Luke Sweeney with The Queen & I and CVCC at Up The Creek Records

Emerging from the 2010’s San Francisco garage-rock scene as an oddball visionary and outsider pop wunderkind, Luke Sweeney has been enthralling audiences ever since with eclecticn soundscapes ranging from finger-picked freak-folk to “riveting psychedelia, bubblegum, glam, and mellow Seventies balladry” (Austin Chronicle). His transformation from trouble-making troubadour to profound storyteller is marked by four critically acclaimed albums and an EP of compositions that lean on “humor and irreverence—both calling cards of Sweeney's songwriting” (Portland Mercury), as well as collaborations with the likes of Tim Cohen and Healing Potpourri. The self-dubbed ‘Calm Poseur’ seamlessly traverses genres with “a power pop punch to gain the envy of Alex Chilton, Emmit Rhodes, Eric Carmen and everyone in-between and thereafter” (Week in Pop). His 2022 album RISHI is “a mesmerizing blend of future jazz and George Harrison’s Indian influences, celebrating the healing power of music” (SF Chronicle). Luke Sweeney’s continued evolution, both as an artist and a person, signals a profound commitment to sonic exploration and soul-baring storytelling that few artists today can match. His next release ‘Novel Tea’ arrives August 29th via Future Gods, with a series of tours to follow.

“Filled with charm, smooth in tone, almost conversational... imbues both a classic and modern twist...

Simply the performance is infectious.” - UpToHear

“As melodically pleasing as the late Brian Wilson, as clever as Jarvis Cocker and as pissed of as everyone protesting across the U.S.A., Luke Sweeney delivers the dream-pop sloganeering of “Subsidize Our Rent.”

- Alt 77

Oakland's The Queen & I is the sound of bittersweet endings and euphoric beginnings: shoegaze's blurry psychedelia on a collision course with power pop's clear-eyed, unabashed hooks. Bummed out but always looking heavenward. Play it loud.

CVCC

CVCC blends power pop hooks reminiscent of The Raspberries or Cheap Trick with a neurodivergent stare into the void. CVCC began as a lo-fi psych-pop project after releasing their debut self-titled EP — think King Tubby finding ZZ Top’s “Afterburner” cassette after it’s been sun-warped on a dashboard and running it through his signature textures of delay.

Then followed by the hook-ridden “Bardo Youth” single, as well as the late-era Replacements-sounding “Ivy Hill” EP, before wrapping up their power pop meets shoegaze era with the "Scrap'd" EP adorned in a shout-out cover to abbreviation brother band NRBQ.

With an album on the way, the line-up featuring Mack Narragan, Ben Frisbey, Michael Minninger, and drummer Connor Koreski offers an ever-unfolding barrage of weird pop for the strangest listeners.

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