With his 2021 self-titled debut, Andy Pastalaniec’s Chime School became one of the defining acts of the seemingly never-ending, prolific and multifaceted Bay Area pop scene. His sophomore LP, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, is set for release on August 23 on Slumberland Records. Recorded by Pastalaniec himself, in his home studio on the foggy southern edge of San Francisco, Paisley Hotel sets a moodier tone; slowed and patiently unfolding in moments that highlight an evolution in songcraft, production and arrangement–while still bouncing along with the jangling drive Chime School fans have come to adore. As its title implies, 30-plus years of UK indie pop’s deeper cuts are voraciously mined and refined on the 11-song release that fans of East Village, later Teenage Fanclub, and maybe even Northern Picture Library’s Alaska will devour. The songs on the album are also very much rooted in the Bay Area of 2024, boasting both lyrical gestures to gentrification’s destruction, beloved shuttered bars and theaters, as well as a songwriting collaboration with SF native Mike Ramos, of Tony Jay/Flowertown fame, on the album’s penultimate song.

What Andy Says: “Just like anyone making a mixtape, I wanted the album to start off with a certain hum, and raise things up from there. An all-time favorite opener of mine is Start Again from the Teenage Fanclub album, Songs from Northern Britain. The working title for this song was jokingly Start Again (Again), and when it came time for lyrics, it seemed fitting to make it about an ending instead of a beginning.I feel like making records shouldn’t really be easy; I’m always charging headlong into my own limitations (as humble as they are), trying to improve with each record I make. On The End the build-up to the bridge with its vocal harmonies, strings and sudden break, into the guitar solo and coda, are one of my favorite moments of anything I’ve recorded.“

“Wandering Song is the centerpiece of the new album, The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel. Musically the inspiration was ‘what if East Village had written (Teenage Fanclub’s) ‘Sparky’s Dream,’ and there’s some musical nods to the former and rhythmic nods to the latter throughout. Lyrically the song is about the energy we expend distracting ourselves from the crises unfolding around the world; how we tend to turn inwards when our only chance to survive them is through collective organizing.”

“Photography is another medium that informs what I do musically. The song is ‘framed’ by an out-of-time intro and outro; there’s a lyric about a camera lens opening to another time and place; it’s meant to capture a distant moment in time. Perhaps a moment in one’s younger years, when you spent a bit too much directionless time out and about in the bars at night…”

His Mixtape: “It’s an honor to be invited to make another playlist for Triste Sunset! Last time I focused more on influences for the Chime School project since it was brand new at the time. This time I wanted to focus on some bands in my closer musical circle and take you on a bit of an autobiographical trip through the Bay (and a bit outside). It was incredibly difficult to keep this list to just ten tracks, and this is not a “best of the bay” or a “survey of the scene” by any means, but just a short list of some groups and people who have factored into my personal music life in San Francisco in recent years, and their relation to the Chime School project as it has existed so far.

Tony Jay – “Isolated Visions” – Imperfect Worlds, (Slumberland Records, 2023)

I’ve been fortunate to observe the artistic evolution of Tony Jay’s daytime alterego “Mike Ramos” for well over a decade at this point. For years I knew him as the leader of power-pop/punk groups like The Starfish, The Cherries and Grandma’s Boyfriend. So it came as quite a surprise when he donned a doom-metal inspired alter ego dressed like Dee Dee Ramone arose from the grave, to release beautifully delicate slow-core tunes. It was about the same time he helped found April Magazine, and not long before his collaboration with Karina Gill in the similarly-renowned Flowertown. Suffice it to say, Mike has a way of bringing people together in thoughtful collaboration, making space for farflung friends-of-friends or complete strangers (whether total amateurs or seasoned “music-ians”) to creatively thrive in a way I’ve read of legendary scene-makers like Stephen Pastel or Andy Warhol. Lofty comparisons to be sure, but it’s a rare talent. “Isolated Visions,” off his 2023 Slumberland Release is one of my ‘favourite’ Tony Jay songs to date: intimate, disarming, with a guitar riff that leaves the listener utterly devastated, just as the artist intended. Bonus note- Mike and I share songwriting credits on the song “Negative Monday,” from the new Chime School LP.

