The Riffbrokers CD Release Party

The Riffbrokers new CD Weight of Line and Intersection is fantastic and this is a great bill so don’t miss this show.

This Week's Recommended Shows

Saturday the 16th:
The Riffbrokers/The I Love Myselfs at Shanty Tavern

The Greatest Hits at Central Saloon

Recommended shows for the week of 6/15/08

Sunday the 15th:
Champagne Champagne/The Greatest Hits/Booze at The Comet

Friday the 20th:
The Tripwires/The Lund Brothers/The Small Change at High Dive

The Girls at Vera Project

Saturday the 21st:
Andy Werth/The Dimes/We Wrote The Book On Connectors at Fremont Fair

Thee Sgt. Major III/ Guns & Rosetti/The Riffbrokers at Slim’s Last Chance

Recommended shows for the week of 6/1/08

Sunday the 1st:
Elba/The Quit/Another Perfect Crime at The Sunset Tavern

Tuesday the 3rd:
Lushy/The Bug Nasties at Nectar

Wednesday the 4th:
The Color Bars/Mouseheart Factor at High Dive

Andy Werth/The Capillaries at The Sunset

Thursday the 5th:
Friday Mile/Two Sheds/The Dimes at Nectar

Friday the 6th:
The Submarines/Bad Dream Good Breakfast/The Color Bars at Chop Suey

Half Light/The Purrs/Jones Family Fortune/Delusions at The Comet

Thee Sgt Major/Head/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse

Saturday the 7th:
Brent Amaker & The Radio/Mass Sugar/The Riffbrokers at Skylark

The Sinister Six/The Small Change/DJ Chrispo/DJ Gort/DJ Vodka Twist/Tangerine Tonic at Lo-Fi Gallery

Young Sportsmen and Friends at The Rendezvous Saturday Night

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

Recommended shows for the week of 4/27/08

Only one show on my calendar this week:

Seattle Powerpop Radio Returns w/ Playlist 8

Wow it's really been a long time since the Seattle Powerpop Radio has been updated, playlist 7 was posted by Gary last September, but I've finally figured out how it’s done and I think this new playlist 8 is an especially good one. New songs from three of my favorite Seattle bands, a new song from up and coming Seattle band The Shy Ones and a cool Big Star cover recorded a couple of years ago by the very talented Braden Blake.

The Eighth installment of Seattle Powerpop Radio includes the following tracks:

The Riffbrokers - "Evaporate"
The Shy Ones - "All I Ever"
Doll Test - "The Decider"
Shake Some Action - "Looking For Someone"
Braden Blake - "The Ballad of El Goodo"

Just click the play button on the red widget over to the right and enjoy.

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

Review: The Riffbrokers & Throwback Suburbia @ Skylark

Welcome to SPB's third ever contributor, Mr. David Thompson of The Scheme. Below is his review of the Riffbrokers/Throwback Suburbia show at the Skylark this past weekend.

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By David Thompson

Throwback Suburbia hit the stage with quite an impact, playing their super-catchy single “Circles” with killer three- and four-part harmonies and a sound so tight it’s hard to imagine a recording that could improve upon it. Their live show was all the more impressive when I found the Portland quarter has been together for less than two years. This was their Seattle debut & the excellent sound at the Skylark served them well.

Throwback Suburbia are probably the most “powerpop” band I’ve seen in years and unlike some genre purists, they don’t forget the “power” part, with enthusiastic drum bashing & upfront guitars … not with Who-like abandon but in a more commercial, modern-rock way, like American Hi-Fi or Seattle’s own Lashes. Singer Jimi Evans reminds one of a young Joe Jackson (and not just because his white shoes bring to mind the “Look Sharp” album cover.) Mostly think “Jellyfish” -- the sort of pop that aims for majestic radio greatness.

