New playlist on Seattle Powerpop Radio

I've uploaded a fifth set of local music for the Seattle Powerpop Radio widget here on the blog. I've also decided to use a better player. So, if you'll take a peek over to the right, you'll see that all five of the playlists are now part of the same player. So, I can just keep adding playlists until my head explodes.

The fifth installment of the Seattle Powerpop Radio playlists features:

The Tripwires - "I Hear This Music"
The Boss Martians - "Oh, Angela"
The Broadcast Debut - "Brooklyn Bridge"
Dept of Energy - "I Remember What the Light Felt Like"
The Fastbacks - "We Tried"

Speaking of powerpop on the radio, I've been asked to be a guest on KEXP's Audioasis program on Saturday, September 8. So, I'll be able to take a lot of this music to a much wider audience in about six weeks. It's very cool that they've asked me to come on air!

SPB Powerpop Night - Saturday, Aug 4

I might not be able to blog very much for another day or two, as our dog is still very ill, and that's taking most of my emotional energy right now.

But, I do want to make sure everyone knows that this Saturday is the next SPB Powerpop Night at the Mars Bar. This one features The Femurs, The Upskirts and The Hungry Pines. It's a great, varied line up that is sure to please the pallet.

Here are some videos to get you in the mood.

First up it's the Hungry Pines, live at the High Dive:



Up next it's The Upskirts (and, point of note, the SPB Powerpop Night will actually be their farewell show):

Shows for week of 7/30

Here's some rock for the week for you. Doesn't seem like a ton going on for this genre this week. So, if you know of any cool powerpoppin shows that I've missed, feel free to add comments.

Wednesday, August 1
Blue Light Curtain and Black Nite Crash... two bands whose names I always get confused, together at the Comet.

Ball Of Wax 9 release show at the Sunset with a ton of bands, including The Quiet Ones.

Saturday, August 4
SPB Powerpop Night at Mars Bar, featuring The Femurs, The Upskirts and The Hungry Pines

The Rentals at Neumos

Andy Werth, The Lonely Forest, SSA photos

The Mars Bar hosted a show with The Lonely Forest, Andy Werth and Shake Some Action last night. Of course, being in SSA, I was there. So, I snapped some photos. It was pretty quiet, most likely due to the Cap Hill Block Party going on (the same could be said for the Scheme/Dept of Energy/Riffbrokers show on Friday). But, it was still a fun night of music.

The Lonely Forest opened the night and perhaps purchased themselves the crown of "loudest bass/drums/piano trio on the planet." Seriously. It was a good show, but they're a punk-rock-volume piano trio! I snapped some photos. But as is often the case when I shoot photos, they were not good shots. So, when in doubt, play around in photoshop.

For example, I made the bass player look like that scene out of Star Wars when Han Solo gets frozen by Jabba The Hut. Compare below:

Han Solo:


Bass player from The Lonely Forest:


Pretty close, huh? :)

Here's a less science fiction shot of their piano player:


Andy Werth and his band came on second, and they had a good contingent of friends, family and fans in attendance. One thing that I think is great about Andy (beyond his great songwriting) is that he is able to appeal to folks who don't normally just hang out at rock clubs.

Anyway, the two regular trumpet players were not able to make the show due to separate emergencies. So, Andy had two other fellows sitting in with him. Apparantly they just got together a few nights ago and charted out their stuff. But, it sounded great even with them being new.


Andy's trumpet players (sorry, I didn't catch your names)


Andy Werth

Shake Some Action took the stage last. We decided to make this a night of "b-sides and rarities." So, instead of our normal set, we played four new songs, three cover tunes and a few tracks from the record that we don't play as often, like "Orange Peel" and "You've Got It Made." It was a pretty sloppy/rockin' set, but it was a lot of fun.

I snapped this shot of James as we walked off of stage. Being drenched in sweat is usually a sign of a good show.


Shake Some Action - James Hall

Think good thoughts for my doggie

As I prepare to head down to the Sunset Tavern tonight (The Scheme is playing), I have a heavy heart, as my bestest companion of 9 years is having a blood transfusion as I type this. It seems he has contracted some type of anemia and it's very serious. So, everyone out there in blogger land think good thoughts for my dog Bingham. He's an awfully good little guy.

The Riffbrokers performance video

Chris from ForceWeb has some video on his YouTube channel of The Riffbrokers, live at the Tractor Tavern back in January. As is the case with many YouTube vids, the audio is distorted. But, it's enough to whet your appetite for The Riffbrokers show tonight (Friday, July 27) at the Sunset Tavern.

Llama's new website and album

I just cruised over to Llama's website, and they're totally redone the site. It's pretty spare on content right now (although quite pretty). But, of more importance, it promises a new record sometime soon -- "summer 2007," specifically. Another new record to look forward to!!

In the meantime, you can stream their previous release from their site. Their song "Right Now" from that disc is probably one of my top ten favorite locally released songs of the past several years.

Here's a shot from their myspace page of them recording:

Green Pajamas "Kim The Waitress" live video

Here's some footage from the Green Pajama's show last month at Rendezvous.

Hypothesis about Rob Femur

As part of my day-job duties, I was giving a presentation today at Seattle Central Community College. While I was waiting for students to arrive and my presentation to begin, I was thumbing through their printed list of course offerings, and I came across one particular class of note:

PUNK ROCK MUSIC HISTORY • $90
4 sessions, starts Oct 4(6651). Explore the history of Punk Rock. Learn about the different movements within Punk, such as geographical and political discussions of the evolution from a cult movement to the mainstream force it is today.
Item: 6651 BE 1108 Th 6:00P-8:00P Femur

Although you can't really tell from my cut-and-paste work here, the last word in the description is the name of the instructor. So, I'm operating on the hypothesis that Mr. Rob Femur, of 107.7 The End [Gabba Gabba Hey show] and The Femurs fame, is the instructor for this class.

In fact, I just confirmed that hypothesis by cruising over to his personal myspace page and saw that, indeed, he teaches that class. Good on him! I always think it's cool to find folks doing things like this.

Oh, and while I'm vaguely on the subject, Rob's group The Femurs will be on the next Powerpop Night bill, which is happening in about week -- August 4 -- at the Mars Bar. So, put that on your radar now!

