This week in the music section, the Stranger profiles young duo USF (formerly Universal Studios Florida) and ponders the prospects of Seattle’s rising “chillwave” scene:
Seattle hasn’t really been at the vanguard of a musical moment since grunge—the very geographic and cultural isolation that allowed that scene to gestate in peace has more often than not kept the city a year or two late to trends taking hold in denser, more connected places (cf. our late arrivals to electroclash, freak folk, disco punk, etc., etc.). But as the internet has alarmingly accelerated the hype cycle, it’s also decentralized the way trends spread—or even removed geography from the equation entirely. If grunge were to happen today, it wouldn’t need a bunch of bands living in the same city to reach critical mass; it would only require enough acts linked up online. (Or, to defer once again to Hipster Runoff: “Chillwave was a genre created by the internet, 4 the internet?”)
Chillwave may prove to have the life cycle of a mayfly, but at least this time Seattle is buzzing along right on time, thanks to a nascent local scene that includes acts like U.S.F. (formerly Universal Studios Florida), Big Spider’s Back, and Secret Colors. But let’s back up a minute—hypnagogi-huh? Just what exactly are we blogging about here?
Read and comment on the whole thing here.
USF play the Stranger Genius Awards Party tonight at the Moore Theatre, along with Throw Me the Statue, They Live!, and the Emerald City Soul Club. 9pm, $5, 21+. More info here.