “polished” and a bit too blooze for my blood, but it was good to see nostalgia that didn’t make me cringe.

After that it was off to the Columbus Discount shebang—that’s going to require a work of semi-fiction. But for now I can include some words. Ron House on the Floor, Unholy Two taunting Wavves (again, yeah, again), Psych Horseshit in Popeye’s Apartment… and then…

...at 4AM at a campfire party in the park.