Yes, the inauguration is this week, but, thankfully, live music exists to take our collective mind off the issues at hand, or creatively direct us to them (if protest folk is more your thing). Either way, our music critics have recommended the best concerts happening this week, ranging from a Latin funk outfit covering Ozzy classics to a Dolly Parton birthday tribute to a Shout Your Abortion benefit show with local favorite snack-brats. See them all below, find more on our music calendar, or check out our resistance calendar for other events to help you through this week.
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MONDAY
Whitney Mongé with Ayron Jones
Whitney Mongé got her start busking on the streets of Seattle. Understandably, she wants off the streets. She’s got a fair chance to get there, judging by the online clips—understated but emphatic, tough but a bit of a frightened shake in her voice, a voice that’s seen and sat down with hard times, ground out sidewalk life one minute at a time. Ayron Jones and the Way have a stronger all-of-us-together band sensibility and a more traditional sense of soul music, fuller and further from the bone. But he can sing, strum, throw in Hendrixian guitar solos, and put it over. And Sir Mix-A-Lot is on his side as a producer! See you all at the Broadway Dick’s? ANDREW HAMLIN
TUESDAY
Cate Le Bon with Tim Presley
Last April, Welsh art pop-rocker Cate Le Bon released Crab Day, a subtly unsettling record about feeling unstable in life and in love. Skimming along the surface of the songs yields all the lonely pleasures of good bedroom music: hummable earworms and sweetly forlorn lyrics that make you feel decisively indecisive about her or him or them. But a deeper dive will send you down daylong mind spirals, courtesy of the album’s simultaneous musical and lyrical doublings and negations. Take the single “Love Is Not Love” for example. The song’s self-negating chorus reflects the self-negating title: “I won’t let you, I won’t let you / Sing my name again, love / Sing my name again, love.” Just like this chorus, love also negates as it doubles, in that a couple combines to become one. In a move that reinforces the sadness of this paradox at the center of love, Le Bon’s title borrows half a line from Shakespeare’s 116, one of the most famous love sonnets of all time. The poem reminds us that “love is not love / which alters when it alteration finds, / or bends with the remover to remove.” But see how the word “alter” does alter into “alteration,” and the word “remover” removes its “r” to become “remove”? Love is impossible, but inevitable. Essential, yet insubstantial. Discordant, but on key. Like Cate Le Bon’s music. RICH SMITH
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
Jamison Ross
Jazzy soulman Jamison Ross is a quadruple threat: composer, arranger, vocalist, and drummer. His Grammy-nominated debut release, Jamison, presents unique offerings to the world of jazz, as he will in person during his two-night stint in town.
WEDNESDAY
Brown Sabbath with Dust Moth
If you’ve ever yearned for the songs of British metal pioneers Black Sabbath to swagger with more Latin-rock groove and percussion accents and gust with more brazen horn charts, Austin group Brownout’s Brown Sabbath project will answer your prayers. Even if you haven’t, but are curious to hear how Sabbath’s crucial songs from the 1970s would sound in the deft hands of mostly Hispanic musicians, you should check out Brown Sabbath’s flavorful take on la musica del diablo. The tribute group’s new LP, Brown Sabbath Vol. II, contains some of Ozzy and company’s greatest creations: “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Sweet Leaf,” “Children of the Grave,” and “Supernaut.” How about “Who Are You” and “Fluff” next? DAVE SEGAL
Crybaby Studios Monthly Inaugural Show
Every month of 2017 will see a different locals-only showcase hosted by Crybaby Studios, with the third Wednesday of each month acting as a feature for some of our best regional musicians. The inaugural show will include a headlining set from Golden Gardens, with support by Lilac and Foie Gras, and visuals from Daisyheroin.
