There’s so much good live music hitting Seattle venues in the next three weeks, it’s scary. That’s as close to a Halloween pun as you’ll get. Carry on.
Tonight (Friday, October 5):
Walking Papers, A Leaf, Dylan Trees @ Barboza. $8 day of show. Show at 7pm.
If you’ve read Clint Brownlee’s exhaustive SunBreak interview with Walking Papers (go here and here, respectively, to catch up), you know that the band’s rock pedigree couldn’t be more solid. Yes, ex-Guns ‘N Roses bassist Duff McKagan and ex-Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin form a rhythm section that grooves as readily as it pummels, but Jeff Angell’s growling vocals and Jimmy Page-flavored guitar licks make for some great frosting on this rock cake. You also know to get there really damned early. Lucky for you, your time waiting for the headliners will be well-served by Tacoma/Seattle quintet A Leaf, whose lush and gorgeous Beatles-cum-Shins pop makes for an incongruous but arresting warm-up.
Kultur Shock, Kinski @ Chop Suey. $12 at the door. Show at 9pm.
Kultur Shock start their sixteenth year as a unit behind a great new EP, Tales of Granpa Guru, Vol. 1. It throws elements of prog-rock conceptual density and dance music into this wonderful punk/metal/gypsy polyglot ‘s potent stew, and as we’ve repeatedly emphasized time and again, they’re an utterly lethal live act. The presence of Seattle avant-rock ensemble Kinski on the bill makes early arrival a necessity: They extract magic, horror, and beauty from a wall of feedback and atmosphere–all without a singer to harsh your head trip.
Piss Drunks, Midnight Idols, Three-Legged Dog @ Slim’s Last Chance Chili Shack and Watering Hole. $12 at the door. Show at 9:00pm.
With a name like Piss Drunks, you know not to expect introspective beardies with mandolins simpering about unrequited love in a forest. Seattle’s hellzapoppin’ hardcore vets (nearly twenty years of active duty) deliver short and to-the-point blasts of punk, and no one in town does it better.
Saturday, October 6:
Seattle Weekly’s Reverb Local Music Festival @ Various Ballard Venues. $5-$15 advance, $15 day of show. Shows begin at 4:30pm.
Nestled between some of this town’s bigger music festivals (late September’s Decibel Fest and the upcoming City Arts Fest, respectively), Reverb can be easy to neglect. But it presents 50 different local bands in 8 Ballard venues, all in one night for one impossibly cheap price. There’s an obscene amount of good stuff at your disposal with your admission, but we’re extra-psyched about the Hilliard’s Brewery line-up (prime horn-fueled vintage funk legislators Soul Senate, space-age hip-hop/ambient wizard OCnotes, and mindfuck drum/synth outfit Brain Fruit, among others); the Tractor Tavern’s alloy of roots (Americana supergroup Cosmic Panther Land Band) and balls-out Seattle rawk (veteran Seattle survivors Sweet Water); and the Sunset’s indie-rock cornucopia capped off by Erik Blood’s sleek shoegazing paeans to porn.
The Psychedelic Furs, The Chevin @ Showbox at the Market. $21.50 advance, $25 day of show. Show at 8pm.
For about three years running in the early 1980s, The Psychedelic Furs were the greatest band of the new wave era. Singer Richard Butler’s magnificant rasp of a voice epitomized wounded romance, and the band’s mixture of scruffy post-punk guitar and sixties melodies led to three incredible records–1980’s eponymous debut, 1981’s Talk Talk Talk, and 1982’s Forever Now. They haven’t recorded a new record since Clinton first took office, but who the hell cares? The band sounded aces at Red Hook Brewery’s 30th Anniversary show last year, and Butler’s sandpaper croon and serpentine cool remain ageless.
Sunday, October 7:
Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps @ The Neptune. $15 advance. Show at 7pm.
Thank you, San Francisco, for unleashing more bat-shit crazy psych-rock/garage rock bands on an unsuspecting world than you can shake a delay pedal at. And thank you especially for Thee Oh Sees, whose shambling and sexy surf-rock-on-heavy-duty-hallucinogens live shows officially make life worth living. Someone make a John Dwyer action figure, stat: I’d buy it.
not an Airplane, Zoe Boekbinder @ Columbia City Theater. $5 day of show. Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm.
not an Airplane (no, that’s not a typo) play solid Americana, largely distinguished by lead singer/songwriter Nick Shattell’s nervy decision to build his band’s latest album, It Could Just Be This Place, out of two fifteen-minute roots operettas (Rolling Stone liked it lots). Zoe Boekbinder, meantime, is a whole ‘nother animal. The Canadian expat possesses a throaty, odd voice that she loops over itself, singing songs that combine folk, cabaret, and electronica in a head-scratching but strangely magical swirl.