San Francisco's Love Is Chemicals wear their influences right on their Le Tigre polo shirt sleeves. Their latest self-titled album is a mishmash of styles and speeds, playing like a 30-year-old yearbook, with each song paying tribute to a different indie rock band. "Claw Your Sweater" sounds like it could have been on a mid-'90s mix tape – the melodic guitars, the soft bass, and the dulling voice of impatient youth bring back memories of hearing Pavement's "Shady Lane" for the first time. "Everyone Is in on It" highlights drummer Steve Galbraith's tight, militant snare slaps, which fit perfectly with the fragile tonalities of the Sonic Youth-ian guitars. The album continues its decrescendo and eventually winds up at "The Hex," a slightly cheesy tune that distinctly sounds like a letter I wrote to a girlfriend in high school. But no matter how sickeningly sweet the lyrics are ("You're right about oh so many things / Oh how you make my bells ring"), you can't escape the music's honesty – it's right there in front of you, take it or leave it. It's easy to see how one could quickly fall in love with this record. - Bay Guardian, Justin Yu

Peloton is an indie pop/rock band based in San Francisco, California.  Its members come from diverse backgrounds with distant roots in Japan, Dallas, and Detroit.  Their unique blend of influences and origin is instantaneously evident in the music they create. Songwriting and singing duties are split between keyboardist Miyako Ueki and guitarist Brian Jackson.  They began working on music together in the spring of 2003.  After completing a home demo, they set out to form a proper band.  Dustin Robinson, a childhood friend of Brian's from Texas was recruited on drums.  William Taylor was brought in on bass and Peloton was ready to take their first steps.

The band spent the better part of 2005 writing, rehearsing, and recording their self-titled EP.  The group's debut release is bursting with well-written melodic songs ranging from lush space rock to traditional upbeat pop, to more plaintive, head-on-the-bar numbers.  On songs like Blue Field, the band creates visions of luscious Japanese hillsides as viewed from a bullet train.  Their fuzz-washed, sun-scorched track "We Could Be" best sums up the bands intent in its opening line, "We could be melancholy or we could be the Right Stuff."  Peloton moves forward and the music world will want to follow close behind.

Over the course of their 4 lps and 1 ep, the band dora flood has produced some of the most notable shoegazing dream-pop to come out of the United States. With praise coming from discerning music magazines like Big Takeover, Skyscraper, Losing Today and Ptolemaic Terrascope, it is no wonder that audiences leave their shows feeling that they witnessed something of a secret, psychedelic phenomenon. These live close encounters, as well as their classic studio work, leave listeners with bold memories of pounding grooves, lush orchestration, and melodies so timeless that they take up residence in the heads of those fortunate enough to cross their path.

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