Dave Alvin & Christy McWilson with The West Seattle Two
I caught Dave Alvin once just outside Chicago (the truly hip, y’see, don’t play inside the city limits) and found him refreshingly gnarly for someone truly hip. He made his guitar sound like he’d just thrown it up on top of the amp and walked away from it, even though it was still in his hands. He told the crowd he loved to play Chicago (or close enough) because “I’m half Polish and so is Chicago.” He’s got roots rock in his roots before that was hip, all the way back to the Blasters, and he loves to noise ’n’ roll. But he publishes poetry, to boot. Christy McWilson started out with Seattle’s Dynette Set. That makes her more than hip enough! ANDREW HAMLIN
Udo Dirkschneider with Zone Down
Sporting a buzz cut and standing a little on the short side, Germany’s Udo Dirkschneider doesn’t exactly look like an 1980s hard-rock icon, but for years he was the face of Accept, best known in the United States for their hit “Balls to the Wall.” The band’s career never took off on this side of the pond—but overseas, Accept’s legacy as premiere purveyors of riff-and-scream remains secure. Take it from me, Accept are good—like, Iron Maiden good. The group now sports a new singer, and Dirkschneider sits at the helm of a long and successful solo career, but that doesn’t mean he’s above belting out the songs that made him famous. On this tour, Dirkschneider is playing only classic Accept songs, which he promises never to sing again. That makes this show a unique opportunity to celebrate or first experience one of the best-kept secrets in heavy guitar music. JOSEPH SCHAFER
THURSDAY
Ash Borer, Bell Witch, Hissing
Pacific Northwest metalheads love their Cascadian black metal. While there might be a geographical bias involved in that affinity, it’s fair to say that bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Agalloch (RIP) helped lend validity to the USBM scene by embracing black metal’s caustic mystery while also harnessing the pastoral gloom of our lonesome corner. But those blurry melodies and scratchy guitars can sometimes be more melancholic than menacing. Pit Mount Eerie’s Wind’s Poem against WITTR’s Celestial Lineage and tell me which record has more teeth. For the kvltists who want more ferocity than reflection out of their gray-sky black metal, check out Arcata’s Ash Borer. Their recent album, The Irrepassable Gate, doesn’t shy from melody, but consistently prioritizes savagery over symphonics. BRIAN COOK
The Bad Plus
It’s a genius strategy for a modern jazz trio to intersperse covers of songs by prominent rock and electronic artists with their own original compositions. To the Bad Plus’s credit, they never opt for the obvious approach with their interpretations of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Aphex Twin’s “Flim,” Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” and other crowd-pleasers. Drummer Dave King, pianist Ethan Iverson, and bassist Reid Anderson lightly trace the songs’ structures and then imbue them with new chromosomal chords and notes. The familiar becomes slightly unfamiliar, and sweet dissonance often ensues, as you gradually gain your bearings. The Bad Plus’s 2016 LP, It’s Hard, offers yet more confounding thrills, featuring songs by Johnny Cash, Prince, Ornette Coleman, Kraftwerk, and many other unlikely subjects. DAVE SEGAL
The Gods Themselves, Erik Blood, Trick Candles
Seattle trio the Gods Themselves are seemingly reaching the apex of an upward trajectory that began in 2014 with their self-titled debut. Their uncanny knack for huge, honkin’ hooks that exude toughness and hedonism has never wavered over their three increasingly polished albums. Pink Noise and the new Be My Animal (for which tonight’s show is the release party) find the Gods Themselves—vocalist/guitarist Astra Elane, baritone guitarist/vocalist Dustin Patterson, and drummer Collin O’Meara—striving for commercial success without compromising artistic integrity. They’re seasoned pros who know how to make glam rock, disco, and chiseled new wave achieve ornate peaks of melody and groove. Intelligent party music with perfectly aligned yin and yang insouciance, anybody? DAVE SEGAL
Happy Birthday Dolly Parton: A Tribute to Dolly Parton
I guess I’m biased in writing this because Dolly Parton is my mom, so I love her regardless of what she does, but y’all should head out to Conor Byrne for this show and make it into a real DollyParlooza. Some local musicians are taking over her birthday for a night of covers and tribute acts with what had better be a metric fuck-ton of rhinestones, Aqua Net, and fringed candy-pink nubuck. In case you were somehow unaware, Parton is a true national treasure, a sparkling gem, a legit role model for working womxn, and an enduring voice for classic Americana and down-home pop, who will, I hope, continue to strum a lap harp on her lilac fountain cloud formation forever and ever and won’t ever die because I honestly wouldn’t be able to take that shit. KIM SELLING
Heatwarmer with Guests
Prog rock is such a scarce commodity in the Seattle music scene that when solid specimens of it turn up, one tends to get carried away with joy. (I used to DJ a prog night, and it was the sort of quixotic venture that could crush your spirit if you weren’t careful.) Anyway, local group Heatwarmer is fighting the good prog fight in an environment not exactly welcoming to the genre. Led by Luke Bergman, Heatwarmer play melodically rich, rhythmically complex songs that swoop and pirouette in unpredictable and pretty patterns, topped by Bergman’s wonderstruck vocals that give Yes’s Jon Anderson a run for their wide-eyed money. DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Will Downing
Known widely as "The Prince of Sophisticated Soul," legendary singer Will Downing will showcase his talents for interpreting soul, jazz, and R&B classics for a four-night stint in support of his latest release, Black Pearls.
FRIDAY
Inauguration Day SYA Benefit Show with Tacocat, Wimps, and The Black Tones
Local Stranger favorites Tacocat will be playing Barboza on Inauguration Day with Wimps and The Black Tones in an effort to make this day palatable in the slightest. All proceeds from the door will go to pro-abortion non-profit #ShoutYourAbortion, with "super-special limited-edition" SYA merch sales going to #BlackLivesMatter.