Review: The Greatest Hits "For a Good Time Call..."

The Greatest Hits sent me a copy of their latest record, titled "For a Good Time Call..." I was happy to get my hands on it before their show tomorrow night at The Crocodile so I could give y'all a heads up.

The Greatest Hits are down and dirty, somewhat sleazy, spiked hair, leather-jacket-and-whiskey, powerpopping rock band that channels Sweet and Slade and the New York Dolls and Hanoi Rocks and a touch of the Ramones. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking here, and if you care deeply about things like perfect pitch and being completely in tune at all times, this ain't necessarily that. But, it's good rock and roll that makes for great Saturday night party music.

Songs like "Fatal Reaction" make me wish I was still 17 years old, cruising in some kind of convertible -- probably a '65 T-bird or a 1980s Camaro -- on a balmy summer night, trying to pick up chicks. I was never that cool in real life. But, The Greatest Hits makes me feel like if I were 20 years younger that I could pull it off.

The show at the Crocodile (Thursday, July 26) also has The Knast and The Kings English on the bill. So, there's enough good rock there to make a strong show. This show is also the homecoming for The Greatest Hits, back from a grueling tour that came to a conclusion with a bang -- almost literally. Here's the scoop, straight from their myspace blog post:

We finished playing to a rad AUDIENCE in Harrisburg, PA at SMALLS with a great show put on by JOSH. Us and FISHNET STALKERS last show of tour together.

Things don't make sense when they go sour after a good time like that.

But there are 5 pussy ass wannabe gangstas in Harrisburg, PA who think that bitchslapping our band members with their guns makes them hard.

Well, it sent Ryan (Whiskey Ginger) and Roman to the hospital with concussions. Ryan had to have his head stapled and they both have head bandages. And there ain't no way to fix it. BUT THEY ARE ALIVE!!! Thank god! I will kill anyone who touches my band or die for them but this all happened and we didn't know and it was right outside! FUCK THAT!!!

DOn't these assholes have anything better to do than attack hard working traveling band troopers like THE GREATEST HITS?! They got $63 total in cash and Romans Green Card! Alot good that will do them.

So, go show these guys some love. Buy a record and a t-shirt, sweat and drink some beer. If you've got a bandanna lying around, tie it on yourself somewhere and head out to the Croc.


Photo from The Greatist Hits myspace page, credit Canderson

Young Sportsmen preps to drop new record

I've been anxiously awaiting this announcement, and it came down the pike today via myspace. This from the Young Sportsmen:

We are pleased to announce the release of our new album, Death to Palaces, on August 16th. Come celebrate with us August 18 at the Sunset Tavern. And be sure to stop by our myspace page and check out the new songs.

The CD will be available at all Sonic Boom locations on the 16th, and online shortly thereafter, and, of course, at our CD release show.
XOXO, YS

If you head to their myspace page, you can sample three of those new recordings in their player. I'm planning to give this release a ton of attention. So, stay tuned for more, including hopefully a review and updated interview with the band.


Young Sportsmen

Fourth radio widget playlist added

I've added a fourth playlist via a radio widget here on the blog. See those little black boxes on the right, above the show poster? You can click each one to hear a five-song set of Seattle powerpop favorites.

The fourth playlist includes:

The Scheme - "You Let Me Go"
The Conversation Heart - "Misery is Flattery"
The Doll Test - "Sing Without Sound"
The Knast - (title unknown... can anyone help?)
Green Pajamas - "She Turns Me On"

My plan is to keep four playlists on the site at all times, but I'll continue to create new ones and rotate the playlists that are available for listening.

Bands, as always, feel free to send me an mp3 or two to the email address in the graphic at the top of this page for possible inclusion. Listeners, as always, I apologize for the occasional inconsistency in volume between songs. The system I'm using to create these has shortcomings.

Rant: bands' myspace labels

Alright, I've got to get something off my chest. It's a minor thing, but one that has been "sticking in my craw" (if you'll permit a Southern colloquialism).

When a band sets up a myspace page, they have to enter a lot of data. One of those pieces of data their genre. Bands, in fact, can list three different descriptives to give users a sense of their sound and genre. But, I have the sense that bands think it's cute or clever to make selections on this form that don't really describe them at all.

A case in point isn't actually a band I would normally write about here. I was reading the Line Out blog, and Jonathan said he had a new Seattle favorite, The Moondoggies. So, I went to check them out. But, when I land on their myspace page, I find the following descriptive: Crunk/A'cappella/Freestyle. Obviously they are none of the above.

They are but an example, because it happens all the time. I know it's a minor thing. But, I would hope that bands would recognize that by doing this they are actually making it harder for someone to find them.

I'm constantly trying to search myspace to find new bands to write about. Searching myspace is hard enough as it is, because their search engine sucks donkeys. So bands, please don't make it any harder by telling us you're a celtic/bossa nova/black metal band if you're really playing indiepop or whatever. People might want to find you, and this might be keeping them from being able to do so.

Okay... end of rant.

Young Fresh Fellows "video from the vault"

Here's a video from the good ol' Young Fresh Fellows. This one is a bit more recent than others I've posted, as it's from 2001.

Yacht Rock on Thursday

Three Imaginary Girls are sponsoring an evening of Yacht Rock at Neumo's. It's an all-star line up of Seattle faves paying tribute to that oh-so-smooth sound of the 1970s and 1980s.

Lots of SPB faves are participating, including folks from Central Services, The Small Change and Young Sportsmen. Here's the full band list:

The Dudley Manlove Quartet
The Heavy Hearts
The Leisure Suits (mems of Central Services and Math & Physics Club)!
Tim Seely
The Dusty 45s
The Young Sportsmen
Cantona
Aaron Mannino
Burning Rivers
Junkmail
Megasapien
The Small Change

If you're not hip to the Yacht Rock, here's wikipedia's blurb, and I've added a link to a youtube search for you to see the series yourself:

"Yacht rock" is a name for the popular soft rock that peaked between the years of 1976 and 1984. Significant "yacht rockers" include Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and Toto. While the music has existed for years, popular usage of the term yacht rock is relatively new, coming into circulation through the online comedy series of the same name.

lamestain post about Flop

When I updated to the new template here at SPB, I lost my links and had to recreate them. One of the links that got lost in the shuffle was the lamestain blog, which started up last fall and typically focuses on all things from the Seattle grunge era. They do a good job of talking about bands from that era, as well as things going on now from people who were involved then.

