Superweapon

Founded during the 2020-2021 pandemic, cinematic throwback rockers Superweapon cite among their influences Queen, Styx, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Zak Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, Rush, Journey, Muse, and Rammstein. The band features guitarist Severiano “Seve” Wada, who earned a degree in rock guitar from the Musician’s Institute in L.A. and another in Jazz Studies from San Diego State University. The group also includes singer/bassist (and horror/sci-fi author) Scott Sigler, aka “Merciless,” who has written over a dozen novels including Infected and Contagious, and singer/keyboardist Austin Farmer. A debut EP called Demo of Doom was released in late 2020, spawning singles such as “They’re Watching Me” and “Save Me.” In keeping with “Merciless” Sigler’s literary connections, their recent single “Monkey’s Paw” was inspired by the classic W.W. Jacobs horror story about three wishes that become more tragic than magic. It’s being followed with the first single from their second EP, “Battle Cry,” inspired by Zack Snyder’s film 300 and the novel Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Their debut video was recently shot for the track in the Hendrix Room at Rock & Roll San Diego, with bandmember Austin Farmer directing.

Dream Joints

Photograph by Mike Turi & Summer Luu

Experimental rockers Dream Joints features Mike Turi of The Old In Out, Trap Gold, Wild Wild Wets, Emerald Rats, Gooon, and COMMANDc. A 12-song debut album called Just Like Medicine was released in 2017, with all songs written, performed and recorded by Turi and mixed by Keith Milgaten (Jamuel Saxon, Vision of a Dying World). A collaborative EP with Sleeping Ghost featuring six Echo & the Bunnymen and Velvet Underground/Nico covers, Nico & the Bunnymen, followed in 2017. Those songs were performed by Mike Turi and Rory Truesdale, with Alfred Fuenzalida guesting on flute for “Chelsea Girls.” Turi - who already knew what it was like to lose a year of career traction long before covid due to battling a debilitating spinal disease - has a new two-song Dream Joint twelve-inch called SIOLENCE, mastered and co-mixed by Keith Milgaten. The songs were recorded at Turi’s home studio and at “an isolated location” in the Yucca Valley. A video just debuted online for one of the tracks, “Nothing,” directed by Shapes of Future Frames drummer Christopher Carroll, from Turi’s band The Old In Out.

Greyboy Allstars

Founded in 1993, the Greyboy Allstars dropped their fifth studio album, Como De Allstars, their first studio full-length in seven years, with almost no notice last year. The band just launched a series of Soul Dream livestream specials featuring four performances (their first of 2021) of material from the soul and jazz ensemble’s 30 year career. The series kicked off August 20 with A Town Called Earth, filmed in San Diego and taking its name from the band’s 1997 album, which was performed in its entirety along with other tracks. Future editions will run each Friday via nugs.net. The August 27 show, Prestigious, will feature songs from artists on New York City’s famed Prestige Records label, including Gene Ammons, Gary Bartz, and Boogaloo Joe Jones. The September 3 edition, Como De Allstars, includes a performance of their surprise 2020 album of the same name, along with selections from their 1994 debut record West Coast Boogaloo and band keyboardist Robert Walter’s solo project Spirit of 70. September 10, Get A Job will see the Greyboy Allstars playing a mix of covers by Jimi Hendrix, Lonnie Smith, Wynder K. Frog, and more.

Deaf Club

Noisy rockers Deaf Club was founded by Justin Pearson (The Locust, Dead Cross, Planet B), Brian Amalfitano (ACxDC), Scott Osment (Weak Flesh), Jason Klein (Run With The Hunted), and Leo Ulfelder (Fissure), who was later replaced by Tommy Meehan (The Manx, Chum Out!). After dropping their debut Contemporary Sickness EP, early 2021 saw the benefit release of a cover and video of Killing Joke’s “The Wait,” with all proceeds going to Fair Fight, an organization founded in 2018 by Stacey Abrams. Parts of their upcoming debut full-length Productive Disruption were recorded on the same day as the January 6, 2021 riot in Washington D.C. The album was recorded by Alex Estrada and Tommy Meehan, mixed by Pseudo Beast, and mastered by Brent Asbury. It will be released via local label Three One G Records and Sweatband Records on January 6, 2022, in vinyl editions including a “persecutor color” limited to 700 copies and “pyrolysis color” limited to 300, as well as a limited run of 100 cassettes.

Death Valley Pizza

Death Valley Pizza multi-instrumentalist Dennis Caplinger spent years playing banjo, mandolin, and fiddle in countless local bands, as well as teaching music classes and giving individual lessons. Among his collaborators are Eric Clapton and Vince Gill, and he’s written music for television shows including cartoons like The Simpsons and Pinky & The Brain. As a bandleader, he co-founded Death Valley Pizza with Julian-based singer-guitarist Ian Zalewski, traveling with that band to Oregon to record an album with San Diego’s Duncan Moore on drums and Kim Deschamp of the Cowboy Junkies guesting on pedal steel. Caplinger’s group Bluegrass Etc. was a trio pairing him with Desert Rose Band co-founder Bill Bryson (bass, vocals) and John Moore (guitar, mandolin, vocals). His trio recently played the Placentia Jazz Festival, and he’s been appearing onstage with the Teryn Rè Big Band at events such as Campus Jax in Newport Beach. Caplinger - who also played with locals Berkley Hart, Eve Selis, Tim Flannery, Kim Evans, Gari Geiselman, and many others - passed away on the morning of August 14.