LUNGFISH, JUNO, THE TINY KINGS
(Graceland) See preview, page 47.
CASS McCOMBS, THE ANCHORS, AMY BLASCHKE
(CoCA) It's hard to say or even know why, but I was prepared for Cass McCombs to be the kind of artist I am supposed to like but don't. What a relief, then, to be so bowled over by his new record, A, and his EP Not the Way. The songs are smart, sad, and funny in all the best measures, he sings like Rufus Wainwright without the acrobatics (or like Lou Reed with melodies), and his miserablism maintains the heart of a romantic. Anyone who sings, "I wanna be famous for falling in love" is more than okay by me. Also: Amy Blaschke is an amazing singer and songwriter with a great band. Seattleites must seek out her Red Letter LP and see her live soon. Like tonight maybe. SEAN NELSON
BOBBY KARATE, LAMPLIGHTER
(Rendezvous) Local trio Lamplighter's latest CD, A Three Point Perspective, is an intricate soundscape of electronic experimentation. Laptop artists Victor Couto, Choncey Langford, and Ben Torrence specialize in creating lush textures made up of both disembodied and distinct sounds. One track will sound full of bouncing ball bearings and space shuttle takeoffs, while the next will saunter through electric piano keys and sluggish beats. Lamplighter's IDM style sounds like it would be out of place in a rock club, where craning your neck would only give you a view of three different dudes and their computers, but in the Rendezvous' comfortable, seat-optional space, the act's beautiful music could really complement the surroundings. JENNIFER MAERZ
FRIDAY 5/16
AGALLOCH, IN MEMORIUM, ANTIMATTER, VIRGIN BLACK
(Catwalk) Gloomy folk-metalers Agalloch hail from Portland, Oregon, but they sound more like sunlight-deprived Scandinavians. Considering their genre, that's a compliment. The trio's stately, effortless-sounding epics tip a hat to elite Nordic bands like Ulver and Katatonia (the early stuff, if you're keeping track), but, as their breakthrough 2002 release, The Mantle, showed, they've taken the style in their own direction. This show is part of their first tour, a traveling showcase put together by the band's Salt Lake City-based label, The End Records. Also representing the label are England's Antimatter, who feature an ex-member of the influential doom-metal band Anathema but sound like a post-metal Portishead or Massive Attack, and Australia's Virgin Black, whose gothic opera-metal theatrics may appeal to Cradle of Filth fans. WILL YORK
THE POSIES, THE ORANGES BAND, HEATHER DUBY
(Graceland) What makes this Posies show different from the other post-breakup Posies shows? Loads of new material, that's what. And by new material I mean brand new, as well as some of the odds 'n' sods the band has written over the years--rarities that don't often get played in a live setting. Singers Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow still possess the sweetest voices since the Hollies, and if you've ever been a fan, tonight is the night to see them. KATHLEEN WILSON
ROSIE THOMAS, JASON WEBLEY, SUFFERING AND THE HIDEOUS THIEVES, LIFE IN A BLENDER
(Old Fire House) The first time I heard Rosie Thomas' When We Were Small, I was cooking soup in the kitchen; something about the track "Farewell" made me stop what I was doing and just listen. I hit the replay button so I could hear it all, and by the time it was over I was sitting on my cold tile floor, leaning against the cupboard with a heart full of ache. It's a gorgeous, simple, sad love song; before a stark piano flourish, she sings, "I never asked you for a sailboat in the yard, that fancy dress to wear or a ceiling made of stars, and all I got was this broken heart from you." As if that weren't enough, the last chord resonates until a child's voice asserts, "I'm done." I never got around to eating that soup. KATHLEEN WILSON
PLEASURE FOREVER, HINT HINT, COBRA HIGH
(Vera Project) Another night of proof that keyboards are the new lead guitars: Each of the three bands making up tonight's bill use keyboards to different effects. Pleasure Forever blend driving rock with sleaze and sex for a cabaret experience (and are about to release their best album yet, on Sub Pop); Cold Crush artists Hint Hint (now signed to Jade Tree) are more frenetic, but have a strong rhythm anchor; and Cobra High play forward-leaning rock that's--surprise--rooted in prog. KATHLEEN WILSON