Bus Fare – “A History” – Collection (self-release, 2016)

I’m very fortunate to have Josh Miller playing bass and singing harmony in the Chime School live band. You can also find him playing guitar or bass in about a number of other fantastic bay groups such as Anna Hillburg, RE Seraphin, Latitude, and others. You may remember a decade or so ago when he fronted his own group The Wrong Words, releasing a couple records on a then-nascent Trouble in Mind label. But only the truest of true heads know about his eccentric avant-pop, tape-only (and bandcamp) release under the name Bus Fare, from 2016. Josh’s incredibly diverse palette, far-out songwriting and serious musical chops are on full display here. Seriously, check this out!

Hits – “Static Drizz” – Cielo Nublado (Paisley Shirt Records, 2021)

I first met Hits’ Jen Weisberg through some old bandmates of mine who had been part of the “New Weird Santa Cruz” scene (as they jokingly referred to it) in the mid 2000s. I had no idea she was a songwriter herself until I first saw Hits in 2014 or 2015. I have no recollection of who was in the band at the time, but I remember being blown away. That work culminated in the release of “Sediment Seen” in 2020, for which the release show in Oakland with Naked Roommate and Straight Crimes was one of the last I attended before the Covid lockdowns began. The “classic line-up,” which included shredders Brian Tester and Max Nordile remained through the recording of their second record “Cielo Nublado,” released in 2021 on Paisley Shirt records. I don’t know if there’s a more “Paisley Shirt” record that wasn’t made by Mr. Paisley himself. I truly think this record will go down as one of the great Bay Area records of the 2020s. After Max Nordile left for the Pacific Northwest, Hits continued on as a duo for a while but have recently been round-out with a new bass player. In the meantime Brian and Jen have further honed their collective craft to the point that they seem to almost communicate telepathically onstage. The new live group is seriously formidable. Their live version of “Static Drizz” had me totally mesmerized. I can’t wait to hear what they have next in store. I’m honored that Hits will be playing the record release show for the new Chime School album (along with the next group on the list) on Friday, August 23 at the Makeout Room in San Francisco!

The Telephone Numbers – “This Job Is Killing Me” – b/w “Weird Sisters” 7” (Prefect/Meritorio Records, 2023)

Bay Area supergroup The Telephone Numbers’ Thomas Rubenstein, current jangler with The Reds, Pinks & Purples, (and early Chime School band rhythm guitarist!) first sent me the tracks from this 2023 7” in 2022 as study material, because I almost played drums for them during a moment of need that sadly (for me) never fully materialized– they’re currently round-out with a perfect drummer anyways (more on him later). Although the a-side “Weird Sisters” is huge and beautiful and totally shreds– rivaling their first 7” “Leviathan” for the title of “decade defining classic” amongst Bay Area pop singles– it was the b-side, “This Job Is Killing Me” that struck me for it’s lyrical honesty and vulnerability, which I instantly related to as someone who’s also devoted thousands of hours to playing in bands. Once someone asked me in an interview “why do you make music,” and I said half-jokingly “I don’t know.” Yes there is a reason a lot of us musicians also enjoy baseball, an obsessive’s game defined by long histories of amazing letdowns, punctuated by brief moments of total elation. Obviously we reserve the tiniest of violins for us poor indie musicians (far smaller than the soaring violin of one K Dylan Edrich, who appears on many of the Tellies’ studio recordings!), but anytime I start to think about the bullshit that zaps all the joy out of making music, I think of this song and how the only way to avoid getting burnt, is to avoid letting it become a job in the first place. The Telephone Numbers seem to have this lesson down pat, as Morgan, Thomas, Charlie and Phil’s apporach to their live sets leave you with a reaffirmed joy for great pop music.

The Umbrellas – “Echoes” – Fairweather Friend (Slumberland Records, 2024)

