Tag Archives: Kithkin

Arts & Entertainment

Your Live Music Bets for the Weekend of January 16 through January 18

Tacocat lead singer Emily Nokes will turn that frown upside down at Chop Suey Sunday. (photo: Tony Kay)

To those of you clamoring for more posts here at ye olde semi-dormant SunBreak, you’re the greatest. Both of you.

Most weekends in this ‘burg are pretty stacked musically, but this one’s especially resplendent with sonic riches, some suffused with significant bittersweetness. Read on.

Friday, January 16 (tonight!)

Garageland Fest  with The Paul Collins Beat, Rich Hands, Acapulco Lips, The Gods Themselves, The Knast, and heaps more  @ LoFi Performance Gallery. 21+. $12 advance/$15 at the door. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Power pop elder statesman Paul Collins never quite made the impact of late ’70s peers like The Knack and Cheap Trick, but that wasn’t for want of  insidious sugary hooks goosed with new wave jumpiness. Collins is onto something pretty awesome of late with Garageland Fest, a touring mini-festival headlined by Collins and his band The Beat that showcases bands native to each tour stop. That means you’ll hear a bunch of great Seattle outfits before Collins takes the stage tonight, including the walloping-great hard-pop stylings of Acapulco Lips, guaranteed post-punk-gone-garage-funk nirvana with SunBreak faves The Gods Themselves, and the tasty fuzztone-seasoned sixties revivalism of The Knast, among others. Expect indie vinyl retailers, an unplugged happy hour, and DJs to give you even more reasons to skip work early, and to stay late.

Katie Kate, Tangerine, Thunderpussy, Peeping Tomboys @ The Vera Project. All ages. $10 advance/$15 at the door. Show at 7 p.m.

Four strong local acts populate this fundraiser for Seattle-based non-profit Skate Like a Girl. Katie Kate‘s dance pop dips into hip-hop and electronica with equal grace, and sunny pop ensemble Tangerine took me by very pleasant surprise at Bumbershoot last Labor Day. Local all-femme supergroup  Thunderpussy stomp out throbbing groove rock with balls as big as any all-dude band,  and Peeping Tomboys sound like a bunch of riot grrrls weaned on tribal post-punk.

Chuck Prophet, The Tripwires @ The Tractor Tavern. 21+. $15 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

Californian Chuck Prophet played in the underrated but pretty awesome Green on Red back in the 80s. His solo work for the last three decades has seen him de-emphasize his former band’s psychedelic touches in favor of a sturdy roots-rock sound–songs that’d sound ideal in a last-chance bar where Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed share drinks. Get there early to hear The Tripwires, a terrific local power-pop band that includes alumnus from Screaming Trees, The Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows, and the Model Rockets.

Saturday, January 17

The Young Evils, Blood Drugs, Hounds of the Wild Hunt @ The Sunset Tavern. 21+. $8 advance/$10 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

The Young Evils nearly hit the major label big-time last year, until complications with said major label jerked them around to a pretty lame degree. It’s a long story with a happy ending: The Evils got to keep their recordings from those ill-fated sessions. The initial fruit of those labors, last year’s False Starts EP, made for an addictive and awesome companion piece to their equally awesome 2012 Foreign Spells EP. As is frequently the case, early arrival is a must: Blood Drugs‘ scraping art-metal should translate impressively live, and Hounds of the Wild Hunt remain one of Seattle’s flat-out best live rock ensembles.

Hellbat, Silty Loam, The Heels, Bugs @ Blue Moon Tavern. 21+. $6 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

Hellbat combines rolling psych organs, a driving punk rhythm section, gleefully unhinged call-and-response vocals, and willfully silly lyrics to happiness-inducing effect. The end result sounds like an art-punk band like X Ray Spex providing the soundtrack as Yoko Ono, Kate Pierson, and Jello Biafra beat the shit out of each other, and if the resulting anarchy isn’t fun as hell onstage, I’ll eat one of the two hats I own.

Grayskul, The Nightcappers, Imaginary Friends, guests @ The High Dive. 21+. $8 advance/$10 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

The E-40 show at the Showbox Sunday night will surely draw a bigger crowd (and it’s got Nacho Picasso providing what’ll be a hell of a warmup), but local boys Grayskul sport imagination and smarts that deserve an equally sizable turnout. They couple their rhymes with a production style that swaddles addictive beats in a wonderfully glitchy and constantly changing framework. And if they’re not as abundant with the party jams as E-40, Grayskul give your brain a little more to chew on, in a good way.

Sunday, January 18

Another One Bites the Dust with Tacocat, Pony Time, Wimps, Kithkin, Chastity Belt, Universe People, Childbirth, and more @ Chop Suey. 21+. $10 day of show. Show at 4 p.m.

