My wife would verify this fact: When I watch TV, it’s usually crappy TV.

No, I’m talking about the crappy TV you’re probably thinking of — reality garbage, So You Think You Can Juggle, or anything featuring Bret Michaels — I’m talking about a different breed of questionable programming.



When I turn on the tube, I’m in search of shows that most of pop culture probably doesn’t even know about — things like the History Channel’s Modern Marvels series. (So far, corn is my favorite. Who knew corn was a modern marvel?)  Or disturbing crime reenactment shows on TruTV. Or anything cloaked in a faux-scientific package discussing the possibilities of a world apocalypse brought on by midgets. (Experts agree, it could happen.)



But if I can’t find anything quite that crappy, I’ve been known to settle for less — like shows about dangerous storms on the Weather Channel where a crew of khaki shorts wearing (probably single) scientist types — camera crew in tow — drive towards a massive tornado or hurricane in a rented minivan. Why? Well, just because. And because it makes for some top-notch crappy TV.



Yes, it takes a special breed of person to chase hurricanes. There’s no denying it. It takes an even more special breed of person to enjoy watching it on TV.



That statement also holds partially true in regard to this Saturday’s show at The New Frontier Lounge. Seattle’s Hurricane Chaser will be in town doling out the band’s emerging brand of comfortable (dare I say comforting), familiar and Americana styled rock — and it’s the kind of sound that takes the right type of person to master.



Producer turned musician turned Hurricane Chaser frontman Brad Zeffren is that type of guy.



Watching this band, on the other hand, doesn’t take much effort at all. Anyone with at least one working ear and a splice of musical sense should be able to enjoy. And it’ll almost surely be better than anything on the Weather Channel.



“I kind of had an aesthetic in mind,” says Zeffren of forming Hurricane Chaser. As a long time producer, the former co-owner of Chroma Sound studio in Seattle only recently turned his attention towards his own musical aspirations.



“I wanted an element of atmospheric spookiness,” says Zeffren. “Writing music is about pure expression and experience. Being a producer is about realizing that on recording.”



Zeffren is off to a good start. Hurricane Chaser released The Map Is Not The Territory, the band’s debut album, in March of this year. Early indications suggest both music critic types and fans have found something to like in the disc’s melancholy twang and slight alt-country meander.



For Zeffren and Hurricane Chaser, it’s a mere starting point.



“An album is this little window into the best you could do at any one time,” says Zeffren. “(The Map Is Not The Territory) definitely feels like a first record for us. When I listen to that and compare it to newer stuff, there is definitely a difference.”

 

Those in attendance at The New Frontier on Saturday will get a chance to hear both the slightly old, and the excitingly new. Zeffren says he expects Hurricane Chaser to debut at least six or seven new songs on stage in Tacoma — which will mark the band’s first time in T-town.  By early next spring, Hurricane Chaser plans to follow The Map Is Not The Territory with an EP — a taste of which you’ll be able to get Saturday night.



“We’ll be getting some new songs stage tested,” says Zeffren. “That’s always a little scary, and thrilling.”



No more so than my TV watching habits.



[The New Frontier Lounge, with Star Anna, guests, Saturday, Aug. 15, 9 p.m., 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]