We Recommend
Much has been said (by me, at some times) about how Elbow Coulee sounds like the meeting between pop-punk and dancey synth-rock, but the truth is that the band's range is larger than that. I mean, yeah, lead singer Andrew Tuller's voice does tend to sound pretty similar to that
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When I first was made aware of the existence of a band called Miss Massive Snowflake, with song titles like "The Doctor, the Thief, and the Poet Versus Confetti," I was given pause. Happily, instead of the kind of treacly, sneeringly cutesy indie rock that I expected, I was met
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Manhattan Murder Mystery - despite taking their name from a light Woody Allen comedy - follows in the tradition of other lovably scuzzy acts like the Rolling Stones, J. Geils, the Replacements and countless other bands that revel in the smoke and the sound and the drink of a bleary,
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"When you eat pancakes out of a bag in a semi-public place, there are rules," says comedian Kyle Kinane midway through an eight-minute story about watching a man on an airplane eat pancakes out of a grocery bag. You or I might see such a sight and, upon reporting it
Arts
"When you eat pancakes out of a bag in a semi-public place, there are rules," says comedian Kyle Kinane midway through an eight-minute story about watching a man on an airplane eat pancakes out of a grocery bag. You or I might see such a sight and, upon reporting it
We Recommend
To reductively describe what Matt Wheeler, AKA Teardropcity, does, his music sort of sounds like a hip-hop/country hybrid with vocals that sound straight out of Beat Happening. But let's let the Olympia local describe it himself. "I have several catch-phrases that I use to describe it, the first being ‘music for
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The idea of soul and rock becoming increasingly intermingled and on the mainstream radar, with bands like The Heavy and the Black Keys, is one that I've wrestled with over the past couple years. Of course, the issue of credibility and appropriation are always going to be present in the
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After living and traveling in Europe for the past year or so, singer-songwriter Heater Loepp has finally made her return to Washington. As the frontwoman for indie folk-pop outfit Santee, she started turning heads with her intimate lyrics, endearingly scratchy vocals and the warm bed of instrumentation provided by the
Music
The culture of outsider art can be a difficult one to navigate. Take a band like the Shaggs: three sisters - the Wiggin sisters - in the late '60s, at the behest of their deranged, overbearing father, put out an album of utterly insane music that can be generously described
Live & CD Reviews
Ah, these anger-baiting year-end lists. Let's get this on the table right away: this is my list of the best live performances that I saw in 2012. All of these performances were in Tacoma, but not all of them were bands from Tacoma. A couple of them are from the
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Until I saw the listing for this show, I had no idea how I would be spending New Year's Eve. Now that I know this is happening, there's no contest. When the New Frontier Lounge assembles Wheelies, Bandolier, Bath Party and MILK - the new joint of Josh McKay (Paris
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As a songwriter, Allan Boothe has always had a vulnerability about him. As a performer, he more frequently comes across as a bundle of nerves than a rock star. On record, he has a way of revealing so much of himself in such a melancholy way -
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The opening song, "Life is Glorious," on Olympia's own Glass Elevator's most recent album, starts off sounding like '70s Italo-prog rock outfit P.F.M., and once all the jittery drums clear away it starts to sound like a long-lost Unicorns track. Song number two sounds like Ween at its smoothest and
We Recommend
As a songwriter, Allan Boothe has always had a vulnerability about him. As a performer, he more frequently comes across as a bundle of nerves than a rock star. On record, he has a way of revealing so much of himself in such a melancholy way - even as he's
Live & CD Reviews
As a songwriter, Allan Boothe has always had a vulnerability about him. As a performer, he more frequently comes across as a bundle of nerves than a rock star. On record, he has a way of revealing so much of himself in such a melancholy way - even as he's
We Recommend
As a music writer, it becomes easy to fall into a pattern of being drawn to difficult or bizarre music. Everything else has a tendency to blend together, which often results in me choosing to write about some 40-piece vibraphone collective or an Ecuadorian goth duo that devotes their set
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The culture of rockabilly is such a peculiar one, to me. This is a group of people (kinda like those mod weirdos) who bond over a very specific aesthetic - this antiquated genre of music, which has grown over the years to morph slowly with punk, creating this style all
We Recommend
The exuberance at play with Shogun Barbie is absolutely palpable. Garage rock bands are a dime a dozen in these parts, but the pure, sloppy energy that they bring to the table is nothing to scoff at. The boy/girl shouting stands front and center in each brief, catchy tune. In
We Recommend
K Records artist Angelo Spencer is a globetrotting pop collagist who specializes in incorporating tongues and rhythms from various cultures into one cohesive mélange of sounds and textures. If that sounds pretentious and weighty, it isn't. Spencer brings a deftness of touch and execution to his music that belies the
Archives
Unless you live in a land of perpetual sunshine (in which case sun-madness might be an issue), the holiday season can have a tendency to bring about a little bit of the S.A.D.s. Particularly when it comes to something like New Year's Eve - a bullshit holiday that we thankfully