Don’t you love how Seattle squashes its smaller live venues by  lunging at development dollars like a mentally-defective toddler stepping on ducklings to get to a gooey candy bar? If by some stretch of the imagination you answered no, then get thee the hell over to Capitol Hill dive Chop Suey for one of its last gasps as a proper music space. It’s impossible to fault the lineup here–picks to click include Tacocat’s sunny yet snarky pop, Kithkin’s always-unbelievable ocean of rhythm, and Childbirth’s hilariously nasty female-centric punk–and the first 250 discounted admissions sold rapidly. Get ready for a long line–and a probable sell-out well before the nights’ end.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Bumbershoot 2013 Music Rundown, Day 2 (Photo Gallery)

The Redwood Plan.
The Mowglis
Ramona Falls.
FIDLAR!
Duke Robillard.
Midday Veil.
Midday Veil.
Eric Burdon and the Animals.
Eric Burdon.
The Comettes.
Bob Mould.
The Grizzled Mighty.
The Grizzled Mighty.
Kim Deal of The Breeders.
The Breeders.
Colin Blunstone of The Zombies.
Rod Argent.

Kithkin at full gallop (photo: Tony Kay)

An uncharacteristically subdued moment for Kithkin's Ian McCutcheon. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Lesli Wood, introverted lead singer of The Redwood Plan. (Photo: Tony Kay)

California dreaming with The Mowglis. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls. (Photo: Tony Kay)

FIDLAR on the mutha***kin' roof. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Duke Robillard, sharing silky smooth blues licks. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Midday Veil stir up a psychedelic shitstorm, in a good way. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Come hither, Dark Gods: Midday Veil at Bumbershoot. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Druid jogger Eric Burdon gets down with the Animals. (Photo: Tony Kay)

(Photo: Tony Kay)

Jettie Wilce of The Comettes lays down dreamy drumbeats. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Yes, his fingers really were moving that fast: Bob Mould rocks the Tunein Stage (Photo: Tony Kay)

Ryan Granger of The Grizzled Mighty, punishing his guitar. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Whitney Petty of The Grizzled Mighty, punishing her drums severely. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Just want a girl as cool as Kim Deal: The Breeders at Bumbershoot. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Josephine Wiggs provides The Breeders' bottom end. (Photo: Tony Kay)

The Zombies' Colin Blunstone: Singing higher and prettier than a human has a right to. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Rod Argent of The Zombies. (Photo: Tony Kay)

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Pound for pound, Sunday September 1–Day 2 of Bumbershoot 2013–was a model of consistency for me, replete with so many good sets, it was a chore to tear myself away much of the time.

Day 2 Music Highlights:

The Best: The rhythmic frenzy that is Kithkin lent a roaring, galloping beginning to Day 2; Lesli Wood, hyperkinetic lead singer for Seattle dance rock combo The Redwood Plan, vaulted her band’s strong, pogo-ready pop into an aerobic sweat; and Midday Veil‘s exotic, slow-burning psychedelic prog-raga provided ideal accompaniment as the midday sun bore down mercilessly.

FIDLAR inspired some of the most divisive reactions all Bumbershoot long (when you hear the phrases, “Best set I’ve seen,” and “God, I despised them,” from two different strangers in three minutes, you know something’s galvanizing people), but their sloppy Hives-cum-Ramones garage punk and speedball onstage energy floated my boat something major. Meanwhile, I’ve seen local power duo The Grizzled Mighty play some great sets in the last year, but they were at their most pulverizing and brilliant during their Plaza Stage stint Sunday.

Three of the finest sets on Sunday were generated by some of the most seasoned acts. My respect for Husker Du/Sugar singer-guitarist Bob Mould blossomed into full-bore worship when he tore through an exuberant set of old and new guitar rock indie anthems, and The Breeders‘ yummy girl/girl harmonies magically careened with their fuzzy guitars like the last twenty years had never happened. Every musician at Bumbershoot, however, could’ve taken a cue from The Zombies‘ faultless program of irresistible  hits (“She’s Not There“, “Time of the Season“) and baroque pop masterworks. Keyboardist Rod Argent proved he could still swing with the best of them, and spectral-voiced lead singer Colin Blunstone routinely hit notes that’d intimidate singers a third of his age.

The Really Good: Portland band Ramona Falls combined acoustic and electric elements with compelling emotional pull and ache; The Duke Robillard Band played blues as smooth and warm as a shot of good scotch; The Comettes sounded like the winsome house band that woulda been on the soundtrack of Sixteen Candles, if the movie were set in the 1960s; Beats Antique‘s heady, Bollywood-infused dance music likely would’ve taken my breath away had I seen more of their set; and Matt Pond‘s affecting pop songs were delivered with a tasty hint of underlying tension.