They also happen to have just posted a nice long piece on Flop. Here's the lead sentence, but head over and give the full post a read.

Our computers have crunched the data and the results have been calculated, and we here at Lamestain Research Institute have now determined that, between 1990 and 1995, Seattle’s Flop were the Greatest Power Pop Band in the World.

Northgate Silver Platters robbed

The Stranger's Line Out blog has a post about the robbery of the Northgate Silver Platters yesterday. Apparently it was a pretty targeted deal:

“It was basically the whole section of Blu-ray,” says SP Vice President Mike Batt. “We’re one of the main vendors that carry Blu-ray in Seattle, and they took pretty much everything in the section.”

With each disc going for about $34.99-$39.99 a pop, Batt says it’s the biggest hit Silver Platters has ever taken.

“Usually the people are flustered and they grab a few CDs here and there, but these people seemed to know what they were doing.”

I searched around and can't find this covered in other local media outlets. So, I thought I'd help spread the word here. Per Line out:

If you have information about the crime, e-mail Bott at mikeb@silverplatters.com, or notify the Northgate store manager, Justin, at 524-3472.

Shows for week of 7/23

Monday, July 23
No-Fi Soul Rebellion, Sirens Sister, The Apple War at El Corazon (7pm, all ages)

Tuesday, July 24
Curtains For You at the Olympic Sculpture Park (7pm)

Wednesday, July 25
The Upskirts, Boycrush and Host at the Nectar

Friday, July 27
The Scheme, Dept of Energy and The Riffbrokers at the Sunset Tavern

Llama, The Elephants and Whiting Tennis at the Tractor Tavern

Saturday, July 28
Steve Pearson and the British Racing Green (cd release) with The Neat at The Spar (Tacoma)

The Lonely Forest, Andy Werth and Shake Some Action! at the Mars Bar

Of course, this is all in addition to the bands at the Capitol Hill Block Party happening all weekend... excuse me, I meant the Esurance Capitol Hill Block Party. ;)

Tonight at the Comet

If you're looking for some Sunday night rock, here's a show for you:



And I assume these are the same High Violets:

Momentary head rush

I just got back from a trip to Leavenworth for my wife's family reunion. So, I'm just cruising around, getting caught up on what's going on in the world of rock (and the world in general). As I cleaned up the blog's myspace account, I came across an invitation to a show that said "You Am I Tuesday at the Hi Dive."

My blood pressure darted up, because I thought how cool it would be to get to see them there (even ignoring the fact that the show said "Hi Dive" not "High Dive"). While I waited for the link to load up in my browser, I filled in the story line that must surely be at play -- Silverchair is probably taking a few days off. Seattle loves You Am I, so they clearly must be coming back through town for another show.

As the webpage loaded, the brutal truth was realized. The show is, indeed, being held at the Hi Dive. But, that's the Hi Dive club in Boulder, Colorado. D'OH!

So, who saw them with Silverchair a few nights ago? Any reports you'd like to share? Anyone take photos?

Jon Auer video from Triple Door show

Michelle Auer put up some new video recently. This is of Jon's performance at the Triple Door this past weekend.

Seattle Powerpop Radio - 3rd playlist added

I'm having fun playing with these radio widgets, and, being the impatient type, I've posted a third playlist to the site. Here's the songlist for Playlist 3:

1. Curtains For You - "When My Ride Comes Along"
2. Sorry - "Orange Balloon"
3. The Femurs - "Crazy Girl"
4. Sgt. Major - "Battery Operated"
5. The Sutures - "Oh So Wrong"

Lund Bros on Sunday

The Lund Bros are playing the "Four O'Clock Rock" show at the Sunset on Sunday with The Bug Nasties and some other folks. Although it's hard to rock in the daylight, I dig early shows.

I may have posted this or a similar video by them in the past. But, while I'm talking about the Lunds...

Ghosts & Liars w/Rocky Votolato in Tacoma

If you live down south (or don't mind a drive), here's something to consider for tonight:

friday, july 20, 2007

rocky votolato
langhorne slim
ghosts & liars

@ hell's kitchen
[3829 6th avenue | tacoma, wa]

5:30pm doors/6:00pm show | $12 | ALL-AGES!!!

mmmmmmm, haircuts for all!

The Stranger situation

I don't know how many folks have followed the updates and comments on the post below about the You Am I article in the Stranger this week. But, I wanted to post a completely separate message to say that my feathers were really never particularly ruffled about the situation.

It was, and is, a bizarre set of coincidences that lead to two separate writers in the same town to pursue the same concepts about the same band and to have them printed in two separate places nearly five months apart. But, since that is apparently exactly what happened, then all one can do is simply chuckle at the oddity and get back to whatever was going on beforehand.

So, let it be known that I have no hard feelings about the situation, nor toward Barbara or the Stranger. Hopefully that feeling is mutual. Lord knows the last thing my little blog needs is an enemy!

The Shins... in a closet?

Here's a video that is of obvious international descent. I have no idea about the source. But, the result is two of the Shins performing in what appears to be a closet. It's about 8 minutes long, and they perform two songs.

Last time I posted something about the Shins I had someone comment that The Shins are not powerpop and by posting about them I was degrading the meaning of the word. But, it is without apology that I post another video from them. I've never cared much about strict definitions anyway.

Repost: Tickets for the Small Change tonight

I mentioned a few days ago that you could see The Small Change for free tonight simply by sending them a message via their myspace page. I hope some of you take them up on that offer. The show is at the Nectar Lounge and they go on at 9pm. Go, and get your hip shakin' on!

The Stranger totally ripped me off!

Whether it was intentional or not, The Stranger has a piece up about You Am I that directly steals something I did when they last came into town. Again, it's altogether possible it's an accident. But, that's quite a coincidence.

Specifically, when You Am I came through town back in March, I declared it "You Am I" day here on the blog, and I sent messages around to various musicians in town to get their comments on the band. You can trace those posts by looking at the ones that carry the You Am I label.

