Music
Built to Spill is one of these bands - like Animal Collective and Interpol - where I feel like I just totally missed the boat. I missed them when they first hit the scene, and have been playing catch-up ever since. And you know what? I've really tried, guys, but
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Vir's songs are dark, vaguely ominous tension-builders created out of relentlessly pulsing bass lines and bathed in guitar fuzz. They are rhythmic in that way that might inspire you to bob your head and tap your toe in the dim light of a venue. And when the tension is released,
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Toward the end of Eightball Break's song, "Kickin' Myself in the Ass," the guitars smooth out and lead singer Nick Millward breaks it down for us, saying we'll soon regret not asking that girl out when we see her walking with a lesser man. It's a slyly winking acknowledgement from
Music
I don't envy aging rock stars. It seems like, for the vast majority, aging in the music business is a lose-lose situation. Most likely an aging rock star will never make music that's as creatively satisfying - or "good," as we'll call it - as the music they made when
Music
Times are - once again - tough for all-ages venues in Tacoma. Of course, it seems like there's never much of a break between those times in this town, but this feels especially dire. At the end of the month the mostly hardcore all-ages joint, the Viaduct, will bite the
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Has it already been a year since the last Out in the Park? It seems like only yesterday I nestled down in the grass of sunny Wright Park to watch the performances of several stunning drag queens and kings at Tacoma's annual gay pride event. This year promises to maintain that
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A guitar-and-drums duo, The Ax doesn't adhere to the classic three-chord punk progression. The band's songs remain two minute blasts of revved-up rock ‘n' roll, but the complexity they manage to fit in such tightly wrapped packages is impressive. The Ax's music is moody and dark, but never loses sight
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Have you ever heard a punk rock version of "Pink Elephants on Parade"? No, you have not. It sounds a lot better coming from those skuzzy amps than you'd think it would. Hearing Dreadful Children play those circus-like chords will be the first time your brain locates and combines the
Music
Punk rock moments in my life: Seeing a guitarist stumble and bust a hole in the wall at the now-defunct Stereolounge. Refereeing wrestling matches in the dark on a Hilltop lawn, resulting in People Under the Sun's James Jenkins consecutively pinning three competitors. Every visit I ever made to the Alano Club. Unfortunately, of
Arts
Has it already been a year since the last Out in the Park? It seems like only yesterday I nestled down in the grass of sunny Wright Park to watch the performances of several stunning drag queens and kings at Tacoma's annual gay pride event. This year promises to maintain that
Live & CD Reviews
It took nearly an hour and a half after the planned start time for a band to actually take the stage. I'm not ready to say that this was an entirely bad thing. In that empty hour and a half, the above average-sized crowd had ample time to get
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Experimental pop is, to me, an awfully murky term. I suppose it is to pop music whatever progressive rock is to rock music. Faithful readers should know that, whenever faced with a question of progression, I turn to my hippy-dippy dad. Upon being shaken from his "nap-time brain illusion," my
Music
Pop music is a huge, absurd tent that holds within it many bullshit subgenres. Kraut rock? I guess. Slowcore? Er, Glo-fi? Go fuck yourself. The very idea, at this point, of experimenting with pop music is almost laughable. When experimenting with pop music you'd better be careful, lest your experiment be
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If you heard Parenthetical Girls' most recent LP, Entanglements, you might be tempted to call them orchestral pop. Listen to the band's previous album, and you'll not be so quick with your designation. Despite how loaded the word "experimental" is, this is the basic definition of experimentation:
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Camp Out is a two-girl outfit, made up of Maddy Hanks and Jackie Law. Their music, full and harmonic, errs on the side of uber-sunny California pop. Utilizing looping pedals, keyboards and drum machines, Hanks and Law (sounds like a buddy-cop duo) flush out their sound and become much more
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Congratulations are a hard band to track down. As I pursued them this week, to no avail, I started to think they might not even exist. Sort of like when I took those pills that one time and I was convinced Tricky was not a real band. Long story short,
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Loyal readers have probably noticed I have a big ol' soft spot for hilarious band names. For my money, Death Valley Murder Squad is just about the funniest name possible for a heavy metal band. And I'm willing to bet that DVMS knows it, too. Check out this quick sample
Archives
On the morning of May 20, I found myself time traveling in a giant metal tube in the sky. Sharing oxygen over and over again with a few dozen other time travelers, I slowly made my way across the country, finally touching down in New York. It was the second
Music
For a band, escaping the past can become harder than is quite necessary. The Decemberists had to release two or three albums before they could brush off those Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons, though perhaps still not even completely. Of course, some bands desperately depend on those associations, i.e. the appalling
Arts
What you first must understand about TW, AKA Thomas William Smith, owner and proprietor of Renegade Muscle, is that he's the true embodiment of a character. The man talks a mile a minute, has devoted his life to the restoration and customization of vintage bicycles, and seriously digs calendar girls.
