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MySpace (listen to “Red Eye,” “Right and Wrong”)
Official site

Hometown: San Francisco
Next local show: None planned
Recent release: Right and Wrong, 2006

Is that a cowbell we hear? The leadoff track on the May Fire’s debut disc is loaded with it — bangin’ out the quarter notes a la “Don’t Fear the Reaper” through every verse. Many purport to love the cowbell, but few have the guts to feature it in their official “Hello” to the world.

Fans of Elastica may appreciate the verse bassline and rhythm in the next track, “Nothing Today.” The song wraps up with a guitar solo that screams White Stripes. This is good, mind you — as they say, sometimes innovation is overrated. And if you’re looking for something unique, try their backstory. Singer/guitarist Catty Tasso hails from Chile, while drummer El Pipe is from Colombia. The two met in Los Angeles in 2004, then moved to San Francisco. Needless to say, they have a strong Latino following.

Cat’s lead guitar work throughout the record is stellar — front and center, technically sharp and on the mark, and always bathed in some degree of distortion. Very immediate and raw; definitely got a fire under its ass. And her vocals follow suit. The comparison to Elastica holds true, as her voice carries a similarly punk timbre.

The May Fire’s heady mix of blues, garage rock, and punk is held together by El Pipe’s drumming. He sounds like he was trained in a bar band with a great repertoire, jamming for hours on everything from Hendrix to Skynyrd. His strength is not in complexity, but suitability; expert drumming is about more than fills and solos. Pipe and his partner Cat know how to make rock that sounds good and feels nice.

FIRESTARTERS:
-The May Fire recently played the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, either wearing leather chaps or simply rocking them off audience members. We’ve received conflicting reports….
-Right and Wrong was recorded primarily in Alhambra (Pipe’s garage, aka Rock Whores Studios), plus a little more in Los Angeles (Le Boot), and — following the move up north — our very own Berkeley (Chabola Studios). Mixing and mastering remained a Bay Area affair.