f#

Music reviews for the Pacific Northwest.

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Artist: Great Grandpa

Release: "Cheeto Lust" (Single)

On Great Grandpa's debut single, singer Alex Menne fronts members of math-punk heavyweights Postmadonna, I Kill Giants, and Go Daijo. The cool thing about locals coming together like this, though, is that Great Grandpa doesn't feel like a side project. Instead, they sound as tight and confident as anything else they've done.

Musically, Great Grandpa exists in a musical territory somewhere between Exile and Guyville - era Liz Phair and Pavement. Or perhaps in a more recently manifested way, Speedy Ortiz. Menne tightropes the lyrical divide between the world-weary and the too-cool-for-school while instruments careen back and forth around her. This isn't to say they lack an ear for melody, though: behind every dissonant chord is a pop hook, and "Cheeto Lust" is as catchy as they come. 

Their debut EP Can Opener will be released digitally and on tape a week from today, on March 3rd, via Broken World Media. It'll also be released on vinyl later this year. In the mean time, follow them on Facebook here.

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Artist: Winnebago

Release: "Miles Away" (Single)

Seattle dreamers Winnebago turn up the reverb, riff and noodle their way though the trials and tribulations of long distance. The result is sophisticated, fantastically catchy, and best on repeat. "Miles Away" is the first great song of 2015, local or otherwise. 

Check them out on Facebook and Bandcamp to stay posted on a full-length that's dropping this spring. 

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Show Recommendation: Specters, Special Explosion, Bod

Details: February 19th // Barboza // Seattle, WA // 21+

Good news world! The new Specters full-length, American Fantasy Jesus, will be released next week on February 19th. Joining them at Barboza are Topshelfers Special Explosion, and psych-weirdos Bod. The long awaited American Fantasy Jesus is 10-songs of Stephen Steen's quirky, heartfelt indie-pop, and this show is not to be missed. 

Show details can be found on Facebook here, and you can stream the first single off the album here! 

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Show Recommendation: Detective Agency, Fruit Juice, Powers

Details: February 2nd // The Crocodile Back Bar // Seattle, WA // All Ages

Come hear garage-pop gems and jams from Powers and Fruit Juice reverberate through The Croc. Pogo your heart out to Ballard favorites Detective Agency, and then treat yourself to pizza and beer afterwards.

This amazing poster was made by the ever talented C.M. Ruiz. 

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Artist: New Lungs

Release: Bellingham Soundcheck (Live Performance)

Seattle-based emo-punk revivalists New Lungs tear up Bellingham Soundcheck, performing blistering versions of their excellent 2014 release, Reviver. Highlights include the mathy, Brand New-inspired "Colors" and the post-punk stomp of "No Blades OK". 

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Show Recommendation: Gonzo, KA, Painters 

Details: January 17th // Make.Shift Art Space, Bellingham, WA // All Ages

If you're in within an, oh, say, 11 hour drive of Make.Shift tomorrow, you should head out to catch some of this action. Local noise-wranglers Gonzo bring to mind some of the Melvin's heavier dirges. 

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F#: Best of 2014

Yup, we're still writing about 2014. In no particular order, these were the local songs, local bands, and local albums that melted our faces, rocked our worlds, and made us cry, all the while compelling us to sing along, and loudly.

Artist: The Hague // Release: Samsara

Portland math rock outfit genre-hop effortlessly all over their second full-length. Samsara is 9-songs of triumphant sonic bliss, and hits like "Neverwell" and "Picture of a Dead Scene" make this arguably the most underrated album of 2014. 

Released on March 21st, 2014.

Artist: City Hall // Release: Home Cuts

Bellingham supergroup City Hall (members of Palisades, Vervex, and SoccerMom) live up to hype/potential (and more) on their fantastic self-release, Home Cuts. Catchiest Driving Song of the Year goes to "Misinformation."

Released on June 3rd, 2014.

Artist: Winnebago // Release: All By My Side

Seattle dreamscapers bring the hooks, team up with Dylan Wall and bliss-out this fantastic pair of songs. We absolutely cannot wait for the full-length they've been sitting on.

Released on March 22nd, 2014. 

