Rarely do Washington rockers sound this Midwestern. The Bismarck is a Seattle quartet of North Dakotan expats with a penchant for hard-hitting, hickory-smoked rock 'n' roll. It seems appropriate that they'll be playing Bob's Java Jive with a band called Wyoming Young and Strong (named for a line in that state's official song). And while the Bismarck shares rambunctious energy with Apache Chief, another band on the bill, they have a singular, ostensive interest in red-blooded Americana; the first word heard on their latest record Great Plains is a throatily-shouted "America!" and the song  "Not If You Were the Last Team Gina Fan on Earth" features the lyric, "Take me back to the Great Lakes/Take me back to red states/Take me back to the Midwest" (the title references - perhaps satirically - one of Seattle's lesbian hip-hop duos).

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The Bismarck

with Apache Chief, Wyoming Young and Strong, Kramer
Saturday, Feb. 12, 8 p.m., Price TBA
Bob's Java Jive, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma
253.475.9843