“This Job Is Killing Me” has a line about leather pants, which naturally reminds of one of my other favorite Bay Area groups, the Umbrellas (who share a member with The Tellies of course). Scenes are a nebulous continuum you can never really pin down the beginning or end of (well, sometimes you can pinpoint the end), but I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how 2024 feels like a bit of a banner year for the Bay scene: many of us have new records out, not to mention the number of great debut full-lengths this year, and several of us are touring the UK and Europe for the first (or second!) time. Though the current scene, (however you might define it) goes back further, with lots of overlaps and members shared with groups that started years prior– who they themselves overlapped with other groups from years before that– for me, it feels like the current scene hit a new stride around 2018-2019, when The Hit Gallery was becoming established as a DIY venue, and I first saw The Umbrellas at the Eagle Tavern, when Rays (one of the great bands of that time) were doing a weekly residency and curating the bills. I’d never seen a group so earnestly and accurately nail the drum-machine indie pop sound of the Sarah Records bands, or look like they were cut straight out of 1985. I cannot tell you how exciting it was to see a new band whose primary influence was the Sea Urchins, who so inspired my initial forays into songwriting not long before. We became friendly straight away, Morgan and Nick even made a guest appearance at “Archive Fever,” the DJ night my partner and I had at the time. It’s been so cool to watch them grow over the years since they played house shows with a backing track and Keith on the 12-string acoustic guitar (!!!!) to their first show after he shifted over drums (legendary January 2020 show with Jeanines and Seablite!). In 2022 I saw them play maybe like 20 times as I toured with them briefly with Chime School and then as a member of Seablite in the UK, watching them transform into the force they are today. Of all the great songs on Fairweather Friend, “Echoes” is probably my favorite; from Morgan’s assured vocals (and beautiful super 8 video for the song!) to Matt’s James Kirk-esque guitar solo; Nick and Keith’s always rock-solid rhythm, and the all around production and arrangement. Just super stoked for these buds and the success they’ve had so far. Really look forward to whatever they come up with next.

Swiftumz – “Unconditional” – Simply the Best (Empty Cellar Records, 2024)

Speaking of echoes of scenes past and present and how impossible it is to tie a ribbon on the timeline of a scene, I’m totally obsessed with this track from the longawaited new LP from Chris McVicker’s Swiftumz. I first heard of Swiftumz in 2011 or 2012, when I saw the band name on a flyer for a show I was playing at the Hemlock– I was in a band at the time called Pink Films. “What’s a Switfumz??” I thought to myself (I’m still not sure), but I instantly recognized Marie Davenport who I’d seen play bass with The Bananas. I don’t remember much from the show to be honest, except that Swiftumz were good, and they became one of my favorite groups over the subsequent years. Their “Willy” single is one of the decade-defining classics of the 2010s for me, and “Game Six” is not far behind. This new LP has cameos from a bunch of my personal northern California musical canon. Amongst the McVicker originals (of which “Unconditional” is one), there are also songs written by Marie Davenport, and Scott Miller (Bananas, Bright Ideas, English Singles). It’s all delivered with Chris’ trademark cool, gentle detachment, and quite a bit of it was recorded by none other than Alicia Vanden Heuvel (at Speakeasy Studios), who in 2019 posted a snippet of Chris Guthridge playing the main riff to “Never Impress” in the while it was being recorded. It so grabbed me when I saw it online, that it sent me off in another direction of capo’d 12 string guitar playing that was a crucial part in my own musical development. Really can’t wait to see the Switfumz group when they start playing shows again this year. Oh, McVicker is also a huge Warriors fan, and we recently found out we work near each other, so I’m definitely looking forward to talking some hoops with him over some Pho or Saigon Sandwich the next time I see him.

Neutrals – “The Iron that Never Swung” – New Town Dream (Slumberland, 2024)

Neutrals factored pretty heavily into my musical life over the last 10 years. Founding bass player Phil Benson was a roommate of mine years ago and turned me onto a bunch of formative records. It was also through Neutrals that I became acquainted with Phil Lantz, which I’m truly thankful for because he’s a great friend and one of the best drummers I know. He also plays drums in the Chime School live group and The Telephone Numbers (seriously stop asking Phil to play drums in bands, we don’t want to share him!!). As a matter of fact, when I started writing songs, Phil Benson and Lantz were the first people I tried them out with, and the three of us played a show together under the name Well Read Seals, which was the first time I ever played guitar and fronted a band. Benson took a bit of a hiatus from music after the pandemic (which sadly means I’ve had to retire my “Gang of Phils” nickname for the group), but was replaced by Lauren Matsui, my bandmate in Seablite, and it’s been really cool watching her become a great bass player after moving over from the guitar, and also add her vocals as a nice counterbalance to the mix. I guess I should get ‘round to Allan as well. When Seablite and Neutrals drove down to LA in 2022 to play some shows, Allan told me about this idea he had for a concept album for the next Neutrals record, which became “New Town Dream”, and I knew straight away it was going to be brilliant. Of course when he sent me an advance stream of the record and I heard the dub-infused intro track I knew they had nailed it. Allan has a really clever wit about him and always enjoys giving people a bit of hassle (like calling my capo a “jangle dongle,” in his Scottish accent). When I first saw Neutrals perform “The Iron That Never Swung,” which is about a community golf course that was killed by redevelopment, he had this great intro where he said something along the lines of “look, I know golf is very uncool for you punks and rock n rollers” before totally shredding us with a hilarious comparison between DIY golf and DIY bands (both have expensive equipment, get together with their friends to play, go to other towns to play with other players, etc), great stuff.