Artist: Noise Toys // Release: Extended Play

Weird, cool, and abrasively catchy art-punk from Bellingham's signature basement band. Still, Extended Play should be experienced live with a tall can in hand.

Released on January 24th, 2014.

Artist: Young Splendor // Release: Aurelian EP 

Fuzz-pedal toting Portland weirdos channel Siamese Dream-era Pumpkins a la Lou Barlow on cerebral rockers like "It's Such a Beautiful Day" and "Head Down, Feelers Out."

Released on June 4th, 2014.

Artist: The Female Fiends // Release: Too Shy To Live

Seattle pop rock quartet look to The Globes, turn up the delay, and end up writing some of the year's best love(lorn) songs. Too Shy To Live is sharp, mature, and best on repeated listens.

Released on March 16th, 2014.

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Artist: City Hall

Release: "Caving In" (Music Video)

Bellingham supergroup City Hall just released a video for "Caving In," off of their ultra-stellar five-song EP, Home Cuts, released last June. There's a little bit of New Pornographers, Whitest Boy Alive, and maybe some American Analogue Set in their sound, but mostly, it's just City Hall's own brand of simultaneously quirky and dissonant, house-show pop.

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Artist: Go Daijo

Release: Boss Truck

There's something inherently youthful and exuberant about Seattle’s Go Daijo. Perhaps it’s their Cap’n Jazz-meets-Japandroids brand of math-punk. Or, maybe it's how they literally laugh their way through "Power Go," the first of two songs on their debut EP, Boss Truck. Either way, it sounds like a damn good time: drums crash chaotically into guitars, but the guitars hold their own, with spazzed-out melodies kept in line with consistently tight hooks.

Their second song, “Angel Hair” starts off on a slow, droning blues progression, before turning up the reverb and building into an upbeat post-punk number that maybe Television would have written back in the day. Singer / drummer Cameron LaFlam’s swaggering vibrato shines on this particular track, and basically, 5:15 onwards is divine.

Because of the ADHD nature of Go Daijo, what you really hear are 6, maybe 8, very short songs spanning a couple genres here, a couple decades there. Understandably, this seeming lack of coherency may be a turn off to some listeners. But on closer examination, Boss Truck is three dudes with a lot of ideas on the table, playing exactly what they want, when they want, how they want. And frankly, it's a very cool thing.

Shout out to Ryan Sadler for making cover art both beautiful and upsetting. Follow Go Daijo on Facebook [here], and buy their music on Bandcamp [here]. 

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Artist: Specters

Release: “Golden Boy” b/w “Twins”

Since their last release, 2013’s Poor Cletus EP, Specters have kept busy, busy, busy: during this elapsed time, they've gigged constantly and found a new home, having transported themselves from Anacortes to Seattle via Bellingham. Along the way, they swapped out a member or two, all the while honing singer-guitarist Stephen Steen's quirky, XTC-meet-PNW indie pop. 

Their current incarnation - Steen alongside ex-Palisades member Noah Magan on drums and Mike Ferrario of SEACATS and Talktin and Easy on bass - is arguably their best, and this two-song preview of their upcoming album, American Fantasy Jesus, shows us that change is good.

Their lead single “Golden Boy” is what you’d expect from Specters: it’s jangly, upbeat and catchy as hell. It’s also what you wouldn’t expect, too. Though there’s some signature Rivers Cuomo and Andy Partridge in there, you can also hear some Mac DeMarco influence in it’s instrumentation, specifically the guitar and keyboard embellishments.

While their second track “Twins” is one that's been bouncing around in various forms for a while, this version is better in every way: it's guitars are fuller, the drumming is tighter, and the song is held together by solid bass playing. It picks up where Steen's and Ferrario's last band The Violins left off quite nicely. 

Follow them on Facebook [here], Twitter [here] and buy their music on Bandcamp [here].

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Artist: Sun Dummy

Release: Cricket

Cricket is the debut EP of Sun Dummy, a promising young Seattle band featuring Lizzy Costello of Special Explosion and Geoff Joynes of Retirement. Despite the low fidelity of these recordings - they were self-tracked in a Holiday Lodge Motel in Salem in two days - the writing is compelling, and the songs themselves surprisingly ethereal and beautiful.

