This week's post on KEXP blog

The latest post in my weekly column on the KEXP blog (Rock and Roll Pest Control) is now up. This week is focused on a show that is happening tomorrow night at the Tractor Tavern, featuring Brides of Obscurity, Friday Mile and Central Services. You can read it here and read all posts by clicking the link over there --->

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.

Central Services on Car Talk

Car Talk, the show auto repair show that can be heard on NPR, featured the song "She Was My Ride" by Central Services on June 9.

That's some pretty random exposure for a Seattle pop band. But, hey, rock bands take it where rock bands can get it! ...exposure, that is.

You can cruise on down to the Fremont Fair this Saturday to see them live (and if you squint your eyes just right, you might recognize me sitting in on the bass guitar for them).

Central Services, Red Sky & Young Sportsmen photos

I was playing around with my camera settings again last night. I've had this "new" digital camera for almost 8 months, and I'm still trying to get it to do what I want it to do. MY KINGDOM FOR AN AFFORDABLE DIGITAL SLR!!!

Sorry to shout there. I just wish I had a better camera, but can't stomach paying so much for a digital SLR when I know the day after I buy it they'll come out with a better model at half the price.

Anyway, as I mentioned a few times leading up to it, down at the Crocodile last night there was a mighty fine pop show. Here are some photos:

Starting the night was Central Services. I was disappointed to find that the fellas are losing a member. Ethan, who is also in Math and Physics Club, is leaving the group to pursue his own recordings. He was playing an awfully pretty Rickenbacker guitar through a Vox amp, and they said from the stage that his recordings sound "straight out of 1967." So, color me interest to hear what he's going to be doing.

I was exploring the zoom during their set and snapped this image of Jeff:


Second on the bill was the Young Sportsmen. As always, they brought the rock and the volume. They're just so darn reliable and solid, it makes you wonder if they ever have a bad show. I was trying to capture the arena-sized rock by getting a wider shot. Sadly, the output with this camera resulted in two distinct camps: blurry photo and overly washed out flash photo.

I'll choose the blurry photo with character every time.


Once again I was unable to take pictures of Shake Some Action, due to being occupied on stage playing all the low notes, and being totally distracted by having to change a broken string during the first freaking song. Without exaggeration, I've been playing bass for 20 years and that's only the third time I've ever broken a string live. Thankfully I was able to change it out without a super long delay.

Blogger update: I had a photo of the Shake Some Action set sent in by Sarah (who is also a militant Virb enthusiast... she's trying to ween folks off of myspce and onto Virb -- how's that going, Sarah? I still can't make myself do it.). She snapped this photo with her cell phone. I think it really shows off my shiny dome. :)



So, after SSA left the stage, the now-officially-renamed Red Sky (formerly known as New West Motels) took over. They've expanded to a five piece, having snagged a keyboard player who is so new to town that I overheard Rob giving him directions to the Crocodile before the show.

These guys churn out tunes that are swirly and dreamy, and I was able to catch a picture of bassist Doran that represents that vibe pretty well -- although this shot looks a little more menacing than the band actually sounds.

Band links for EC cover night

The Elvis Costello Cover Night really is a great line up. Here are links to some of my favorite bands on the bill. I don't know what order they're taking stage. So, this list is random and includes a few thoughts or comments from me.

Young Sportsmen - Among the most "powerful" powerpop bands in Seattle. Great hooks and lots of rock.

Cantona - Melodic and engaging, if somewhat inconsistent (but only when their bass player doesnt show up!..:)

Central Services - More "pop" than "power" usually, but creative and engaging to watch.

The Capillaries - Difficult for me to pin down. Definately powerpop, but somehow quirky and angular, too. Their page has newly uploaded songs, including one called "Atlanta" that is truly great.

The Sea Navy - Very "welcoming" and downhome, but melodic and fun, too. I like them live more than on record.

Central Services stuff

Central Services is one of the groups on the Elvis Costello cover night bill tonight. I hadn't searched for any youtube clips for them in quite sometime. But, I found this one posted by Ms. Q back in December from a performance down in Olympia.

