Cup Check
STRIKE ONE Oh, it's on now. There's no looking back. Football season is here and the next few months are going to be a gluttonous, glorious blur, bubba. Heads are going to crack. Teams are going to fold. ACLs are going to pop. Champions are going to be made. Fantasies realized.
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You can hardly blame contemporary indie bands from wanting to venture to a happy, more peaceful, less wholly-craptacular place through music. With the world around us disintegrating into bickering, hopelessness, tireless marketing campaigns, rampant stupidity and way more hapless finger-pointing than answers, a break from it all would be nice
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There was a time when the Big Friction Jam at Jazzbones was THE place to be for Sunday night maxin', relaxin' and jammin'. Powered by the groove-heavy leanings of saxophonist Brett "Big Friction" Cummings, and aptly backed by a rhythm section the South Sound knows well - drummer Darin Watkins
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE After a one-week dalliance with the world of fantasy football advice (like a red-eyed, slack-jawed Brandon Funston ... only less fat in the face) I'm back to the normal routine this week - three Strikes and one Dumb Jock. It's my bread and butter. My Hall and Oates. My kibbles
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No good Tacoman worth their salt passes up a chance at a "private party," even if it's just being billed as such for legal reasons. More importantly, no good Tacoman wastes an opportunity to catch outdoor late-summer barbecue action backed by bands Hands of Toil, Weird Tigers (members of Blanco
Cup Check
I'm ditching the format this week, folks. Going rogue. You betcha. Why? Because fantasy football drafts will be taking place all across our NFL-obsessed nation over the next week. That special time of year is upon us. It's worth a special edition of Cup Check. It doesn't matter that we haven't
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Olympia indie-rock trio Happy Noose bills itself as having, "a unique approach to indie infused punk rock music born out of a collective idea of musical resistance to dominant culture." Fuck yeah. Fight the man with this band ... or just get your '90s alt rock nostalgia
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If you came of age, musically speaking, during a similar period in time as this hack writer, you're probably moderately familiar with the Marcy Playground story - or at least the band's "hit," the radio friendly "Sex and Candy." The song came from Marcy Playground's platinum
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE University of Washington Husky fans seem to take a particular sadistic joy in seeing the failures of anyone associated with the University of Oregon. And OH BOY has there been plenty of fodder lately. Readers of Cup Check no doubt remember back in June when Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris was pulled
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On John Craig & the Weekend's forthcoming full-length, Numbers, all 13 songs listed on the inside cover feature a parenthesized time stamp. Take, for instance, the disc's second track, "Wear Are Whatever (friday night!)," or the 12th tune, "Morning Birds (sunday morning ...)." It's all part of a much grander
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The idea behind Jazzbones' "Wednesday Sessions" is to give the stage to localized talent. Unquestionably one of the best sounding live rooms in town (not even countless spilled Jagerbombs during KRY nights can rub that off), Jazzbones welcomes Phasers on Kill this week, straight off a show last Friday night
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE Two embarrassing escapades, more than anything else, have solidified this column's niche. If it wasn't for Brett Favre's text-messaged junk and Tiger Woods' unyielding desire for Ambien sex with Perkin's waitresses, the Cup Check column may have never gotten off the ground. It may have never found its dozen
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE Why was the Cup Check column missing from the Volcano last week? What was behind the somewhat suspicious and unannounced vacation? Who's running this show? There are a lot of theories ... One rumor I can quash from the start is this one: The MIA status of this ill-conceived regular feature
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Once dormant, the Legend of Bigfoot has charged back to life of late - doling out psych-heavy alt rock to a Tacoma fan base well-versed in (and appreciative of) such sonic explorations. The band's stormed back to prominence last month after a lengthy hiatus, and showing no signs of letting
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Noise and effects. Noise and effects. Phil Elverum - as The Microphones, or Mount Eerie, or just about any other name in the book, I'd presume - is all about noise and effects. It's lo-fi, and repetitive, and uber-artistic, and the kind of thing that's about as
Guides
Almost anywhere can sell bikes. Lots of places do. Old Town Bicycle, started in a Tacoma garage almost two decades ago by friends and cyclists Dylan Stanley and Dmitri Keating, sells more than just bikes. Old Town Bicycle sells cycling, smiles, Tacoma and an underlying philosophy that a small, passionate, dedicated staff
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE From what I gather from watching the TV, the fact that I still think Michael Vick is a moderately detestable human being makes me downright un-American. From what I hear, forgiveness, and the giving of second chances, are American qualities we should all cherish. That my stomach churns a
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The Bay Area's Violent Vickie - a two-piece - is a self-described electro-punk act inspired by the Riot Grrrl movement and blasting up to the Northwest as part of their Ultra Violent Summer Tour. Created and led by the fittingly named Vickie, Violent Vickie ropes in all the senses with
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE First off, in a rarity for the Cup Check column (as I'm usually content to merely make fun of athletes who have recently done dumb things), props are extended to former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, he of the Hall of Fame, gift of gab and multiple off-field
Cup Check
STRIKE ONE Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams, it is my belief, exists solely for entertainment purposes. Like, dude was put on this earth for just one reason: so humanity and all of football fandom would have something to point and laugh at. It starts with his short-sleeved mock turtlenecks and goes
