BOB LOG III, THE COACHWHIPS, HYDRO GURU
(Hell's Kitchen) Bob Log III is the kind of character who makes you feel all warm and crazy inside. He wears spaceman-in-a-train-wreck headgear outfitted with a telephone mic, he's a one-man drummer/guitarist/howling machine, and his music is a kind of slop-punk-blooze that stumbles all over before settling down into odd observations about Log's life. But best of all, he has a song called "Boob Scotch" on his latest (reissued) record, Log Bomb. Just one in a long line of songs about women's breasts (including "Clap Your Tits" and "Booby Trap"), it starts out with the humorous exclamation, "Hey, you've got your boob in my scotch." Half nonsensical madness, half harebrained genius, Bob Log III (formerly of Doo Rag) is the kind of entertainer who spreads through your psyche like dementia, leaving you grinning like an idiot at his ability to be a great big freak while still proficiently playing his instruments. The Coachwhips are a San Francisco band who also pull off scrap blues well; they're anchored by Pink & Brown's John Dwyer on guitar and (distorted) vocals. This show travels to Seattle on Friday. JENNIFER MAERZ
THE PALE, VERONA, WOKE UP FALLING
(Crocodile) Portland's pop-loving Woke Up Falling are much less dour than their name suggests. They've been likened to bands as disparate as Jimmy Eat World and the Cure. Verona should add a little more heft to the bill, although singer Kyle Logghe has a voice that is nothing short of beautiful. All the way from Bellingham comes the Pale--who, like Verona and Woke Up Falling, share the love of the power pop and probably worship Death Cab for Cutie. KATHLEEN WILSON
PHO BANG: THE SPITS, URSULA & THE ANDROIDS, JACKIE HELL & THE CONTROL TOPS
(Re-bar) After taking a break to rest up, apply more makeup (with a shovel), and generate even cruder jokes to turn your stomach, the colorful drag punk event that is Pho Bang is back for the night. The theme this time is "10 Million Years B.C.," so expect junky dinosaurs, makeshift mastodons, and the lovely snot-punk of the Spits as your evening's entertainment, along with the screechy/deadpan antics of Ursula & the Androids and Jackie Hell & the Control Tops. JENNIFER MAERZ
MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD, TRE HARDSON
(Showbox) Michael Franti has had quite a long career--from the Beatnigs (the mid-'80s) to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (early '90s) to Spearhead (mid-'90s to today). Though many argue that the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy was Franti's shining hiphop moment, only his current band, Spearhead, has produced a legit hiphop classic, "People in tha Middle." As a Marxist, I agree with Franti's politics; but as an artist (or, it's better to say, a critic) I have several strong disagreements. Disagreements that stem all the way back to 1988, with the Beatnigs' eponymous LP on Alternative Tentacles. Overall, though, one must admire Franti for never giving up the cause and sticking to his positive leftist politics at every moment of his long pop career. CHARLES MUDEDEFRIDAY 2/7
BOB LOG III, THE COACHWHIPS, HYDRO GURU
(Crocodile) See Thursday's listing.
