San Cisco

Australian quartet San Cisco are known for their hooky, synth- and guitar-based sound that draws upon classic post-punk and jangle-pop traditions. The group broke through with their 2012 debut, San Cisco, and gained wider attention with their Aria chart-topping 2013 sophomore album, Gracetown. They have continued to mature, further honing their sound with 2017′s The Water.
Formed in 2009 in the city of Freemantle in Western Australia, San Cisco originally featured high school friends guitarist/vocalist Jordi Davieson, drummer/vocalist Scarlett Stevens, bassist Nick Gardner, and guitarist Josh Biondillo. Davieson and Stevens played together in the Real Life Animators and the Flairz before they decided on the name King George. They soon changed it to San Cisco and in 2010 released their first EP, Golden Revolver. The ultra-poppy title track gained a fair amount of airplay on the top Australian radio station, Triple J, eventually being nominated for the station’s Unearthed J Award. Its popularity led to the band being signed to the legendary Albert Productions, the home of the Easybeats and AC/DC, among other Aussie acts. Their second EP, Awkward, was released in 2012 in Australia, though in a confusing move, an EP of the same name containing four songs from both the band’s releases was released in America by Fat Possum later that year. The group left Albert Productions and Fat Possum, and moved to major-label RCA for their self-titled album, which was released in 2012 in Australia, where it peaked at number 17 on the Aria charts and number three on the indie charts. A year later, it debuted in North America, where it landed on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart.
Writing for the next record began in hotel rooms and in vans as the group toured the world promoting the album. Returning home, they enlisted the help of producer Steve Schram, who pushed the bandmembers to work harder and invest more of themselves in the music. The results of their hard work showed on their second album, the more sophisticated and emotionally diverse Gracetown. Released by Island City Records in early 2015, the album peaked at number two in Australia. However, prior to the album’s release, bassist Nick Gardner accidentally shot himself in the foot while rabbit hunting, which precluded him joining the band on much of its Gracetown tour. By the following year, they were back in the studio with producer Schram filling in for Gardner. In 2017, San Cisco released their third studio album The Water, featuring the single “Hey, Did I Do You Wrong?” The album reached number 17 in Australia. By 2018, Gardner had left the group and in 2020, the core trio returned with the full-length Between You and Me. ~ Tim Sendra