I should also note while I'm here that they've updated their myspace page and have some downloadable tunes, including two of my faves -- "Tear Me Down" and "Get To You."

Central Services' recordings for kids

I've always liked the guys in Central Services. They're like regular ol' dudes who happen to play great music. But, as much as I've liked them in the past, they just jumped up another notch in my eyes by putting together a set of songs for kids via a new myspace page that they have called Central Services Division of Educational Outreach. No doubt this is what happens with rock dudes have children... but perhaps while still a little high.

It's all quite silly and cool.

Their blog post about it says:

These songs probe the depths of loneliness in the common tomato, explain how fun the coming ice age will be, point out the deplorable treatment of your elbow, and highlight the usefulness of commas, and of course, the danger of their overuse.

enjoy.

Central Services holiday song

Kevin from Central Services sent me their holiday recording this morning. They were giving this away at their show last night with Jon Auer. If you didn't get a chance to go, then you can download it here! It's on their lighter end... but I suppose that makes sense for a holiday song. Actually, now that I listen more, something about it reminds me a bit of Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out," were that song to be slower and about the holidays.

Here's the video for that song for your comparison. :)

Central Services on NPR

Central Services posted a blog recently about being featured on NPR's "all songs considered" site. It's just a little profile piece on them. But, congrats on the coverage, guys!!

An early heads up: Central Services has a show in December 13 with Jon Auer at the Croc (which is not, contrary to what their myspace page says, located in Seattle, Virgina... lol).

SPB show photos

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Cafe Venus and Mars Bar last night for the first SPB powerpop night. It was a great night of music with a great turnout (I counted about 75 in the room at 10pm). I look forward to the next one (probably January, and I've already go the line up set. It's going to rock!!).

Here are some photos and comments:

Friday Mile (okay, technically just Jace and Hannah) started out the night strong with gorgeous songs and lush harmonies.


Friday Mile

Shake Some Action played next. I'm in this band, so I'll keep the comments to a minimum. But, I think things went quite well, given how little prep we had before the show. I'm a fan of James' songs and tickled to be part of the new band.


Shake Some Action


Shake Some Action (that's me)

Closing out the night was Central Services. I really like their indiepop/powerpop tightrope act. It's catchy and melodic, sometimes rocking, sometimes sensitive and introspective, always interesting. I was happy to have them headline the first SPB night.


Central Services


Central Services

Radio 8 Ball

So, I just saw a myspace bulletin from Central Services that reminded me that I was going to blog about Radio 8 Ball. I give props to Andras (who is also part of the My Brave Face project that focuses on music from Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello) and Tammy for this idea. If you guys created this, then, bravo! It's very cool idea and a fun listen.

Radio 8 Ball is broadcast on KAOS radio out of Olympia, and it's streamable online.

Here's the gist of things:

You call in and ask a question. Then they play a song at random (literally CD & track number chosen at random via CD shuffle) and use the content of that song to divine an answer to your question. If you go to their myspace page, there is a description/interview from NPR's All Things Considered that gives a great overview.

Central Services is performing live on the program tonight from 7pm until 8pm. From their myspage page, this is how they work it with live bands -- "When we have a live guest we answer the questions by picking songs at random off a numbered sheet of 8 songs that the songwriter provides and performs live as the answer to the question."

There is also an online version of Radio 8 Ball.

Central Services live on KEXP

Although I cannot for the life of me figure out how to link directly to the file, Central Services played a four song live set (with some interviews in between tunes) on KEXP on October 3 at noon. So, if you head over to the KEXP archive page and go through the "listen by time" option, you can select that date and time to give a listen. You'll first be treated to a Snow Patrol tune, and Central Services will start up thereafter.

Central Services also has a steaky new website.

Photos from Central Services/Parks & Recreation

I snapped a few photos of Central Services and Parks & Recreation last night at Chop Suey. Unrelated sidenote: what's with the trend of bands picking names that sound like government offices -- Central Services, Parks & Recreation, Postal Service, Dept. of Energy, etc.