Well, now You Am I is back in town, this time opening up for Silverchair at the Showbox. And what has the Stranger done? They've posted a piece with quotes from musicians regarding their feelings about the band. Of course, they're a much bigger publication than my humble little blog. So, their names are bigger. But, you've got to admit that's quite fishy that they would take the same approach with the same band.

No respect. No repsect respect at all.

Blogger update at 12:35pm: Both Jonathan Zwickel and Dan Savage have written to me about this situation. I am thankful that they are both taking it seriously and checking with Barbara who wrote the story to see if it was really just coincidence or something else. I'm not super-pissed or anything. But, I do appreciate them not simply dismissing it.

Blogger update at 9:42pm: I've spoken with Barbara, the writer of the Stranger piece. She says, in fact, she had not seen my posts and that apparently "great minds think alike." Of course, I've said all along that such coincidence was possible (both here and in my conversations with the Stranger folks). So, onward we go.

Seattle Powerpop Radio

The title of this blog post is a little misleading, because it's not really radio, per se. But, you'll notice some new widgets over on the right. If you click the play button on them, you'll hear a sampler of Seattle powerpop music. Each one is about 17 minutes long, with five songs from bands past and present.

I was able to create four of them last night. But, I only uploaded two of them to the site for now. I found doing it like this is easier than formally podcasting. So, I think I'll probably do new ones every so often. Bands, feel free to send me your mp3 files to the email address in the graphic on the top banner for inclusion.

The playlists for the first two are:

Playlist 1
The Small Change - "Cheating a Cheat"
Shake Some Action! - "What You Want Me To Do"
Young Sportsmen - "Chavez"
The Riffbrokers - "Apology"
The Capillaries - "Love Conquers Some"

Playlist 2
Tiny Volcano - "Loaded Gun"
Central Services - "Four Letter Word"
Model Rockets - "Daredevil Girl"
Ghosts & Liars - "We'll Carry On"
The Heaters - "She Belongs To Me"

Apologies in advance for the variation in some of the track levels, especially The Heaters song. I'm working on better pseudo-mastering for future playlists.

Performance video by The Greatest Hits

The Greatest Hits are out on tour now, and they posted some footage of a show in Pittsburgh. They're out promoting their new record, which you can get in a lot of placing, including CD Baby (direct link).

The Hungry Pines video & Stranger props

The Hungry Pines are the "featured local band" today over at the Stranger. Clicking through to their band page I love their description of themselves as a totally "blissed-out version of Thin Lizzy."

[blogger update: The Stranger now has an entire Lineout post dedicated to the Hungry Pines... and it looks a lot like this one -- song link, video link and all! Great minds think alike.]

There are songs clips available on their band page, as well, including "me and the city," which is one of my faves.

They're headlining the next SPB Powerpop Night at the Mars Bar on August 4 (with The Femurs and The Upskirts). So, I'm tickled to see them getting more attention. Congrats guys and gals!

Here's some video of them performing last week at the High Dive:

Central Services at/on Radio 8 Ball live show

I never know what to call the "live performance" version of Radio 8 Ball. It's still Radio 8 Ball. But, it's in front of a live audience instead of on the radio. In any case, Central Services is appearing this Thursday, July 19, and it's happening at the Capitol Hill Arts Center.

Another show this weekend for your radar

Here's another show for your consideration for this weekend. I'll be out of town (for my wife's family reunion in Leavenworth). But, those of you who are in town should consider the show. Looks like rock.

Anyone know anything about "the new hardcore ufo's"? It's a clear GbV reference, which I'm all for. But, I can't find anything about them online.

Wanna see the Small Change for free?

I don't know the full story at this point. But, The Small Change are playing a 9pm show at the Nectar Lounge in Fremont on Thursday (July 19), and they've apparently been given some ludicrous number of tickets to give away to the show. Key Note Speaker, The Hacks and Shark Lake are also on the bill.

Now, y'all know I loves me some Small Change. So, what's better than seeing The Small Change? Why, seeing them for free of course! How do you go about getting these free tickets, you ask? Simply go to their myspace page and send them a message. Greg says your tickets will then be waiting for you at the door.

Go ahead and request to be their myspace friend while you're there. It's good to be loved. :)

In a related matter, Greg tells me they've been doing some recording, and I can't wait to hear the new tracks.

New tune by The Tripwires

Maybe it's a slow news day. But, I thought I'd mention that The Tripwires have posted a new tune, called "I don't care who you are" to their myspace page. It's not downloadable or anything. But, since it's The Tripwires, it's worth going there just to take a listen.

No powerpop content: Simpsons clip

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Simpsons movie. They posted this clip from the film to myspace.

Shows for week of 7/16

Rock shows, rock shows, everywhere.

Tuesday, July 17
Electric Tape, Elba and Fox Hollow at the High Dive

Thursday, July 19
There's something called the Rock and Roll Go Go Show happening at Can Can. Anyone know what this is?

Tegan and Sara are at the Triple Door, but I think it's sold out.

Agent Orange is at El Corazon. Not powerpop, but I have fond memories from my teenage skateboarding years.

Friday, July 20
Paper Dolls, Cute Lepers Thee Maniuplators and The Heels at the Funhouse

You Am I is opening for Silverchair at the Showbox, and I believe it's sold out.

Prosser, the Broker Letters and Cheifly are at the Mars Bar

Brides of Obscurity a several other bands are at the High Dive

Speaker Speaker and several other bands are at Ground Zero in Bellevue

Saturday, July 21
The Apple War and Junkmail are at the Blue Moon

Sunday, July 22
Four o'Clock Rock at the Sunset, featuring the Bug Nasties, The Lund Bros and more.

I can't say I know much about the Apple War. But, if this photo from their recent video shoot is any indication, it looks like a fun group. :)

Absolute Powerpop's top 2007 releases, so far

The fine folks at Absolutely Powerpop have released their Top 50 for the first half of 2007 list. There appears to only be one Seattle artist on the list. Coming in at number five is Shake Some Action! [conflict of interest alert: I'm the bass player in SSA]. They also released a short list of the Top 5 EPs for 2007, and The Brides of Obscurity come in at number five there.

Congrats to both!

Curtains For You and Friday Mile photos

I headed down to the High Dive last night to take in the Curtains For You/Friday Mile/Andy Werth show. It was a packed house (congrats!) and about a million degrees in the room. Overall a great line up with three bands that I like very much.

