Candyfest!

Candyfest is tomorrow at King Cobra and The Comet Tavern. It’s only $12 for a whole day of music with bands from Vancouver B.C. to Los Angeles. Here are some details (courtesy of organizer Nils Larson) about all the great groups that will be performing.

So here is what to expect; (in alphabetical order):

Apache, from San Francisco are about to release their full length LP, “Boomtown Gems” on Birdman Records. This fantastic band is one part “Killed by Death” style punk rock and one part Trash/”Glitter from the Litter Bin” glam and rock n roll. Apache features Carlos who used to play for The Cuts!

Audacity - On tour with Thee Makeout Party; Audacity from Fullerton, CA; play fast, aggressive, distorted, and garagey punk rock. It’s a little bit melodic and very noisy and fun. They have a record out on Burger Records.

Avenue Rose - With a west coast tour with The Greatest Hits under their belt, an EP on Slab-O-Wax, and 6 week US tour with The Cute Lepers in August, Avenue Rose is out to prove that there is something other than experimental noise and screechy grrrl rock coming from their hometown of Olympia. They have a sound similar to The Saints or The Fast Cars but more poppy. They are also playing the “Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival” with The Boys this summer.

Buzzer - Well first ya got Andy from The Cuts/The Time Flys singing the coolest song ever about feeling cool. It just makes ya feel good listening to it. There going for that pub punk sound almost like Eddie and The Hot Rods but AMERICAN! Oakland never fails.

The Girls - Of all the new wave sounding rock bands in Seattle, The Girls hold the crown. You can tell they actually listen to The Cars and Devo. They got an LP on Dirtnap Records with another full length coming out on the same label. You know who these “guys” are!

The Greatest Hits - They opened for The New York Dolls, have toured 3 times, with another 6 week tour coming in fall with The Fishnet Stalkers. Seattle’s only punk/glam band filled with harmony and melody. They have a CD out on Desert Island Discs. They also have 3 EPs coming out on Desert Island Discs and Silly Girl Records before they play the “Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival” in Austin with The Boys!

The Knast - It’s hard to figure out if these guys should be playing shows with The Clash in 1977 or with Supergrass in 1995 but it’s awesome to know they are from Seattle and are playing Candyfest! They have an EP out that’s part of a 4 EP set from Antarctic Records as well as the same songs on comp on Holy Ghost Revival’s label 1965 Records along with Holy Ghost, Emeralds, and Kings English (RIP). They just did a west coast tour and are ready for a festival!

Luxury Sweets - They got 2 self released CD’s out. This will be this Santa Cruz 3rd time up in Seattle. This time they are on a month long US tour. The Luxury Sweets put the sweet in Candyfest and have a sound like the Beach Boys/Jan & Dean meets the most catchy of the powerpop bands old and new, especially if ya like Exploding Hearts! They have a split EP with The Greatest Hits coming out on Desert Island Discs and are playing the Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival in Austin with The Boys!

Thee Makeout Party - Most people’s favorite candy tends to be bubblegum so what would Candyfest be without Thee Makeout Party from Anaheim, CA (home of Disneyland). These guys are on tour with Audacity and would make Kasenetz Katz and The Flying Orchestral Circus proud with their super-catchy light poppy bubblegum rockers. They got lots of releases on their own Burger Records and a full length coming out on Recess Records.

The Pranks - Erik Foster teams up with his brother Evan Foster from The Boss Martians and the result is Seattle’s #1 pop-punk/powerpop group, The Pranks. These guys have an full length of very catchy melodic songs called “Modern Communication” coming out on Germany’s Screaming Apple Records.

Pretty Vanilla - If Marc Bolan wrote songs for Big Star back in 1955, the result would Vancouver B.C.’s Pretty Vanilla. These guys call themselves “The Gay Ramones” but their gonna get nothing but girls with their heartfelt poppy and catchy songs. There is even a little brit-pop influence (the good stuff; not The Smiths).

