Press

An amazing review for our first studio album in Geek Girl on the Street!

By Kate Kotler

Mix together Radiohead and Muse, add a dash of the SF music scene, and ice it with the smooth vocals of Keane Li, and what do you get?

Festizio.

This San Francisco band has been around and kicking for quite a while. Those in the know have been enjoying songs such as the slow, soulfully driven “Beautiful” and peppier live favorite “Get Up” at venues such as Slim’s and Grant and Green in SF. Fans get into the groove while watching four accomplished young musicians come together to create a new type of “San Francisco sound.”

In short: Festizio has been a well-kept musical secret for those in the Bay Area for several years.

Now, with the 2009 release of the band’s first studio album (self-titled), Festizio positioned themselves firmly to launch beyond the Bay and onto the national scene.

For a first album, the self-funded, self-produced Festizio (by Festizio) has super-impressive production qualities. It sounds as if the band had been sojourning in Paris with Nigel Godrich or on the road with Rich Costey… It is that professionally and expertly produced.

(I love alliteration.)

To be honest, I haven’t liked a local band this much since the year 2000 when I spent many a night down in LaLa watching Common Rotation (who were at that time known as 28 Orange Street) perform for packed bar crowds…

Listening to Festizio — live or on CD — takes me back to some sort of youthful musical bliss place that inspires me to write poetry or learn how to play the piano. (Or, maybe ukulele… you know, because I’m quirky.)

All in all it’s good stuff. And for $5.99 on CD Baby, it’s a great buy and great way to support indie artists in their quest for musical loveliness.

Seriously: Check out Festizio if you haven’t already — you will be glad you did.

http://www.performermag.com
http://www.myspace.com/westcoastperformer

Two mentions and listed on the front cover! Not too shabby for our debut in a nationally distributed magazine. Even better, our album appears next to our good friend, Mikie Lee Prasad, a great local musician who we both know and love. The amp review below even features Dangermaker, a band we’ve performed twice with already. The mentioned show was our most recent at San Francisco’s Grant & Green Saloon in North Beach. And yes, that’s a picture of me next to the amp

Download a digital copy of the magazine.

Disclaimer: Although I write for Performer Magazine, I had no influence over our album review and our inclusion in the gear review was by request of the National Editor to test the practical usability of the amps.

While we would never designate our sound as anything reminiscent of surf music, we love surfers and are glad to hear they love us too! Our first studio album reviewed by SurfShot:

By SurfShot Crew

Starting off with a mix of great bass riffs/solos, catchy effects driven guitars, in addition with front man Keane Li’s melodic vocals, provide a great mix of emotions. Slower songs like “Hot Blooded Bitch” bring reminiscent memories from bands like Bay Area natives Third Eye Blind, as well as vocal influences from Muse on the first track “Alive.” Rounding off with a piano-like ballad sounding like Coldplay, “Every Now and Again,” and a final surprising twist of acoustic guitar and orchestra background with their last track “One More Time.” The overall feel of the album includes a mix of melody, tempo, and sound as well as lyrical content that definitely sets Festizio apart.