If Throwback Suburbia is tight without being too slick, the The Riffbrokers are loose without being too sloppy. Their music is reminiscent of what the Brits call “pub rock”, which may sound like “bar band” but is a big step up from that, think Nick Lowe or Graham Parker - fine musicians who don’t noodle around but play it straight up, rough ‘n’ ready. And on their poppier tunes, singer Nick Millward’s voice has a great twang to it that reminds me of Paul Chastain from fantastic 90’s powerpop group Velvet Crush. Nick’s fat guitar tone & Heather Burnett’s melodic basslines kept the trio sounding full - But, y’know, I coulda swore The Riffbrokers were a quartet. So when Scott Sutherland jumped on stage for backing vocals, I said “yeah, him, that’s the guy.” The Riffbrokers’ site has him listed as guitarist so I’m gonna guess he’s still in the group and has sprained his wrist in, say, a bizarre gardening accident.

(Guess I’m glad that the above review is positive cuz out of my speakers as I type this, the Riffbrokers are singing “careful what you say” (from the chorus of their rockin’ track “Evaporate.”))

I do apologize to Ryan Perrey for not showing up early enough, esp. since he came all the way from Austin, TX (though may be living here now?). [Word to the wise: the Skylark is a GREAT place to see a show but the opener really is on @ 9 and the headliner @ 11]

As a small act of contrition, here’s a quick review of the songs @ his MySpace page: “Perrey takes the best elements of folk: skillful fingerpicking, emotive lead vocals and spot-on harmonies and adds a nice bit of edge with the occasional rough guitar or psychedelic keyboard sound.” But, why read a review of his MySpace page? - just go there.

Final note: Big conrats to Riffbrokers Nick and Heather who just returned from their honeymoon in exotic Greenlake and my Superbowl condolences to their slammn’ drummer Dustin who, like me, is a New England expatriate (no pun intended.)
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Thanks for the report, David!

Mr. & Mrs. Riffbroker

Congratulations and best wishes to Nick and Heather of The Riffbrokers who recently became Mr. and Mrs. Riffbroker (Millward). It sounds like they had an awesome reception with performances by a bunch of their talented Powerpop friends including an impromptu reunion of The Model Rockets. You can read the details on The Riffbrokers' MySpace blog. Go see them play this Sunday 1/27/08 at the Sunset Tavern and next Friday 2/1/08 at Skylark and keep an eye out for a new record from them, coming soon.

Rusty Willoughby/Riffbrokers at Sunset

Two of SPB’s favorites, The Riffbrokers and Rusty Willoughby are playing acoustic sets this Tuesday night, 1/22/08 at The Sunset Tavern.

The Riffbrokers play powerpop with a rootsy twang and have a bunch of compelling songs by Nick Millward that should sound great in an acoustic setting.

Rusty Willoughby has been on the Seattle music scene for over two decades now, putting out brilliant records to varying degrees of success with Pure Joy, Flop and his current band Llama. Llama’s latest record Llama II is incredibly good (and can be downloaded for free at the Llama web site) but has gone almost completely unnoticed by the music press. From reading his web site over the past few years I get the impression that Willoughby is a little tired of promoting his music - that he’d rather spend his time and energy in more productive and creative endeavors. If fame was any refection of an artist's talent then Rusty Willoughby would be huge but we can be selfishly thankful that he isn’t and that we can still go see him perform in an intimate club for only six bucks.

The Riffbrokers tonight @ Skylark

If you're looking for something to do tonight, you should head over to the Skylark Cafe in West Seattle to catch The Riffbrokers. And while we're on the subject, you should click on the link there to go to their myspace page and download some tunes, especially Evaporate, which rocks mightily.

Also on the bill are Speedmop and Survey Cez both of whom have some cool sounds online.

Review: Heidi & Nick's Birthday Bash at Sunset

Andy Miracle (aka "Full English Breakfast" on myspace) posted a review of Nick and Heidi's birthday bash in the comments of a previous post here on the blog. I felt like it deserved its own space. So, I'm bumping it here. Great work, Andy. Thanks for the report!

