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I know I'll probably come off as naïve when I say this, but I am consistently blown away whenever I see a musician build a song with a looping pedal. The first time I saw this live, it was at an Andrew Bird concert, and I'm sure my jaw was
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Citing whimsical, prolific, minor-key songwriters like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson as influences, OK Sweetheart's M.O. seems to consist of crafting delectable nuggets of pop music that equally serve the heart and the brain. Frontwoman Erin Austin's delicately lovely voice stands front and center and is
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If I were to guess, I'd say that Sources in Code are not a band that would shy away from a label like "epic" or "mind-expanding." They describe themselves as progressive and experimental, but these qualities mainly manifest themselves in the form of these momentous, expansive
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I know I'll probably come off as naïve when I say this, but I am consistently blown away whenever I see a musician build a song with a looping pedal. The first time I saw this live, it was at an Andrew Bird concert, and I'm sure my
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Margy Pepper are one of the most adorable slash awesome slash rocking slash slash bands out there. If you like your punk with a sense of humor and maybe a little bit too much of an obsession with kitty cats, Margy Pepper is for you. The band's music is imbued
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As a writer in Tacoma, I've had the unique privilege of documenting SOTA alum Brad Oberhofer's group, Oberhofer, and their rise to fame in indie rock. Brad was an interview of mine in my first year of music writing. I spoke with him on a trip to New York. I've
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Recently, and very suddenly, Dave Graham was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma, and has since undergone painful and costly treatment to battle this vicious cancer. Sunday's benefit show will hopefully provide a little financial relief for Graham. But the biggest aspect of the event is to show Graham how much
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For all the guff Tacoma takes from outsiders and its own population for various exaggerated reasons, something I will always defend and take a certain modicum of pride in is that we take care of our own when it's called upon us to do so. Part of the reason people
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An album as astonishingly overblown as the '90s Smashing Pumpkins landmark, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, is uniquely suited for the astonishingly overblown treatment being given to it on Saturday. The over two-hour, 28-song concept album will be covered in its entirety by a cavalcade of local artists and
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Last year, I was melting in Austin, Tex., during South By Southwest. In a sticky haze, I found myself outside a blue theater. There, in the parking lot, I saw the best performance of my time at SXSW: the Back Pockets, from Atlanta, Ga. Some 10 or a dozen members
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RVIVR kicks fucking ass. There's something so nourishing about pop punk that's hard to explain - especially when it's done with as much precision and flair as RVIVR. There's just something about this unabashed enthusiasm, the giant hooks, and even the more enormous choruses. Everything is
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Bands that take on influences from Modest Mouse tend to sound more lost to me than bands drawing from, say, Vampire Weekend or Death Cab for Cutie. If you are talented and you really want to sound like Vampire Weekend or Death Cab, well, you can. But no one can
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The members of the Cave Singers began their notable music careers on full tilt, in prog-rock and art-punk outfits like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Murder City Devils and Cobra High. Their transition to the indie folk rock of the Cave Singers is somewhat akin to someone taking a lung-bursting sprint
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The influence of Modest Mouse is far-reaching and, as more time passes, it becomes increasingly recognizable - the restlessly chopping guitars, rhythmically adding dissonant nuance to compliment the blown-out drums. Modest Mouse has a way of cherishing the guitar, of using every inch of it, even the parts that others
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Sometimes a band can shoot up like a blossoming flower in front of a time-lapse camera. Quickly emerging, very quickly fully formed. The band finds itself in real time, right in front of our eyes. Bellingham's Learning Team is such a band. Though Learning Team has only existed for a
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Sometimes a band can shoot up like a blossoming flower in front of a time-lapse camera. Quickly emerging, very quickly fully formed, the band finds itself in real time, right in front of our eyes. Bellingham's Learning Team is such a band. Though Learning Team has only existed for a
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Shrouded Strangers is a garage-pop band that stays true to the tropes and sounds of a band labeled garage-pop, while also incorporating deliriously psychedelic elements. Nominally, the band draws influences from the more experimental side of the Beatles, among other British invasion acts. When they get weird, there's always an
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The Stumblebum Brass Band is an entity that banks on novelty, but does its best to surpass it. The band succeeds in spades. Theirs is a collective of brass-band punk dudes, to put it bluntly. To incorporate marching/school assembly band elements into a punk outfit is not unheard of, but
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Saturday at Tahoma Tea and Co. (formerly the Den @ urbanXchange) brings about a showcase of three singer-songwriters, each of whom are accustomed to performing with a full band. The evening will strip these performers down, creating a tableau of three unique voices: Humble Cub's Allan Boothe, Oh Dear!'s Brandon
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Destruction Island makes big sounds and big hooks with their guitars, but the band persists in being betrayed by small sound. As much as Destruction Island puffs out its chests with these arena sounds, the band always cheat a look of uncertain modesty - like a plunky piano line or