Anyway, here are the shots:


Kevin from Central Services


Mark and Jeff from Central Services


Anthony and Michael of Parks & Recreation

Central Services interview

Normally when I send people questions for profiles here on the blog, I edit them into some sort of "article." Well, my friends in Central Services responded with such humorous and entertaining answers, that it would do them a disservice to edit them.

And you're doing YOURSELF a disservice if you don't come to their CD release tonight (9/7) at Chop Suey.

Here's the full interview for your reading pleasure:

1. You guys seem to ride the (given, blurry) line between rocking powerpop and lighter indiepop with a good balance of both. Tell me how you guys write and come up with sounds. How has that changed or evolved with this recording?

Kevin: We’ve found that people have a hard time categorizing our sound. We never consider what we’re writing when we’re writing music. It’s all about what’s compelling to us in the moment- coming up with melody and music that really engages us, and then among those, finding subject matter lyrically that resonates. Writing songs, for me, is about working stuff out. Some emotions require “the rock” as it were, and some require a "sad acoustic", brushes and a weepy slide guitar, as it were.

We all listen to lots of different kinds of music- One day you wake up with a Fountains of Wayne style pop hook in your head, the next it’s a 1973 Genesis riff. It doesn’t make any sense to me to try to make yourself a specific style. Nobody ever criticized the Beatles for Revolver, but that album is all over the map genre-wise. Not trying to draw a comparison there, just saying is all.

Jeff: One of my favorite bands has always been Led Zeppelin - not just because they're the greatest rock band ever, but also because they took on so many completely different styles of music. They go from something like No Quarter to Communication Breakdown to Hats Off to Roy Harper to Gallows Pole and do them all so legitimately. I've always wanted a band where that same type of variety fits under the umbrella of a single band name.

2. What are your feelings about the state of pop in the Northwest and Seattle in particular? Where do you guys think you fit in?

Kevin: We like the scene out here. Compared to Boston, where Jeff and I once rocked, the Seattle scene is a little more DIY. I agree with people who describe Seattle as a small town, even though it’s a big city. My experience is that it’s about 98% about who you know, and 2% about the music, until you get some exposure. That said, I love the people I’ve met on the scene out here.

Jeff: Kevin has a few retro-ish t-shirts, and Jeff has a sport coat, though. Mark wears a bandanna sometimes. Oh, and Ethan plays a Tele. That's about where we fit in.

3. How do you think others would describe Central Services, and is that the same or different than you'd like to think of yourselves?

Jeff: We're really just a side project of Math and Physics Club, and we're pretty content with that description.

Kevin: A recent review described us as “boundary breaking,” which is awesome and hould always be said aloud with a booming reverb voice, or by William Shatner.. I would hope that others would describe us as “good,” or more so, “I like them.” Ultimately, we think of ourselves as guys in a band, who challenge ourselves to make the best music we possibly can. We also enjoy the term “cute”.

4. If you could open up for any band (any time period, any location), who would it be and why?

Ethan: Why? Do you know of any shows that need an opener? Because we're probably free...

Jeff: Central Services circa 2008, because I'd love to blow those arrogant jackasses off the stage.

Kevin: I’d like to open for Journey circa ’83, after Escape, before Frontiers, on the tour where Van Halen opened for them, and parachuted into the open air stadiums. I would gladly settle for the 1993 David Lee Roth, Cinderella, Extreme tour, which I saw at a two-bit amusement park in Connecticut. Okay no, actually, how about Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young” tour, which I went to with my high school girlfriend Jenna? Cause then she might have thought twice. . .

5. Who are your favorite Seattle bands and why?

Jeff: The Elephants (whose name has changed I think) because they're almost as brown as early Ween. I also like the guy that plays the tuba at Safeco because low notes played on a brass instrument are funny.

Eric: Andrea Wittgens. Her songs are well-crafted and musically, very interesting. She's got an amazingly beautiful voice, and her band is top notch.

Ethan: The Electric Kisses. Love their new album. It's loud even when you're trying to play it quietly.

Kevin: I like Friday Mile. Jace is a jerk and should be stopped before he writes all the good moody melodies in town.

