The Mary Onettes returned last week with their new album, Portico, now out on Swedish label Labrador Records. The band maintains their somewhat dark, 80s style of pop, like a softer, smoother New Order. It’s most obvious in the short LPs second single “Native Dreamâ€. Read More »The Mary Onettes: Portico
Oh September Girls. These days, your heavily distorted female dominated pop group is somewhat run-of-the-mill. That sound blew up in the indie masses with Vivan Girls, and it continued with spinoffs Frankie Rose, Best Coast and La Sera. Hell, you even hear a bit of that sound in Woods-related band The Babies.
Read More »September Girls’ Debut LP ‘Cursing the Sea’ is Out Now on Fortuna Pop!
Stopping by The Business in Anacortes the other day, owner Nick and I had a chat about local label P.W. Elverum & Sun’s forthcoming release of the somewhat long lost Half-Eaten Guitar by Wyrd Visions. Read More »Wyrd Visions Reissues Half-Eaten Guitar
To be honest, I almost entirely overlooked Diaper Island, Chad VanGaalen’s 2011 LP on Sub Pop. It just didn’t have the same upbeat nature as his 2008 LP, Soft Airplane, a favorite of that year. His latest venture, Shrink Dust (out next month on Sub Pop), won’t succumb to the same fate. Read More »Chad VanGaalen: Where Are You
For those unaware, Virgin Of The Birds is the brainchild of Seattle musician and Abandoned Love Records label head Jon Rooney. Virgin Of The Birds has a new album on the way late this month called Winter Seeds. I recently sat down with Rooney, with whom I’ve been acquainted since my discovery of The Lovely Sparrows back in 2006, to discuss the new release and what he’s been up to these days.
Read More »Virgin Of The Birds: Interview
KEXP’s Robert Dale is back with a new track called “Loveless Way” from his solo project Belgian Fog. Like his previous singles “Wait For Help” and “You Drive Me to Madness”, “Loveless Way” is an electro-fused pop song with plenty of glorious beats, a few nods to synth-based genres of past, and a deeply introspective narrative. “I’d rather stay trapped in a loveless way / Than try to make the pain go…” sings Dale in the chorus. Read More »Belgian Fog: Loveless Way (Premiere)
How To Make A Monster by The Rebel Set came out just about a month ago on Burger Records. I picked up a copy of the cassette and it has accompanied me on my 60 mile round-trip commute ever since. Drenched in a garage-y reverb with a subtle distortion in the vocal track, Phoenix band’s music is highly infectious and features a heavy dose of surf-punk. Read More »The Rebel Set: How To Make A Monster
When Marshall Poole released their first official EP, The Misconception, on November 26th, 2013, the bar for alternative-indie blues/rock bands in the Northwest area was raised forever. In their first track, “Crosstops,†vocalist and lead guitarist, Rider Soran, sets the stage for the entire record as he screams “Wanna get wild?†And as the first track of the record, “Crosstops†does what it is meant to do— grabbing the attention of every listener with its memorable lyrics and energetic blues guitar riffs in good Chuck Berry and George Thorogood fashion. Read More »Marshall Poole: The Misconception (2013)
Morgan Delt fits the Trouble In Mind mold. That’s to say his thick psychedelic-pop is drenched in layers of complexity of label-mates like Jacco Gardner, MMOSS and Maston. His new self-titled LP on the label dropped yesterday. Read More »Morgan Delt’s Self-Titled LP out now on Trouble In Mind
Tomorrow, Benjamin Verdoes releases The Evil Eye on Brick Lane Records. For Verdoes, a founding and continuing member of the Seattle-based internet sensation Mount St. Helens Vietnam Band (MSHVB) on Dead Oceans, it is his first venture into solo territory. I doubt I’m the first to say that Verdoes is just as powerful here as he has been throughout the MSHVB tenure. The Evil Eye is the first truly exciting album I’ve heard this year. Read More »Benjamin Verdoes: The Evil Eye
