Recommended shows for the week of 3/30/08

Sunday the 30th:
X/Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands at Showbox

Friday the 4th:
Cute Lepers/Napalm Beach/The F-Holes at Funhouse

Saturday the 5th:
The Dimes at High Dive

The Hands/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse


Let me know if I’ve missed something.

Andy Werth/Young Sportsmen at High Dive

Looks like a great show at the High Dive tomorrow night with Andy Werth, Young Sportsmen and Love Like Fire.

Young Sportsmen are a one of SPB’s favorite bands and their album Death to Palaces was one of the very best records of 2007 - if you don’t have it yet you really should pick it up. They have a new record (produced by Johnny Sangster) coming out in May and they’ll be previewing some of its songs tomorrow night.

Andy Werth is a very talented guy and his super catchy, upbeat piano and horn driven pop will remind you of the ‘70s AM gold of Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Chicago and 10cc. He’s an exuberant performer and his set is sure to put a smile on your face.

I don’t know much about Love Like Fire except that they're from San Francisco and that Spin magazine called their music “beautifully orchestrated rock”.

Go check it out.

The Goldbergs - Under The Radar

The Goldbergs (singer/songwriter/guitarist Andy Goldberg and various ace New York session musicians) aren’t from Seattle but they are classic power pop in the Beatles/Badfinger mold and their new record Under The Radar is the best album I’ve heard so far this year.

Under The Radar sounds like the great solo album George Harrison never made, with 11 perfectly cut gem like songs full of compelling melodies, indelible hooks and buoyant harmonies. There’s plenty of really great, expressive Harrisonesque guitar throughout and even ukulele on the closing track. The lyrics are all about being love sick, heart broken and irrationally sunny and optimistic never the less.

Nothing really innovative or ground breaking here, just classic, impeccably-crafted power pop and a really strong album from start to finish and in 2008 I think there’s a lot to be said for that.

Wig Bash '08

Recommended shows for the week of 3/23/08

Sunday the 23rd:
Visqueen at the Sunset (7:00pm)

Ms. Led/Siren’s Sister/Speaker Speaker at High Dive

The Greatest Hits on “Loud and Local” KISW 99.9FM (10:00pm)

Thursday the 27th:
Wig Pre-Bash with Blackie at the Comet

Curtains For You at the Tractor

Friday the 28th:
Wig Bash with Shim at High Dive

Cute Lepers/The Greatest Hits at King Cobra

Saturday the 29th:
Young Sportsman/Andy Werth at High Dive

Jon Auer at Fremont Abbey Arts Center (8:00pm)

Ms. Led

Not sure how it happened but I just checked and we’ve never posted anything about Ms. Led before on SPB. Never mentioned their excellent album Shake Yourself Awake that made both Sound on the Sound and Three Imaginary Girls best of 2007 lists. Completely missed their cool video of “New Agenda” when it came out last December. Never noted any of their shows even when they opened for The Posies or Imperial Teen. All I can say is this is the first of what I’m sure will be many more posts about this awesome Seattle powerpop band.

Ms. Led will be playing an early show this Sunday (3/23) at High Dive with Siren’s Sister and Speaker Speaker – should be great.

In case you’ve somehow managed to overlook it too, here is the video for “New Agenda” directed by Gina Mainwal.

Thee Sgt. Major III at King Cobra Tonight

Decision ‘08

Some choices are easy and some choices aren’t.

Tea Cozies

The amount of great Seattle bands, which can at least peripherally be considered power pop, never ceases to amaze me. It seems like I discover a new favorite just about every week. This week it’s Tea Cozies who play smart, quirky, rhythmic, punk spiked pop that reminds me of Elastica (one of my favorite bands of the ‘90s), Deerhoof and Blonde Redhead.

They have a new single Pretty Pages/Réglons, the former ostensibly about libraries and the latter about love. You can hear both sides over at Tea Cozies’ MySpace page along with some great songs from their self-titled EP.

I haven’t seen them live yet but by all accounts they put on an energetic, rocking show. They’ll be playing the Comet Thursday night with a few other bands that have a similar sound that I’ve also just discovered but think I really like: Danielli, Kiss Her For the Kid and Daguerreotypes.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/16/08

Sunday the 16th:
The Get Off/Dateless/The Heels/Dead Xs at the Comet

Thursday the 20th:
The Small Change/The Valley at the Sunset

Danielli/Tea Cozies/Kiss Her For The Kid at the Comet

Friday the 21st:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Beltholes/The Knast at King Cobra

Steve E. Nix and the Cute Lepers

The Cute Lepers are playing at the House of Blues in New Orleans tonight and at SXSW in Austin tomorrow. They’ll be back in Seattle on the 28th for a show at King Cobra with the Greatest Hits, which should be excellent.

They’ve recently signed with Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records and have an album coming out in May.

Here’s Steve E. Nix and the Cute Lepers singing “Its Summertime Baby”.

Ballard SXSW Party

If you down in Austin tomorrow…

Ventures Hall of Fame Induction Tonight

Congratulations to Seattle area band The Ventures who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 23rd annual induction dinner tonight.

Check out this awesome video of the Ventures Live in 1966 from Ventures’ guitarist Nokie Edwards’ YouTube page. Amazing drumming by Mel Taylor and super fast finger picking from Edwards. I love those Mosrite guitars and big Fender amps. Pretty sharp outfits too.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/9/08

Monday the 10th:
The Presidents of the United States of America at Easy Street Records

Tuesday the 11th:
The Color Bars at the High Dive

Friday the 14th:
The Riffbrokers at King Cobra

Knast/Boss Martians/Magic Christian

I’m psyched to see the Knast, Boss Martians and Magic Christian tomorrow night at the Comet. Sure to be an awesome night of Powerpop.

The Lowe Beats at the Tractor

Here’s more cool video shot by Chris Force. These are from the Lowe Beats’ Jesus of Cool 30th Anniversary Show at the Tractor. You can watch the complete show over at YouTube CForce33.

This first one's of the Lowe Beats doing “Shake that Rat”, "Marie Provost" and "Rollers Show”. Dig Scott's hat.



And this one is from the end of their set when Huge Jones switched over to lead guitar for smokin’ performances of "They Called it Rock" and "Heart of the City".

Tullycraft at Easy Street

My daughter Abbey and I went to Tullycraft’s in-store performance at Easy Street Records last Friday night. We both agree that it was a great show, short but sweet, a lot of fun and I have to say that for a “twee” band Tullycraft totally rock.

Their set was a nice mix of older material: “Wild Bikini”, “Josie” and songs from their latest album, the excellent Every Scene Needs A Center including “Georgette Plays a Goth”, “If You Take Away the Make-Up (Then The Vampires They Will Die)” and “The Punks Are Writing Love Songs”. All the songs had smart, witty lyrics, infectious melodies and lovely harmonies and were performed with lots of energy and exuberance.

Defying lead singer Sean Tollefson’s expectations of an audience of eight people there was a good-sized crowd including a handful of children and everyone seemed to really enjoy the show.

Here are a couple of pictures I managed to take before my camera went dead.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/2/08

Sunday the 2nd:
Visqueen at the King Cobra

Thursday the 6th:
Harvey Danger at the Triple Door

Friday the 7th:
Magic Christian/Boss Martians/The Knast at the Comet

The Earaches/Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid/The Bug Nasties at the Sunset

Saturday the 8th:
The Lund Bros./The I Love Myselfs/Doll Test at the Skylark

Detroit Cobras/The Blakes/Dragged By Horses at the High Dive

Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands/The Fucking Eagles/Star Anna at the Tractor