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"Heidi and Nick's Birthday Bash" at the Sunset last weekend was incredible.

The Doll Test sounded better than ever (and they’ve always sounded great) with the addition of Nick Millward on guitar and vocals. Unfortunately I arrived late and missed most of their set. They closed with Gasoline and Banks (such a great song) and left the crowd yelling for more.

Next up was an unadvertised but well received performance from a band consisting of Heather Burnett on bass, Jason Toft on drums and Nick's older brother (I can’t recall his name) on guitar and vocals. They weren't bad, played all covers including a cool version of "River Deep, Mountain High".

The Small Change played a really great set despite the fact that guitarist/lead vocalist Greg Collinsworth had had at least one too many drinks before taking the stage. He actually played a whole song with absolutely no sound coming out of his guitar amp. It didn’t really matter though because the band is great and Greg is such a charismatic performer with a great voice and great songs like “Cheating a Cheat”. The highlight of their set was when Ryan Maxwell of Young Sportsmen joined them on guitar for an awesome cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Police On My Back" by The Clash.

The Riffbrokers were great but they kept their set short. Nick said he was getting tired of playing and wanted to get off and let the Tripwires take over.

The Tripwires where excellent per usual. They seem to really be hitting their stride, tight but at the same time loose in all the right ways. They opened with “Break It All” by Los Shakers (but I’d say the Tripwires pretty much own the song at this point) and proceeded to play a bunch of John Ramberg’s incredible originals including “Monument”, “Arm Twister” and the anthemic “Big Electric Light”. The crowd was very enthusiastic, dancing and shouting out requests that the band seemed happy to oblige. They played “She’s a Mod” after which John and Jim pontificated on whether or not one could be both balding and a mod, “One Note Joe” featuring an awesome one note guitar solo by Johnny Sangster, “Crawling from the Wreckage” and an NRBQ song, I think it was “It Comes to Me Naturally” but I can’t remember for sure.

John announced that their record will finally be coming out in November on Paisley Pop Records and that they will be playing a record release show at the Tractor on November 9th with The Young Fresh Fellows!

The night ended with Scott Sutherland joining the band for an impromptu rock ‘n’ roll version of “Happy Birthday” played in the key of A. Good times rock ‘n’ roll.

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.

Photos: Tripwires, Sgt. Major & The Riffbrokers

I headed out to the Comet last night to take in the Tripwires, Sgt. Major, The Riffbrokers and Llama. It was a solid night of music and well attended. An interesting thing happened that I've never seen at the Comet before. As soon as the Tripwires kicked off their set, everyone crowded over to the band side of the room and got right up close to the stage area, leaving the bar side considerably less crowded.

I applaud everyone for doing that. It totally changes the vibe of a rock show to have people crowded around the stage, enjoying the band. Once the Tripwires ended their set, people dispersed to the bar side and to outside the club. So, I was wondering what would happen with Sgt. Major took the stage. Turns out, same thing! Everyone came back over and stood close to the band (thereby allowing Kurt Bloch to better behave like the rock and roll giant that he is -- running into the crowd, leaning on audience members, and pogo-ing like a mad man).

Anyhoo, as per usual, the lighting at the Comet leaves the photos less than ideal. But, here are the snapshots as they are:


The Tripwires, with audience


Sgt. Major - Kurt Bloch


Sgt. Major - Carmella

After Sgt. Major's set, but before The Riffbrokers took the stage, Heather Riffbroker brought a box of cupcakes out and put them on the merch table. It turns out that this coming Tuesday is her birthday. So, happy early birthday, Heather!

Here's a shot of the box of cupcakes... just because.




The Riffbrokers - birthday girl, Heather


The Riffbrokers - Nick's guitar

Unfortunately, I didn't get to hang around to see Llama. My energy meter hit empty, and I packed it in around 12:20am.

