Deli Readers,

Our SF Bay Area Year End Poll for emerging artists is finally coming to its end, and it's great to see it won by Geographer, a great local band that gathered votes from our jury of San Fran scene makers (5 points), Deli writers (1 point) and readers (the band placed 4th in the open poll). These guys' sound is something hard to pin down, and we are always proud when our polls highlight a truly original band. We are all looking forward to their upcoming release, scheduled for 02.28.

1. GEOGRAPHER

Beloved local group Shannon and the Clams (Bethany from Best Coast often sings their praises) placed 2nd with their lo-fi take on the nostaligic '50s girl group sound - which can also evolve towards punk extremes (see video below). Third place was a tie between the two readers' and fans' poll contenders, spacey rockers Excuses for Skipping and orchestral indie rock collective The Family Crest. Kudos also to Whirr, a shoegazer act with a sound that challenges My Bloody Valentine as far as number of guitar layers. They placed 5th thanks to 5 jurors points (as many as the top two bands).

2. SHANNON & THE CLAMS

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3a. THE FAMILY CREST

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3b. EXCUSES FOR SKIPPING

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5. WHIRR

So this is it for this year folks! Here's the final list of The Deli's best SF Bay Area Emerging Artists of 2011. Thanks to all those who voted, and congrats to all the bands in this list, we hope that many of you will find a couple of new favorite local groups here!

BAND J W F OS TOTAL   1 Geographer 5 1 1   7 2 Shannon and the Clams 5 1 0.003   6.003 3 Excuses For Skipping     3 3 6   The Family Crest 3   2 1 6 5 Whirr 5   0.004   5.004 6 Taxes 3 1 0.013   4.013 7 Mwahaha 3 1 0.004   4.004 8 Soft White Sixties 2 1 0.036   3.036 9 Ty Segall 3   0.011   3.011 10 Excalico 3   0.01   3.010 11 Michael Musika 3   0.006   3.006 12 Days of High Adventure 3   0.005   3.005 13 Sound Science 3   0.004   3.004 14 Man/Miracle 3   0.003   3.003 15 Local Hero     1.5 1.5 3 16 Con Brio 2   0.027   2.027 17 The Stone Foxes     0.011 2 2.011 18 Rad Cloud 2   0.01   2.010 19 Painted Palms 1 1 0.006   2.006 20 Acephalix 2   0.004   2.004   Slow Motion Cowboys 2   0.004   2.004 22 The Spyrals 2   0.003   2.003   Weekend 1 1 0.003   2.003 24 Maushaus 2   0.001   2.001 25 Jhameel     0.005 1.5 1.505 26 The Chaw     0.5 1 1.5 27 Dreams 1   0.068   1.068 28 Chineke     0.065 1 1.065 29 The Hypnotist Collectors     0.05 1 1.05 30 Assateague 1   0.044   1.044 31 Metal Mother     0.027 1 1.027 32 moonbell     0.015 1 1.015 33 Glass Trains 1   0.012   1.012 34 Cruel Summer 1   0.008   1.008   McCabe & Mrs. Miller     0.008 1 1.008 36 Mist Giant     0.007 1 1.007 37 Kally Price 1   0.003   1.003 38 Billy and Dolly 1   0.002   1.002 39 Grass Widow 1   0.001   1.001   Prizehog 1   0.001   1.001 Legend: J = Jury - OS = Open Submissions - W = Deli Writers - F = Fans

The Deli's Staff