Jakob Armstrong — youngest son of Green Day front man Billie Joe — began playing guitar at seven years old and honed his craft privately until about sixteen, playing in bands in and around Oakland after meeting friends with like-minded tastes in music. With the memories of Ultraman action figures fighting in his mind, he and a group of friends, formed Ultra Q (its name inspired by an Ultraman prequel series). Fusing together the skyward lift of Interpol, the clever guitar interplay of the Strokes, the maudlin romanticism of the Cure, and the often-impressionistic narrative gifts of Arctic Monkeys, Ultra Q’s growth since their 2019 EP “We’re Starting to Get Along” has been exponential. A traditional alternative rock sound was baked by the California heat, shards of broken glass gleaming in the sunlight, spanning the distance from Berkeley to Rodeo Drive.
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