On first was Curtains For You, a band I only recently found. They are a really solid outfit that use interesting sounds and rely on a constant shuffle beat to churn out mid-tempo tunes that sound a little bit like Jellyfish if they had listened to a lot of Stephen Foster and New Orleans dirges. Go listen to their song "The Big One" on myspace if you don't believe me. I know it sounds like an odd mix. But, it's quite cool.

Here's a shot of Matthew (I think that's his name):


Matthew - Curtains For You

You can find more Curtains For You photos on this flickr page.

On second was Friday Mile. Normally I dig these guys to the high heavens, but I wasn't feeling it on this night. I think it was because by the time they started their set, I was surrounded by people who were unfamiliar with the concept of personal space. Now, it was a well-attended rock show. So, it's not like I need a 4-foot no fly zone. I only ask that people not continually elbow me, or at least if they're going to elbow me that they occasionally make eye contact to acknowledge that they're hitting me. Maybe flash that "sucks that it's hot and crowded" kind of knowing smile?

But, instead, I was made grumpy by the heat and the crowd and the elbows and my own inability to take any decent photos. So, when Friday Mile started having technical difficulties midway their their set -- which appeared to actually be a problem with the High Dive's system, not Friday Mile's -- I took the opportunity to head home.

Thus, I need to apologize to Andy Werth and his gang. Y'all know I love what you do. But, I didn't get to stick around for it on this night.

I guess there's nowhere to go from here in this blog post. So, here's a shot of Jace from Friday Mile during the first half of their set.


Jace - Friday Mile

Myspace surprise: EXIT TO MAINe

It's happened once again. I get these occasional myspace friend requests from bands that I've never heard, but that really interest me. This time it's a group called EXIT TO MAINe (yes, that seems to be how they use capitalization).

It's another example of me not knowing every band in town, even though I try! in this instance, their songs are labeled 2005 (although the myspace page was only created in October 2006). So, I'm not sure how long they've been around. In fact, I'm having a hard time parsing out their bio on sonicbids. Are they really in Seattle now? I have no idea. Read for yourself:

Jason moved here from Rockford, IL (aka suburbia) with more than seventy songs. Ray and Tony were friends who'd played together in Seattle for a couple of years. The band's rapid progress was benefited by a series of happy coincidences--From the first jam the three locked into what would come to be a definitive hybrid synthesis of modern and classic sounds.

The difficulty is they don't define what "here" means in the first sentence, and the Seattle reference sounds kind of past tense. But, their myspace page does say Seattle. So, for now, I'm treating them like they're from here.

[Blogger update: After reading this post, they've updated their bio so as to make their story a bit more clear.]

And I dig what I see and hear on their myspace page. Here's a video to sample. Kinda sounds like The Knack meets Devo to me.

Saying "I'm Sorry" to Sorry

Last week I posted about a July 3rd show that featured Junkmail, The Capillaries, the Small Change and Sorry. At the time, all I could muster about Sorry was:

"I have to admit I have no idea who the band Sorry is. Anyone know?"

They were very sweet in posting a comment that said they were happy to have been mentioned on the blog. Of course, as you can see above, it wasn't much of a mention. But, having just received their 2006 full-length in the mail, I can attest that they warranted more column inches blog space than I could provide at the time.

Let it be known that I dig this record a lot. It's not particularly timely of me to say so, since it was released in December 2006 (I think). But, I can't concern myself with being timely right now. Did anyone review this record when it came out? If so, how the heck did I miss it? And why can't I find anything other than a single review on indiepages.com when I google? Perhaps you've simply cursed yourself with a band name that cannot be easily googled?

Anyway, guys, if no one reviewed your record when it came out, you were robbed and its their loss, because you have contributed to the world a 1.2 mm thick polycarbonate disc that is truly a pleasant pop experience.

Sorry seems to have a Bellingham pop fetish. They include The Posies, The Pale Pacific, Death Cab and Dolour as among their favorite bands, and I can hear pieces of these groups in what their doing. But, they don't sound derivative or lacking in creativity. To my ears they sound like a band raised on equal parts powerpop (the Posies, Teenage Fanclub) and indiepop (Versus, True Love Always, the Lucksmiths). A good example of that is their song Orange Balloon.

They have some of the arrangements and chord structures of the latter, but some of the crunch and "oomph" of the former. I wonder if because they have a foot in each of these camps neither has really adopted them as their own? Hard to say. But, all and all, Sorry is melodic and harmony driven and really darn good. I'm definitely looking forward to having them on my radar more frequently in the future.

I dont know how I missed you when this was released in 2006. But, I'm sorry (...ahem) to have done so. Heck, for that matter I'm sorry for having not heard of you guys, even though you've been at it since, what, 2002? In any case, consider me your new champion.


Photo credit: Sorry/Alex Edelman

The Rheas become Fox Hollow

Seattle indiepop band The Rheas called it quits at the end of 2006. They've reconstituted themselves into Fox Hollow and are playing a show next week with Electric Tape (whose song "Wake Me" just rocks my world) and Elba at the High Dive.

Rock Lottery is tomorrow

I completely messed up my internal calendar, because I had convinced myself that Rock Lottery was taking place *next* weekend. But, it's actually tomorrow. Holy cow!

What is Rock Lottery, you ask? It is a rediculously fun experiment. 25 musicians arrive at Neumos tomorrow morning at 10am. Bands are randomly formed among these musicsians by something akin to pulling names out of a hat. Although each band is guaranteed a drummer, the remaining parts of the band are left to chance. So, it might be a drummer and four bassists. Or it might be a drummer, two vocalists, two piano players and someone playing the triangle. Hard to say.

But, after the bands are formed they will have the remainder of the day to craft a three- to five-song set, which gets performed the same evening (again, at Neumos tomorrow night -- Saturday the 14th).

I'm a big fan of this concept, and if it doesn't sound cool enough as it is, it's also a benefit for the VERA project.

