Music

Up & Coming

RIGHT ON, THE STUCKUPS, THE INSTANTS
(Breakroom) There's a few local bands I consistently see and think, "This's gotta be my favorite band," but then I see another and think, "Naw, THIS is it." (Sigh.) I just lerve 'em all!! Well, Right On is a band on my list of affections... for good reason, too... like, they play garage rock, but not typical contemporary "garage," and, as their songs don't bog down in cliché, they actually maintain a sense of immediacy. Uh... tho' maybe it's Dan's shimmy dance I dig. Whatever, it works. Also on the bill is the Stuck Ups... all punkin', all the time... um, and who I ain't seen (sorry) since the "ladies only" lineup. The Instants, a new band, will be playing too... my sources say they gots it goin' on with late '70s power pop/punk. And they include Heath from the Fells/Vultures--speaking of them Fells, there's a Fells reunion show in town this week too... check the listings! MIKE NIPPER

WARREN G
(Showbox) Warren G encapsulated the sound and posture of California rap in 1994 with the album title Regulate... G-Funk Era. Everyone had a big appetite for the title track "Regulate" (with Nate Dogg), a big-time radio hit. The rest of the '90s seemed only to generate nostalgia for Mr. G's music, with albums such as '97's Look Over Your Shoulder (to remember the G-Funk Era) and 1999's I Want It All (implying, of course, that he doesn't have it all, as he did in '94). So what do you do? Bring back the Regulator!! On December 11, Warren G released Return of the Regulator. Even the album cover copies the cover of the '94 release! This move is no doubt inspired by Dr. Dre (Warren G's half-brother), who did pretty much the same thing with songs like "Still" and "Forgot About Dre," and Dre, of course, is once again at the top of his game. For Warren G's sake, I hope he's up for regulating to the fullest; it's all going to start at the Showbox. BRIAN GOEDDE

DAMIEN JURADO, ROSIE THOMAS, LUKE ABRAMS
(Paradox) See Stranger Suggests.

AIKO SHIMADA AND GIBBOUS MOON, KAITLYN ni DONOVAN
(Mr. Spot's Chai House) See preview this issue.

DOSED BERNIE, MAD MAN JO SMITTY, STEEL POLE BATH TUB, DARREN MOR-X
(Second Avenue Pizza) Before you start feeling sad that the San Francisco-based '90s indie band Steel Pole Bath Tub is playing a Belltown pizza place, just know that SPBT drummer Darren owns the joint. Fans of this powerfully noisy, shouty, bass-heavy (all compliments!) group should be excited to witness this rare, intimate appearance. KATHLEEN WILSON

SLEATER-KINNEY, PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests.

FAUX BANG!, THE EPOXIES
(Sit & Spin) Valley Girl, the hilarious, early '80s wrong-side-of-the-tracks movie starring Nicolas Cage as a sensitive punker, owed its greatness largely to its soundtrack. The Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Sparks, and Modern English set the tone, not just for a love story, but for an era full of Top-Siders and spiked hair. If you've been missing those days of simple new wave, it is imperative to see the Epoxies. Their chugga-chugga punk riffs bring back the days of early new wave, with a futuristic smattering of melodic keyboards. But their live performance is so spectacular, it nearly eclipses their music: the band--duct-taped and bespectacled with square sunglasses--bursts with outer-space energy. Their vocalist, Melanie, never stops dancing, and belts out every anthemic line with a cache of electricity. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

MUDHONEY, THE SPITS, LEATHERBOY
(Crocodile) Few bands in this town command the kind of devoted audience Mudhoney enjoys. I'm not talking about a sad assemblage of dwindling die-hards who haven't left 1991 behind, and for whom grunge is an unconscious way of life. I'm talking packed houses full of fans ranging in age from just out of their teens to just nearing the mid-century milestone. Ouch. It hurts, but it's true, and it's a testament to Mudhoney's enduring genius. No band makes me feel better about having been there to hear it all. KATHLEEN WILSON

