Artist description A San Francisco quartet bridging the alt-roots and indie-rock worlds through memorable melodies, literate lyrics, and non-traditional song structures. Rule of Thumb offers a listening experience not often found in today’s world of cookie-cutter corporate rock.

Music Style Rootsy Indie-rock

Musical Influences Neil Young, Television, Built to Spill, the Gourds, the Grifters, R.E.M., Giant Sand, Uncle Tupelo, Cracker, Ass Ponys

Similar Artists Robyn Hitchcock, R.E.M., Cracker, Dumptruck

Artist History Formed in 1992, Rule of Thumb has impressed a legion of club goers in the San Francisco Bay Area and across California with their unique brand of rock music. Following two self-released full-length cassettes and a slew of personnel changes, Rule of Thumb released their debut CD “Wow and Flutter” in early 1998. Four songs from the album earned the band a nod as semifinalists in Discmakers’ World Series of Independent Music, and to date the CD has garnered airplay on college and commercial radio from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia.

Group Members John Parsons – vocals, guitar; Russ Kiel - guitar, vocals; Chris Kiel – bass, vocals; Brandon Hemley - drums, vocals

Instruments Two guitars, bass, and drums

Albums You’re Soaking In It (1993); From Bethlehem to Pelican Bay (1994); Wow and Flutter (1998); Fade to Buzz (2004)

Press Reviews Multi-faceted, near-flawless gems of catchy, yet uncompromising pop. Rule of Thumb's music is smart, beautifully produced, and scintillates with wit. It's the kind of music which is so original and so good, music critics will bring out their most clever turns of phrase to offer praise. They'll call them things like "postmodern pranksters pulling down the rock establishment like a deck of cards" while comparing them to bands like Gang of Four and the Rave-Ups. (www.listen.com) A prime example of San Francisco’s thriving indie scene… lyrical and imaginative. (San Francisco Examiner) Rule of Thumb has a unique but unpretentious vibe; somewhat like solo-era Peter Murphy and Robyn Hitchcock filtered through Tom Petty’s resin-encrusted pot pipe. (BAM Magazine) Never in recent memory has an album seemed so innocent on first listen and so subversive upon subsequent ones. …populated by more weird and wonderful characters than a season’s worth of X-Files episodes or a William Faulkner novel. (Rocklove Magazine) Some of the most original material I’ve heard in a while. The songs are amazingly well-constructed for their uniqueness. Should you doubt the listenability of this, don’t. (Coast Weekly) This album is different… you can play Spot the Influence, try to decipher the brainy, humorous lyrics, and be entertained all at the same time. (Monterey County Herald) Progressive pop with occasional jazzy tidbits thrown in for good measure. Rule of Thumb’s clean pop music goes down easy featuring good arrangements and a keen ability for writing a good melody. …these guys throw a lot more of their brains into their instruments than your average three-chord schmuck-offs… Good stuff, with just the right amount of studio gloss. (www.babysue.com)

Additional Info Full-length CD can be purchased at amazon.com; click on the More CDs link above!

Location San Francisco, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).