The Rest: Eric Burdon and the Animals probably made for the most vigorous WTF head scratching appearance of the entire weekend. Swaddled in a white hoodie like a cross between an ancient Manchester raver and a Druid jogger, Burden initially seemed uncomfortably feeble and out of it (I’m sure the relentless direct sunlight didn’t help). But three songs in, he hit his vocal stride, loosening up playfully for a funky take on his old hit with WAR, “Spill the Wine.” The Mowglis, meanwhile, put on a polished, energetic set of genial mellow rock tunes that were (to these ears, at least) just OK.

Crap! I Missed It: fun. (I’ll openly ‘fess up, snobs: I heart fun.’s heart-on-sleeve bubblegum indie rock); Death Cab for Cutie; a reputedly stunning set by mournful genius songwriter David Bazan; the always-entertaining Seattle dance diva Katie Kate; Matt and Kim; Mates of State.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Your Live Music Bets for the Weekend of August 23 through August 25

After this weekend, you won’t have Absolute Monarchs to kick around anymore. (photo: Tony Kay)

The Dog Days of Summer are officially in place, so get ‘em while they’re hot. And if you’re of the opinion (like me) that the best moments of the soundtrack of your life should be set to live music, this weekend will not disappoint.

Tonight (Friday, August 23):

Pixies Cover Night (feat. members of Midday Veil, Ononos, Kithkin, Tea Cozies, and more) @ Chop Suey. 21+. $10 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

The Pixies’ brand of mutant pop sports so many jagged edges, it’s easy to forget how many durable, honest-to-God songs they crafted. Tonight at Chop Suey, you should get plenty of reminders. Best of all, none of the bands whose members comprise the evening’s entertainment sound at all like The Pixies, meaning the possibility of hearing some radical reinterpretations of classics like “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Where is My Mind?” runs pretty high.

Luke Winslow-King, James Apollo, Annie Ford Band @ Columbia City Theater. 21+. $12 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.

It’s gonna probably be hot and a little humid tonight, and Michigan transplant-turned-New Orleans club vet Luke Winslow-King‘s variety of ambling, bare-bones blues should fit that kind of climate to a T. Winslow-King’s one of those roots musicians who sounds like he stepped from a 1930s Mississippi bar, straight into a time machine that spit him out in 2013 (the warm retro environs of Columbia City Theater should feel exceptionally apropos). That he never seems to be trying too hard to sound like he does adds immeasurably to his easygoing charm.

Men Without Hats, The Scarves, Color, Crooked Veils @ El Corazon. 21+. $18 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.

Synth band Men Without Hats will forever and ever be known as the architects of one obscenely-massive hit, “The Safety Dance,” but they actually cut a couple of pretty good pop albums back in the big ’80’s (Rhythm of Youth and Pop Goes the World) bric-a-brac with ploinky synths and propulsively catchy artificial rhythms. Their most recent record, Love in the Age of War, takes a solid step into the New Wave Wayback Machine, but you’ll be forgiven for biding your time until you’re able to do that scissor-armed spastic dance like Ivan Doroschuk and his dwarf buddy in the video.

Saturday, August 24:

Linda’s Fest, featuring Absolute Monarchs, Constant Lovers, Katie Kate, Tilson XOXO, Big Eyes, and Iska  Dhaaf @ Linda’s Tavern. 21+. Free. Show at 9 p.m.

It’s the fourth year that Linda’s Tavern will be rustling up some choice local talent for a totally free show. This year, the Fest takes place in the parking lot behind Pine Food Market. The buzz set of the night belongs to post-punk/metal titans Absolute Monarchs, playing their (say it ain’t so) last show. But you’ve also got the similary-corrosive and awesome Constant Lovers, dance-music priestess Katie Kate, the soul-hip-hop-and-more polyglot of Tilson XOXO, short-and-sweet sugar buzz punk from Big Eyes, and jumpily-gorgeous echo-chamber pop music from two-man band Iska Dhaaf.

International Pop Overthrow Seattle Day 3, featuring Peter Fedofsky of Curtains for You, Irene and They Go Pop!, Smile Brigade, Lights from Space, and more  @ The Mix. 21+. $10 advance/day of show. Show at 9 p.m.

International Pop Overthrow, a festival dedicated to celebrating pure pop music from all over the globe, landed its Seattle iteration at Georgetown’s The Mix yesterday, and it’ll be parked there tonight and tomorrow as well. Quality acts were/are scattered throughout the three-day fest, but the final night of the Fest includes sets from some of this town’s most choice pure-pop acts. Lights from Space play awesome, toothy power pop that sounds like Fountains of Wayne’s tougher kid brothers, while Smile Brigade‘s 60s-style sunny singalong ditties include a pinch of enchanting psychedelic weirdness. Best of all, Peter Fedofsky, keyboardist/songwriter/singer with Curtains for You, opens up IPO Day 3 at 7:30 with a set of sparkling pocket symphonies that roll Ben Folds, Harry Nilsson, and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys into one lovely package. Get there early, and stay late.