Here is the full list of musicians who will make up the Rock Lottery 2007:

Participants include:
Charles Leo Gebhardt IV (White Nights, The Catheters, Tall Birds)
Choklate (Choklate)
Craig Flory (Trio Bar Tabac, The Suffering Fuckheads, The Syncopated Taint Septet, Combo Craig)
Damien Jurado (Damien Jurado)
David Terry (Aqueduct)
Edmund O'Brien (Key Note Speaker, American School of Warsaw)
Elie Goral (Raz Rez, Backstabbers, Blackbelt)
Eric Elbogen (Say Hi to your Mom)
Eren Jorgenson (Reversion, The French Project)
Heidi Wischler (Shiftless Layabout, The Red Note, Big Dog Revue, Randy Oxford Blues Band)
Jared Clifton (Radio Nationals)
Jen Wood (Jen Wood)
John Ackermann ("Awesome", The Half Brothers, Yukon Cornelius, Upsoyo)
Josh Evans (Felicia Loud and the Soul, Maroon Colony)
Katharina Tunicata (The Sea Donkeys, Kaliningrad, Big Tribal Balls, I love Canada, Seattle City Gamelan)
Kirk Bentley (Pleasurecraft, Chadwick, The Cinematics)
Levi Fuller (Levi Fuller, The Luna Moth)
Marie Calderon (H is for Hellgate)
Michaela Brangan (Sun Vow, The Maldives)
Nat Damm (Akimbo, Tight Bros From Way Back When, Automaton Adventure Series)
Nate Mooter (The Lashes, Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, Strong Killings)
Rick Kowai (Jonny Sonic & the Eclectics, FULL)
Rob Knop (Harvey Danger, Novatone, Hill People, Milk and Money)
Sam Kirk - (The Goondocks, The Red Note)
Sean Lowry (Tennis Pro)

Dagmar's birthday party

If you're looking for something to do tomorrow, you could head down to the Blue Moon for a free show in celebration of Dagmar's birthday.

Here's the poster:

No powerpop content: Want to buy a Seattle street sign?

Do you have a favorite street in Seattle? Ever wanted to own the sign for it? Well, Seattle government just announced the replacing of all Seattle street signs, and they've got a bit list of the old ones that are for sale.

They're updating the signs over the course of nine years. So, they're not all for sale right now. But, if you've ever dreamed of owning, say, S. Market Pl., now is the time to act!

If You're Only Doing One Thing...

I totally forgot that I was going to start doing a weekly recommendation. So, if you're only doing one thing this week, I recommend you make it the Curtains For You, Friday Mile, and Andy Werth at the High Dive.

It's an interesting line up because all three are poppy as could be, but none of the three are particularly guitar heavy in their approach. But, at the same time, none of them are particularly twee or "indiepop" either. One trait they all share, however, is that I'm a fan. So, I'll be there.

In their poster for the show they seem to be cutting off the heads of a variety of people, not all of which I can recognize. I find this someone ironic, since they all seem like pretty nice folks who make music that doesn't insight violence (unless you've got a problem with toe-tapping pop melodies).

.

West Seattle Summerfest full schedule

Hat tip to The Stranger's Lineout for this. There a lot more bands worth checking out than I original thought when I was looking for shows for the week.

My favorite part of the schedule is how they've put Awesome's name in quotes, as if somehow it wasn't really their name (see band photo below).

West Seattle Summerfest

FRIDAY, JULY 13
North Stage
2:45pm - 3:45pm Capping Day
4:15pm - 5:00pm Swallow
5:30pm - 6:30pm Spoils
7:00pm - 8:00pm Billy Joe & The Dusty 45s

South Stage
2:30pm - 3:30pm Boys of Greenwood Glen
4:00pm - 5:00pm Diosa
5:30pm - 6:30pm Down With People
7:00pm - 8:00pm “Awesome”

SATURDAY, JULY 14
North Stage
12:30pm - 1:30pm Swamp Soul
2:00pm - 3:00pm Bend
3:30pm - 4:30pm The Lonely Forest
5:00pm - 6:00pm Peter Parker
6:30pm - 7:30pm The Blakes
7:30pm - 8:30pm DJ Greg Vandy
8:30pm - 11:00pm The Retros

South Stage
12:45pm - 1:45pm Sumac
2:15pm - 3:15pm Rik Wright Quintet
3:45pm - 4:45pm Heartbreak USA
5:15pm - 6:15pm Mark Pickerel
6:45pm - 7:45pm Christy McWilson & the Board


SUNDAY, JULY 15
North Stage
12:45pm - 1:45pm Duwamish Dixieland Jazz Band
2:15pm - 3:00pm Sonando
3:30pm - 4:15pm Metaphonic
4:45pm - 5:30pm The Purrs
6:00pm - 7:00pm The Snakebites

South Stage
1:15pm - 2:15pm Two Loons for Tea
2:45pm - 3:45pm Carrie Akre
4:15pm - 5:15pm Jared Clifton
5:45pm - 6:45pm Downpilot


Awesome... quotes around their name are optional.

Stereofidelic is the new black

There's a font out there called "stereofidelic" that seems to be getting used more and more. I was using for the blog for a while and then realized that James Hall was using it as the Shake Some Action logo, as well. It's shown up again, this time on the flyer for a show that I recommend for tonight.

In unrelated commentary on this show, solely due to their names, I seem to always confuse Blue Light Curtain with Black Night Crash. I mean I *know* they're different bands. But, when I see the name of one of them I always accidentally think of the other one first.

No powerpop content: What the hell?

Totally unrelated to normal blog content. But, this is some seriously ludicrous stuff. It's all interesting, but zap forward to about the 3 minute mark and it just keeps getting increasingly crazy.

Unleash your inner dork!

Harry and the Potters (actual band and actual band name) is playing at the Seattle Public Library this Friday.

My initial reaction was that it was incredibly dorky. But, I gotta tell you, the pictures on their myspace page make them look like they rock (or at least spaz) pretty hard!

Hey Seattle bands... wanna play Saturday?

I have no idea if they would want such a thing posted here on the blog. But, it's making the rounds on myspace bulletins. So, I figured I could give it a shot here, too.

The folks at Sound on the Sound blog (who are linked over to the right -->) are having their first showcase this weekend (Sat, July 14). But, they've had a band cancel and are looking for a replacement. See Abbey's message below:

Subject: SOTS's 1st Showcase Featuring - Junkface, Sparrows, and ????
Anyone know a decent band, with members over 21 who want to play a kick ass show this Saturday and have a Seattle music blog forever indebted to them?

