California psych masters The Blank Tapes will roll into San Antonio's Lowcountry on Sunday

click to enlarge Blank Tapes frontman Matt Adams' guitar shredding is one of the band's live draws. - Instagram / @theblanktapes
Instagram / @theblanktapes
Blank Tapes frontman Matt Adams' guitar shredding is one of the band's live draws.
The Blank Tapes, one of American's best purveyors of throwback guitar music,  will bring its indomitable California psych to Lowcountry on Sunday, August 15. Local acts Sunjammer, Aunt Baby and Mockingbird Express will round out the free show.

The Blank Tapes' sound, on record at least, brings together the playful low-fi charm of DIY cassette culture with a classic garage-rock sensibility. Sprinkle in some Kinks and California surf-rock vibes, and it's as if the Elephant 6 collective moved to Venice Beach.

It's a compelling blend, and frontman Matt Adams' guitar shredding provides much of the appeal in a live setting. While it's unusual for players in indie-rock rock — pardon the term here — to actually have mastery of their instrument, Adams certainly does.

Incidentally, Adams' illustration skills have drawn as much attention as his guitar prowess. He's created album and poster art for West Coast musical stalwarts including the Grateful Dead, Chris Robinson, Kelley Stoltz, Los Lobos and Ty Segall. 

Adams also released a massive compilation book, Poster Book 2015-2020, which provides a surreal and technicolor overview of his art style — a fusion of '60s underground comics and '80s Mad Magazine

Free, Sunday, 7 p.m., Lowcountry, (210) 560-2224, 318 Martinez St., facebook.com/lowcountrysa.

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