The Intelligence, MASZER, Psychic Death
It’s still hard not to think of the Intelligence as a Seattle band, although the Stranger Genius Award winners—led by singer-guitarist Lars Finberg—haven’t been based here since 2012. They were so integral to shaping a crucial facet of our city’s underground rock sound: an incisive mix of cynical post punk, caustic garage rock, and retro-futurist synth embellishments, all topped with Finberg’s sardonic and slyly humorous lyrical observations. Thankfully, Finberg and whichever clever sidekicks he’s currently herding to help realize his skewed visions regularly visit Seattle. The Intelligence’s growing catalog of subterranean classics, bolstered most recently by 2015’s suave Vintage Future, gets another airing in our area on the same day a dangerous clown gets sworn into office. We’re gonna need Finberg’s gallows humor more than ever. DAVE SEGAL
WORK! Presents Pezzner
Dogged determination over many years can pay off in the dance-music realm—especially if you have an abundance of talent, as demonstrated by the career of Seattle’s Dave Pezzner. He’s been a key mover and shaker of music that inspires moving and shaking since 1998, both as a member of left-field-house duo Jacob London and as a solo performer and DJ. In 2016, Pezzner ascended to yet a higher level, releasing music on revered labels like Get Physical and Dirtybird. He’s continued to refine his sleek production style, which balances unusual tones with unerringly sensual rhythms. His tracks are the aural equivalent of weird sex, with all the attendant thrills that this implies. DAVE SEGAL
SATURDAY
Corridor
Welcome to Corridor, the second annual festival of music, light, and sound presented by Elevator, with artists responsible for visual installation, performance, and movement to cover all bases of creative tangibility. Sound artists include Kevin Drumm, Madalyn Merkey, Russell E L Butler, You’re Me, JS Aurelius, Beast Nest, Cameron Shafii, Monadh, Hanna Benn, Austin Larkin, Nordra, Cruel Diagonals, Prius, and CCL. Visual artists presenting light works include Anissa Amalia, Jon Womack, Coldbrew Collective, Rosen, Plamena Milusheva, Scott Crawford, and Leena Joshi. Visual artists presenting movement works include Jasmyn Fyffe, Beth Gracyck, Matt Drews, and Campbell Thibo.
Entombed A.D., Full of Hell, Turbid North, Deathraid
Cite any of the first four Entombed records as your favorite, and you won’t meet much resistance. Sure, the “death ’n’ roll” of DCLXVI: To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth is markedly different than the slash-and-burn tactics of Left Hand Path, but no one is gonna fault you for preferring either end of the spectrum. Subsequent Entombed albums would occasionally dabble in some questionable beefed-up boogie territory, but the band never lost its knack for a mean-spirited hook. Even if you felt the band veered too far from that left-hand path, it’s worth checking in with the rebranded Entombed A.D. The rock pastiche has been dialed back in favor of the more brutal tendencies that singer L.G. Petrov and guitarist Victor Brandt demonstrated in their excellent death-metal project Firespawn. BRIAN COOK
High On Fire with Guests
There are few band names that also accurately describe a band’s sound, but Oakland-based, heavy-metal titanic force High on Fire comes close. With intensely punishing riffs less bent on pure shred than well-composed songs, their latest record, Luminiferous, only fine-tunes their blazing and highly orchestrated metal epics. Guitarist/vocalist/ancient-alien-conspiracist Matt Pike (also of stoner-metal heavyweights Sleep) sings about extraterrestrial takeover in a crumbling human society, outing himself in a recent interview with Rolling Stone as being inspired by David “lizard people” Icke. Pike also treats The Epic of Gilgamesh as a factual, historical document. His profound stonerisms translate well into song, sounding as fantastical and severe as his worldview. Also, if he’s shirtless at this mid-winter show, it’s because wearing shirts is “how they track you, dude.” Into it. BRITTNIE FULLER
So Pitted, Charms, Deadbeat Club, Babe Waves
So Pitted’s sludgy take on post-punk has been winning them fans around Seattle for quite some time, and for good reason. Their songs bristle with a nervous, jangly energy—the vocalist mutters about "spewing while [he] speaks," while the drums barrel on with paranoid skittishness and atonal guitars squeak out diseased-sounding earworms. Bad vibes equal good times. KYLE FLECK
Sumiko Sato: Sakaya Uta
Sumiko Sato is a Japanese pianist, longtime local resident, and PhD from the UW. She is premiering a series of works based on ancient sake-brewing songs, arranged for a slightly unconventional sextet: Sato on piano, flautist Paul Taub, violinist Tari Nelson-Zagar, cellist Kevin Krentz, contrabassist Dennis Staskowski, and percussionist Paul Kikuchi. You also get an informative film explaining how the sake-brewing songs worked, how you had to catch on to them fast, and how the songs are becoming extinct thanks to brewing automation. I don’t drink anymore, but hey, viva sake songs! She’s also recording this elaborate work and should have it out later this year. Drop by and be the first one on your block to belly up! ANDREW HAMLIN
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