I’ll always have a soft spot for songs like this, feel good acoustic indie rock tunes with a melody soaked in rays of California sunshine. On this one, front woman Emily Whitehurst even sings out that, “The sun will rise again,” and I imagine myself taking a contemplative drive on an open highway, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Ironically, one of their first big singles was “Wildcat” and a few of Whitehurst’s vocal licks remind me of former Distillers front woman Brody Dahl’s, just slightly less guttural and more fem girl power friendly.
Named one of San Francisco’s “Top 12 Bay Area Bands,” by the city’s premiere rock station Live 105 one of their best features is the storytelling, often lost in the modern music industry. But when Survival Guide decides to tell theirs, they always see it through as we can hear on new track “January Shock.” It hits on the point that music can have pop elements, yet still have imagination and think things through. On the new release she said,
”January Shock' was inspired by the way people seem to keep thinking the world is going to end at any moment, and how it makes people apathetic about their own futures. Hopefully the uplifting chorus will help get people out of the doldrums!”
If you’re one of the lucky ones attending SXSW 2015 catch them at the Balanced Breakfast event at The Jackalope and the Big Picture Media showcase on the roof of The Blind Pig.
