Wednesday Sep 10, 2008 (9pm)
When the May Fire's frontwoman Catty Tasso sings "I wanna riot" over a thudding bass line and squirrelly guitar distortion that wouldn't be out of place on Nirvana's In Utero, it's like 1993 all over again. The San Francisco quartet has built up a good amount of buzz over the course of a few EPs that traffic in riot-grrrl cheerleading, Blonde Redhead-ish noise-funk, and the odd power ballad. Tasso is the May Fire's not-so-secret weapon, and has the kind of brash, confident voice that marked '90s alt-rock divas like PJ Harvey and Courtney Love.
– Max Goldberg