Cricket begins with “Moon,” where a freight train of gritty, Mount Eerie-esque noise crashes into Costello’s soft, opening coos. And while the reverbed guitar squalor of their second song "Still" has echoes of My Bloody Valentine's "Come In Alone," Costello’s vocals sound present and emotive, and it’s a refreshing take on what Belinda Butcher and gang did.

Though Costello and Joynes aren't reinventing the wheel per say, these two keep it moving on one hell of a ride. It's readily apparent that The 90’s are alive and well here, and needless to say, it’s great fun to listen to driving late at night. By the time the third track “Teeth” comes around, we’re in full-on Cat Power-meets-Pavement territory. Think “Moonshiner” off of 1998’s Moon Pix being covered by Wowee Zowee-era Malkumus.

In these five songs on Cricket, there’s never a dull moment for the listener. “Kindred” is haunted, atmospheric, instrumental interlude full of dissonant guitar play, and appropriately sets the tone for Sun Dummy’s stunning final track, "Better.” Ironically, it’s on this hushed, love-sick ballad that Costello’s voice and songwriting is most affecting. Like on the acoustic track “Art of Mothering Pt. I,” on Special Explosion’s recent Top Shelf release, Costello's ability to also harness the power of quiet can say just as much, or more.

Follow them on Facebook [here], Twitter [here] and buy their music on Bandcamp [here].

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Artist: The Palisades

Release: With The Benefit of Hindsight

Released on the eve of their highly anticipated, one-off Seattle reunion show, With The Benefit of Hindsight finds The Palisades picking up where their stellar, 2013 release Ellis, left off. Recorded “on a whim” at Ground Zero in Bellevue and completed over the course of a day, the two songs on With The Benefit… remind listeners that being on an indefinite hiatus and being a part of other projects mean little and less to this fine, indie-punk quartet.

To start, The Palisades sound noticeably more expansive on With The Benefit… than on previous recordings. Having swapped out their tight, Fugazi-inspired post-punk riffing for more delay pedals and Modest Mouse-like noodling, their guitars have immersed themselves in the reverbed, near-atmospheric territory of post-rock, hinted at on Ellis and the equally excellent Mr. S's Memory. But while channeling these influences, it's important to note that the band still manages to sound most like themselves. The result of The Palisades’ sonic, evolutionary trajectory is their moodiest, most mature, and most compelling release to date.

The first track, “Country” starts with a droning minor progression, replete with feedback swells that lead into singer/guitarist Luke Hogfoss’ haunted rural narrative. While versions of “Country” have appeared in their live canon for a while now, it’s neat to see that their recent studio session has done such justice to the song itself. While guitarist Toby Reif has masterminded nearly all of the Palisades’ recorded output, no clearer is his prowess in the studio than on this pair of recordings.

On the second track, “Harm (Reprise),” The Palisades have reinvented a track dating back to 2011, transcending their scrappy, lo-fi, garage-punk demo into something of understated beauty. Hogfoss starts the verse slowly over strummed major sevenths, backed by Noah Magan’s cymbal washes until the song unexpectedly builds into a simultaneous ballad and shout-along. The effect is powerful and anthemic, and when the guitars, accompanied by Peter Coward’s solid bass playing, build over the lyric “I can feel this tension rise,” “Harm” sounds like something Built To Spill might do, if Built to Spill they made better, darker records.

All in all, With The Benefit… is a winner. One of The Palisades’ finest qualities is the emotional depth from which their music derives. While many bands exhibit fine musicianship and solid songwriting chops, something about this band’s songs just feel more inherently genuine than much of the music being made today, and that’s a very special thing.

While the future of the band remains uncertain - with Hogfoss and Magan splitting time between two other stellar Washington acts, City Hall and Specters, and with Reifs’ imminent departure to the Midwest to join Epitaph upstarts The Sidekicks – one can only keep their fingers crossed that in due time, hindsight will bring these four back together to share a few more songs.

Follow them on Facebook [here], Twitter [here], and buy their music on Bandcamp [here]. 

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Musicians around the Pacific Northwest!

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Cheers!