Garage-rockers So What and Hot Laundry take over Ivy Room
The Ivy Room hosts an epic five-band bill presented by Bang the Bay Wednesday night topped by local favorites So What and Hot Laundry.
Local show promoter Lee Austin Hoffman (also lead singer to East Bay punk band Elegant Trash) puts on the first Wednesday of the month showcase at the Albany club in addition his regular free outdoor all-ages Solar Van Saturdays concerts using his mobile sound system/venue at Rocky's Beach in Berkeley. This month's edition at the Ivy Room highlights headlining Oakland "bubblegum punk" outfit So What.
Anchored by lead guitarist/singer Jason Duncan, So What has been a Bay Area fixture for over a decade. Heavily indebted to the Equals and unsung UK glam rockers the Jook, the group released their first single in 2014 on Grazer Records. Late in 2016, they put out their debut album Hard Gum on Bay Area imprint Just Add Water Records.
The band has also served as the backing band for the Equals singer "Derv" Gordon, bringing the vocalist to San Francisco for a one-off show in 2017 for his first ever U.S. performance. The success of the sold-out appearance would lead to full-blown tours of both coasts later that year and eventually an appearance at Oakland's Burger Boogaloo in Mosswood Park in 2019. The band recently welcomed Gordon back to play an ecstatically received run of West Coast shows in February.
So What will share the stage with another Bay Area favorite, Hot Laundry. In the space of a few short years, the entertaining crew has risen to become a leading light on the local garage-rock scene. Fronted by pint-sized spitfire singer Janette Lopez, the band matches the vocal harmonies and sass of legendary girl group the Shangri-las and the high-octane R&B of Ike and Tina Turner with the blistering proto-punk guitars of Detroit heroes the MC5.
Flanked onstage by back-up singers Ileath Bridges and Gena Serey with matching tassled/spangled outfits and tandem dance moves, Lopez and her vocal support provide the visual focal point for the group's entertaining live show that is powered by founding guitarist/songwriter Grady Hord and the rhythm section of bassist Casey G. and drummer Arun Bhalla.
While Hord was writing material intended for the band as far back as 2017, the sextet didn't make its proper recording debut until the release of their EP Shake Slide Twist in 2021. In addition to building a following around the Bay Area with their regular club appearances, Hot Laundry provided one of the highlights to the Mosswood Meltdown in Oakland that same year.
It didn't take long for Hot Laundry to follow up with its first full-length album early in the summer of 2022. Packed with catchy, fuzzed-out groovers like "Work It" and "The Dance," Pawn Shop Gold manages to capture the kinetic punch of the group's live show. The band recently released a new video for their digital single "Made Like This." The balance of this Bang the Bay show at the Ivy Room Wednesday will feature Hoffman's punk group Elegant Trash, garage rockers Tight Pants and the Dynamite and Amradeep. $20 VIP tickets get attendees admission along with a grab bag including a drink ticket, band pins and stickers, cookies and other treats.
Bang the Bay presents So What, Hot Laundry and more
Wednesday, April 3, 6 p.m. $10-$20
The Ivy Room
