Mates of State September 28, 2006

Mates of State is the organ and drums, vocal-laden duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. Starting in 1997, the duo relocated from the midwest to San Francisco, playing everywhere from Oakland parties to venues up and down the west coast. They've toured the US, Europe and Japan and by the looks of it, won't stop any time soon. The audience feels good as cellos, violas, pianos, xylophones, trumpets, guitar, bass, drums, bongos, theremin, synths and velvety-smooth backup vocals march in to beat on their ear drums and do a little musical spring-cleaning. The Starlight Mints (Allan Vest, Andy Nunez, Marian Nunez and friends) use this instrumentation to blend influences that span big band, string quartets, soundtrack scores, bubblegum, psychedelia, Americana, Britpop and '80s synth. They weld all these pop forces together into a Sherman tank of indestructible tunes. What makes it even better, though, is that Starlight Mints seem to be just as wrapped up in this warped dreamy celebration as the listeners.