6. You've got a recording coming out next week (blogger's note: obviously I sent them these questions last week - the CD comes out TONIGHT!). What's the scoop? What's your favorite song on the record and why? What do you want people to know about the record?

Jeff: We're pretty happy with how all the songs turned out, so there's really not much in the way of a favorite or least favorite. It was nice to see how well it plays from start to finish - everything fits together nicely, and there are no "OK, I suppose we gotta let Ringo have his song here..." sort of moments. We want people to know that there's a prize for spotting the typo in the liner notes, and if they find it, they win the chance to pay the bill for 1,000 reprinted, corrected CDs.

Kevin: We want people to know that an artist named Alice Tippit did the artwork, and made the record an album. Seriously. She’s a dream. Overall though, we want people to know that we’re not fucking around about the rock. Song ’89 was the song on the EP that people latched on to most, and thus, we want them to be prepared for the level of rocking of which we are now capable. It’s dangerous. Hell, this album should come with a warning label about the rock of which we are the unholy purveyors.

I think we’re all in some way proudest of Settle Into Gray- every time we hear it it’s like: we did that? All the way back to the beginning, convincing Jeff to release that song from its secret polymer suspended-animation chamber, we felt like it was unique. I’m proud of It’s Not My Day for a similar reason. I hear it and I’m like: “huh, what do you know about that…” Those are also two songs that would probably be low on the ‘hit potential-ometer’ too.

7. What's the future (beyond this record) hold for you guys?

Jeff: A nomadic lifestyle to avoid credit card debt collectors.

Kevin: Well, there’s an A-line business plan in place, which obviously involves tour busses, organic coke, and skin, I mean, there’s pretty much no getting around that, is there? I recently heard that on their Hysteria tour, Def Leppard had glass panels in the floor of their “In the round” stage, with gyrating groupies beneath. So that’s been added to the business model. I would say the B-line plan involves anti-depressants and a has-been lifestyle of turning our kids into prodigies in order to compensate for our own failings, then watching their lives self-destruct in the spotlight.

Speaking of Def Leppard. . . Well, nevermind.

8. What's something people don't know about Central Services?

Jeff: That we exist.

Eric: Kevin is a published novelist, Mark has opened for Ben Folds, Eric is aspiring to be a film composer, Ethan has starred in a movie, and Jeff does a pretty mean Michael McDonald imitation.

Kevin: That despite the veneer of grace and stardom, we’re just normal guys like everyone else, with the same foibles and insecurities. I mean, for example, I too spend a good hour every morning debating whether or not to parlay the Tahoe house into a Sierra Club annuity while sipping a mimosa in my jet tub, suspended in the water by therapeutic netting.

Shorthand For Epic vs. Central Services

It's another night for choices in rock music.

First up, Three Imaginary Girls presents Parks and Recreation, Central Services (album release), Patience Please (ep release), and Jace & Hannah at Chop Suey.

But, simultaneously over at The Comet Tavern is a band that I've recently fallen in love with: Shorthand For Epic, along with Via and The Hungry Pines. It's the CD release for Shorthand for Epic, as well.

Sigh... I love having the choice, but I hate having to choose. You know what I mean? I think I'm going to go to Chop Suey, as I really want to see the new Central Services. But, let me really strongly point you to Shorthand For Epic's myspace page to give a listen to their new wave-ish pop rock blend. It's sweet.

vs.

Central Services @ Chop Suey

I recently got a sneak peek into the new Central Services record (full disclosure: I was auditioning to be their new bassist, a gig which I did not get -- but hold no ill will... lol), and I've gotta say, they've taken a huge step forward. You, too, can get a sneak peek of these new recordings by heading to their myspace page and listening to the track titled "Tear Me Down." They're still sensitive in their approach. But, there's more rocking going on. Really good stuff.

You can also get a sneak peek, I'd imagine, by catching them on Tuesday, June 27 at Chop Suey with fellow indie-popsters Model Photographer, the more experimental The Epochs and a band I know nothing about called Never An Anything. Doors at 9pm.