SPB Powerpop Night photos

It was another fun evening of music at the 3rd SPB Powerpop Night. Here are some thoughts and photos:

Kurt Hagardorn opened the show. I realized last week that I've known Kurt for 20 years, since we were both in bands in Tennessee. We both ended up in the PacNW, with him in Portland and me here in Seattle. So, it was cool to have him come up and be on the bill.


Kurt Hagardorn


Kurt and his pedal steel player, whose name completely escapes me right now.

Following Kurt's set, The Riffbrokers took the stage. This was my first chance to see them with their new/old fourth member, Scott Sutherland (from The Doll Test and Llama). It was a great set with good energy (and excellent guitar tones). In the interview I did with them last week Heather said they're either a powerpop band with a twang problem or vice versa, and that really came through on this night. Excellent, catchy tunes, but with a bit of twang in the guitar and vocal delivery.


The Riffbrokers: Scott, Heather and Nick (l to r)


The Riffbrokers: Nick & Heather

Closing out the night was Vanilla. They were missing a few players and had a different rhythm section sitting in. But, they still did a great job all around. I think it caught some folks off-guard, because the guys of Vanilla are so completely unassuming. I said to a friend that if you saw any one of them walking down the street you'd have no idea that they were involved in a powerpop group of this quality.


Vanilla: Jayson


Vanilla

Interview with The Riffbrokers

The Riffbrokers are on the SPB Powerpop Night bill that's happening at Mars Bar this Saturday (3/10). So, I thought I'd do a little interview with them to let you get to know them better.

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

Powerpop with a twang issue. Or the other way around. We have always been a tough one to nail down.

2. Who are your favorite Seattle bands and why?

Young Sportsmen- They rock and they are like our family.
The Doll Test-See above
The Small Change- See above, again
Crown Aruba-Same as above

[blogger's note: All of the above are part of Unsmashable Records]

Llama, The Tripwires, Paul Lynde Fan Club, Sgt. Major-We wanna be them when we grow up. They are also like family and our guitar player Scott is in two of those bands. He's also the head Doll Tester.

3. What are your feelings about the state of pop music in the Northwest and Seattle in particular?

In our view, we know and love some of the best pop rock outfits. Seattle is home to some of our favorite bands. We feel fortunte to have such talented friends!

4. If you could be the opening act for any band, any time period, who would that be and why?

I'm speaking for four very opinionated souls, but I think that I can safely say that the four of us would have simultaneous heart attacks at the prospect of opening for Elvis Costello. The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield would also do some damage. There's a laundry list of other lesser known folks that we would trample over one another to support, but they would take far too long list.

5. What's the latest news from you guys and what's on the horizon?

We are recording some tracks with Johnny Sangster at the end of March. We have an amazing show coming up in May. The Tripwires, Llama, Sgt. Major and us. This will be a show of pop rock force!

6. What's something people don't know about The Riffbrokers?

We go on ill-advised tours, we always take our vitamins and we quote the Simpsons ad nauseum.

March 10 SPB Powerpop Night annoucment

It's time to make the formal annoucment about the next SPB Powerpop Night. Here are the details:

Saturday, March 10
Mars Bar & Club Venus
SPB Powerpop Night featuring

Vanilla
The Riffbrokers
Kurt Hagardorn

I'll have the formal graphic up soon. It's a ripoff/tribute to Andy Warhol. :)

Unsmashable Showcase show 12/28

The Comet Tavern is hosting a cool looking year-end powerpop show on Thursday of this week (12/28). The line up of mostly Unsmashable Records groups is:

Young Sportsmen
The Doll Test
The Riffbrokers
North Twin

Show starts at "2100 hours" according to the flyer... that's 9pm to the rest of us. And, it's an interesting line up, as you can see the line drawn from North Twin's alt.country to The Riffbrokers' americana take on powerpop to The Doll Test's straight up powerpop to the Young Sportsmen's more rocking pop. Good variety for the audience, while maintaining conherence. I like it. Count me in.