The fact that my skinny body hasn’t been found hanging from the
rafters of my house’s laundry room is a true blessing. The zombied
faces and demeanor of Seattle’s students and young people lately is a
sure sign that it’s been finals week. We’ve been too stressed to eat,
too occupied with papers and tests to function, and certainly too busy
to go out to shows.
It’s been hectic, for sure, but it’s all over now. While it’s almost
guaranteed to be cloudy until the end of July, summer is finally
here. No more teachers, no more books—rain or shine, it’s
time to get after it!
A few recent shows have been promising previews of the fun in store
for us—Japanther at the Booty Cave, Matt & Kim at Neumo’s, the Old Fire House’s End of School Bash—but now
what?
Eastside veterans the Last Slice of Butter may not be
traditional summer fun music, but their show at Healthy Times Fun Club
on Saturday, June 21, will be hot, sweaty, good times regardless.
Imagine kids throwing the binders and notebooks they’ll no longer be
needing into a flaming cauldron as the duo egg them on, stirring the
pot with noisy drum-and-bass punk, fanning the flames higher with their
explosively aggressive songs.
The band’s thrashing combination of thick bass lines and
Ziploc-tight drumming doesn’t exactly inspire images of sunny beaches
or sleepy afternoons, but seeing the huge grins and unmistakable fun
they have playing live will put you in the right state of mind for
revelry.
Also playing the show is Portland’s 10- to 13-member orchestral pop
phenomenon Typhoon. The collective have been playing huge and
haunting ballads since 2005, and it’s guaranteed that their alternating
epic instrumentals and vocal buildups will give you goose bumps on top
of a chilled spine. On songs like “Shallows,” instruments drop in and
out, group vocals rise and fall, and the big band bring the music to
incredible peaks of emotion. Their eerie songs would be the perfect
soundtrack for the moment your oxygen mask drops down and your plane
plummets toward the bottom of the ocean.
So maybe the show at Healthy Times isn’t going to be a crazy
beer-swilling party, but with the Last Slice of Butter and Typhoon, it
should definitely be a very special experience. Consider it a relaxing
reward after all of that end-of-school stress, then rest your body for
what is sure to be a crazy summer vacation! 