THE FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM, THE GLORYHOLES, RONSON FAMILY SWITCHBLADE, THE SHACKLES
(Zak's) If you're craving a jam-packed night of garage rock, this is it. From Portland's Fireballs to Seattle's Gloryholes to the Shackles--whom Brian from Zak's has been buzzing about--this is a pretty airtight bill. Add Ronson Family Switchblade, Tacoma's answer to the Hellacopters, and you know this night's gonna go off like a gas tanker colliding with the sun. JENNIFER MAERZ
SATURDAY 5/17
MIDNIGHT THUNDER EXPRESS, STAGGER LEE
(Comet) If you haven't heard local rockers Stagger Lee yet, there's not much info to be had. Cruise the Internet and, save for a few live reviews, you'd think these cats were Masons. And that's just fine, because half the fun of Stagger Lee's forebears (the New York Dolls, Prisonshake, Royal Trux) was the mystery surrounding them. In over four years of existence, though, this band has had only one release, the quite fine Ain't Easy/Ain't No Matter 7-inch from 2000, that steams out reheated Stonesy bar-band swagger. Seems there's a band like this in every town--groovy live show, dirty-hair-and-bell-bottoms shtick, fashionista crowd, and rotating members ultimately too high to get anything down on tape. ERIC DAVIDSON
MASSIVE HABIT
(Old Pequliar) Massive Habit's leadman, Alex Watson, is a young guy just trying to make sense of this crazy world via charming electro-pop songs. In the song "Insane Asylum," for example, he sings, "Straightjacket not enough, my mind will fly away when it wants to/Leave the lights on shut your eyes/But you will never hide from the ghost who haunts you," backed by an electronic and glittery They Might Be Giants-inspired pop sound reminiscent of Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade. Live, Watson shoots and crawls all around the stage, becoming very convincing as he sings, "Stuck in a place that is not real/I must escape this insane asylum." Okay, so some songs are a little more crazy than they are charming, but all of 'em are pretty good. MEGAN SELING
DIRTNAP RECORDS NIGHT: THE CRIPPLES, THE CINCH, THE PULSES
(Crocodile) Okay, I dig the kooky new wave thang that the Briefs and the Epoxies and a couple of the other crazy Dirtnap kids have been doing lately with their duct tape and your wraparound shades. Do not get me wrong. I've yet to hear a Dirtnap band whose music would not stand on its own even without the visual flair. But there's something so great about the fact that the Cripples, Dirtnap's most musically demented, catchy, and psycho-sexual band--a band that sounds like early Talking Heads being unceremoniously buggered by the Screamers and Aphex Twin in some filthy back alley--look the most like four very pleasant librarians who just happened to stumble onto some keytars and drums and decided to start a band. Somehow that makes them even more creepily exhilarating. BILL BULLOCK
THE CATHETERS, THE THERMALS, THE LASHES, EMPIRE OF MAN
(Graceland) The Catheters are busy writing new songs, but the material off Static Delusions and Stone-Still Days is still a thrill to see live. Labelmates the Thermals are getting better each time they perform--the indie pop band has tightened up immensely since I first saw them do a Monday Funday at Graceland, and their frontman especially puts on a very energetic show. While the songs on the Thermals' debut, More Parts Per Million, blend together too easily for my taste, on stage the trio really comes alive. And while I haven't seen Empire of Man, I know it's the new project from Quitty (formerly of Tight Bros) and it's based around a love of Big Star and bubblegum pop. JENNIFER MAERZ
SUNDAY 5/18
MICHAEL, SIN ROPAS, SARA JAFFE, SOFIE DRINKER
(Crocodile) Erase Errata fans may be a little taken aback by guitarist Sara Jaffe's solo set. Trading her familiar dissonant shriek for unassuming, almost dainty finger picking, Jaffe performs sweet, modest pop songs--more twee pop than post-... well, whatever they're being called these days. It's probably not what you're expecting from a member of the Bay Area's own "greatest band in the world," but based on the rough demos, you just might be pleasantly (heavy on the "pleasant") surprised. ZAC PENNINGTON See also preview, page 51.