Sunday, August 25:

Black Nite Crash, Dead Teeth, Yonder @ The Comet Tavern. $7 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.

The fact that Black Nite Crash named themselves after a song by Ride will come as no surprise once you hear ‘em. The Seattle band play their spattering and swirling mix of shoegazer rock and Brian Jonestown Massacre-style psychedelia so sublimely, you’d swear they were a bunch of pasty-faced Brits (that’s a massive compliment). Equal parts danceable and dizzyingly heady, their sound’s infused with just enough urgency to render the familiar ingredients wonderfully fresh.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Why Timber! Outdoor Music Fest is Worth the Trip

Lemolo will rock Timber! Fest this weekend. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Sure, there are more outdoor music festivals surfacing around this neck of the woods than you can shake a tube of sunscreen at. But Timber! Outdoor Music Festival, coming this Friday and Saturday, looks to be one of the indisputable highlights of the summer concert season. It’s programmed by the same folks who’ve made Doe Bay Fest into a mini-phenom, and shares that festival’s penchant for gorgeous scenery (Timber! will be using Tolt-McDonald National Park in Carnation as a backdrop) and ace musical acts. Plus, unlike its cousin in the San Juans, Timber’s not (quite) sold out.

Even factoring in travel and campsite costs, two days at Timber look like a pretty spiffy deal.  A full-fest ticket will only set you back $45 per person, and most camping spaces run around $20 to $30. It’s kid-friendly, packed with fun activities, and you can even camp in a designated quiet area if you’re not up to partying ’til the wee hours.

Then there’s the musical lineup, which, well, could hardly be better.  There’s not a bum act in the batch, but enclosed, please find 10 good musical reasons to yell Timber! this weekend.

The Helio Sequence: With all due respect to this Portland duo’s dense and wonderful studio recordings, The Helio Sequence’s live shows remain the definitive way to experience them. Brandon Summers pulls out a dizzying array of effects from his six-string, and Benjamin Weikel’s insanely animated and musical drumming is a show unto itself.

Pablo Trucker: Not every band that combines greasy rock and roll with Americana and roots touches sounds like it’s aping Neil Young or Wilco. Singer/guitarist Brian Wagner writes mostly mid-tempo rock songs that nonetheless possess a drive and sense of haunted menace amplified by his sometimes spectral, sometimes gutsy voice.

Hobosexual: Between The Helio Sequence, Lemolo, and these hirsute rock giants, every possibility that exists in a two-person rock group can be explored. Ain’t nothing better than watching (and hearing) Ben Harwood attack his guitar with a combination of virtuosity and total abandon while Jeff Silva piledrives Hobosexual’s epic boogie rock home on a live stage.

Lemolo: Lemolo recently put out A Beautiful Night: Live at the Columbia City Theater, a document of their sold-out CD release shows last year. It’s a lush testament to the fact that the telepathic connection between singer/guitarist Megan Grandall and drummer/keyboardist Kendra Cox is a spell most potently cast live.

Kithkin display their customary restraint live. (Photo: Tony Kay)

Kithkin: With galloping walls of percussion and enough youthful energy to power a small city onstage, this collective puts on a show so relentless (and fun), it’s mathematically impossible not to move.

Quasi: Exhibit #4 for the two-man band defense, your honor: the idiosyncratic and winning husband-wife team of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Sam Coomes and drummer Janet Weiss, whose bent pop songs pulse with hooks and Weiss’s muscular backbeat.

Baltic Cousins: Not a lot of bands combine the spit of punk rock with the burnished traditionalism of Springsteen-style Americana, and even fewer do it well. Put Seattle quartet Baltic Cousins right at the head of this particular class with the mighty Hounds of the Wild Hunt.

Ivan and Alyosha: One of the upsides to River Giant’s abrupt last-minute exodus from Timber is the addition of Seattle’s most Beatles-esque roots band. Great harmonies + chiming Rickenbacker (or at least they sound like Rickenbacker) guitars + just enough Americana touches to add character = unmissable.

S: Jenn Ghetto, the voice behind much-missed local indie band Carissa’s Wierd, is back, and still sounding as strange and wonderful as ever. Fingers crossed, she’ll bust out her singular takes on hair-metal band Warrant’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the National Anthem (yes, that national anthem) this weekend.

The Passenger String Quartet: This string ensemble, spearheaded by violinist/arranger Andrew Joslyn, plays a set of their own as well as backing S and Avians Alight, making them Timber’s informal house band for the weekend. There’s a reason everyone from David Bazan to Macklemore’s enlisted Passenger’s services, and you’ll likely hear why, many times over, at Timber.