Fresno Famous

Speaking as a fan, 2011 was a boom year for indie music in the Central Valley. It seemed like more artists than ever produced great new material, in a wide variety of formats. From a slew of bedroom musicians to multiple super-groups and everything in between, it felt easy to support local musicians this year because there was so much high-quality material to choose from.

Here’s ten of my favorite local songs for 2011. It’s definitely not a “best of” list, but think of it instead as ten Fresno songs you shouldn’t have missed.

Brother Luke & The Comrades

Song: “Mission Trip”

Album: “Fathers Daughters”

Label: self released

This earnest gospel/folk quartet can light up any venue, from a casino grand ballroom to a makeshift corner inside of a cramped photography studio. All of their CDs are handmade and sold on their organist’s Etsy site. And if you get to know the Comrades, you’d better be ready to get a big bear hug from singer/songwriter Luke Freeman every time you come out to listen.

Fay Wrays

Song: “Comrade Weather”

Album: “Strange Confessor”

Label: coattrack

The sophomore record from the Fay Wrays arrived about the same time summer started, which means that I immediately associated it with the punishing Central Valley heat. I’m not a big rock guy, but this rock record has stuck with me in unexpected ways. Frontman Benji McEntee and drummer Eli Reyes craft an unsettling tension, a resonating sound that’s hard to escape.

The Gospel Whiskey Runners

Song: “Muddy Waters”

Album: “Hold On”

Label: Romanced

There’s a growing number of high-quality roots and Americana acts in the Central Valley right now, but none are better than The Gospel Whiskey Runners out of Visalia. This group delivers soaring, old-timey spirituals with a thundering stomp. They even recently played holiday songs with the Tulare County Symphony. Their debut longplayer is well-crafted and inspiring.

Grand Canopy

Song: “Daytime (Speaks)”

Album: “Bird Calls and Other Various Sounds For Storytelling” - EP

Label: self released

Like many Fresno musicians, Mike Adame moonlights in multiple bands. But his Grand Canopy project has assembled sprawling super-groups of Fresno indie rock royalty on stage for multiple shows. Adame self-released two digital EPs of lullaby-ready space rock under the Grand Canopy moniker this year, and he’s expected to put out a full-length on cassette in 2012.

It’ll Grow Back

Song: “Bret Easton Ellis Warps Your Mind!”

Album: “Warps Your Mind!” - 7"

Label: Get Faced

Before this year, It’ll Grow Back was one of those Fresno bands that I’d always heard about but never really heard. To celebrate their tenth anniversary, the punk quartet released an actual seven-inch vinyl record, featuring six new hard-driving songs that clocked in a smidge over ten minutes. The packaging looked like classic punk rock collage; the songs were just classics.

Joel Robert Melton

Song: “Staircase”

Album: “Ghost”

Label: self released

Radiohead got swallowed by the Tule fog. That’s what I thought the first time I heard the solo music of Joel Robert Melton. When he’s not clocked-in as a guitarist for Fierce Creatures, Melton makes what he calls “ghost-fi” alone in his bedroom. He quietly released a gorgeous debut full-length, full of jittery guitars, swirling organs, and creepy electronics. It’s a landmark.

The Quiet Americans

Song: “Falling”

Album: “Medicine” - EP

Label: coattrack

I have The Quiet Americans to thank this year for reminding me to appreciate the cassette tape. Their medium-fidelity noise pop sounded pretty good to me when I first heard the digital versions. But when studying the songs more closely on the official release format – cassette – I absolutely fell in love with these sock-hop garage singalongs.

Rademacher

Song: “Magic Words”

Album: “Baby Hawk, Part II”

Label: self released

Rademacher singer/songwriter Malcolm Sosa has become one of my favorite troubadours. I love his winsome stories about playing no-name dive bars on Wednesday nights all over Indie Rock U.S.A. His band’s “Baby Hawk” series sounds multi-layered, fresh, and fun. I hate to call Sosa’s latest work “more mature,” but maybe I’ll go ahead and call it that because he makes me feel like I’m growing up right alongside him.

Dale Stewart

Song: “Itty Bitty Tax Cut”

Album: “Water Wars”

Label: Stagedive

In the 1980s, Dale Stewart played in the iconic Fresno hardcore band Capitol Punishment. Three decades later, he put out a punk record of a different kind: this year’s “Water Wars,” a collection of political folk anthems that takes aim squarely at our inept, corrupt government. My favorite cut on the album lasts just forty seconds, but it sums up our ungovernable Golden State perfectly.

The Sunburns

Song: “Nerds”

Album: “Sunburns” - EP

Label: self released

No Andrew Bunnell band has ever made me want to pogo like a giddy teenager quite like The Sunburns do. His latest bandmates have made some sweet sunshine pop on their debut EP, perfect for playing on repeat while driving to the central coast. It’s hard to write pop songs that simultaneously sound familiar but also brand new. Bunnell and his boys get it.

And finally, a few footnotes to the year.

• Fresno musician Reid May, who’s now attending school in Virginia, self-released three EPs this year – a whole album’s worth of music – for three very different projects. Check out the electronic doodles of Time Phobia, the garage/jazz of Air Fresno, and the epic electro-metal of his solo project.

• Two hard-working Fresno bands released music in 2010 that received national attention on the college charts in 2011 – 40 Watt Hype for their album “Push” and Fierce Creatures for their debut EP “I Mostri Feroci.”

• In 2011, I discovered two of my new favorite local bands based on their debut EPs from 2010. Can’t wait to hear new music in the new year from garage rock duo Strange Vine and emo/indie quartet Achievement House. Meantime, check out the former’s “Ghosts” and the latter’s “Volume One,” respectively.

WHICH LOCAL BANDS AND SONGS DID I MISS? Please share some of your favorites in the comments.

Jefferson Beavers is a freelance journalist based in Fresno. Check out his blog, Fresno Stories, the week of Dec. 12 to read more about his favorite music of 2011.