Husband-and-wife team Kenneth Turner and Erika Calderon-Turner front the Chutes, a pop band from San Francisco. Both have been active in the Bay Area’s punk and hardcore scene, playing in bands including Foghorn, Fentanyl and Techie Blood. The Chutes, their first band, has a more mainstream approach.

“I’ve always liked jangle pop,” Turner said. “I never really thought I could create a full-fledged piece of music in that style, especially the singing part.”

Turner grew up in Hayward and Fremont, in a home filled with music. “My dad is a drummer,” he said. “A lot of his life revolves around music. He was always playing, listening or taping shows he was watching on late night TV. He taught me how to play when I was young. He bought me a guitar and a bass later on. I took two guitar lessons, but pretty much taught myself everything else.”

In junior high, Turner became obsessed with skateboarding. “I put music aside, but skateboarding made me love music more,” he said. “So many skate videos had the coolest songs to go with each skater’s part. One day I was skating with some friends. We passed by a local hardcore show happening at a pizzeria. I remember how crazy the energy was; I started my first band after that.”

That group played a mashup of punk and hardcore, and lasted until everyone was in college. After moving to San Francisco, Turner started a screamo project with Charles Toshio, who went on to become a recording engineer. Toshio helped Turner record the songs on the Chutes’ self-titled EP.

While writing the songs for the Chutes, Turner put together Fentanyl, a hardcore-punk outfit and Foghorn, a death-metal group. He wrote all the songs for both bands, while playing in other groups with his friends.

“I had an emo band with Charles called Good Times, that leaned into the twinkly sound,” Turner said. “That’s when I realized I could play guitar better than I thought. After that project fizzled out, I started writing poppier music and settled into the style of the Chutes.”

When the band Calderon-Turner played in—Techie Blood—shared a bill with Fentanyl, something clicked between them. “I began sending her song demos,” Turner said. “She encouraged me to bring this project to life. But between other bands, touring, day jobs, writing lyrics together, falling in love and planning our wedding and honeymoon, it took about six years to come together.”

With the songs for The Chutes EP finished, they went into Panda Studios with Toshio. “We cut the drums, 12-string acoustic and some electric guitar parts at Panda,” Turner said. “The rest of the electric guitar, bass and vocals were done at Charles’ home studio in San Francisco. Erika’s vocals were done at our home.

“I was playing engineer, while she did her takes,” Turner added. “I loved it, but Erika was feeling vulnerable. I think taking creative feedback from your partner can be stressful.”

The songs on The Chutes are musically upbeat, with lyrics exploring the situations that arise in long-term relationships. Turner’s chiming, 12-string guitar and the duo’s lively harmonies drive “Scraping the Last Bits of Light,” an upbeat rocker. They describe falling in love as a journey out of the darkness: “But now together / That’s all behind / And I see in color / Not black and white.”

Calderon-Turner sings lead on “Mise en Place,” a slow ballad that opens with her wordless sighs of distress. A descending melody pulls the listener deeper into the sadness, as she bids farewell to a relationship gone wrong.

The set closes on a high note, with “Everything Loses its Color in the Dark.” Turner’s 12-string guitar and a mid-tempo beat lays the foundation for harmony vocals that describe the unexpected delight one feels looking into the eyes of a lover for the first time.

While the Chutes haven’t played any of the songs live yet, Turner looks forward to doing so. “There are a lot of directions you can take with indie pop, and I’m excited to explore them all,” he said. “Erika and I are lucky to have a network of friends to encourage us.”

Dandy Boy Records released ‘The Chutes’ on July 24. Listen to songs from the EP at thechutessf.bandcamp.com. Listen to Fentanyl and Foghorn at fentanyl.bandcamp.com and foghorn415.bandcamp.com.