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Melanie Valera is Tender Forever - and so are her songs. Not tender in a Hallmark, fuzzy bunny sort of way - or cliché in the slightest - simply tender in the care with which they're mined, crafted and presented, and tender in the themes they present. Once described as
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Ian Svenonius is an artist in the truest sense of the word. Regularly described (endearingly) as a mouthpiece and even "slyly legendary," Svenonius has written books and hosted online talk shows, but is best known for fronting bands that teetered on the artistic ledge, from his first D.C. outfit Nation
Music
These days, when Spencer Kelley talks, I listen. Kelley is the frontman of Basemint, a T-town indie rock throwback with all the right moves - and quite possibly my favorite thing going in Tacoma these days. Yes, better than the "scrap metal collectors" that try to make off with my lawnmower
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If the Fucking Eagles show up at your party, your party fucking rocks. There's no other way to put it. These guys - Tacoma garage rock stalwarts, through and through - don't mess around. There are only so many hours in a day. Mickelson and the boys aren't going to
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Sure, you could call it a little redundant. If you're a dick. Or, you could just reap the benefits. It seems that the powers behind bringing sweet-ass bands to town and putting on shows at The Loft at Urban Grace (many of the same faces behind the final incarnation of
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The Purrs aren't new to this game. When the Seattle psych-rock band (which needs two hands worth of fingers to count its years together, and recently released its sixth record, Tearing Down Paisley Garden) hits Tacoma this week, they'll know exactly what to do. Jima, The Purrs' singer, will be
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Mark it down. This will be one of the best shows of the week. Brooklyn's Shellshag - one dude, Johnny Shell, and one lady, Jen Shag - have built a decade-plus career on underground, awesome-as-fuck sludgepunk. Never creeping too close to the surface and managing to stay endearingly "underground" -
Music
Talking about single shows is so 2009. In present day Tacoma - and by "present day Tacoma" I mean life here over the past two weeks - it's all about quantity. Who gets excited about single shows anymore? Not me. My pulse doesn't even rise unless an event means dedicating
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The term and idea of "grunge" often gets misused and misunderstood, as if everything emanating out of late '80s, early '90s Seattle sounded like Mudhoney and wore ridiculous amounts of flannel. It's simply not true. Anyone who was there can tell you so. Coffin Break was there. Staples of
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If you're a tool, Hank III probably doesn't like you. And he'll tell you that, to your face, through middle finger or song. It's exactly the reason - only aided by a famous name and blue-collar approach to turning the Pop-Country Music Establishment on its ear -
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Yes, goddamn it! SweetKiss, in the case of Puyallup's SweetKiss Momma, is one word! That's just how this band rolls. Who are we to judge whether or not the word "sweet" and the word "kiss" should ever have been joined as one? Rather, all we can judge is the band's
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While some songwriters may woo listeners with well-woven lyrics that slice straight to the heart and plumb the emotional depths, Ben Union is not that songwriter. His funk and rock hybrid is not a reinvention of the wheel, but it is a sight to hear, behold and just maybe
Music
Quincy Henry, Q-Dot professionally and on stage, knows a thing or two about the music industry. He's been around the hip-hop block, so to speak. An MC and producer, after crafting a surprisingly slick demo in his dorm room, Henry left college at Central Washington University in 2003 for the allure
Music
Sean Alexander is no stranger to the Weekly Volcano. Just a few weeks ago, for example, Heather Thomas Loepp profiled Alexander the artist, known for - among other things - his maniacally intricate sketches, the sadly defunct but modestly legendary Helm Gallery, and a fondness for conversational f-bombs. This week Alexander
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"This is our fourth or fifth time playing with the Accused and it's always been a blast," Jason McKibbin, frontman of infamous T-town punk band I Defy tells the Weekly Volcano's old, crusty Tacoma music afficionado, Potter, at weeklyvolcano.com. "It gets better every time. You won't see another show this
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When Olympia and public access television combine, well, the results can be downright spectacular - or, at the very least, pretty entertaining to watch when you're high. So is the story of Dance Oly Dance, the famed Thurston County TV (TCTV) show that features gyrating, Olympia absurdity at 8 p.m.
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On Friday, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist - who was appointed to the position after Gerry Horne retired last year - will kick off his first bid for official election with what we can only expect to be a star-studded "kick off party" - which in the business of politics,
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You're probably familiar with the Marcy Playground story - or at least the band's hit "Sex and Candy." The song came from Marcy Playground's platinum-selling, self-titled, major label debut, released by Capitol Records in '97 and highlighted by a grunge-stained take on folk rock and the occasional children's rhyme. As
Music
Roughly 15 years later, and millions of records removed (almost all of them sold in the late ‘90s - an era that feels like eons ago), John Wozniak is headed back to Olympia. And he's bringing the band that took him away in the first place, Marcy Playground, with him. If you
Live & CD Reviews
An aura of calm swept over the Gorge Monday morning - at least in the early hours - as lines to get in on the final day of Sasquatch! slowly grew outside the gates, and the hardcore types, most of whom had slept in the dirt for the past two
