From the Feb 10 – Feb 16, 2005 issue

Music

Underage

by Megan Seling

First off, if I may, I'd like to quickly recap last weekend by saying congratulations to Handshakes, the first band to advance to the Sound Off! finals. The duo, manning a headless bass, a keyboard, and a laptop, impressed the judges at this annual underage battle of the bands with its simply composed blips-and-bleeps pop (I think the neckerchiefs might've had something to do with it too). A friend of mine described Handshakes as "Napoleon Dynamite has joined the Postal Service," and I couldn't say it more perfectly than that. I wonder if they have any bow-hunting or nunchuck skills?

This Saturday, February 12, new young bands will compete for the same victory, as three more Sound Off! semifinalists--Aluzjun, the Last Romance, and Nameless Danger--go head to head to, uh, head. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. on the third level of the Science Fiction Museum at EMP.

Also on Saturday, February 12, if you missed Canada's blistering, vigorous hardcore act Raking Bombs the last time they were in town (despite my heeds not to), you have another chance to see them. They're playing Ground Zero with a current local favorite of mine, Joules, who compose beautifully dynamic and spellbinding instrumentals of the math- meets indie-rock persuasion. The convulsive rock attack that is Ambitious Career Woman are also on the bill; the show starts at 7:00 p.m. and only costs five bucks if you bring a can of food to donate. (Raking Bombs will also open for Big Business and the Panthers at Vera on Fri Feb 11.)

So what promises to be the very best show of the weekend, you ask? Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, of course! Besides releasing consistently great records (although his 2001 Tyranny of Distance remains my favorite) Leo puts on a fun show, filled with fabulous rock-n-roll dancing vibes. He plays at Neumo's on the 13th (8 pm, $10 adv./$12 DOS) with the Joggers and our own United State of Electronica. Opening the show is the Sea Navy, a new project featuring Jay Fox, who previously spent about half a decade playing guitar in the Ivory Coast. Fox relocated to Seattle by way of Boston and his new project is very reminiscent of a stripped-down Ted Leo, with sunny melodies and jangly guitars. The Sea Navy have almost a dozen songs available for free download at www.theseanavy.com, and you should, at the very least, check out "The Sound of the Speed of Our Connection," and "Bliss."

And don't forget to register your band for The Stranger's 2005 Musicians' Directory. The deadline to be included in this comprehensive music-scene Rolodex is Monday, February 14, so get on it.

See pg. 68 for All Ages Action.

megan@thestranger.com

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