Swiss garage-rockers the Jackets headline the Ivy Room
Acclaimed garage-punk band the Jackets return to the Bay Area for the first time since the pandemic Saturday, playing songs from their new album Intuition at the Ivy Room with local favorites the Control Freaks.
Formed in 2008 in Bern, Switzerland, the Jackets are a power trio led by charismatic singer/guitarist Jackie Brutsche (aka Jack Torera) and featuring American ex-patriot drummer Chris Rosales (who had already made a name for himself playing with Swiss singer Reverend Beat-Man) and bassist Samuel "Schmidi" Schmidiger, who replaced original bassist Severin Erni after they released their 2009 debut album Stuck Inside. Mixing elements of tuneful, high-energy garage rock with psychedelia, the band quickly became a favorite at European festival as they built an international following through dogged touring and the trio's visually arresting stage presentation featuring coordinated black-and-white stage wear and Brutsche's eye make-up recalling Alice Cooper.
The band released another salvo of fuzztone-fueled, '60s-soaked garage nuggets in 2012 with Way Out on German imprint Soundflat Records. Two more albums would follow on Beat-Man's Bern-based Voodoo Rhythm Records: Shadows of Sound in 2015 and the higher profile Queen of the Pill four years later that was produced by noted garage-rock maven King Khan (who also contributed vocals to two songs) as well as being mixed and mastered by Detroit mainstay Jim Diamond, who recorded the first two White Stripes albums and was a member of the Dirtbombs in addition to recording and producing dozens if not hundreds of bands over the past three decades.
The group paid it's first visit to the Bay Area back in 2017 at San Francisco's now sadly defunct Elbo Room, delivering an explosive performance to a crowd that included local punk legends Jello Biafra and Blag Dhalia of the Dwarves. The band returned in 2020 to headline Thee Parkside early in 2020 before the pandemic put a damper on the Jackets' usual relentless touring. Last spring, the trio reunited with Diamond to record the ten new tracks that can be heard on the band's latest release Intuition that came out on Chaputa! Records earlier this month.
For this Saturday night show at the Ivy Room co-presented by DJ Sid Presley (who will be playing records before and between bands), the Jackets will be joined by local garage-rock heroes The Control Freaks. Led by prolific musician Greg Lowery (Supercharger, The Rip Offs, The Infections, The Zodiac Killers), the high-octane quartet has put out three albums and a slew of singles since Slovenly Records issued their debut effort Mindless Entertainment in 2017. The band has had a busy year, playing local shows, recording new material and touring the U.K. with the reunited Zodiac Killers (playing its first live shows in over a decade) that found Lowery doing double duty playing bass with both groups. Twangy Oakland surf/garage instrumental trio the Greasy Gills open the show.
The Jackets with the Control Freaks and the Greasy Gills
Saturday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m. $18-$20
The Ivy Room