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
(Graceland) Hmmmm.... The day after Pretty Girls Make Graves inked a deal with Matador Records, Spin came out with the news as if they'd held the presses until negotiations were finished (a buyout of the band's outstanding contract with Lookout! Records was required). My guess is that a former Seattle resident and current president of publicity for the New York-based Matador was hedging his bet that the band--who the whole dang country loves due to their blend of punk, sass, and energetic playing--would sign on the dotted line just as his speed-dialing finger began to cramp. Good job all around, I say, as it couldn't have happened to a nicer band (who will now share the label's prestige). KATHLEEN WILSON
DEKE DICKERSON AND THE ECCO-FONICS, THE MARSHALL SCOTT WARNER BAND
(Tractor) There's something so sweetly innocent about Deke Dickerson's music that it's hard not to fall for it. Although Dickerson is a modern man (starting his solo career officially in 1997, but really beginning back when he was a teenager), his music harks back five decades to a time when simply hinting about having lipstick on your collar or taking the long way home was the politely subtle way for some rock 'n' rollers to describe romantic encounters. There was as much to the art of what you didn't say as what you were willing to admit in song. Dickerson (and his full backing band) pulls from a variety of genres--rockabilly, country, rhythm and blues, Western swing--to take his listeners back to the days of sock hops and stolen kisses, having studied our country's musical roots enough to become a skilled songwriter in his own right. I highly recommend his new CD, Deke Dickerson in Three Dimensions (which is separated into rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, and hillbilly); I'm sure he's even more entertaining live. JENNIFER MAERZ
TRIBUTE TO THE ROLLING STONES
(Mars Bar) Lee Rude and the Trainwrecks, Kim Virant, Garth Reeves, the Jesus Chords, Robert Roth, and Ely Fields pay tribute to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time. JENNIFER MAERZ
DEAR JOHN LETTERS, WATER KILL THE SUN, THE DIVORCE
(Chop Suey) Divorces are usually heartbreaking and complicated and hopelessly grown-up, but fortunately this power-pop indie rock trio evokes goofball energy, beer-soaked fun, and sweetly fumbling one-night stands instead. With blunt, earnest vocals and infectiously confident guitars, Shane (vocals, guitar), Jimmy (bass, vocals), and Kyle (drums) form the thinking person's TGIF pub band--loud, exuberant, and charmingly self-deprecating in the way that only young guys in local rock bands can be ("They said I could fall for you/'cause I fall for all sorts of bad chicks"). The Divorce's full-length album, There Will Be Blood Tonight (Fugitive Recordings), will be released in April, but in the meantime check out their four-song EP (also on Fugitive). If only all divorces could be so amicable. MIN LIAOSATURDAY 2/8
HINT HINT, AUTOMATON
(Vera Project) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.
KULTUR SHOCK, SYSTEMWIDE
(Crocodile) Systemwide has single-handedly connected Portland with the international post-dub, future-reggae scene. Artists like Tikiman (Berlin), Dr. Israel (Brooklyn), the late Muslimgauze (Manchester), Smith & Mighty (Bristol), and Twilight Circus (Vancouver, BC, and Nijmegen, the Netherlands)--to name a few--have been released or promoted by Systemwide's label, BSI Records. Systemwide's music, which blends ethereal triphop, protest rock, and dub noises, has been remixed (or versioned) by what is pretty much the number one dub crew operating today, Alpha & Omega (on Osmani Stepper). Systemwide is at its best when it leaves the hard limits of rock time and enters the pure infinity of dub-space--as with "Ripe Up," which is also on Osmani Stepper. CHARLES MUDEDE
THE BRONZE, TEN MILES WIDE, THE ONES
(Comet) The Ones are a relatively new Seattle band, but not too new to have their own theme song ("We Are the Ones"), an excellent anthem that combines a hard punk edge with a Cobain-like ability to split steel in one rugged scream. The other songs on their four-song demo ("Moto-Stooge," "Tonight" and "Drink Tough") sound like a Guns N' Roses interpretation of metal; they give off a tough alley-cat vibe that's rougher than it is heavy, yet still makes the hair on your neck stand up straight. The first time I saw these guys, they blew me away--and that was months ago, so I can only imagine how good they are now. JENNIFER MAERZ
SUNDAY 2/9
Let me tell you one thing, son, nobody ever lends money to a man with a sense of humor.
