Letters return to that sound I loved so much from their earliest release on their latest album, All The Adventures To See Them I Will. “Hideaway” and “Thrive” set the pace early-on, with lo-fi folk pop. The latter drops in a great beat, a most welcome addition to Letters’ already great sound.
It is this addition that makes All The Adventures To See Them I Will stand out. The Olympia-based band continues to create playful, whisper-y folk songs, but with a bigger emphasis on rhythm rather …

Olympia band Lake returns this year with a new album called Giving And Receiving. If you like what you heard from their past few releases, including the phenomenal Let’s Build A Roof from 2009, you’ll dig this one. It has a pleasant mix of upbeat pop songs and chill mellow ones. “Within/Without” finds somewhat of a middle ground, with a slightly funky beat and their nice signature male/female harmony vocals.

I instantly fell in love with Lake upon first hearing them open for Microphones and Karl Blau at the final show of Anacortes’s cherished Department Of Safety. That I hadn’t heard them before was the shocking item, being they share a hometown with K Records and also release their albums on the label. Lake’s dreamy psychedelic pop flirts with subtle breezes and forested hills. The harmonies put on display by Eli Moore and Ashley Eriksson mold perfection beyond its previous benchmark.

Throw Calvin Johnson into the mix, and, no matter what situation presents itself, it’ll always be a little awkward. That might come out wrong, but it shouldn’t. He is, in all aspects of the word, cool. When I saw him front The Hive Dwellers at the Anacortes What The Heck? Fest (the above photo was taken there), I was again thoroughly impressed with just how cool Johnson could be. So seemingly uncool that it’s gone full circle; there’s no one cooler.

A full two years ago, I raved about a little band from Olympia called Letters. Their music featured simple melodies played by complex and unique instruments. Vocals, too, focused on patters that caught the ear and pulled a listener in. It was this combination of elements that made them so intriguing. And intriguing they were, are and will likely continue to be as we speed forward into the future. Their latest effort is simply titled “A Free Sampler” and, true to their nature, it includes …

My first Calvin Johnson live experience was in Moscow, Idaho at a little cafe. He stood on this little rickety wooden chair that looked as though it was about to collapse. The room was dark and he towered over everyone. He hit The Business on Saturday at What The Heck Fest and, like that first experience, this one was packed. I could hear him in the background, but the sheer quantity of people packing the small Anacortes record store kept the visuals at a minimum. …

You may know Arrington de Dionyso from his other alter ego as the front-man of Old Time Relijun. When I saw the band open for HEALTH at SXSW back in 2007, it was one of those special moments – the kind you never forget. Shows like this, ones with wild stage antics, are the best to photograph and the best to watch. Grabbing a bass clarinet, an instrument whose presence is odd in virtually all forms of music with exception to classical, de Dionyso crafts breathtaking chaos.

Folk rock comes in many forms, and Redbird Fever blends the indie version with one slightly more contemporary. Their songs are packed with strong rock guitar riffs, yet have the fiddle backing much more common in the folk genre. Hailing from Olympia and Hoquiam, Redbird Fever’s latest EP Come Away From Your Home spans the gamut, with select songs siding more on folk and others with heavier rock leanings.

LAKE may only have played about 5 or 6 songs, but over that brief period of time they entranced the audience. Blending a lo-fi garage sound with psychedelic pop, the Olympia band was the first to perform at Department of Safety’s farewell show. With various synths and the clash of male/female vocals, LAKE demonstrated versatility in performance with members frequently exchanging instruments.

Of all the timeless folk and folk-pop musicians that scour the earth, none are more true to the roots than those that possess the lo-fi nature of artists came before… long before. Polka Dot Dot Dot is one such band that follows this particular path, though their subject matter may not be that of an early Western era, nor may the harmonies and melodies. Yet they have a certain efficacious manner about them that bridges the then with the now.