Produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla (who, a few months back, was featured in Alternative Press magazine as a notable producer), City Lights is a fun collection of charming pop songs peppered with snappy handclaps, piano, and tambourine accents. The tracks are full of catchy melodies anchored by honest sentiments, and they carry a sound reminiscent of Superchunk--with a little Olympia attitude thrown in, or maybe that's the female vocals influencing me. The bouncy compositions are well crafted, with much attention to detail.
On the title track the vivacious drumming and playful bass line bouncing through the chorus remind me of Sicko during their You Can Feel the Love in the Room days. Riding a soft wave of understated, tinkering piano, the song flows into two-minutes of gently spinning tranquility before the feedback kicks in, the guitars are strummed a little harder, and the bassist brings the pop party back to the forefront.
Racetrack will be playing at the Kirkland Teen Center on Saturday the 15th with Dolour, Autumn Poetry, and Sameer Shukla. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and costs $5.
On Thursday and Friday January 13 and 14, the Showbox is hosting two benefits for Northwest Medical Teams' Tsunami Relief Fund (www.nwmedicalteams.org). Friday's show, featuring Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service), James Mercer (the Shins), and Dave Bazan (Pedro the Lion) is sold out, but there are still tickets available for Thursday's show with Gibbard, Bazan, and Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers. Doors are at 7:00 p.m. and you can buy tickets for $15 through TicketsWest (www.ticketswest.com).
The Vera Project has also added a tsunami-victim benefit show to its calendar, Sunday, January 16, featuring Idiot Pilot and Ancille (more bands are to be announced). The show starts at 7:00 pm and costs $10.
It's a full weekend for Vera, actually, because on Friday there's the annual MLK Hiphop Show featuring Ra Scion, Cancer Rising, H-Bomb, Specs One, Youthspeaks, Onion, and Iisei, which starts at 7:00 p.m. And Saturday the VP focuses on synth and punk rock, welcoming the Fitness, Ms. Led, Kanda, and the Cripples. It starts at 7:30 and $8 will get you through the door.
And lastly, because I want to stick to my New Year's resolution to give more press to a local band I'm loving more and more, the Assailant will be playing with the Power and the Glory, the Great Redneck Hope, and Animal Hospital on Friday the 14th. The show starts promptly at 6:00 p.m. (and will be over by 8:30), and the address is 6012 12th Avenue South (it's some warehouse in Georgetown).
