The Bribes is the project of Chicago-born, San Francisco-based musician Philip Toscano. Toscano has relocated The Bribes to the Bay after releasing three records and headlining nearly every mid-sized and DIY venue on the northwest side. The Bribes have settled into California as a three-piece, featuring Toscano on vocals and guitar, Jesse Strauss on bass and Anthony Puducay on drums. The trio regularly perform in the bay area and beyond.
A self-taught guitarist and songwriter who grew up listening to the music from The Animals, Vivaldi, and John Lee Hooker in a classic Midwestern basement, Toscano exhibits a unique and sometimes moody garage-blues-rock sound that possesses both the rollicking energy of 1950's rock and roll and the refined melancholy croon of modern pop music. Toscano's primary project, The Bribes, boasts a catalog of complex songs all of this same spirit. The band's latest recording, "Dust Tapes," released in May 2016, is a lively bite-sized rock opera intended to portray a series of dreams about mortality through a melodically accessible sonic landscape. The result is a cohesive, dark-but-danceable record infused with pop rock hooks and classic rock and roll sensibilities.
Toscano released “Louder Sunset” in late January, 2020. This 8 song collection is his most sophisticated and ambitious collection of songs to date.
The Bribes have been featured in the Glide Magazine, American Pancake, The Bay Bridged, The Deli San Francisco, Bay Area Music Magazine, Windy City Times, WXRT Local Anesthetic, and Midwest Action.