LSD and the Search for God hit the Northern California coast in 2005––seemingly from another place and time––dosing San Francisco with hypnotic shows built upon swirling guitars, otherworldly drones, fuzzed-out pop melodies, and dreamy vocal harmonies.

With reviews of early shows and recordings drawing comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Yo La Tengo, Spacemen 3, and Sonic Youth, the band quickly developed a must-see reputation within the underground psychedelic music scene.

When LSD finally released their self-titled debut EP (Mind Expansion Records, 2007) it sold out from the record label prior to the official release date. It earned critical acclaim and continues to frequently appear on lists of essential shoegaze releases. The EP was twice reissued on vinyl (Deep Space Recordings, 2008, 2015), twice on cassette (Cellar Door Tapes, 2015), and selected tracks were featured on three compilations: Mind Expansion Vol. 1, M.E. Vol. 2, and Australian nugazer compilation Take Me on the Wildest Spree (Rubber Records/EMI, 2008).

LSD’s most recent release, Heaven Is a Place (Space Age Recordings, 2016), captures a snapshot in time soon after Ricky Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre) temporarily joined the band on drums. Like the self-titled EP, it garnered critical acclaim and frequented many Best Of lists. Pop Matters calls it, “a long-awaited sermon for the faithful and a blazing induction for new converts,” while Primal Music says it’s “another astonishing collection of five psychedelic stories glistening with the same spaced out ingredients that blew my mind way back in 2007.”

LSD’s time and space travels have led them all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including tours with Martin Rev (Suicide), Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3), and The Telescopes, as well as appearances at Levitation–Austin Psych Fest, SoCal’s Desert Daze, Manchester’s Cosmosis Festival (with The Jesus and Mary Chain), Bathysphere (with A Place To Bury Strangers), twice at Desert Stars (first with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, then The Dandy Warhols), Calgary’s Garbage Daze, and Portugal’s Reverence Valada (with The Damned, The Oh Sees, and Silver Apples).

A new record is currently in the works.

Film School

In 2001, Greg Bertens (aka Krayg Burton) recorded a moody, shoegaze-colored bedroom album called Brilliant Career. The spare, introspective pop was a soothing antidote to the rave scene then dominant in the Bay Area. Over the years Film School has continued to buck trends and expand their sound into the effects-swathed psych rock and powerful live sets they are known for today, well ahead of the recent shoegaze renaissance, drawing comparisons to bands like Slowdive and Catherine Wheel. Recordings have featured guest appearances by members of Pavement and My Bloody Valentine among others. In addition to Bertens, current band members include Noël Brydebell (vocals), Nyles Lannon (guitar), Jason Ruck (synths), Justin LaBo (bass), and Adam Wade (drums).

In 2006 Film School signed with the legendary Beggars Banquet, toured abroad with the National, and played shows with Swervedriver before going on hiatus in 2011. Other releases included EP June (2016), LP Bright to Death (2018), LP We Weren’t Here (2021), and the upcoming LP Field (August 2023) for Felte Records.

Field cements Film School as a distinct, dominant force in the shoegaze scene. Soaked in an emotionally open, imaginative atmosphere, the album is both singular and expansive, and leaves the door open for a constantly evolving interpretation. Film School have never confined themselves to the rigidity of specifics, and it’s on Field that they urge us to look beyond the binary of certainty, and to take a second look.

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete release their sixth album Datura on June 16, 2023.

It’s a short, sharp shock of a record designed to be played live. Gone are the psychedelic wig-outs of previous releases, replaced with bass-heavy post-punk grooves inspired by the roots of The Congos, the no wave of Ike Yard, the industrial hip-hop of Dälek and the dark modular moves of Hiro Kone, all while harnessing the elemental power of Jon Hassell’s Vernal Equinox.

The band formed in 2011 around the nucleus of Lorena Quintanilla and Alberto González and found favour in psych circles with their first two albums (On Welfare and Corruptible Faces). Originally from Guadalajara (they are now based in Ensenada, Baja California), their name was half inspired by a recurring joke in Seinfeld, half by an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Since hooking up with UK-based label Sonic Cathedral in 2013, they have toured extensively in the UK and Europe as well as the US over the last decade. As their sound gradually evolved from its psych-inspired beginnings to take in analogue synths and experimental grooves more akin to bands like Talk Talk across the albums Chambers, Balance and De Facto they have won over famous fans in Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, Robert Smith, Mani and Sonic Boom.