Working class soul: honest, simple, gritty.

The Soft White Sixties coined the phrase to describe their sound years ago, and they’re surprised that the words keep resurfacing in the media. Like right now.

“It’s funny, but I think it works,” frontman Octavio Genera said. “It’s honest, thoughtful. The lyrics aren’t high-brow. It’s a working class mentality.”

The San Francisco-based band is definitely on the rise—and deservingly so. Their debut album, “Get Right,” was officially released in March. They recently got off a successful run at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Last year, they played the main stage at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park.

Genera started the band in 2009, and the current lineup includes Aaron Eisenberg (guitar/keys), Ryan Noble (bass) and Joey Bustos (drums). Together, they play a hard-hitting, soulful rock with fuzzy hooks and R&B-tinged grooves.

The band played the Blue Lamp a few months back, but my all-time favorite Soft White Sixties show was at the UC Davis technocultural studies building in 2009. They played to almost no one, in a lecture hall, and it was super bizarre all-around. How did they even wind up there? Genera laughed when I brought up the show, but looking back, he has no idea. Genera did go to UC Davis, though, and graduated with a degree in communication. He’s from Woodland, and yes, he still visits his mom.

Catch the band at Assembly Music Hall on Sunday, April 27, as they open for Beware of Darkness. After their spring tour ends, Genera said the band will probably film some music videos and start writing the next album. Check out the track “City Lights” below, and if you dig it, SN&R readers have been permitted to download for free.