THE GIRLS, THE AUTHORITIES, THE HOLLOWPOINTS, MEA CULPA
(Sure Shot) As part of the U-District Street Fair, these four fine punk bands are playing a free all-ages show starting at noon. From the political stylings of Mea Culpa and the HollowPoints, to the more glammed-out prance of the Girls, this is a great local lineup. One note, though: Sure Shot is a coffee shop, which means (a) no booze, and (b) get there early unless you want to feel the press of a lot of people in a little space. JENNIFER MAERZ
AGAINST ME!, THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES, FIFTH HOUR HERO, PIPSQUEAK
(Vera Project) Gainsville's Against Me! are best described as "punk folk rock" (say that three times without gathering a gob in your throat) and are so anthemic you just might find yourself singing along. Remember Stiff Little Fingers? Kinda similar, emphasis on the kinda. These Arms Are Snakes are one of those bands you can't pin down stylewise. Their dark, howling indie rock appeals to hipsters and Cure-loving goths alike. KATHLEEN WILSON
THEORY OF RUIN, GUESTS
(CoCA) See Stranger Suggests, page 27.
MONDAY 5/19
BLACK EYES, KRMTX, A LUNA RED
(CoCA) See preview, page 51, and Stranger Suggests, page 27.
PREFUSE 73, RJD2, A GRAPE DOPE
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 49.
TUESDAY 5/20
VERBENA, ALTA MAY, TRANA
(Graceland) Since releasing Souls for Sale on Merge Records in 1997, Birmingham, Alabama-based Verbena has gone through several image changes. While that full-length debut sounded decidedly Southern with Scott Bondy's languorous, fuzzed-out choruses and backing vocals by guitarist Anne Marie Griffin, follow-up release Into the Pink found Bondy working with Dave Grohl, and Verbena became a full-on grunge band signed to Capitol Records (with Bondy sporting longish bleached-blond hair). Griffin left the band soon after that, and now it consists of three guys playing a strange mix of bluesy grunge; their just-released La Musica Negra is a tough nut to crack. KATHLEEN WILSON
RICHARD THOMPSON BAND
(King Cat Theater) Twenty-five records into one of the most impressive careers ever known to songwriterdom, Richard Thompson has done it again with The Old Kit Bag, a beautiful and sparse collection of songs played trio-style. Because Thompson has so much material to draw on, it's impossible to say what the show will be like, other than funny, pretty, and great. SEAN NELSON
STEVE MACK, BEN LONDON, JOHN RAMBERG, JON AUER, GUESTS
(Sunset) Here's a night of some serious Seattle talent: Whether he was fronting That Petrol Emotion, Anodyne, or just singing alone, Steve Mack's fondness for power pop shines through his buoyant vocals. Ben London once headed up Alcohol Funnycar (yay cassettes!) and now sings with Sanford Arms; John Ramberg fronts long-lived bar band the Model Rockets, and John Auer's pretty voice swells just the same whether he's paired with Ken Stringfellow in the Posies or alone with an acoustic guitar. KATHLEEN WILSON
WEDNESDAY 5/21
Daniel johnston, panty lions, down pilot
(Crocodile) See preview, page 43.
CALLA, FCS NORTH, THE STARES
(Graceland) Until you hear one of its members speak, you'll assume Calla is a bunch of Brits. Their hazy guitars and nearly whispered lyrics call to mind every druggy band making narcotic lullabies from a decade ago. They hail from New York, though, by way of Texas, and I've always said heat can feel just like drugs. FCS North boast another one of Seattle's many great drummers in Andy Sells, and tonight the fascinating instrumental band celebrates the release of its latest effort, Vocabulary (Luckyhorse Industries). KATHLEEN WILSON
