Oakland's Wax Idols are born out of discontent and it lends itself to their style of punk. With high-pitched fuzzy vocals, heavily distorted guitars and staccato style beats, the attitude of irreverence comes through sure and strong. Lead singer-songwriter Heather Fedewa is the sole proprietor of this shop of tightly woven noise effects. After getting kicked out of several other Bay Area bands, she decided to start her own little project that would kick ass enough for her to maintain complete creative control. And with this control she has created her own little mischievous kingdom.

CHAD MITCHELL

Best known as the singer/songwriter behind the mystical indie rock band Lights -- who later changed their name to Cliffie Swan -- Sophia Knapp grew up in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district and later moved to Brooklyn. There she hooked up with Linnea Vedder and Alana Amram and formed Lights in 2004, ultimately recording a 2006 self-titled EP, 2008's self-titled debut album, and 2009's Rites under that name before changing to Cliffie Swan in 2010. During that time, she also collaborated with the bands Life on Earth! and Hopewell. Cliffie Swan's first album, Memories Come True, arrived in 2011. Late in 2010, Knapp had begun recording a solo album inspired by Stevie Nicks, Linda Perhacs, Gal Costa, and other vivid chanteuses, for which she also launched a Kickstarter campaign for extra recording funds. The results, Into the Waves, arrived in 2012. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

The Mallard are a garage psych-rock duo from San Francisco. Their songs harness the naked abandon of 60's punk, but inject the form with a deranged spirit all their own. The overall feeling is of a reckless ascent (or of a delirious plummet). Close attention to tone and dynamics allow the band to explore unusual terrain – to grant access into unexpected realms of beauty, fear, and humor. . .

Greer McGettrick (guitar/vocals) and Dylan Tidyman-Jones (drums/vocals) met playing music in Fresno, California, and later moved independently to San Francisco. McGettrick helmed the Mallard through several incarnations (including stints as a quartet and a solo act) – and self-recorded an initial eight-song cassette tape – before inviting Tidyman-Jones to play drums with her in early 2011. Late summer of '11 will see The Mallard embark on their first major west coast tour, with a full-length album to be released in the fall.

"The Mallard wows me with the ability to mix a sort of top-down beach attitude with the gravel-and-glass of a good garage act. " --Sound on the Sound

"[E]very bit as gritty as the four-track cassette tapes she records her music on." --DLM