That's the situation we're in right now. We had a last minute cancellation and have been left scrambling for a band, days before our first show. In the hours since we've found this out we've asked just about every band we know and like, from folk singers to death metal bands and have gotten some really incredibly kind responses and a lot of folks who want to play another one of our shows, just not this one.

We appreciate tremendously the help that's already been given by our amazing friends in this community... Matt Brown, JJ at The Blue Moon, The Whore Moans... and now we're asking for your help.

If you happen to know any band, even if their ability to play that night is like an ice-cubes chance in hell - we want to know about it.

If you don't know anyone, just send us your love and any extra good karma you have laying around. I for one, could really use it right now!!

xo, abbey

August 4 powerpop night announcement

You might have already noticed the snazzy new poster to the right --->

But, I thought I should also make a more formal announcement of the next Powerpop Night at the Mars Bar. This one is special for a lot of reasons. For starters, it's the first time that every band name starts with "the." :) I'll be talking more about it over the coming weeks. But, it'll be a fun night. So, mark your calendars!

Cafe Venus and Mars Bar
Saturday, August 4
The Hungry Pines
The Femurs
The Upskirts

Jon Auer & David Bazan solo shows

This just came through the Dear 23 list.

JUST ADDED: DAVID BAZAN & JON AUER (SOLO ACOUSTIC)
Saturday July 14
8PM (All Ages)
$10 adv/ $12 day of

Don't miss this just added co-headlined show with two of Seattle's finest indie rock talents! David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and Jon Auer of the Posies will each perform solo acoustics sets in an intimate setting.

$10 adv./ $12 dos.
www.tripledoor.com

You Am I at the Showbox

Hat tip to reader Matt, who commented the following in an old post:

You Am I is opening for Silverchair on Friday, July 20th at the Showbox.

While I can't say I know what the hell Silverchair is even doing in 2007, I sure hated them back in the day. But, anything that brings You Am I back is a plus in my eyes.

Visqueen video

Bumbershoot announces full line up

I'm two days late posting this, because they actually made the announcement on Saturday. But, I wasn't on the computer much this weekend. Here are the bands that are on the Bumbershoot bill that I might normally pay close attention to:

Saturday, Sept 1
The Shins
Crowded House
The Lashes
Central Services
Lillydale

Sunday, Sept 2
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Kings of Leon
The Trucks
Apples in Stereo
Stars of Track and Field

Monday, Sept 3
The Blakes
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
Shake Some Action
Siberian
Fleet Foxes

Anyone else on the bill you're excited about?

Shows for week of 7/9

Here's some rock for your consideration this week.

Wednesday, July 11
Blue Light Curtain, The Hungry Pines and H is For Hellgate at the High Dive

Thursday, July 12
Hart & the Hurricanes, The Capillaries at the Jules Maes

Friday, July 13 (spooky!)
The Sterling Loons at Mars Bar

Saturday, July 14
soundonthesound.com presents Junkface, The Femurs and Sparrows at the Blue Moon

Thee Emergency and The Hands at Sunset Tavern

Andy Werth, Friday Mile and Curtains For You at the High Dive

The Greatest Hits, The Pop Machine, Soda Pop Kids and others at the Pacific Rim Brewing Company in West Seattle

Saturday & Sunday: The West Seattle Summer Fest is also happening this weekend, with a variety of bands on Saturday and Sunday, including The Purrs, The Snakebites and others worth seeing.

The Divorce releases posthumous record on myspace

The Divorce just posted a blog via myspace that is primarily a "thank you." But, almost as an afterthought, they mention they're releasing a new record via their myspace page (snocap downloadable album $8). Here is their blog in full:

well folks,

now that a week has passed and the dust has settled, we'd like to take a moment to thank you all for making our last shows an affair to remember. in fact, we'd like to once again thank you for the entire last seven years of support and friendship. we are proud of the work we've left behind and hope that you continue to enjoy it for the foreseeable future. you've all become important threads in the fabric of our lives, and we are genuinely grateful that you've allowed us to be the same in yours. take care of yourselves and we will most certainly see you around.

love always,
the divorce

p.s. for those who are unaware, we recorded an album (to be titled 'in arms') in the fall of 2006 that never found a home for release. we've decided to unleash the best nine tracks from those sessions ourselves via the 'snocap music store' on our myspace page. it is now available there as a full album download (for $8) or as individual tracks (for $.99 apiece). we hope you enjoy this posthumous release.

Show correction for British Racing Green

I've just realized that in my earlier post of "shows for the week" I indicated that Steve Pearson and British Racing Green were playing tonight (Friday) at the Comet. In fact, that show is tomorrow night (Saturday, July 7). Sorry for the mistake. But, you should definitely plan to go see them tomorrow night!

Ballard Denny's to be demolished

I just read on Crosscut that the Denny's in Ballard is about to be torn down.

One longtime icon has been that tacky Denny's — and who, after all, is going to love a Denny's or consider it part of Ballard's heritage? But that distinctive roof, a kind of A-frame with a curl that has the look of a Norwegian stave church crossed with a Japanese pagoda, has always attracted attention and set it apart. And despite its rather seedy present appearance — how many Denny's have a hermetically sealed bar? — for decades this diner, especially in its pre-Denny's incarnation, was a major social center for old Ballard.

Dolour performance video

Speaking of the TIG anniversary show, Bellingham's Dolour is also on the bill. I dig these guys.

BOAT is Spin's "band of the day"

The folks at Three Imaginary Girls just gave a heads up that BOAT was named Spin Magazine's "band of the day." Congrats, fellas.

Generally, BOAT feels like Modest Mouse filtered through '60s pop radio, though various influences adorn the new album. "Come With Me, We'll Win" bleeds a barroom wail into a loping slither, and the seemingly Kinks-inspired "Illustrate the History" warps into a mono acoustic Jack White-meets-Britt Daniel-like ditty on "When I Grow Up."

They have an mp3 link up, as well.

Of course, you can see them live tonight at the TIG show.

Congrats to TIG

Tonight and tomorrow are the five-year anniversary shows for Three Imaginary Girls. I'm not sure I'll be able to make either. But, I do want to throw out a healthy CONGRATULATIONS to the TIG'ers for the five-year mark. It's a great milestone for a great site.

