Mr. Suave and the Wild Weekend

Mod Seattlite Mr. Suave has dedicated his latest “modcast” to highlighting some of the artists performing at the Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival in Austin next month including Avenue Rose, The Cute Lepers and The Boss Martians. Cheek it out at Mr. Suave’s Mod, Mod World.

SPB 2nd Anniversary

We’ve reached an important milestone here at Seattle Powerpop Blog: our Second Anniversary. To mark the occasion I asked Gary Miller if he would write something pertinent and he obliged me with this very heart felt reflection. Thanks Gary!

What can happen in two years? Let's see. You could earn an associate's degree. You could walk around the earth a couple of times. You could even potentially have two children, like my sister did (I wouldn't recommend it). You could also start a blog with humble intentions, watch it take root, and then pack up and move away a few months before it hits that two year mark!

Given how much fun it was to start, it feels odd that the blog was created and maintained through what was probably the most gut wrenching time in my life. In the same span that SPB has existed, my wife and I lost two pregnancies and that's what motivated our return to the East Coast. That's probably too much information. But, I'm feeling sentimental. Cut me some slack!

Today, however, I find myself missing Seattle. Don't get me wrong, I love being in North Carolina. I can see my family anytime I want to. I can drive to Atlanta or take a quick flight to Florida and in no time have a niece and nephew on each knee. That's a reward all it's own.

But, on random Friday nights, I long to see Greg Collingsworth, drunk off his ass, singing at the top of his lungs at the Sunset Tavern. On hot, sleepless evenings if I close my eyes tightly, I can just make out The Boss Martians crammed into the corner at the Comet. And when it's quiet in my neighborhood, I swear I can hear the Young Sportsmen practicing.

It's hard to get too worked up over this little blog, of course. I mean it started as a diversion at work on a boring afternoon. It's not like it is a Seattle institution or anything. That said, it certainly has its place and has achieved more than I had ever anticipated. So, I was thrilled that Andy wanted to keep it going after I moved away, and thrilled for the same reason I started it in the first place -- there are bands on the scene who don't get attention corresponding with their talents.

But, it ain't easy. Andy, like me before him, struggles to find time to post -- fitting it around work and life and family and fun. It's hard to post consistently, and you'd be surprised how hard it is to get information from bands sometimes. That said, in two years there have been over 1000 posts, focused on good, quality music, and I'm proud of it!

So, this rambling post isn't a call to arms, nor is it a lament. Through my muddled thoughts, this is meant to be a celebration of effort. You know, it's easier not to blog than to blog. But, we do it anyway. It's easier to not write great songs. But, the bands do it anyway. Heck it's probably easier to not read this blog than to read it! But, some of you do it anyway. So, yes, this is a celebration of effort. Thanks to the bands first and foremost for doing what they do. Thanks to Andy for keeping this blog going. And thanks for whoever is out there reading. Happy second birthday, SPB!

Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival

Those of you who plan your wild weekends in advance should note that the first annual Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival takes place Friday, August 29th and Saturday, August 30th at Emo’s in Austin, Texas. Looks like a great bill with an excellent mix of legendary power pop bands like 20/20, The Boys, Paul Collins’ Beat, The Pointed Sticks and a bunch of fresh young bands that are keeping power pop alive and kicking.

The Pacific Northwest will be well represented by Pointed Sticks and The Tranzmitors from Vancouver, The Boss Martians, The Cute Lepers and The Greatest Hits from Seattle, Olympia’s Avenue Rose and Clorox Girls from Portland.

Check out this nice homage to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and George A. Romero from Clorox Girls.



And here’s some live footage of The Tranzmitors performing "Plastic Genocide."

The Pranks at Jules Maes

The Pranks are playing Jules Maes tomorrow night on a great bill with Thee Sgt. Major III and The Doll Test. Here’s a video of The Pranks doing a cool acoustic version of their song “Your World Falls Down” live on 107.7 The End. That's Erik's brother Evan Foster on rhythm guitar and second vocal - nothing like the sound of two very talented brothers harmonizing together. I don't think Evan will be joining The Pranks tomorrow as his band The Boss Martians are scheduled to play a show at Boondock's Bar & Grill in Sedro-Woolley before they head back out on tour to rock the rest of the Country.



If Georgetown's too far south and Sedro-Wooley's too far north for you, there’s also a good show in Ballard at The Tractor with Shim, Sunday Night Blackout and The Fucking Eagles.

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.

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

Boss Martians to be played during Super Bowl

I just got this through myspace. The all caps would indicate they're somewhat excited about it. :)

HEY EVERYONE !!!