MAN... OR ASTRO-MAN?, ZERO ZERO, THE PATTERN
(Graceland) If rock and roll is getting a little too tight-assed for your tastes, think of San Francisco's the Pattern as a punk enema. These garage rockers flush the pretense from the genre as they kick into fits that are impossible to watch straight-faced. Frontman Chris Appelgren acts out an encyclopedia of sexual frustrations onstage, sucking his thumb, smacking his own ass, humping the microphone stand, and wailing like a bratty baby. His lyrics are a mishmash of metaphors as he whines for one girl to make him breakfast while another bakes cakes on the back of a gun. The rest of the band works its, um, instruments into overdrive as well, playing wildly poppy songs with lots of hooks. The band tags its noise "punk rock boogie," which means you have permission to pull out all the freaky rock moves--so long as you stay away from Appelgren's much-loved mic stand. JENNIFER MAERZ

SLEATER-KINNEY, TRACY & THE PLASTICS
(Showbox) In Olympia's Tracy & the Plastics, vocalist Tracy leads the videonic troupe of time-transcending queerions, the Plastics--also known as Nikki (keyboards) and Cola (drums). The group's music is a shiny conglomeration of aerobics-class hits and future-forward operettas, with robotic beats and Tracy's gorgeous vibrato echoing out like a theatrical challenge. It's definitely music you'll want to dance to--that is, if the band doesn't break up in the middle of the gig. Yes, in the past, Tracy & the Plastics have had furious onstage arguments, primarily surrounding Cola's lack of dedication and inability (or petulant unwillingness) to just turn down the volume on her goddamn Walkman. (It's always the drummer.) But even with all the infighting, Tracy & the Plastics is a creative, fun, video-tastic art show, with lots of great music on the side. See also Stranger Suggests. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

LOVELESS RECORDS SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY: MAN OF THE YEAR, VENDETTA RED, ORBITER, THE DROP
(Sit & Spin) Few local labels have done so much, so quickly, as Loveless Records. In just two years, Loveless has put together an impressive roster of artists. There's Portland's Man of the Year, who recently scored an appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then there's Vendetta Red, who only sounds like standard pop until you take a close listen to the lyrics. Orbiter's pop-with-electronica thing has been drawing a growing and appreciative crowd, and the Drop's thoughtful, noir rock is the perfect end to a long evening. GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

SQUIRRELS CHRISTMAS SHOW
(Tractor Tavern) The Northwest's most beloved combo of early-middle-aged stoner freaks present their raison d'être, a show that brings more folks together than Hot Buttered Rum Night at the homeless shelter: the Squirrels' annual Christmas extravaganza. If you know the band, then you know what to expect. If you don't, well then where the fuck have you been, Mars? It's zany, rocking fun, full of shrewd covers, bizarre banter, and the pure cheer of unadulterated geekiness. RANDY OCTOGENARIAN

STATIC FUGUE, RURAL PICTURES, WILLIE JOHNSON, THE PURRS
(Industrial Coffee) Chris Winters of Static Fugue left me a voice mail after our Seattle Musicians' Directory came out, requesting that a correction be made. It seems we spelled the name of his band and his web address incorrectly (as "Fuge," not "Fugue"). I called back to tell him I'd change it on our website. Still upset, Winters then followed up with an e-mail, demanding that a correction be run in the next Stranger. Frustrated, I e-mailed The Stranger's managing editor, Min Liao, who is responsible for such printed corrections. (But it was late at night, and I was tired and cranky.) My e-mail to Liao began, "This little guy is a whiny motherfucker, and he's on my nerves." In a wax, I went on to call Winters a "dickhead," and informed our managing editor that I'd actually prefer writing this guy back and telling him to "fuck off" over accommodating his requests. Here's the beauty of e-mail: Instead of forwarding the message, I accidentally hit "Reply." (My bad.) For the record, Chris Winters' band is called Static Fugue, and the web address is www.staticfugue.com. JEFF DeROCHE

ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!
(Showbox) This month's very special installment of Sean Nelson's All Things to All People features two Sean Nelson projects: the Long Winters, in which Nelson is merely support for the "warm but punchy" John Roderick, and Harvey Danger! HARVEY DANGER, HARVEY DANGER, HARVEY DANGER! You may recall "Flagpole Sitta" and "Private Helicopter"--helloooo! Nelson is the one and only Stranger staffer who's appeared on Letterman AND on MTV (pouting on a subway, I love that). But what you may not remember is that Harvey Danger put out another album after Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?, called King James Version, and it's very good. It's much more sophisticated than Harvey Danger's debut (which actually wasn't bad--just insanely catchy, and fun to make fun of). This All Things to All People will also feature the Prom's smart piano pop, something called the Silver Bells, David Schmader (who's sort of a cross between David Sedaris and Robert Christgau, at least in the theater of his mind), and Tamara Paris, who is simply crazy. JEFF DeROCHE

LOS JAGUARES
(Showbox) From Tijuana to Chiapas, Los Jaguares has been consistently delivering a rare product to Mexican youth: a Rock en Español group that actually rocks hard. For some American listeners, that may be disappointing, because we've come to expect various bastardized dashes of norteño or salsa thrown into most "Latin" music from either side of the border (à la Ozomatli). Los Jaguares, however, play it straight--driving guitars, thumping bass, crashing drums, and husky vocals. In fact, the Spanish-language lyrics are the only thing that separates them from sounding like an amalgam of top-tier, polished American rock groups. But don't think they're selling out their roots: Even in Mexico, the decision to sing in Spanish is sometimes a political one, and although Los Jaguares are touring parts of the United States, they aren't doing so in conjunction with any English-language release or wider push for an Anglo audience. Rather, they'll fill the Showbox with Seattle's steady base of Rock en Español fans, for whom Los Jaguares are simply superstars. NATHAN THORNBURGH

SAVES THE DAY, HEY MERCEDES, THURSDAY
(Graceland) File Hey Mercedes next to the likes of Rainer Maria. Kicking out the wimpy-but-fun guitar anthem/emo jams as it does, Hey Mercedes is a pretty good band. At moments, singer/guitarist Bob Nanna reminds one of Catherine Wheel's buttery Rob Dickinson, or even Aveo's fluttery William Wilson. Hey Mercedes' melodies are all clean, and all but one of the members used to be in the band Braid, which you may recall loving very much when you were a sad and hyperactive teenager. If you like the emo, or the fine, melodic guitar rock, you'll be happy with Hey Mercedes. JEFF DeROCHE

THE BOBS
(Jazz Alley) The Bobs are four Grammy-nominated (for their version of "Helter Skelter") a cappella singers. They've recorded 10 albums and had many, many TV appearances. That said, I simply cannot believe how corny the Bobs are. It stings. Half of their repertoire is cover songs that at best mock the originals, and the other half is original material exploring musical styles as varied as rap, country, and classical that at best disgraces these genres. From tonight through Sunday, December 23, they will promote material from their new release, Coaster, and will most likely dip into the deep well of material from their holiday CD, Too Many Santas. I imagine there will be many parents-in-town holiday trips down to Jazz Alley, as they are light and funny (funny like when you jam your #@$%&*!! toe in the middle of the night), and this will no doubt send liquor sales through the roof. BRIAN GOEDDE

PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES, HOT HOT HEAT, THE CATHETERS
(Crocodile) Pretty Girls Make Graves is arguably Seattle's hottest rock story of the moment, a band on the verge of what should be a bright future as internationally known stars dripping with diamonds and furs. But since PGMG comprises some of the nicest folks you're likely to meet in this town, including a former Murder City Devil and a frontwoman who's sweet and pretty as peach pie, the furs and the diamonds might prove a little showy, but the international fame is an all-out given. The band recently recorded an album for Lookout! with Phil Ek in the producer's chair, but these days its members are enjoying their band's adolescence far too much to go signing on any major label's dotted line. Canada's Hot Hot Heat is all kinds of black T-shirts and sideburns, and Seattle's the Catheters make the '70s a current musical affair. KATHLEEN WILSON

MARK LANEGAN, MIKE JOHNSON, JESSE SYKES AND THE SWEET HEREAFTER
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests.

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