The Dates – “Any Other Nite” – Ask Again Later (2020)

San Francisco multi-instrumentalist Garett Goddard is infamously said to have been in over 200 bands (didn’t The Mantles write a song about it?), and I’m definitely glad one of them is the Chime School live band. Seriously when you go out on the road with this guy, you basically know there’s nothing you can possibly run into that he hasn’t seen before. He’s got a friend in every town, and always knows a great place to grab a bite or a beer. He always has a killer playlist or record (or live baseball game) to play in the van. He’s the ultimate road dog. He’s also got a great knack for melody and songwriting, like on “Any Other Nite” from his 2019 album which sounds almost like if The Records covered “It’s Cold Outside” by The Choir right after they recorded their mid-tempo classic “Hearts in Her Eyes.” Hope he makes another one soon.

Blues Lawyer – “Late Bloomer” – All in Good Time (Dark Entries, 2023)

Blues Lawyer are kind of the perfect band. Alejandra, Egret, Elyse, and Rob all bring a unique and crucial element to the group; their songs are great, they’re all really good at their instruments, and perhaps most importantly, you get the sense that they really love and support each other, because they appear totally united and in lockstep as they charge through a set. Chime School was fortunate to team up with them on a Pacific Northwest tour in 2023 shortly after the release of their LP “All In Good Time,” which we all certainly hope is not their last record! “Late Bloomer” is probably one of my favorite songs on a record full of great ones. It’s an Elyse Shrock’s composition, and features a really compelling plaintive, yet assured vocal that probably a lot of us can relate to in one way or another– I certainly do, as someone who didn’t hit a creative stride until a bit later in life. Egret Moon’s guitar line is an exciting and truly memorable ear worm. It’s seriously such a blast to see them play this live. Also I am a total nut for a quick, catchy song. When I have a handle on one I’m always trying to edit it down as much as possible. The shorter the better, no extra bits. This song is 1:33, but when they play it live it cracks the 1:30 mark. Pure pop perfection!
PS – Elyse Shrock is also a really talented animator, collaborating on music videos with Neutrals as well as an upcoming Chime School video we’ll be sharing soon!

Smashing Times – “Where is Rowan Morrison” – This Sporting Life (K, Perennial Death, 2023)

With their obsessive dedication to 60s references and aesthetics, the ever-present spirit of Dan Treacy, and flatwound equipped 12-string Rickenbackers, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine I’d feel a bit of a kinship with this group, especially since friend Britta joined up. The first time I saw them in 2022 I was stoked to see Paul Krolian–who I remembered as the Orange Juice t-shirt-wearing drummer from Slumberland group Expert Alterations from years previous– was their drummer as well, and one of the funnest drummers to watch play, always bopping and singing along from behind the kit. Also Britta told me after I met the group that “they’re total Chime Heads” which obviously endeared me to them further. Jaz and company have been fairly prolific in the years leading up to this latest record, letting their imaginations run wild over some real freewheeling explorations on 2022’s Bloom. I was pumped when Jaz sent me an advance of This Sporting Life in early 2023, to find that the entire record was full of catchy, compelling pop tunes all expertly sequenced, but maintaining just enough of the childlike abandon of their previous records to keep things a bit odd knocking you off your toes, prepping you for the next pop salvo. It’s tough to pick just one song on this record to highlight, but I chose “Where is Rowan Morrison” because I love the original Wicker Man film, and the guitar solo is one of the most triumphant moments on any record that’s been released in recent memory. Can’t you just see that foolish cop burn in your mind’s eye? Chime School played a handful of California shows with The Times in late 2023 and had a real good time, capped off by the takeover of Chime School’s favorite karaoke bar in LA where we learned that The Smashing Times are secretly a Christmas band, maybe I wasn’t supposed to share that. Anyways, we hope to take the fun on the road to them next year and play some on the East Coast as well.

The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel will be out August 23rd on Slumberland Records. Look HERE for more information on Chime School.