San Francisco Voice

There’s a quote that I love which goes something like: Every day, I become an intenser devotee to common sense. (I forget who said it, although I remember that it comes from a book that’s got a selection of diary entries from female writers.) I may not recall the author, but the message stuck with me throughout the years. I’m a big fan of common sense, especially when it seems to be lacking in situations around me. And I thought of this line when I first put on Fix the Roof, the CD by San Francisco band Hippie Grenade.

That’s because the title track has lyrics which made me laugh out loud because of their simple attention to common sense. “Don’t tie your shoes while you’re running / Let’s fix the roof while it’s sunny”. Amen. The CD grabbed me with that first song because of those lyrics. But I wouldn’t say that it’s a CD in which the lyrics particularly stand out; it’s really more of an instrument-based CD. While they don’t play any particularly off-the-wall instruments (it’s your basic line-up of guitars, percussion and some sax), Hippie Grenade puts instruments together in an interesting way which makes you listen twice to what you’re hearing.

The band is made up of five guys who hail from different parts of the world (including Bhi Bhiman whose solo CD was reviewed by us last month). They each bring a range of different musical influences to the table and the result is a band that has quite a variety of sound. If pinned down, I’d say it’s a funk-fused rock that they play, but there are hints of various other genres that can be heard in the extended instrumentals of their songs.

Although I like the CD, I tend to think that instrumentally strong music is best when heard live. If you agree, you might want to check Hippie Grenade out at their next live show which is August 15 at Red Devil Lounge. They aren’t playing in these parts again until late fall so go while you can.

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