The Long Winters: performance video

I'm on Youtube kick for some reason. Here's some video from The Long Winters, performing "teaspoon" at some event that was apparently sponsored by KEXP and Toyota (at least that's what the banner behind them implies). Anyone have any idea where this was shot?

The Doll Test: performance video

I found another video that my man Chris over at www.forceweb.com took. Here's The Doll Test back in January at the Tractor Tavern.

The Shaky Hands video

These Portland fellows are playing at the Three Imaginary Girls anniversary party that's happening this weekend. Here's a video for their song "Why and How Come":

What's going on tonight?

Perhaps powerpoppy bands are all recovering from July 4th festivities. But, there don't seem to be any notable show tonight. Tomorrow's packed, but nothing tonight. Is that true? Anyone know of something cool happening that I don't know about?

Happy July 4!

Go team! Or something. :) I'm not uber patriotic. But, have a safe and happy July 4th!

Groovy early show for tomorrow (July 4)

Assuming you want to get your rock on prior to any fireworks/July 4 activities, the Comet might just be the place to be. They're having a show that starts at 6pm that features:

The Levitations
The Ramshackles
The Shadow People
The Strange Effects

All of these bands rocks quite hard. I really dig The Shadow People and The Strange Effects, in particular. The Ramshackles include some former members of Village Green (Portland). Here's a video of them:

Small Change video

Here's another video by Chris of forceweb.com from the SPB Anniversary show this past weekend. This one is of the Small Change, with guest Kurt Bloch, doing the Model Rockets' "This Is a Valentine."

The audio is quite overdriven. But, just pretend that the distortion is from your ears cracking due to standing so close to the PA system. :)

Junkmail, The Capillaries, Small Change & Sorry

While it is technically a Tuesday, most of us have tomorrow as a day of vacation. So, in that way it's a bootleg Friday, and I plan to go out rocking tonight (Tuesday, July 3). My rock of choice is happening at the Crocodile Cafe, which has Junkmail, The Capillaries, The Small Change and Sorry.

I got my grubby little hands on a copy of the Junkmail EP recently, and I'm listening as I type this. What we've got going on here is a collection of four songs that are melodic with a hint of sadness and an undercurrent of Americana. But, I like what I'm hearing, especially the song "little ones."

You can get many of the tunes from their EP on their website. So, you should head there and check them out. And it's important to note that the full-on rock and roll force that is Heather Riffbroker has now joined them on bass, too. So, that's even more reason to see and/or hear them.

The Capillaries and The Small Change both rock my world, and I've written plenty about them here in the past. But, I have to admit I have no idea who the band Sorry is. Anyone know?

6th anniversary of One Chord to Another

I just got this note via myspace from Johnny Koch:

Tonight marks the 6th anniversary of "One Chord To Another". I'll be playing all my favorites starting at 9pm PDT. Listen on KAOS 89.3FM in Olympia or www.kaosradio.org anywhere else!

OC2A is a great program and you should tune in RIGHT NOW, because the show starts in like 3 minutes.

Congrats on six years!! Keep up the good work.

No powerpop content: The Seattle Freeze

It's no so common that I post two things that have no powerpop content in a single day. But, I came across an interesting video about "The Seattle Freeze" (and Seattle culture in general) that I should I'd share. Unfortunately, they have the embed feature turned off. So, you'll have to actually go to youtube to see it.

Y'all have any thoughts on the Seattle Freeze? Any first-hand experience?

Mooney Suzuki video

These guys are at El Corazon tonight, and it's a show worth checking out. This is a part interview and part video:

Shows for week of 7/2

First and foremost, happy July everyone! Now, onto the rock for the week!

Monday, July 2
Mooney Suzuki, The Sutures and others at El Corazon

Tuesday, July 3
Junkmail, The Capillaries, The Small Change and Sorry at The Crocodile

Friday, July 6
Peter Parker, Speaker Speaker, Half Acre Day at the Sunset Tavern

Boss Martians, The Fucking Eagles and Autolite Strike at the High Dive

Three Imaginary Girls 5th Anniversary Party at the Crocodile

Steve Pearson and the British Racing Green (former member of The Heaters!), The Neat and Fast Friends UK at the Comet Tavern.

Saturday, July 7
Three Imaginary Girls 5th Anniversary Party at VERA (all ages style)

No powerpop content: Kwik-E-Mart in Seattle

As you may know, there is a Simpsons movie coming out this summer. But, you may not know that they're coverting a dozen 7-11s into Kwik-E-Marts in celebration thereof. And, it turns out that one of them is in Seattle (somewhere down near Denny and 5th).

A fellow named Ry Jones took some photos and has a flickr page.



And for comparison purposes:

Forceweb on the SPB party (& Andy Werth video)

I posted earlier about the photo gallery of the SPB Anniversary show that Chris put up over at forceweb.com. Well, now he's got a whole post up about the show with lots of videos and thoughts. So, click on the link above and go check it out on his site (and browse around while you're there -- it's a cool site).

I'm going to embed the Andy Werth video here, because it's damn cool. This is Andy's cover of The Color Bars' "Eliza."

Curtains For You video

The fellows of Curtains For You just got in touch with me via myspace. I had seen their name around but hadn't yet thought to seek them out online. So, it's cool they found me. I dig what they've got going on quite a bit.

Here's a performance video of them at Easy Street Records back in April.

More photos from SPB Anniversary Show

Chris over at forceweb.com has a great slideshow of pictures from the SPB Anniversary party online. You can click through his photos for the bottom-to-top rundown of the event. But, here are a few of my faves:


Jim and Carmella from Sgt. Major
(photo copyright Forceweb)


A.J. from The Knast
(photo copyright Forceweb)


Greg from The Small Change
(photo copyright Forceweb)

Photos from SPB anniversary show

As I mentioned yesterday, I was a complete idiot and forgot to take my camera to my own anniversary show. Do'h! However, Dan at Trick Shot Photography snapped a couple of pages worth of pictures.

You can find his full two-page gallery online. Here are a few of my faves in the bunch:


Crowd shot
(photo copyright Trick Shot Photography)


Andy Werth
(photo copyright Trick Shot Photography)


David Bos from Shake Some Action
(photo copyright Trick Shot Photography)


Nick Small Change's hands at work
(photo copyright Trick Shot Photography)