Local Licks Bands | Local Venues

Join Joe Rock Sundays, Midnight to 1:00am, for "Local Licks On The Bone," featuring buzzworthy bands found right here in the Bay Area.  Let us know what you think: Send your e-mails to rock@thebone.net

* * *

Attention, Local Bands!

Want to be featured on an upcoming show? Send us a CD of your original music, along with biographical information and photos, to:

* * *

Local Licks - FEATURED ARTISTS

Unjust

Which song was it? Was it that last one. I think so. Wait, I think it was that other one. Wait that one sounds just like that one. And that one sounds just like the other one. Oh, this is it...No, that’s not it! Which one is it?

That’s what it’s like trying to relocate a previously played song on Unjust’s fourth release, To Lose A Name. Actually, if someone had lost the names of any of the tracks they wouldn’t be able to decipher any of the songs apart!

You may think I’m being unjust (sorry about that one), but Unjust doesn’t make it very easy. Let it be known that they have some talent and are good at their brand of metal. The issue is that we’ve heard this brand of metal before, many times. All of their songs have quality attributes, but each song has the same qualities. And to be fair, they all have the same detractions. The instrumentation is crisp and tight. Paul Mendoza’s vocals wrench, turn falsetto, and soar above solid minor chord progressions. Lyrically, the songs are dramatic, with a strong emphasis on questions like, “What’s your problem?” or statements like, "Oh, I’m so angry!" The problem is that the moment the album begins, the listener can anticipate almost every twist and turn that the album takes. What was unexpected was that the first three songs on the album would come off so hard. Usually the first two are used to grab a listener’s attention, and then the third song switches the mood or brings the tempo down a little bit. But it seems as if Unjust just kept yelling.

And yes the lyrics are dramatic and full of questions for authority figures; but what did all of those lyrics really mean? What were they about? Even on "Choose Nothing," which is one of the stronger songs on the record, the lyrics go, "Feel strong, awakening...choose nothing. In this hope filled times, our excellence...choose nothing. Candlelights...Candlelights...For them!" What does that mean? The language is so abstract that it’s hard to receive something different from each song. Each song has the great metal feel, the great metal vocal, and the great metal breakdown, but none of these qualities are unique to any particular song or unique to this particular band.

In Unjust’s bio online, they state that they continue to develop in their musical identity. They need to keep continuing, and then continue some more. What ever they do, they’ll be doing it with a German record label called Swell Creek Records. I guess Germans like metal too. It doesn’t surprise me that Germans or anyone else would be into Unjust, because Unjust is a solid metal band. However, calling their sound fresh and new would be a stretch.

Who knows, there’s still a chance that if you don’t find Unjust on myspace.com, you might still hear them on the radio as Joe Rock hosts Local Licks on 107.7 The Bone!

- Shannon Koehler

Local Bands

Local Venues

19 Broadway: 17 Broadway Blvd., Fairfax; (415) 459-1091

924 Gilman St: Gilman & 8th St., Berkeley;(510) 525-9926

Annie's Social Club: 917 Folsom St. @ 5th St., SF; (415) 974-1585

Avalon Nightclub: 777 Lawrence Expwy., Santa Clara; (408) 241-0777

Blake's on Telegraph: 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley; (510) 848-0886

The Blank Club: 44 South Almaden Ave., San Jose; (408) 292-5265

Bourbon Street: 2765 Clayton Rd., Concord, (925) 676-7272

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St. @ Missouri, SF; (415) 621-4455

Broadway Studios: 435 Broadway, SF; (415) 291-0333

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market St. (near 15th Street), SF; (415) 861-5016

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia St., SF; (415) 552-7788

Fat City: 314 11th Street @ Folsom, SF; (415) 861-0524

The Fillmore: 1805 Geary Blvd. (@ Fillmore), SF; (415) 346-6000

Forty's Pub: 497 San Mateo Avenue, San Bruno; (650) 583-0440

Grant and Green Saloon: 1371 Grant Ave., SF; (415)693-9565

Great American Music Hall: 859 O'Farrell @ Polk, SF; (415) 885-0750

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk St. (@ Sutter), SF; (415) 923-0923

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St. (@ Bryant), SF; (415) 546-6300

The Independent: 628 Divisadero St., SF; (415) 771-1421

Lou's Pier 47 Restaurant and Blues Club: 300 Jefferson St., SF; (415) 771-LOUS

Make-Out Room: 3225 - 22nd St. (@ Mission), SF; (415) 647-2888

The Mystic Theatre: 23 Petaluma Blvd. No., Petaluma; (707) 765-2121

Oakland Metro Operahouse: 201 Broadway, Oakland

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St. (@ Wisconsin), SF; (415) 503-0393

Pepperbelly's: 849 Texas St., Fairfield; (707) 422-SHOW

Pound SF: 100 Cargo Way (Pier 96), SF; (415) 826-5009

Red Devil Lounge: 1695 Polk St. @ Clay, SF; (415) 447-4730

Rockit Room: 406 Clement Street, SF; (415) 387-6343

Slim's: 333 11th St. (@ Folsom), SF; (415) 255-0333

The Stork Club: 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; (510) 444-6174

The Sweetwater Saloon:153 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley; (415) 388-2820

The Uptown Nightclub: 1928 Telegraph Rd., Oakland; (510) 451-8100

Vinnie's Bar & Grill: 2045 Mt. Diablo Rd., Concord; (925) 685-9515