Music Awards Showcase: Indie rock and pop at 502 Bar

Courtesy photo

Erik Sanden (left) and Joe Reyes, the cream of the ’cup

The indie-rock/pop night at 502 offers four of the best local bands (two heavyweights, two up-and-coming) in what’s arguably the best sounding venue in town.

You can’t write the modern history of our local music scene without mentioning Buttercup and Blowing Trees, while newcomers Last Nighters and Broken Buffalo (the latter with members coming from bands like Glory Automatic, Northern Lights, the High Class and New Kicks) are beginning to make their own history through increasingly well-attended concerts and acclaimed new albums (Animal Room and Patience, respectively). What these four bands all have in common is solid musicianship and a tendency to experiment without straying too far from an innate ability to come up with killer melodies.

But Buttercup’s set will be an extra special one. While guitarists Erik Sanden and Joe Reyes usually perform with the Navaira brothers (Emilio Jr. on drums and Diego on guitar), the pair will be on tour with their illustrious Tejano Hall of Famer dad Emilio Navaira. So it was time for Buttercup to make some adjustments.

“I love [the Navaira] kids, they’re amazing,” Sanden told the Current. “But how could I tell them not to go on tour with their father?”

At the same time, you can’t replace those guys with just anybody, so Sanden went to work and recruited multi-instrumentalists John Dufilho (the Apples in Stereo) and Jason Garner (the Polyphonic Spree, who has already played with Buttercup during a West Coast tour) to play both drums and bass.

“They’ll go back and forth, switching instruments depending on the song,” said Sanden, adding that the band will play their classics plus two new songs for a future album, including “I Love You,” which is actually a song within a song.

“The first is a typical Buttercup pop melody with a poetic lyric,” said Sanden. “Then, in the center of the song, is another direct, utterly simple (almost barbaric) song that declares its love to the listener.” The way Sanden introduces the inner song goes something like this: “Do you want to hear it? It goes like this: I LOVE YOU!” The second new song is “Gud Girls” (yes: “Gud”), an uptempo summery rock song “with a sherpa-high chorus.”

“It’s going to be fun,” said Sanden. “Joe [Reyes] and I will miss the Navairas, but I think we’re covered for the night.”