The Hooks

Popscene + Rickshaw Stop co-present CARDINALS with The Hooks and Black Thumb 8pm doors $20 adv / $24 doors all ages Cardinals: Tracksuited, denim and leather clad and hidden behind wrap-around sunglasses, the Cork five-piece, Cardinals, look like they’ve just stepped out of Warhol's factory in Midtown Manhattan rather than the picturesque village of Kinsale, and yet to live in a Cardinals song is to be surrounded by a grainy, monochromatic landscape that holds both a gritty rock and roll nostalgia and the rolling hills of Ireland’s traditional musical past. Their Pogues-leaning, shanty-esque verses swoon into room-filling chorus’, and often cloak dark and brooding tales of love in gentle first-person conversational narratives. Their critically acclaimed debut EP Cardinals is an eclectic gothic amalgam of shoegaze, pop, Irish trad folk, and rock which incorporates 60s Wall of Sound and poetry inflected punk. San Francisco’s favorite Irish sons, The Hooks, are a high-energy, Celtic-infused rock band led by left-handed Sligo-born brothers Keith and Ronan Mulligan. With drummer Colin Delaney and bassist Mark Nichoson rounding out the four-piece, their sound is a riotous blend of punked-up power pop, anthemic Irish ballads, and raw rock & roll swagger—with the ghost of Joe Strummer always lurking close by. With unforgettable hooks, rogue charm, and a joyful defiance, The Hooks deliver an electrifying live show that stays with you long after the last Guinness is gone. Black Thumb: Bay Area experimental/psych/indie/pop.