MONDAY 2/10
COHEED & CAMBRIA, ONELINEDRAWING, HOPESFALL
(Graceland) Jonah Matranga, the man behind the name Onelinedrawing, was once the singer in the '90s rock band Far. Well, Far broke up a while ago, but Jonah is still making music and touring all over the country, sharing his stripped-down solo songs, and I love him for that. His set varies nightly, since he plays whatever comes to mind (always working in a few requests). And he engages the audience in conversation between songs by making jokes and speaking honestly and openly about current events (it's really not as cheesy and "campfire" as it may sound). After each OLD show I attend, I leave with a new respect for him, his music, and his ideas. Whether or not he's playing a poppy tune about friendship (backed by an R2D2 toy turned drum machine), pulling tears with a heartbreaking, honest ballad of love lost (backed by nothing but his guitar and stellar voice), or covering a Jawbox favorite, Onelinedrawing is sure to endear the biggest cynic in the crowd. MEGAN SELING
TUESDAY 2/11
CROOKED FINGERS, TREASURE STATE
(Crocodile) It's astounding that more people haven't embraced Crooked Fingers, the solo project of Eric Bachmann, former frontman of Archers of Loaf. Not that the Archers weren't rightfully beloved, and everyone knows that following up a successful band with a successful one-man show is about as easy as converting a pickup truck into a sports car--but my God: The three full-length Crooked Fingers records represent some of the finest heartbroken, liver- damaged songwriting being made today. Bachmann's material has taken a quantum leap in the last few years, as has the versatility of his singing. He arrives in town on the heels of Red Devil Dawn (Merge), which follows the Reservoir Songs covers EP, and extends the legacy of Bring on the Snakes (2001) and the self-titled, recorded-in-Seattle debut (2000). Each of these LPs is packed with the kind of dramatic intimacy that the Archers, for all their indie-rock glory, never even came close to touching. If you can hear Bachmann sing "Broken Man" or "Don't Say a Word" and not be at least tempted to cry, you have failed as a human being. SEAN NELSON
DJS VITAMIN D AND BEN SAUNDERS, MARK CARDENAS, PAUL DAVIS, CLARENCE ROBINSON, GARY SMITH, RYAN TAYLOR, KYLEA, JONATHAN MOORE
(Chop Suey) Though he spins regularly around the city, one can never be bored or unmoved by DJ Vitamin D--whose art occupies, to near-full capacity, the center of this cold outpost that calls itself the Seattle hiphop community. It's hard to find a local crew whose music has not been improved by D's production work at his home studio, the Pharmacy, and his 1998 mixed CD, Table Manners, will one day receive the attention and honors it rightly deserves. Indeed, there isn't a month that has gone by without my long walk in some part of our somber city being accompanied by the languid, sexy warmth of that 50-minute mix. Table Manners is one of the reasons why I purchased a $100 pair of Sony earphones. CHARLES MUDEDE
WEDNESDAY 2/12
BLUE SKY MILE, J. HIRAM BOGGS & THE SATISFACTION, LITTLE LUANNE
(Crocodile) Just a couple of weeks ago, the very nice boys of Blue Sky Mile competed for the "Cutest Band In Seattle" title at the Downtown YMCA's Fusion Cafe. They didn't win the contest, but their emotionally fueled rock 'n' roll did leave quite an impression on many an audience member (myself included). The local band has been playing around town for some time now, but chances are you've yet to make yourself familiar with their sound. And so I pose to you this question--why the hell not? One, their live shows are full of intense energy (think a heavier Pretty Girls Make Graves, with male vocals). Two, lead singer Jerry Kansky's voice is reminiscent of (but not whiny like) Saves the Day's Chris Conely (which I promise isn't a bad thing here). And three--hell, I'll just say it--they're even pretty cute (hence, finalists for the "Cutest Band in Seattle" contest). What's not to like? MEGAN SELING
CARLOS (FROM INTERPOL) DJ SET
(Sonic Boom Records, Ballard) It's no secret that Matador Records' breakout band Interpol fancy themselves ladies' men, and I'm sure Carlos is no exception when it comes to hot babes who want to sit on his lap. But tonight he'll be busy spinning records at the fabulous Sonic Boom, so the push-up bras and lip gloss can be saved for a more special occasion--like, say, when Interpol returns to Seattle for a night at the Showbox on February 13. KATHLEEN WILSON
THE HUNCHES, SHAKE CITY, THE MYSTERY GIRLS
(Zak's) The Hunches are creating a buzz all over the West Coast, and the Portland garage rockers' new record on In the Red is good reason for the hype. The last time I saw them play, though, I thought the band played for too long, making the kind of heavy-on-the-sexual-theatrics noise that, frankly, the Catheters make a lot better (and with half the drama). But I may be in the minority on that one, as people in Seattle seem to love them. Shake City, on the other hand, roll back to the Stones age, with a more easygoing sonic style that's definitely captivating live. JENNIFER MAERZ