JUST CONFIRMED !!! BOSS MARTIANS "HEY HEY YEAH YEAH" WILL BE PLAYED DURING THE SUPERBOWL THIS SUNDAY !!! HELL YEAH !!!

We're featured in an E-TRADE commercial and it was just confirmed this am that it will be aired during the SUPERBOWL.

SO BUST OUT THE BEER AND THE HOT WINGS AND CHECK OUT "HEY HEY YEAH YEAH" !!!

LOVE,
THE BOSS MARTIANS

The Boss Martians in an E*Trade commercial

Just got this through myspace:

BOSS MARTIANS NEW ALBUM TRACK "HEY HEY YEAH YEAH" FEATURED ON BRAND NEW INTERNATIONAL *E-TRADE* COMMERCIAL!!!

Keep your eyes and ears out for a brand new E*TRADE commercial featuring a Boss Martians track called "HEY HEY YEAH YEAH" from our upcoming album "Pressure in the S.O.D.O." What better reason is there to stay glued to the old boob tube??? (Well, that, and WEEDS on DVD.) Park your ass in front of that TV, have plenty of ice cold Olympia on hand, and just WAIT for that mother to roll -- someone out there let us know when you see it will you?

Boss Martians performance videos

Here's some footage of the Boss Martians that was posted a few weeks ago. The actual performace appears to be a few years old, taken from a show in Chicago.



You can actually find a ton of footage of them on their fall European tour on YouTube right now, as well. For example, this footage was taken on 11/30 in Germany.

The Pranks and The Boss Martians tonight

If you head down to the Comet Tavern this evening, you'll see two of my local faves: The Pranks and The Boss Martians.

I won't be joining you, however, as today is my wedding anniversary, and I'm not sure the wifey would be down with rock for the fourth anniversary gift. :)

Here's some footage of The Pranks playing live on 107.7, acoustic style:

Boss Martians honored by Seattle Weekly

This just came through a myspace blog. Congrats to the Boss Martians! Has anyone heard of any other honorees for the year?

Quick news: Boss Martians just selected as an "Outstanding Act of 2007" by The Seattle Weekly! We'll be playing the Seattle Weekly Music Festival in Ballard -- more details soon!

Boss Martians performance video

Here's some footage of The Boss Martians that was posted last fall. I'm surprised I haven't seen this by now. But, here it is.

You can see them at The Comet this Friday.

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!

Boss Martians write a song with Iggy Pop

In addition to serving as the opening act for his Seattle tour stop recently, The Boss Martians report that they have co-written a tune with Iggy Pop for their upcoming album. Here's their post on the matter:

Word from the studio is... WE'RE ALMOST DONE! We mix the last few songs for the new album next week and trust me, we CAN'T WAIT to get this fuckin thing done and out there -- finally.

For any of you interested we'll post some pre-release tracks on the page for you to check out. Also, this new album will include the song we wrote with IGGY FUCKING POP -- he wrote the lyrics, we wrote the backing track -- it's fucking KILLER sounding and we can't wait to roll it out on you all.

They also posted about some shows in Seattle and Bellingham that are coming up later in the month. So, you'll have a chance to rock out with them soon.

Boss Martians w/The Stooges in Seattle

I just got word via a myspace bulletin that The Boss Martians are slated to open for Iggy and the Stooges on their Seattle date. Rock on, guys. I don't know who else might be on the bill.

Here are the details:

WaMu Theatre
800 Occidental Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98134
Friday, April 27th -- 8:00PM

Obviously that's a ways off. But, according to the venue website, tickets are on sale starting tomorrow (2/24). So, heads up.

Evan Foster (Boss Martians) solo disc

I just saw that Evan Foster of the Boss Martians is releasing a solo disc. Here's the annoucement:

For the Surf/Garage/Primitve instro Rock & Roll fans out there!!! Check out Martians guitar man Evan Foster's 1st solo effort entitled "Instrumentals"!!!

Evan's joined by partner in crime Dusty Watson on drums (drummer for Dick Dale, Agent Orange, Supersuckers!) and features some guest keyboard wizardry coutesy of the Martians' own NickC. Songs from this disc have already been featured on Miami: CSI, MTV's Maui Fever and in several Indie films!!!

Boss Martians performance video

Here's some high quality b&w video of The Boss Martians doing their tune "looking for you."

Boss Martians video & Studio 66 gig

Here's a video from the Boss Martians' with their song "oh angela" from their 2004 release. They're playing at the Studio 66 gig this Saturday (10/7), and unfortunately it's looking like this will be the last Studio 66 for a while.