Razrez - It’s been a while since Razrez played live. They’ve been going through lineup changes and working on recording new material. They have a very glam/early 70s rock sound a little like Alice Cooper, especially on their new material. They have a new album coming out this summer, but wait it’s already summer! Where is the album???

Sgt Major III - This all-star band features Kurt Bloch of The Fastbacks, Mike Musburger of The Posies, Jim Sangster of The Tripwires/Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Coury of the Visqueen. You can guess what the music sounds like…Yes, poppy, varied-speeds, harmonies, and melody galore. Just a fun band to pogo to…

The Spurts - This band has two members of the Luxury Sweets and yes, they are from Santa Cruz but guess what? They sound like they could be from NYC CBGB era 1976. If this band took a time machine to 1974, people would say that Richard Hell was a phony. But you also hear the elements of the newer rock of bands like The Libertines going on. Plus, they have an EP coming on Desert Island Discs so you know they are the level…

Candy Fest 2008

Oh yeah, this is gonna be sweet:

Hey everybody! Get ready because CANDYFEST is coming up quick! What is CANDYFEST? It's going to be a one day festival taking place at two venues; King Cobra and The Comet Tavern. It will cost $12 and includes 14 of the west coast’s best bands from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles. It's punk rock, powerpop, glam rock, and rock ‘n’ roll.

You can buy your tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com

It starts at 4 PM and is going to go until 2 AM!!!

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.

Recommended shows for the week of 5/4/08

Sunday the 4th:
The Cute Lepers w/ The Buzzcocks/Damned/Rezillos at Academy in the UK Festival (Birmingham)

Thursday the 8th:
Ms. Led at The Sunset Tavern

Marty Willson-Piper/The Moon Maidens/The Transmissionary Six at The Tractor Tavern

Friday the 9th:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Pranks/The Doll Test at Jules Maes

Saturday the 10th:
Young Sportsmen/The Small Change/The Riffbrokers/The Lund Brothers/The Doll Test/The I Love Myselves/Rusty Willoughby at The Rendezvous Grotto

The Pranks and The Foxx tonight at Sunset

I just noticed that The Pranks are playing tonight at the Sunset Tavern with a rock/pop/glam group from New Mexico called The Foxx.

Now, these guys have a retro sound. Their myspace page sounds like Slade meets ABBA to me. But, the mp3s on their own website have more of the Slade/Sweet side. Here's an mp3 of their song Ready To Go, featuring both folks on vocals. Actually, now that I'm listening more, this tune has a bit of a rocked up Timbuk3 to me vibe for some reason... probably the vocals.

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:

The debut of The Pranks

I've been tracking The Pranks via their myspace page for almost a year now, and tonight is their debut (is that right??) performance. The Pranks are the band of Erik Foster, younger brother of Evan Foster of The Boss Martians. Evan is also heavily involved with the group... or at least he was with the recordings. You can hear those recordings on their myspace page.

New stuff from The Pranks

I don't typically put up blog posts on the basis of someone posting new songs to their myspace page. I'd generally prefer to be able to post an mp3 or something in the post. But, I'm making an exception here because The Pranks have posted a message that their album is finally done, and they've posted four new mixes on their myspace page.

For those who don't know, The Pranks is the band of Erik Foster, who is the younger brother of Evan Foster of the Boss Martians. Evan had quite a bit to do with the recording of these tunes, and you can hear his presence on guitar. But, Erik has his own voice as a songwriter, and I really like what I've been hearing on their site over the past year.

There are some biting guitars and a bit of bratty sneer in the vocals. But, it's poppy as hell, and I can't wait to hear the full length.


Erik Foster, The Pranks (photo from their myspace page)

Vote for End Fest locals

Over at 107.7 The End, they're taking votes for local bands to be included at End Fest 2007. There are some solid entries, and they include SPB faves Dept of Energy and The Pranks, as well as Patient Patient, with whom I'm less familiar but have still enjoyed.

If you head over to their voting site you can listen to tunes and submit your ratings.

I think you have to have an imeem account to vote. So, that sucks.

But, they do have some Dept of Energy video over there that I hadn't seen before, and I can embed it here: