Seattle Powerpop - Log On and Rock Out

The blog is officially dead

2008-12-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I wanted to write to let folks know that I spoke with Andy today, and SPB is officially dead. As you may know, I moved to North Carolina back in early 2008, and Andy took over the blog when I moved. But, he's confirmed for me that he's been too busy with other projects to continue with SPB. Most of you probably figured that out, since the last post was quite a while ago. But, since I put a lot of love into this blog when it started, I felt it appropriate to log in to post a more formal burial.

I hope everything is going well for everyone out in Seattle. I miss the music scene there tremendously, although things are going well for me in North Carolina.

Keep on powerpoppin' and keep going to see live music.

Best wishes to all!
Gary

The Riffbrokers CD Release Party

2008-10-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Riffbrokers new CD Weight of Line and Intersection is fantastic and this is a great bill so don’t miss this show.

Todd Rundgren at The Triple Door

2008-09-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Todd Rundgren will be playing at The Triple Door on Wednesday. With The Nazz, Utopia and as a solo artist Rundgren has produced some great power pop over the years. His album Something/Anything is essential. Check out this recent performance of “Open My Eyes” a song he originally preformed with The Nazz some 40 years ago.

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-09-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday 9/28
Sloan at Chop Suey

Friday 10/3
Mexican UFO at Skylark

Saturday 10/4
Lashes/Blue Ribbon Boys at King Cobra

The Sgt. Major III at Sunset

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Monday 9/22:
The Camellias at High Dive

Thursday 9/25
The Color Bars at Mars Bar

Saturday 9/27
The Greatest Hits/The Pranks at Jules Maes

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-09-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday 9/14:
Crown Aruba at Comet

Tuesday 9/16:
The Greatest Hits at Funhouse

Blue Ribbon Boys at Sunset

Squeeze at Showbox

Friday 9/19
The Tripwires/Soda Pop Kids at Comet

Saturday 9/20
The Color Bars at Easy Street After Hours

The Color Bars Live

2008-09-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

How about a video already? OK here’s a good one of The Color Bars live at The Tractor Tavern earlier this summer performing “Id Incinerator.”

And since I’ve been so negligent of late here’s another – The Color Bars performing “Pretty Krinkled” from the same show. Check out The Color Bars in person this Saturday at High Dive.

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-09-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9/11:
The Greatest Hits at Central Saloon

Friday 9/12:
The Suspicions at Funhouse

The Girls at Chop Suey

Saturday 9/13:
The Color Bars at High Dive

The Greatest Hits at The Boiler Room

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-09-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9/4:
The Small Change/The Freddie Steady 5/Christy McWilson at The Sunset

Friday 9/5:
Love As Laughter/Oxford Collapse/The Sea Navy at The Sunset

Saturday 9/6:
The Riffbrokers/The Knast at The Comet

Young Sportsmen/Smile Brigade/Sid Finch at Lo-Fi Performance Gallery

Little Pieces/The Mommyheads/Dark Circles (Shane Tutmarc solo) at Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-08-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8/28:
Young Sportsmen at City Hall (Noon)

Friday 8/29:
The Tea Cozies/The Hot Toddies at Mars Bar

Saturday 8/30:
The Doll Test/The Neat at Bob’s Java Jive (Tacoma)

Boss Martians/Cute Lepers/Greatest Hits/Avenue Rose at Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival (Austin)

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-08-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8/19:
The Purrs at Tractor Tavern

Wednesday 8/20:
The Pranks/The Electric Kisses/The Shy Ones at King Cobra

International Pop Overthrow at East End (PDX)

Thursday 8/21:
Jon Auer at Triple Door

International Pop Overthrow at East End (PDX)

Friday 8/22:
The Dimes/The Quit at Comet Tavern

International Pop Overthrow at East End (PDX)

Saturday 8/23:
Ms. Led/Goodness at Mural Amphitheater (6:00 pm)

Harvey Danger/Andy Werth at Lake Union Summerfest (8:00 pm)

Sugarcane Mutiny/Sidd Finch at Jules Maes

International Pop Overthrow at East End (PDX)

This Week's Recommended Shows

2008-08-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 16th:
The Riffbrokers/The I Love Myselfs at Shanty Tavern

The Greatest Hits at Central Saloon

The Small Change Rock

2008-08-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

This should give you some idea of what The Whole Damn City will sound like this Friday at The Sunset, although the sound of this recording is really distorted and the picture is dark and out of focus but still, I think it captures the spirit. Anyway, here’s Kurt Block (Thee Sgt. Major III) and Scott Five (The Doll Test) joining The Small Change for kick-ass covers of The Who’s “The Seeker” and The Faces classic “Stay with Me” at the High Dive back in June.

The Whole Damn City at The Sunset Friday

2008-08-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was really looking forward to seeing Tim Rogers (lead singer/songwriter of the excellent Australian band You Am I) at the Sunset Tavern this Friday but the Department of Homeland Security put the kibosh on the show ~~by denying Mr. Rogers a visa~~. Apparently Tim Rogers’ visa wasn’t denied it just wasn’t issued in time to support his US tour. Here’s what his MySpace page says: “Due to events outside our control, the US tour has unfortunately been cancelled. We are all very disappointed, and will look to reschedule in the near future.”

That’s the bad news. The good news is that The Small Change and Thee Sgt. Major III are still playing the gig along with an all-star Seattle rock ‘n’ roll You Am I cover band, The Whole Damn City featuring members of The Presidents of the USA, The Tripwires, The Small Change, Young Sportsmen, The Riffbrokers, The Doll Test, Tube Top(!) and more, playing the very best of the You Am I catalogue.

Don’t miss this show; it’s sure to be great.

You Am I - "Get Up"

Recommended shows for the week of 8/3/08

2008-08-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 5th:
The Color Bars at The Tractor

Wednesday the 6th:
Sidd Finch at High Dive

Thursday the 7th:
Tea Cozies at EMP (5:00 pm)

Friday the 8th:
The Whole Damn City (You Am I Cover Band)/Thee Sgt. Major III/The Small Change at The Sunset

Girl Trouble Tonight at Sunset

2008-08-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Their tagline is "Eluding fame since 1984" but I’d say they’re sort of legendary around this neck of the woods. It’s hard to beat Girl Trouble’s mix of punk, garage, surf, mod, fun and energy. They’re the epitome of unassuming cool.

Come check out Girl Trouble tonight at the Sunset Tavern along with a bunch of other great bands at Chopperfest.

Chopperfest at Sunset Tavern Sat.

2008-08-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Guns and Rossetti photo by Lance Mercer

A great show for a great cause - to benefit Guns and Rossetti bassist Chopper Fisher and his wife Donna. Some are calling it the "show of the year.” Saturday night at the Sunset Tavern a bill that will never be repeated: Duff McKagan's Loaded, Girl Trouble, Guns and Rossetti, Red Jacket Mine, The I Love Myselfs, and the full-screen premiere of Guns and Rossetti’s “Douchebag Boyfriend” video.

The Pharmacy at Balagan Theatre Friday

2008-07-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

If I wasn’t such a creepy old dude I’d hit the Balagan Theatre (1117 East Pike St) tomorrow night to check out The Pharmacy, Wildild Life, TV Coahran, Sioux City Pete, Taco Kitty, Stabbings, Greatest Hits and Emeralds. It’s an all ages show, starts at 10pm and costs 5 bucks.

The Pharmacy

Being the creepy old dude that I am I’ll be hitting the Skylark Café for The Doll Test’s CD release show instead.

Free Cute Lepers Show Tonight

2008-07-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

The Cute Lepers are playing a free, secret warm-up show tonight at Café Racer (next to Trading Musician on Roosevelt). They go on about 10:30 after a D.J. set by Nils Forever. They’ll be off touring the US for the next 5 weeks – Tacoma tomorrow, Missoula Saturday, then on to Salt Lake, Colorado Springs, Denver, Kansas City, Saint Louis, Chicago and on and on: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Los Angeles, and more…

Doll Test Record Release Show at Skylark

2008-07-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Recommended shows for the week of 7/27/08

2008-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Monday the 28th:
The Subways/Thee Sgt. Major III at Chop Suey

Friday the 1st:
The Doll Test/The Lund Bros. at Skylark

The Shy Ones at Full Tilt Ice Cream Parlor

The Cute Lepers/Avenue Rose/Powerchords at Hell's Kitchen (Tacoma)

Saturday the 2nd:
Boss Martians/The Greatest Hits at King Cobra

Chopperfest! w/ Duff McKagan’s Loaded/Guns & Rossetti/Girl Trouble/Red Jacket Mine/The I Love Myselfs at Sunset Tavern

Send The Lund Bros. to Austin

2008-07-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been reading SPB for a while you might already know that The Lund Brothers are one of my fav bands and hopefully they’re one of your favorites too. So now’s our chance to show ‘em a little love by helping to send The Bros. to the Austin City Limits Music Festive. They’re in an on-line battle of the bands called The Sound and the Jury (ha, Faulkner allusion that) and they need our votes to advance to round 2 next month (they should call round 2 “Fight in August”) so follow this link if you will and cast your vote. Gwon tells me we’re allowed to vote once a day so I guess the old cliché really applies this time – vote early and often.

Jim Basnight Interview, Part 2

2008-07-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

We pick-up where part 1 of this interview left off: with a question about The Moberlys.

SPB: Steve Pearson (The Heats) and Jeff Cerar (The Cowboys) were both early members of The Moberlys, did either of them play on any of the recordings? Do you still keep in touch with those guys? I saw that you participated in the Ian Fisher Tribute Concert at the Tractor a while back.

JB: Steve never did, but Jeff played on that Mick Flynn session. I keep in touch with most of those guys and was really happy to be able to contribute to the Ian Fisher Tribute at the Tractor. Ian and I lived together a couple of times during the beginnings of The Moberlys and The Cowboys and have always had fun together singing songs. Steve and I have played a lot of gigs together. He’s always appeared on my gigs and I used to always get up with his bands. We recently played a number of acoustic duo gigs together. I’ve often thought that a spectacular show would be Steve and me on guitar and Jack Hanan from The Cowboys and The Rockinghams on bass doing songs from The Moberlys, The Heats, The Cowboys, The Rangehoods, The Rockinghams and other songs of ours.

SPB: I think you eventually had three different versions of The Moberlys, the first here in Seattle, the second in New York and then a third in L.A., hence the album Seattle–New York–Los Angeles which made writer John M. Borack's list of "The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums."

JB: The first Seattle line-up I went over pretty well. The NY line-up featured a couple of guys from Seattle, Dave Drewery and Al Bloch (Fastback Kurt’s brother) and a NY guy named Jeremy Bar-Illan. Jeremy was in the band before the Seattle guys and also after both returned to the west coast. He and I have stayed good friends over the years, though I’ve lost track of most of the other guys, except bassist Greg Morongell, whose cousin Mike Morongell and I became really good friends while I was in LA. Greg also sang some back-ups on Pop Top. Jeremy and I played with a rhythm section of NY guys from a band The Locals that I met through Anne Deon. I later was married to Anne in LA for a year and a half. Anne was Alan Vega from Suicide’s girlfriend when I met her and after that David Johansen’s for a lot of the time that I was playing in her band The Cool Tigers. Through her and by bumping around NY I met a lot of musicians and played and/or jammed with a lot of folks, including Alan, Johnny Thunders, The Smithereens, The Fuzztones and many others. I remember Madonna as a girl that used to hang out at Danceteria, a club that I performed at and hung out at on a regular basis. She was in a band called Breakfast Club with the first bass player that I played with in Anne Deon‘s band. I also met Billy Idol through Anne and Vega. I worked in a few record stores in Manhattan and met a number of the early pioneers of hip hop and rap like Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and Africa Bambatta.

SPB: Recently I've really gotten into The Modernettes (Vancouver B.C. band, circa 1980) and The Moberlys cover my favorite Modernettes' song "Rebel Kind" on Seattle–New York–Los Angeles. Did you ever play any shows with the Modernettes back in the day? If so just how sexy was Mary-Jo Kopechne?

JB: The Modernettes are one of my favorite NW bands ever. I really like Buck and Randy’s songs. Mary was Buck’s girlfriend at the time and I never really looked at her as a sex object, probably for that reason. She was a “hottie” though. I should have named the album Vancouver-NY-LA, because almost all of the songs we recorded in the NW were up there. That band, with Dave Drewery, Toby Kiel and Glenn Oyabe used to play a lot in Vancouver. We were kind of outsiders in Seattle after I moved back there from NYC. We sort of carved out our own niche at the Central Tavern in Pioneer Square in Seattle because none of the main clubs that most of the bigger Seattle bands in the mid-80’s played at would let us work there. We really got the Central going in a direction that later spawned the grunge movement to flourish there in it’s infancy in the later 80’s. We moved to LA and were very prolific there, but never really got a push from the industry, other than recording a few songs with Peter Buck from REM producing for the EMI label. All 8 of the songs that he worked on with us were either released on Pop Top or Seattle-NY-LA. The band became again disappointed by the major labels reaction to our work and started splintering after we fired Drewery and replaced him with Fuzztones drummer Mike Czekaj. Mike and I were prolific writing partners in LA and knew each other in NYC, where I turned him on to The Sonics. He said that it was because of his performing "The Witch" with his band that he met the Fuzztones leader Rudi Protrudi. Mike and I wrote a number of songs that have become staples of my show over the years like “My Vision of You”, “What I Wouldn’t Do”, “Guilty”, “Red Light Moon”, “Love and Hate” “Don’t Wait Up For Me” and “Princess in Rags”.

SPB: After The Moberlys split-up you formed The Rockinghams, which like The Moberlys played a cool blend of punk and power pop but with a lot more distortion. Was that in reaction to the grunge sound that was prevalent in Seattle at the time?

JB: I don’t really believe that to be true. I started playing a Marshall because I finally got my hands on a good one. I did that more to emulate Johnny Thunders and all of the British punk guitarists like Steve Jones, Mick Jones, Captain Sensible and Tony James than any grunge artists. Thunders used to play the Marshall with the Fender Twin and that was what I did a lot of the time in the ‘Hams.

SPB: For the last ten years or so, with The Jim Basnight Thing and now The Jim Basnight Band, you've been playing a more sophisticated, more adult oriented style of pop music although it also has a certain childlike element to it. It's a very idiosyncratic sound but I think I hear bits of The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison and Jonathan Richman. What led you in that direction?

JB: I don’t know why I do the music I do. I really love all of those artists that you compared it to. That is very flattering to be compared with such important artists. I’ve been listening to those artists for a long time. I played “Gloria” at my very first gig. My favorite Jonathan Richman song is “I’m Straight”. The “Johnny Hippie” that he refers to there reminds me of Johnny Thunders. Anything to do with the Beatles or the Stones is both unique and spotless. We were talking on the way to a gig the other day how either of those bands could play any note and it would sound right, especially notes that everyone tells you are wrong.

SPB: You played briefly in Johnny Thunders' band. I assume he was sort of a hero of yours. What was that experience like?

JB: I played with Johnny in the summer of 1982 in NYC. The band consisted of Walter Lure, Billy Rogers, Johnny and I played bass. I guess his bass player was mad about something and I just filled in for a while. It was a meaningful experience to me. We played all of his tunes like “I Love You”, “Chinese Rocks”, “MIA” and “In Cold Blood” and covers like “Seven Day Weekend”, “These Boots” and “Ramblin’ Rose”. It was a blast. I didn’t make any money, but I had an amazing time. I saw Walter Lure when I was back in NYC playing solo a while back and it was really nice to see him still carrying on the torch of that incredible and unstoppable rock and roll band.

SPB: Tell me about Precedent Records. Is all of your music available now on CD?

JB: As a matter of fact we have all 6 of the CD’s available which include over 100 songs. There are also a number of songs that have been recorded but not released. I would say that there is a really fine album that would stand the test of time there amongst those 100 or so tracks. I’ve written about 500 songs and there are also a number of worthy songs that I only have cassette demos of that really have lasting appeal as well. I also have a number of films, videos and DVD’s that I’m in the process of compiling for use in a DVD. I’d like to release the DVD and the best of unreleased stuff as a two CD set.

SPB: Have you always made a living as a musician? Ever worked any day jobs?

JB: I’ve worked a few jobs in LA and NY in the 80’s, the last one in 1986. Since then I have only worked as my own boss. I was an investment broker in the late 80’s and early 90’s in LA. The next job I had other than playing gigs and selling my recordings was co-composing the musical comedy Little Rock. My next departure was booking and concert production in the late 90’s through about 2003. That was only so I could book my band as a side benefit and learn how to produce my own shows better. In mid-2005 I started running a sports site for Yahoo on the internet, which allowed me to travel. I published it and had a staff of writers. I owned the business, or franchise you might say. I just vacated that spot for someone else to run as of August 1st 2008. Having that extra income has allowed me to build up for my future and give me security, but now I feel that I can use the time better to promote my music full time again. It was also a good chance to learn a lot about the internet and web sites, while making money.

SPB: What are you working on now? Writing? Recording?

JB: I’m not writing much other than some songs with the other guys in the band right now. As I’ve mentioned I’ve got a lot of tunes and have written for all of my life. I’ve actually taken a break since I finished Recovery Room, but now that I’ve accomplished some important goals financially, I intend to start work on a whole new direction of writing as well as compile the two Disc set.

SPB: How about playing a show in Seattle? Anything scheduled?

JB: Right now we play once a month in Seattle, though we play about 15 dates or so a month in total. Right now those Seattle area dates are at the Twisted Cork in Bellevue, which is on the main floor of the Hyatt Hotel building. We will be playing much more in the greater Seattle area in the future.

www.jimbasnight.com

Jim Basnight Interview, Part 1

2008-07-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Jim Basnight’s got quite a rock & roll resume – his band Meyce played one of the first punk shows in Seattle in 1976 and in 1977 they opened for The Ramones. His next band The Moberlys recorded a great self-titled album that made Trouser Press’s “Underground Top 10” list in 1980. Basnight has been making consistently great music ever since, both as a solo artist and with Jim Basnight and The Moberlys, The Pins, The Rockinghams, The Jim Basnight Thing and currently with The Jim Basnight Band. His records have been sited in various Best of Powerpop lists over the years including John Borack’s "The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums".

Seattle Powerpop Blog: Are you having a good summer so far? Over the years you've written some great songs celebrating summer like "Live in the Sun" and "Summertime Again" so I assume you enjoy it quite a bit.

Jim Basnight: I’m having a great summer so far. I’m getting ready to put out a new CD on the NYC based Disclosed label. It’s a career retrospective with two new tracks that I recorded with my current band, the Jim Basnight Band. It’s titled “We Rocked and Rolled: The First 25 Years with Jim Basnight, Moberlys and Beyond”, by Jim Basnight. It has selections from all 6 of my unique CD’s, Sexteen by the Moberlys, Seattle-NY-LA by Jim Basnight and the Moberlys, Pop Top, The Jim Basnight Thing and Recovery Room by Jim Basnight and Makin’ Bacon by the Rockinghams. The reason I call those “unique CD’s” is because tracks from them have been compiled in other releases like Sexteen a vinyl LP released in 1985 on Lolita Records in France, The Moberlys vinyl LP released in 1980 on the Seattle based Safety First Label, Jim Basnight and the Moberlys Return CD on the Japanese Wizzard-in-Vinyl label in 2006 and the Pop Pleasure LP by Jim Basnight and the Moberlys on the Italian Rave Up label.

My consistent love for summer songs and sunny days is based on my inherent spirit and optimism and hope and belief in the goodness of life and people. I’ve been disappointed along the way, but my relentless optimism has kept me upright. I basically was blessed with parents that showed me a lot of love and shared so much with me to thank for that. I love summer songs as well, as they often bring out some of the more positive and happy moments in pop music. That’s not to say that I only love that kind of music. I guess I may be identified by some for that style, because some of my best work has been when I was singing about those kinds of experiences. I feel that there are many other top notch songs of mine and those that I co-wrote that are not in that vein and I guess only time will tell as to whether others look back at this body of work and feel the same.

SPB: I checked your concert calendar and it looks like you're playing 4 to 5 shows a week for the next couple of months.

JB: I’ve been performing between 175 and 225 shows a year with the Jim Basnight Band or myself solo or in duo line-ups for about 10 years now. Mostly in the NW (WA, OR, ID, MT and some parts of UT, WY and CA), we’ve carved out a niche by playing literally everywhere and every type of gig, from coffee houses, concerts and colleges to casinos, clubs, fairs, festivals and private parties. We’ve developed a very good show, if I do say so myself, that pulls from all kinds of influences. I feel that we can play the power-pop, glam, punk, garage, new wave and roots rock that I’m known for very well, plus we have successfully brought in influences like soul, funk, old country, blues, jazzy-pop and classic rock. Our show right now is playing a lot on Washington’s San Juan Island, but after summer we will be doing more traveling around the NW and probably back to NYC around the release of the CD, as well as to parts on the SW. I’d love to take this band overseas, as I feel strongly that our show would be very well received in Europe and Japan.

SPB: Who's in The Jim Basnight Band and what's your set-list like?

JB: The band consists of Mikel Rollins on bass, guitar, flute, Sax and vocals. Mikel and I have been playing since the beginning of this band in 1996, right as the Rockinghams were coming to a close. He is a really strong musician who has had a ton of jazz training and experience as a pro player. He also has a quick sense of humor on stage and a keen sense of style. He says that I have been his teacher over the years as a guitarist and front man and I’ve picked up a lot from him as well. The drummer is Brad “Mr. D” Dolsen. I met him on San Juan Island. He’s an accomplshed drummer and a really high energy showman. He does a lot of things image wise that make it easier for me to do crazy things and not stand out or appear random and out on a limb. He and Mikel both do that. Brad went down to LA for a while to work as a session guy and also worked in the fashion and art gallery world. He moved back to Seattle to do the band and so he could play drums full time. The 4th member is Mike Rain, who plays bass and guitar. He is an outstanding harmony vocalist and has done very well with creating his own vocal arrangements on my tunes. Mike has a good voice and plays a very nice complimentary guitar style to mine and to Mikel’s bass playing. He also plays good solid bass, which allows Mikel to play sax and flute as well as guitar. We do songs from all 6 of the CD’s as well as some new songs. We also do a number of our own versions of other people’s numbers. Some of the better tunes that we do regularly are Telegram Sam, Ballrooms of Mars and The Slider (T-Rex), The Passenger (Iggy), Too Much Junkie Business (The Heartbreakers), What You See is What You Get (The Dramatics), Lovely Day (Bill Withers), All The Young Dudes (Mott the Hoople) and Just to Satisfy You (Waylon Jennings). I also play a number of songs in my solo acoustic show like “Tonight” by the Raspberries, “1-2-3” by Len Barry, Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” in the Al Green mode and “Venus De Milo” by Television.

SPB: When did you first fall in love with music? What were some of your favorite records when you were growing up?

JB: I first fell in love with music when I got a transistor radio in about 1966. My first records were what we had around the house, which was mostly Jazz and adult pop of the day, but my folks got a few 45’s that we had around like “Bobbie’s Girl” by Marcie Blaine, “The Watusi” by the Orlons and “See You in September” by the Happenings. My dad finally broke down and bought me Revolver by the Beatles when it came out. He also felt compelled to broaden my horizons a bit in the pop music genre by giving me the Mothers Absolutely Free and the Fugs on ESP. He also played a lot Lenny Bruce around the house. I really liked the music on the radio, but it wasn’t until I started going to the store and buying my own records that I found the stuff that really expanded my appreciation and realization that this was what I wanted to do with my life. My first records like that were the Kinks Greatest Hits, Kinkdom, the Stones High Tides and Green Grass, Flowers, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced, Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow, The Who Sell Out and all of the American radio pop of the day like The Buckinghams, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Grassroots, The Raiders, The Rascals, The Beach Boys and a ton more. From there I got into the glam movement of the early 70’s. I wasn’t much of a fan of the Woodstock scene and the early arena rock, but when Bowie, T-Rex, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, NY Dolls, MC5, Roxy Music, Slade, Mott, Flamin’ Groovies and Iggy Pop came out in my early high school years I was hooked. I also always loved the early power-pop, specifically Badfinger and the Raspberries, as well as all of the bands around in the 70’s that were influenced by that style. Soul music always appealed to me as well and I was hooked on albums like Superfly by Curtis Mayfield, the Al Green and Isaac Hayes stuff, The Temptations, Sly Stone, The Ohio Players and Marvin Gaye. I wasn’t a huge fan of the big top arena rock acts of the day, but now I appreciate a lot of the big names of the 70’s more than I did back then. It was not a huge jump to spin right into the punk thing, as it started to appear in the mid-70’s.

SPB: What impact did punk have on you? I think I hear the influence of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Heartbreakers and The Modern Lovers in your early stuff along with The Raspberries and maybe The Rubinoos?

JB: I feel that I was influenced very much by both punk and power-pop. Both styles have irrepressible energy, melody and so many fantastic artists and songs. I’m really drawn to good songs. When I went to NYC in the spring of 1977, it was a life changing experience. I would also mention bands like The DMZ, Wayne County, The Tuff Darts, The Dead Boys, Suicide, Alex Chilton, The Fleshtones, The Nerves, Patti Smith, Blondie, The Real Kids, Generation X, Tom Petty, The Heats, The Cowboys and Vancouver B.C.’s Modernettes as big influences from that era. I was writing songs well before I heard most of these bands, but they all shaped my musical development as a songwriter. There’s also no way to discount the value The Ramones to my upbringing.

SPB: Your band Meyce opened for The Ramones here in Seattle in 1977 when you were what, nineteen? How did you land that gig and what was it like?

JB: The show was promoted by a friend of mine from high school, Robert Bennett, under the banner of a local rock fanzine that the drummer in the Meyce published and that I contributed to, Chatterbox (named for the Dolls tune). It was at the Olympic Hotel, which was in the same building that is now the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. It was a classy room for Seattle at that time and a good place to kick off the punk movement in town in style. The Meyce did a very good show in my opinion and the Ramones band and crew said some very encouraging things to us. The Ramones were just incredible. They did most of the tunes from their first two albums. They stayed in touch with all of my crew in Seattle over the next few years and Johnny and Dee Dee wore Chatterbox T-Shirts all over the place. Johnny wore it in the movie Rock and Roll High School. I have some 8MM film footage of part of the Meyce (pronounced Mice) performance that night that I will be including in a DVD that I’m compiling right now.

SPB: I love The Moberlys' album Sexteen. I think everyone who loves punk or power pop should own a copy. Tell me about that CD. Is it the whole first Moberlys album plus some singles and some live tracks? What do you remember about making that album?

JB: It was done in a few different sessions. First there was the single that I released in January 1978, “Live In the Sun” backed with “She Got Fucked”, which made the album. That was prior to the formation of the Moberlys. The second session was at a “demo” studio owned by Seattle guitarist Mick Flynn. That line-up which included Jeff Cerar (who later helped form the Cowboys) recorded 5 songs and “Leave the Past Behind”, “I Trust You” and “When the Night Comes” are on “Sexteen”. The third session was backed by Brian Fox and self produced by the Moberlys and engineer Dave Perry. From that four song session “Don’t Fall into Darkness”, “Blow Your Life Away” and “I Want You” are included. We then went into Triangle Studios in Seattle and did a live broadcast for local commercial FM KZOK. From that “Country Fair”, “Papa Loves Mama”, “Love/Hate”, “You Don’t Give Me Love”, “I’m In Fire” and “Come and Gone” are included. After that Ned Neltner, who led a very successful local club band in the NW, Junior Cadillac (which also included original Wailer Buck Ormsby) took us into Paul Revere and Neil Rush’s (Marilee’s husband) studio. From that session came “Sexteen”, “Live In the Sun”, “Last Night”, “Lonesome Crying Sigh”, “Give Me Peace” and “You Know I Know”. Steve Grindle on bass and Bill Walters on drums were there from the beginning of the band. Jeff was replaced by Steve Pearson, who played one gig with us. Don Short, Pearson’s band mate in The Heats was in the band for a few rehearsals, as was Ben Fisher, who later co-wrote “Summertime Again”, “Hello Mary Jane” and “Middle of the Night”. Ben passed from cancer a few years ago and was one of my best friends. He and I wrote a number of other songs and had real chemistry together. Finally we hired Ernie Sapiro, who later replaced Jeff in The Cowboys. Ernie played on all of previously mentioned sessions besides the single and the Mick Flynn tapes. After the session with Neltner, due to a few rejection notices from major labels, Bill Walters left the band, soon to be followed by Ernie. Steve and I tried to keep going, but were unsuccessful in finding the right replacements. Bill Rieflin from The Blackouts and now REM helped us record a couple of tracks. Those were “We’ll Always Be in Love” and “Love is Beautiful”, which are both on “Sexteen”. After that session Steve joined a Rockabilly band and I joined a club band that was playing a lot of the same clubs as The Heats and The Cowboys called The Pins. After working with them for about 6 months I decided to move to NYC. Pearson later joined them after The Heats broke up and they changed their name to The Rangehoods. In NYC I put together a band and called it The Moberlys, to follow up on the LP and it’s underground success and we recorded a number of tracks some of which that were later included on the “Seattle-NY-LA” CD, but one of them, “I Return” was a standard of the first band, so I included it there.

Part 2

The Doll Test – Mosque Alarm Clock

2008-07-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here’s another great release from Unsmashable Records, another excellent Johnny Sangster production and another contender for SPB’s album of the year.

Unsmashable Records describes itself as “Northwest powerpop rock music from the seasoned over-30 crowd” and while the kids might enjoy it too, Mosque Alarm Clock is clearly an album for people who’ve lived a little: wry, poetic observations from someone who’s been around the block a few times.

The Doll Test is veteran singer/songwriter/guitarist Scott Five (Sutherland) and fellow ex-Model Rockets Boyd Remillard on bass and Graham Black on drums and Riffbrokers frontman Nick Millward on guitar and organ. They’re a formidable band and with Mosque Alarm Clock they’ve delivered an exceptional record. Five calls it “a concept record…about what happens between when the alarm goes off and when the wine runs out.”

I hear the classic ‘60s powerpop influences: The Beatles, The Byrds and The Who, but The Doll Test’s music never sounds derivative or retro, it’s timeless and relevant with plenty of great melodies, hooks and harmonies, skillfully arranged and played.

Lyrics touch on politics both personal ("The Last Rung") and national ("The Decider"), strategies - including denial and self-medication - for dealing with the pain and monotony of life ("Everything’s Fine"), bittersweet relationships ("Fall Away," "Every Night You Break My Heart") and life-affirming love ("The Bell, The Map, The Stars").

With its chiming guitars, gorgeous melody and succinct yet killer Roger McGuinn does John Coltrane guitar solo, “The Bell, The Map, The Stars” is possibly my favorite song on the album, but with a dozen songs of such high caliber it’s nearly impossible to choose one standout track.

“My Future Self” is one of those great originals that sounds like a cover - a song that you heard on the radio once when you were young, immediately fell in love with but never heard again. I can’t put my finger on who it reminds me of exactly, The Byrds singing Dylan maybe (a coworker suggested Tom Petty). It’s got ringing Rickenbackers, wheezy organ, half-spoken, half-sung repeated-line verses, a swelling, soaring chorus and lyrics “I saw my future self handicapping an Emerald Downs racing form” that might have made Charles Bukowski proud.

“Ballad of Your Blue-Eyed Boy” sounds like it could be a great, lost Beatles track from the Let It Be sessions – Phil Spector-like production, a Harrison-esque slide guitar solo, a terrific, expressive Lennon-esque vocal by Five and smart, sad, funny lyrics: “They handed you a suitcase and they shot the starting gun/now what’s the matter cupcake ain’t you havin’ any fun?”

I hear echoes of Buffalo Springfield in the jingle-jangle, harmony-drenched “Shoot the Tambourine Man” while “Amphetamine” reminds me of prime Neil Young & Crazy Horse with its drug related lyrics and cathartic guitar maelstrom via Five and guest guitarist Ryan Maxwell of Unsmashable label-mates Young Sportsmen.

The stacked harmonies, layered acoustic and electric guitars, woodblock and background oohs and ahhs in “One Lie Too Many” are reminiscent of The Who circa ‘68. This song starts with the great line, “First a thorn, then another/till the rosebush that grows from your side has made you fall.” It’s a powerful, vivid image, like something from a Frida Kahlo painting.

Scott Five has really come into his own as a songwriter and the excellent playing by the band and Johnny Sangster’s skillful, sympathetic production provide the perfect showcase for the twelve perfectly sequenced gems that make up this outstanding album.

www.myspace.com/thedolltest

http://www.unsmashablerecords.com/

Powerpop Needs Energy

2008-07-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Powerpop needs energy – cheap, clean, renewable energy. Act now to keep the power in powerpop.

"America must commit to producing 100% of our electricity from cheap, clean renewable energy sources like solar and wind within 10 years."

You can get more info and sign the petition here: www.wecansolveit.org, and here: www.moveon.org

Recommended shows for the week of 7/20/08

2008-07-20T13:28:00.001-07:00

Tuesday the 22nd:
Boats/The Greatest Hits/The Shy Ones at Funhouse

Earlimart/The Capillaries at Chop Suey

Wednesday the 23rd:
Young Sportsmen at Re-bar

Thursday the 24th:
The Zombies/Jon Auer/Guns and Rossetti at El Corazon

Songs of Summer Night at High Dive with Sister Psychic/Young Sportsmen/more…

Ms. Led at Comet Tavern

Friday the 25th:
Jon Rauhouse Sestet at The Sunset

Saturday the 26th:
Chuck Prophet & Mission Express at Ballard Seafood Fest

Stuporhero - Weightless

2008-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Stuporhero’s lovely new album Weightless consists of nine charming, skillfully arranged, concise little pop songs featuring acoustic guitar, piano, synth generated strings and horns, handclaps, kazoo, and male/female vocal counterpoint. There’s less than 20 minutes of music in total but it’s mostly compelling (the final track is a bit of a throw-away since it plays backwards, although it does have a nice ambiance consistent with the overall feel of the record) ranging in mood from giddy to melancholic to pensive to dreamy and it holds together well like a modest, scaled down Pet Sounds or In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. This also reminds me of the softer side of The Vaselines and should appeal to fans of twee and indie-pop.

The whole album is available as a free download at stuporheromusic. Go check it out but be warned: you may find this sweet little pop confection quite addictive.

The Chris and Tad Show

2008-07-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of nifty videos of Chris and Tad recorded back around the turn of the century. One rarely sees such shining examples of male sartorial splendor these days and the music isn’t bad either.

Mr. Suave and the Wild Weekend

2008-07-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

Mod Seattlite Mr. Suave has dedicated his latest “modcast” to highlighting some of the artists performing at the Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival in Austin next month including Avenue Rose, The Cute Lepers and The Boss Martians. Cheek it out at Mr. Suave’s Mod, Mod World.

Recommended shows for the week of 7/13/08

2008-07-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday the 16th:
The Jesus and Mary Chain/The Turn-Ons at The Showbox SoDo

All Girl Summer Fun Band - Outdoor Concert Downtown Portland 5:00pm next to The Arlene Schnitze

Thursday the 17th:
Telekinesis at The Sunset

Sugarcane Mutiny at Skylark

Friday the 18th:
The Quit at Easy Street Records (West Seattle)

Saturday the 19th:
The Boss Martians/The Pranks/Mexican UFO at Slim’s Last Chance

The Color Bars at Chop Suey

Candyfest!

2008-07-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Candyfest is tomorrow at King Cobra and The Comet Tavern. It’s only $12 for a whole day of music with bands from Vancouver B.C. to Los Angeles. Here are some details (courtesy of organizer Nils Larson) about all the great groups that will be performing.

So here is what to expect; (in alphabetical order):

Apache, from San Francisco are about to release their full length LP, “Boomtown Gems” on Birdman Records. This fantastic band is one part “Killed by Death” style punk rock and one part Trash/”Glitter from the Litter Bin” glam and rock n roll. Apache features Carlos who used to play for The Cuts!

Audacity - On tour with Thee Makeout Party; Audacity from Fullerton, CA; play fast, aggressive, distorted, and garagey punk rock. It’s a little bit melodic and very noisy and fun. They have a record out on Burger Records.

Avenue Rose - With a west coast tour with The Greatest Hits under their belt, an EP on Slab-O-Wax, and 6 week US tour with The Cute Lepers in August, Avenue Rose is out to prove that there is something other than experimental noise and screechy grrrl rock coming from their hometown of Olympia. They have a sound similar to The Saints or The Fast Cars but more poppy. They are also playing the “Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival” with The Boys this summer.

Buzzer - Well first ya got Andy from The Cuts/The Time Flys singing the coolest song ever about feeling cool. It just makes ya feel good listening to it. There going for that pub punk sound almost like Eddie and The Hot Rods but AMERICAN! Oakland never fails.

The Girls - Of all the new wave sounding rock bands in Seattle, The Girls hold the crown. You can tell they actually listen to The Cars and Devo. They got an LP on Dirtnap Records with another full length coming out on the same label. You know who these “guys” are!

The Greatest Hits - They opened for The New York Dolls, have toured 3 times, with another 6 week tour coming in fall with The Fishnet Stalkers. Seattle’s only punk/glam band filled with harmony and melody. They have a CD out on Desert Island Discs. They also have 3 EPs coming out on Desert Island Discs and Silly Girl Records before they play the “Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival” in Austin with The Boys!

The Knast - It’s hard to figure out if these guys should be playing shows with The Clash in 1977 or with Supergrass in 1995 but it’s awesome to know they are from Seattle and are playing Candyfest! They have an EP out that’s part of a 4 EP set from Antarctic Records as well as the same songs on comp on Holy Ghost Revival’s label 1965 Records along with Holy Ghost, Emeralds, and Kings English (RIP). They just did a west coast tour and are ready for a festival!

Luxury Sweets - They got 2 self released CD’s out. This will be this Santa Cruz 3rd time up in Seattle. This time they are on a month long US tour. The Luxury Sweets put the sweet in Candyfest and have a sound like the Beach Boys/Jan & Dean meets the most catchy of the powerpop bands old and new, especially if ya like Exploding Hearts! They have a split EP with The Greatest Hits coming out on Desert Island Discs and are playing the Wild Weekend Powerpop Festival in Austin with The Boys!

Thee Makeout Party - Most people’s favorite candy tends to be bubblegum so what would Candyfest be without Thee Makeout Party from Anaheim, CA (home of Disneyland). These guys are on tour with Audacity and would make Kasenetz Katz and The Flying Orchestral Circus proud with their super-catchy light poppy bubblegum rockers. They got lots of releases on their own Burger Records and a full length coming out on Recess Records.

The Pranks - Erik Foster teams up with his brother Evan Foster from The Boss Martians and the result is Seattle’s #1 pop-punk/powerpop group, The Pranks. These guys have an full length of very catchy melodic songs called “Modern Communication” coming out on Germany’s Screaming Apple Records.

Pretty Vanilla - If Marc Bolan wrote songs for Big Star back in 1955, the result would Vancouver B.C.’s Pretty Vanilla. These guys call themselves “The Gay Ramones” but their gonna get nothing but girls with their heartfelt poppy and catchy songs. There is even a little brit-pop influence (the good stuff; not The Smiths).

Razrez - It’s been a while since Razrez played live. They’ve been going through lineup changes and working on recording new material. They have a very glam/early 70s rock sound a little like Alice Cooper, especially on their new material. They have a new album coming out this summer, but wait it’s already summer! Where is the album???

Sgt Major III - This all-star band features Kurt Bloch of The Fastbacks, Mike Musburger of The Posies, Jim Sangster of The Tripwires/Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Coury of the Visqueen. You can guess what the music sounds like…Yes, poppy, varied-speeds, harmonies, and melody galore. Just a fun band to pogo to…

The Spurts - This band has two members of the Luxury Sweets and yes, they are from Santa Cruz but guess what? They sound like they could be from NYC CBGB era 1976. If this band took a time machine to 1974, people would say that Richard Hell was a phony. But you also hear the elements of the newer rock of bands like The Libertines going on. Plus, they have an EP coming on Desert Island Discs so you know they are the level…

The Model Rockets Reunion Show on SyncLive

2008-07-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

All of you Model Rockets fanatics who couldn't make it to the reunion show on the 4th are in luck; SyncLive recorded it. It was an amazing show and this doesn’t really do it justice but still I think you’ll enjoy this.

Watch this show and more at SyncLive.com

Recommended shows for the week of 7/6/08

2008-07-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday the 10th:
Derby at Jules Mae Saloon

Friday the 11th:
Tullycraft at Easy Street Records (West Seattle)

Saturday the 12th:
Candy Fest with The Greatest Hits/Avenue Rose/The Pranks/The Knast/Thee Makeout Party/The Girls at The Comet and King Cobra

Boat/Tullycraft/Fishboy at The Sunset

Andy Werth Interview

2008-07-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

Andy Werth and his band play buoyant, upbeat piano and horn driven pop. You’ve got two chances to see them perform this weekend – 1:30 PM Friday at Legion Park in Everett at the Everett Fourth of July Festival and Saturday night at The Tractor Tavern with Gary Reynolds and Dept. of Energy opening.

Seattle Powerpop Blog: What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Were you brought up in a musical household?

Andy Werth: My dad was a great trumpet and sax player growing up in the New York jazz scene, but had hung it up by the time I came along. We always had a piano, but not much music was made in the house. I never turned on the radio, and didn’t listen to my first record until I was in seventh grade. That’s when I found my dad’s trumpet in a closet, started playing it (badly), and dug through his jazz collection to see what it should sound like. He wasn’t much for giving lessons, but those records helped a lot, and eventually I found a really good teacher. All I listened to was jazz until I was 16, when I heard Jerry Lee Lewis for the first time and immediately dusted off the piano and started figuring that out. When I was about 17, an ex-hippie teacher lent me an old vinyl copy of Rubber Soul after I told her that 60’s music “was crap” (actual quote). That record changed a lot of things. I permanently borrowed a friend’s guitar and a chord sheet and started singing. So I slowly turned it into a musical household, though I’m not sure how the rest of the house felt about that.

SPB: So you taught yourself piano and guitar? Do you read and write musical notation or do you play by ear?

AW: We had an old beat-up piano, and when I was in elementary school I started playing songs that I’d hear coming out of cars or through church doors or that my parents would hum. Unfortunately, this led my parents to enroll me in piano lessons. I was difficult to teach, so my teacher and I usually wound up talking about her many, many cats. I never learned how to sight-read piano music, though I did learn that Manx cats have no tail. My parents let me quit about a year later when I agreed to take swimming lessons instead. Those lessons scared me off of piano enough that I didn’t mess with it again until I heard “Whole Lotta Shakin.” Luckily I know a lot of theory and have a pretty good ear, so I can usually listen to a song and figure out what’s going on. I have to notate music for a variety of instruments, so I’m a good note writer but a bad reader!

SPB: What’s your songwriting process?

AW: For me, there are three stages of songwriting: inspiration, building, and editing. Inspiration comes when I’m sitting at the piano or guitar, or playing a bass line, or screwing with a drum track, and something catches. I record the idea and put it in a folder with hundreds of other ideas.

Later, I troll through my folder of ideas and pick the most promising one to build on. Once I’ve built the song, I rehearse it with the band and then play it on stage. Playing for an audience makes an uninspired melody, a dead spot, or a bridge that destroys momentum very apparent. Sometimes I can work out the problems, but this is often where a song dies. It’s really important to feel good about killing a song that doesn’t work. The day my mind says “good enough” rather than throw away a song, it’s time to stop writing songs for public consumption.

If a song survives a few stage performances, I start editing it for a record. That’s the most fun part for me. I try to get inside a song and figure out how to shape it so that it hits people the way I want it to. I fill up a notebook for each song with production ideas, and I’ll use that in the studio. I just opened the notebook for the song I’ll work on tonight, and the latest entry says, “Bright, choppy piano chords on chorus like ‘Star’ on Ziggy Stardust.” The entry before that says, “Harmon mute trumpet/drum combo for intro like Dizzy Gillespie on ‘Lorraine’ live.” So I’ll go into the studio with these scratch tracks and notebooks and work with the engineer to get the sound I want. For me, writing and recording are part of the same process.

SPB: How do you work out the arrangements?

AW: After I lock the traditional instruments down I try to arrange other instruments so they enhance the song rather than muddy it up, which is the goal of any arranger. I grew up listening to great arrangers like Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and George Martin, and I’ll pull out “Martha My Dear” or Miles Ahead to remember how it’s done. I’ll often go through a dozen arrangements before I find one that starts to work. For the record I’m working on now, I’m arranging for a lot of instruments that I can’t play, which is new for me and kind of weird.

SPB: What are you working on now?

AW: After our show on Saturday, we’ll be taking a break from shows until late August to work on the recording. It’ll be our first full-length (I’ve put out two EPs), and I’ll be using traditional rock instruments, orchestral instruments (played by humans, not machines), ambient sounds and just a bit of electronica.

SPB: What shows do you have coming up?

AW: We’re playing a two-hour show for Everett’s Fourth of July festival, and then the next day (Saturday) we’re headlining the Tractor Tavern in Ballard, and then we take a break until the Lake Union Festival in late August--we’ll be playing at the end of the night with Harvey Danger, and I think the Blakes might be playing that one with us. Then we’ll probably go missing again until our CD release sometime in October.

Doll Test/Tripwires/Model Rockets @ Tractor

2008-07-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is big. This is the equivalent of Son Volt and Wilco opening for an Uncle Tupelo reunion show – no wait, maybe it’s more like The Plastic Ono Band and Wings opening for The Beatles. Would you believe Humble Pie and The Faces opening for a Small Faces reunion? Anyway you get the picture. This is gonna be great.

Recommended shows for the week of 6/29/08

2008-06-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 1st:
Telekinesis at El Corazon

Thursday the 3rd:
Mexican UFO at Blue Moon

Friday the 4th:
Model Rockets/Tripwires/Doll Test at Tractor Tavern

Andy Werth at Legion Park Everett (1:30 PM)

Saturday the 5th:
Andy Werth/Gary Reynolds/Dept. of Energy at Tractor Tavern

Shake Some Action! Go Digital

2008-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Shake Some Action! have single handedly come up with what is hands down the best music video I’ve seen in ages. What makes it so great? Notice the dexterous guitar fingering for one. And how about those incredible digital effects seamlessly blended with live concert footage. And the performances, well how many performances of this caliper do you ever see? I could count them on the fingers of one hand. These guys really do remind me of Badfinger. Check it out.

Candy Fest 2008

2008-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, this is gonna be sweet:

Hey everybody! Get ready because CANDYFEST is coming up quick! What is CANDYFEST? It's going to be a one day festival taking place at two venues; King Cobra and The Comet Tavern. It will cost $12 and includes 14 of the west coast’s best bands from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles. It's punk rock, powerpop, glam rock, and rock ‘n’ roll.

You can buy your tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com

It starts at 4 PM and is going to go until 2 AM!!!

Tim Rogers at The Sunset 8/8/08

2008-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

I’m pretty excited about this show:

The Sunset is extremely pleased to welcome Tim Rogers of the legendary Australian rock band, You Am I. Also joining Tim on the bill is Thee Sgt Major III and The Small Change.

Aren't we lucky!!! Here are the details:

Friday August 8th
Tim Rogers (You Am I)
Thee Sgt Major III
The Small Change
@ The Sunset
$10 tickets / buy advance tickets here
Doors at 8pm / Show starts at 10pm

Here's Tim Rogers preforming "Heavy Heart" from You Am I's fine album #4 Record.

Lund Bros./Small Change/Tripwires Live Review

2008-06-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Photo by Gwon Chang

A great bar at the center of the universe (Fremont) on a warm Friday night, outstanding performances by three of SPB’s fav bands - it was the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of summer.

The Lund Brothers remind me of Cheap Trick, Material Issue, Redd Kross – they play classic power pop with plenty of power, tight harmonies and catchy melodies. According to their bio, brothers Chris and Sean Lund have a rapport similar to that of Ray and Dave Davies or Liam and Noel Gallagher. There wasn’t any sign of sibling animosity at the High Dive last Friday night but there was plenty of evidence that musical talent runs in the Lund family.

Chris plays guitar, masterfully combining power chords and rhythm riffs with shredding leads. Sean’s a propulsive, hard-hitting drummer. They both sing, trading off lead vocals and singing close harmonies together. Bassist Gwon Chang holds down the low end with plenty of skill and energy and adds backing vocals and a third harmony whenever one is required. This is one power-trio with the skills and know-how to really fill the sonic spectrum. They played a great set of original, well-crafted songs, ending with an impressive cover of Badfinger’s “No Matter What.”

As the rest of the band looked on, lead singer Greg Collinsworth made a dedication to a friend and sang a rough but poignant cover of “Days” the lovely Kinks’ classic. Scott 5 (Doll Test) jumped up on stage after the first verse to lend harmony vocals and moral support. After that very moving opening Greg announced that it was time to rock as The Small Change launched into an inspired set of soulful, high energy, mod, power pop – think Elvis Costello & The Attractions mixing it up with The Small Faces, Fender guitars and Hammond organ the weapons of choice.

After a bunch of great Collinsworth originals, Kurt Bloch (Thee Sgt. Major III) was invited on stage to join the band for an incredible cover of one of the best power pop songs of all time, The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright.” As soon as they'd finished Bloch started strumming the opening chords of “The Seeker” and the band quickly fell in for another rousing Who cover. To top it all off Greg handed his guitar to Scott 5 and The Small Change proceeded to tear up The Faces’ “Stay With Me,” Collinsworth singing his heart out while 5 and lead guitarist Ryan Maxwell traded off fiery guitar licks.

The Small Change is a tough act to follow but The Tripwires where more than up to the challenge. The Tripwires have such a unique sound that it’s hard to compare them to anyone else. If pressed I’d say they mix twangy roots rock and power pop with a quirky but subtle sense of humor similar to Rockpile and NRBQ. John Ramberg is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. He’s an exceptional talent as are his band mates Jim Sangster on bass, Johnny Sangster on guitar and backing vocals and Mark Pickerel on drums. I’ve seen them perform several times now and they never cease to amaze me.

While always sounding idiosyncratic The Tripwires cover a lot of stylistic territory from the infectious Merseybeat sound of “Zigzag” to the roots rock choogle of “Monument,” to the swaying, anthemic ballad “Big Electric Light.” They’ve also got a ragtime, a twist and a new song with a pronounced disco feel – did I mention this is a great dance band? I’d say at least half the audience was dancing their entire set, Ramberg encouraging us to divide into Jets and Sharks, to do the twist, to do the Grizzly Bear and finally to take a Beatle bow.

While Ramberg’s songs are uniformly great The Tripwires also have a knack for finding obscure but terrific covers and making them their own. Last Friday they played Graham Parker’s (via Dave Edmunds) “Crawling from the Wreckage,” Los Shakers’ “Break It All” (Side note: If you don’t already own Rhino’s Nuggets II Boxed Set you should seriously think about buying it.), “She’s A Mod” by Ray Columbus and The Invaders and The Hi-Risers’ “One Note Joe.”

Great music, great fun and summer is here at last Seattle.

Shake Some Action! Interview

2008-06-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Seattle Powerpop Blog (SPB): Congratulations on the release of your stellar new album Sunny Days Ahead. I think it’s got a great sound that combines the polish of your first album Shake Some Action! with the excitement and directness of your live album Live at the Crocodile. Are you happy with the way it turned out?

James Hall (JH): Thanks Andy. Overall I'm very happy with it. I think your description is about right – it was a combination of playing live (the backing tracks) with the polish added in the overdub sessions that followed.

Gary Miller (GM): I’m very happy with the results. I know some folks have been surprised with the harder edge that comes with some of the tracks. But, I think it’s a good balance and it was a very satisfying process to go through to get the end results!

SPB: James you did a great job producing and engineering the album. Was recording the rhythm tracks with Rob Sharp at Playroom Studio key to getting the sound you wanted?

JH: Thanks Andy! It was – Rob is such an easy guy to work with and we all knew him to varying degrees, so we knew he understood what would work best for the songs. He has an amazing collection of vintage analog gear – great preamps and mics and some rare Vox and Selmer amps that we put to good use. We wanted a warm analog feel for the drums and bass in particular, with just the right amount of grit - and Rob knows how to dial in the right amount of grit.

SPB: I love the use of keyboards and percussion on this album. Did you guys experiment overdubbing various instruments after you had the basic tracks recorded?

JH: We spent about 2 months overdubbing and yeah, we experimented a lot. Chris did most of the percussion – the tambourines and shakers and the like – and we used percussion on almost every song. Gary and I spent a lot of time trying various keyboard overdubs – we had a pretty clear idea that we didn’t want it to just sound exactly like the live band, we wanted to spice it up a bit. There’s a lot of Hammond B3 organ, some Mellotron and Farfisa, some piano and Gary played lap steel on “Curtain Call.” It’s easy to go overboard with that stuff but I think we got the balance about right.

SPB: The songs on Sunny Days Ahead are credited to Shake Some Action! on the CD insert, how much of a group effort was this record? What was the songwriting process like?

JH: It was very much a group effort from the very beginning. Gary and I talked about co-writing early last year and we found we worked really well together – once we started a lot of new material just came out of nowhere. We had a lot of fun coming in with ideas, recording demos in my studio, then taking away unfinished songs and returning a week later with lyrics and melodies. Those first few songs ended up in our live set at the end of last year – “Walking Away,” “Looking For Someone” and “Unusual Girl.” Then Chris started coming in with songs (he wrote a lot of “You Don’t Care”) and would help co-write on others. Once we had chords and lyrics we would learn the songs as a band and that was where David would come in and add the icing on the cake with his guitar work. So the writing process was very collaborative from beginning to end.

SPB: Several of the songs seem to be about disintegrating relationships. Was there a catalyst?

JH: Not really. That’s the stuff that always fascinates me regardless of whether it’s happening to me or not. Some friends of mine were going through a nasty divorce last year and that inspired some lyrics on a few songs but only in a general sense.

GM: I’ve always written lyrics that have some type of loss or longing in them. For some reason, that’s always been a draw for me both as a writer and a listener. So, as one who is happily married, it requires putting yourself in another space or frame of mind sometimes. But, really, that kind of stuff is universal and you can draw on past experiences, or even things that evoke the same feeling but are in completely different parts of life. Truth be known, while I was writing the lyrics to “Your Valentine,” my dog was very sick and almost died. I’m sure that imbued some sadness in those lyrics.

SPB: I think David’s a great guitar player but I understand that he was busy with his newborn baby (congratulations) during much of the recording and that Gary actually played some of the guitar solos on Sunny Days Ahead. I really love the solo on “Half Past Three” - the way the tension quickly builds over the bridge erupting in a quick burst of violence and then when it starts back into the verse it sounds so joyful like a little victory dance and finally over the chorus almost gloating – nah nah nah nah, nah nah, nah nah nah…Great stuff and it fits so perfectly with the story the lyrics tell. I’m curious Gary, was all that thought out or was it just intuitive?

GM: You know, it’s funny you should ask that, because that is the one song that I hadn’t analyzed the lyrics for at all. In truth, it hadn’t really even struck me what that song was about until you wrote about it on SPB. I should probably hang my head in shame for that, I’m sure. But, the song’s story wasn’t obvious to me until you wrote about it. I suppose I’m thick headed or something! I guess that’s a long way of answering that it was total intuition and luck that allows the guitar solo to match the storyline of the song. I was just writing to the music, rather than the lyrics.

SPB: “Who Do You Love?” has a scorching solo played by Ryan Maxwell of Young Sportsmen. How did you happen to work with Ryan on that track?

GM: Well, this song almost didn’t make it onto the record. Even though it’s a total rocker, I don’t think James has ever really been in love with the tune. So, we were working on this one late in the game, during the time where David and Dana were getting closer to having their baby. I didn’t feel like I could really pull off a solo to match the vibe of the tune. So, I asked James if he wanted to go “outside the circle.” I called up Ryan, and he literally said “have guitar, will travel.” So, he came over and just blasted through it.

SPB: What kind of distribution deal do you have for Sunny Days Ahead and where can people buy a copy?

JH: People can buy a copy at any of the major online stores – iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody, CD Baby etc etc – and our distribution stretches across the world so even if it isn’t on the shelves, it can be ordered from practically any record store on the planet.

SPB: You guys haven’t played any shows since last September. Gary moved to North Carolina earlier this year. I’m getting a little worried. Gary’s driving rock-solid bass playing and spot-on high harmony vocals are an integral part of Shake Some Action’s sound. Are you going to try to function as a bi-costal band or are you looking for a replacement for Gary?

JH: We still haven’t worked that one out. We had planned on taking a little break after finishing the record anyway – so with Gary gone that’s just been extended. We’re still in that mindset of having a rest from the band and seeing what happens. As you mentioned, Gary is an exceptional bass player and vocalist. It would be tough to find someone who could do either of those things as well as him, let alone wrapped up in the one person. We had such a great chemistry as a band – everyone was easy going and low maintenance, there was never any drama – that replacing any member of the band would diminish it for me. We’ve talked about collaborating long-distance and as far as recording goes that’s perfectly do-able. We’re just not sure about playing live – we haven’t ruled anything in or out, we’ll just wait and see where the dust settles.

GM: I really hope to see the long-distance collaboration come into being. I think that’d be interesting and fun, especially since I think James and I write well together. But, as he says, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens after this record runs its course.

SPB: Gary you like to classify Seattle bands in what you call affinity groups, so what bands are in Shake Some Action’s affinity group?

GM: That’s a very good question. I may be too close to the forest to see any particular trees here. I think we might straddle a few. I think we always felt comfortable surrounded by the Unsmashable guys. But, at the same time, some of our best shows I think were with The Purrs. We’re not nearly as psychedelic as those guys. But, I think both bands have a slightly dark undercurrent.

SPB: Every review or article I’ve ever read about Shake Some Action! mentions that you play Rickenbacker guitars. Have you ever thought about trying to secure an endorsement deal?

JH: Dreamed about it would be more accurate! If John Hall is reading this, we’d love a 12 string 360.

GM: And if you could toss a 4003 in the box, that’d be awesome. Ha ha.

SPB: I have a theory that bands that play Rickenbacker guitars are somewhat enamored with the music of the mid-sixties Beatles, Byrds and Who, hope to emulate that sound in some way and will therefore most likely make pretty good music themselves. What do you think of my theory?

JH: I think that’s true to a large extent, although a lot of bands can take the emulation too far - the trick is to incorporate other influences to put a fresh spin on the music. After all, those bands eventually got away from that sound themselves so it’s important to evolve.

The Baseball Project

2008-06-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5) recently teamed up with fellow baseball fanatic Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate/Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3) to form The Baseball Project along with Peter Buck (Minus 5/R.E.M.) on bass and Linda Pitmon (Miracle 3) on drums. They’ve got a pretty great album called Volume One: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails coming out July 8th on the fabulous Yep Roc Records. 13 hits, every single one of ‘em about baseball. You can read all about it and stream the whole record over at Yep Roc.

The Baseball Project played the Late Show with David Letterman last Friday night. Don’t feel bad if you missed it, I did too but fortunately some kind, technologically savvy fan posted it to YouTube - so here you go.

Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville

2008-06-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

15 years ago Liz Phair released Exile in Guyville, her song for song answer to The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. 6 years ago the awesome web site Three Imaginary Girls launched. Celebrate both anniversaries at the Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville bash Wednesday night at Chop Suey.

Here are the details TIG provided:

The night will features the songs from Liz Phair's debut record "Exile in Guyville" as interpreted by some of the best up-and-coming bands in the Northwest, including Throw Me the Statue, Team Gina, Star Anna, Tennis Pro, Lucy Bland, M. Bison, Tea Cozies, as well as special performances by Rachel Flotard of Visqueen and Lesli Wood of Ms. Led. The bands will perform the record in order, from "6'1"" to "Strange Loop" and everything in-between.

The night marks the 15th anniversary re-release of the record, as well as the sixth birthday of Three Imaginary Girls, and is co- sponsored by Easy Street Records, Seattle Sound Magazine, and 90.3 KEXP.

Poster by Seattle Show Posters

Recommended shows for the week of 6/22/08

2008-06-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 22nd:
Mexican UFO/Dateless at Funhouse

Monday the 23rd:
The Pranks at Funhouse

Tuesday the 24th:
The Blakes/The Broken West at Neumo's

Wednesday the 25th:
TIG Presents "Exile In {Imaginary} Girlville" with Throw Me The Statue/Team Gina/Star Anna/Tennis Pro/Lucy Bland/M. Bison/Tea Cozies/Rachel Flotard/Lesli Wood at Chop Suey

Thursday the 26th:
Andy Werth at Everett Waterfront Concert Series

The Bug Nasties/Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid/The Fuzz at Skylark

Friday the 27th:
Young Sportsmen at The Tractor Tavern

The Cute Lepers/Speaker Speaker/The Pranks at El Corazon

Saturday the 28th:
The Dimes/Slender Means at The Sunset Tavern

The Turn-Ons at The Comet

Tea Cozies at High Dive

SPB 2nd Anniversary

2008-06-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

We’ve reached an important milestone here at Seattle Powerpop Blog: our Second Anniversary. To mark the occasion I asked Gary Miller if he would write something pertinent and he obliged me with this very heart felt reflection. Thanks Gary!

What can happen in two years? Let's see. You could earn an associate's degree. You could walk around the earth a couple of times. You could even potentially have two children, like my sister did (I wouldn't recommend it). You could also start a blog with humble intentions, watch it take root, and then pack up and move away a few months before it hits that two year mark!

Given how much fun it was to start, it feels odd that the blog was created and maintained through what was probably the most gut wrenching time in my life. In the same span that SPB has existed, my wife and I lost two pregnancies and that's what motivated our return to the East Coast. That's probably too much information. But, I'm feeling sentimental. Cut me some slack!

Today, however, I find myself missing Seattle. Don't get me wrong, I love being in North Carolina. I can see my family anytime I want to. I can drive to Atlanta or take a quick flight to Florida and in no time have a niece and nephew on each knee. That's a reward all it's own.

But, on random Friday nights, I long to see Greg Collingsworth, drunk off his ass, singing at the top of his lungs at the Sunset Tavern. On hot, sleepless evenings if I close my eyes tightly, I can just make out The Boss Martians crammed into the corner at the Comet. And when it's quiet in my neighborhood, I swear I can hear the Young Sportsmen practicing.

It's hard to get too worked up over this little blog, of course. I mean it started as a diversion at work on a boring afternoon. It's not like it is a Seattle institution or anything. That said, it certainly has its place and has achieved more than I had ever anticipated. So, I was thrilled that Andy wanted to keep it going after I moved away, and thrilled for the same reason I started it in the first place -- there are bands on the scene who don't get attention corresponding with their talents.

But, it ain't easy. Andy, like me before him, struggles to find time to post -- fitting it around work and life and family and fun. It's hard to post consistently, and you'd be surprised how hard it is to get information from bands sometimes. That said, in two years there have been over 1000 posts, focused on good, quality music, and I'm proud of it!

So, this rambling post isn't a call to arms, nor is it a lament. Through my muddled thoughts, this is meant to be a celebration of effort. You know, it's easier not to blog than to blog. But, we do it anyway. It's easier to not write great songs. But, the bands do it anyway. Heck it's probably easier to not read this blog than to read it! But, some of you do it anyway. So, yes, this is a celebration of effort. Thanks to the bands first and foremost for doing what they do. Thanks to Andy for keeping this blog going. And thanks for whoever is out there reading. Happy second birthday, SPB!

Three Great Bands @ High Dive Friday

2008-06-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, three of Seattle's best power pop bands on one great bill. OK technically the Lund Brothers are from Tacoma but never the less this should be a great show so don’t miss it.

Here's the Lund Bros. preforming "New Horizons" to a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Shake Some Action! – Sunny Days Ahead

2008-06-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

While Shake Some Action’s self-titled debut was essentially a James Hall solo record – written, performed and recorded by the talented frontman at his home studio – their terrific new album Sunny Days Ahead was a total group effort that sounds more direct and immediate than its predecessor and nicely captures the energy and excitement that Shake Some Action generate live. The thirteen concise, punchy songs on Sunny Days Ahead rush by fairly breathlessly from one great track to the next, each showcasing the considerable talents and pop-craft of this fine Seattle band.

With an insistent guitar riff and driving beat opening track “Get It Together” is (ironically considering the album’s title) a prophetic admonition to “Look out for stormy weather/Come on and get it together,” and it sets the tone for what follows: an album of infectious, melodic power pop imbued with the snarl and indignation of punk, taking on fakes, haters, bullies and cheats.

The album’s basic rhythm tracks were recorded in a single weekend, many in just one take and there’s an air of spontaneity and looseness here but the songs are all expertly constructed and practically overflowing with ideas. “Looking For Someone” for instance, has a catchy intro riff, verses driven by syncopated bass and rhythm guitar parts that recall the Beatles’ “Taxman,” crunchy power chords that lead into the chorus where organ and wordless background vocals create gorgeous, shimmering overtones and harmony vocals send a chill of pleasure down your spine - all this before they even reach the bridge.

“You Don’t Care” is a scathing rebuke of rampant greed and consumerism propelled by another unstoppable guitar riff (this album is chock-full of them), slashing rhythm guitar and hard-boiling bass and drums. James Hall’s rich, sonorous voice lends an imposing resonance to barbed lines like “Super-size/White-lies/Bloodshot eyes/And nothing satisfies you.” Backing vocals punctuate each verse with the refrain: “You don’t care you need it,” and when the harmony vocals kick in at the chorus: “Too much is not enough,” the song absolutely soars.

With its chiming guitar arpeggios and tambourine “Hurry Up” has that jangle-pop sound that hearkens back to the Byrds and early R.E.M. Other highlights include the exuberant pop punk of “Half Past Three,” “Unusual Girl” with great Farfisa organ and “la la la la” vocal hooks and “Who Do You Love?” the supercharged rocker that brings the album to a rousing finish. All the songs are great though and the CD is only 37 minutes long – you’ll want to set your CD/MP3 player on repeat and listen over and over. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks and I’ve decided that Sunny Days Ahead is a strong contender for SPB album of the year.

Recommended shows for the week of 6/15/08

2008-06-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 15th:
Champagne Champagne/The Greatest Hits/Booze at The Comet

Friday the 20th:
The Tripwires/The Lund Brothers/The Small Change at High Dive

The Girls at Vera Project

Saturday the 21st:
Andy Werth/The Dimes/We Wrote The Book On Connectors at Fremont Fair

Thee Sgt. Major III/ Guns & Rosetti/The Riffbrokers at Slim’s Last Chance

The Cute Lepers – Terminal Boredom

2008-06-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy bands that tread the thin line between punk and power pop (and why wouldn’t you?) then do yourself a favor and check out The Cute Lepers – they’ve got a fun, high-energy, hook heavy sound reminiscent of The Buzzcocks, The Undertones and The Rezillos.

Here’s their awesome new video “Terminal Boredom” produced by the video production team Guerrillamonster.

If you like the song, go download it for free over at www.fuzz.com.

Team Gina - Rock the Like

2008-06-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

I love this new video from Team Gina that Ashley Graham of WigPR sent to me. Team Gina aren’t what I’d call “power pop” but they are from Seattle (notice all the Seattle landmarks prominently featured in the video) and they are a lot of fun and they are pretty poppy and pretty powerful too.

Here’s Ashley’s note:
As anticipation builds for the release of TEAM GINA's debut full-length album on Don't Stop Believin' Records, Products of the '80s, we've got braaaaand new amazingness for you in the form of their video for the album's single "Rock the Like"!

TEAM GINA will be releasing Products of the '80s on Tuesday, June 17 at the War Room at 9pm with guests from Portland, Alphabetix!

Tullycraft East Coast Tour

2008-06-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Tullycraft is playing a handful of East Coast dates in June.

June 11th - Winooski, VT at The Monkey House w/ The Smittens

June 12th - Boston at PA's w/ Pant's Yell! & The Smittens

June 13th - NYC at Pianos w/ Pants Yell!, The Besties & From Bubblegum To Sky

June 14th - NYC at Cake Shop - all-ages show w/ The Cannanes (starts 1:30PM)

June 14th - Philadelphia at The Barbary w/ Scary Monster & Surefire Broadcast

June 15th - Washington, D.C. at Red and Black Bar w/ Sprites & From Bubblegum To Sky

Recommended shows for the week of 6/8/08

2008-06-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 8th:
Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid/Hart & the Hurricane
at The Comet

Wednesday the 11th:
Tea Cozies at The Vera Project

Thursday the 12th:
Tripwires/The Knast/The Shy Ones at The Comet

Curtains For You/Peter Parker/Transmissionary Six/Open Choir Fire for 2008’s Noise For The Needy Festival at The Sunset Tavern

Friday the 13th:
Dept. of Energy/Young Sportsmen at Sunset

Slender Means at Georgetown Music Festival

Saturday the 7th:
The Lashes at Georgetown Music Festival

Stuporhero at Dearborn on Woodland

Studio 66

2008-06-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

The Sinister Six

The Small Change

Recommended shows for the week of 6/1/08

2008-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 1st:
Elba/The Quit/Another Perfect Crime at The Sunset Tavern

Tuesday the 3rd:
Lushy/The Bug Nasties at Nectar

Wednesday the 4th:
The Color Bars/Mouseheart Factor at High Dive

Andy Werth/The Capillaries at The Sunset

Thursday the 5th:
Friday Mile/Two Sheds/The Dimes at Nectar

Friday the 6th:
The Submarines/Bad Dream Good Breakfast/The Color Bars at Chop Suey

Half Light/The Purrs/Jones Family Fortune/Delusions at The Comet

Thee Sgt Major/Head/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse

Saturday the 7th:
Brent Amaker & The Radio/Mass Sugar/The Riffbrokers at Skylark

The Sinister Six/The Small Change/DJ Chrispo/DJ Gort/DJ Vodka Twist/Tangerine Tonic at Lo-Fi Gallery

Video from The Posies 20th Anniversary Show

2008-05-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Michelle Auer shot these videos of The Posies 20th Anniversary Show at Neumos on the 17th.

Dear John Letters - "Malkamus"

The Posies - "Definite Door"

Recommended shows for the week of 5/25/08

2008-05-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 27th:
The Color Bars at ToST

Wednesday the 28th:
TIG Presents: The Long Blondes/17th Chapter/Ms Led at Neumo's

Thursday the 29th:
The Color Bars/The Birthdays/The Little Penguins/The Webelos at The Sunset Tavern

Friday the 30th:
Black Eyes & Neckties/Das Llamas/The Fucking Eagles/the Hacks at The Funhouse

Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival

2008-05-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Those of you who plan your wild weekends in advance should note that the first annual Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival takes place Friday, August 29th and Saturday, August 30th at Emo’s in Austin, Texas. Looks like a great bill with an excellent mix of legendary power pop bands like 20/20, The Boys, Paul Collins’ Beat, The Pointed Sticks and a bunch of fresh young bands that are keeping power pop alive and kicking.

The Pacific Northwest will be well represented by Pointed Sticks and The Tranzmitors from Vancouver, The Boss Martians, The Cute Lepers and The Greatest Hits from Seattle, Olympia’s Avenue Rose and Clorox Girls from Portland.

Check out this nice homage to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and George A. Romero from Clorox Girls.

And here’s some live footage of The Tranzmitors performing "Plastic Genocide."

Holy Ghost Revival/Greatest Hits @ King Cobra

2008-05-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Here’s some info on the show tomorrow courtesy of Nils Forever of The Greatest Hits:

HOLY GHOST REVIVAL LAST SHOW IN SEATTLE FOR 6 MONTHS!!!
FRIDAY MAY 23
@ KING COBRA (NEXT TO THE COMET)

HOLY GHOST REVIVAL
www.myspace.com/holyghostrevival

"ya know who they are. they play folky glam rock along the lines of THE SPARKS and GUNS N ROSES. they are moving in the UK for 6 months...last chance!"

THE GREATEST HITS
www.myspace.com/thegreatesthitsmusic

"these guys opened for THE NEW YORK DOLLS if that should tell you along what lines they are...THE SWEET cuddling with THE BEACH BOYS....they should tour with HANOI ROCKS!"

THE SPURTS (SANTA CRUZ)
www. myspace. com/thespurtsrockroll

"brothers of the Luxury Sweets (with 2 members) sounding like a cross of that and Richard Hell (love comes in....!)"

THE ROT AWAYS
www.myspace.com/therotaways

"from New Hamphshire to Denver to now Seattle and soon Portland, poppy ass 77 punk rock with snarl and energy"

$7
9PM SHARP

Recommended shows for the week of 5/18/08

2008-05-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 18th:
A Mod Garage Dance Party with The Black Hollies/The Bug Nasties/Autolite Strike and DJ Gort and Casserole at The Comet

The Posies at The Wild Buffalo (Bellingham)

Friday the 23rd:
Boat/Young Sportsmen/Mighty Giant/The Prawns at Kirkland Teen Union Building

Holy Ghost Revival/The Greatest Hits/The Spurts/Ben Funkhouser at King Cobra

The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows @ Neumos

2008-05-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

The Posies, one of the all-time great Seattle power pop bands, are celebrating their 20th Anniversary with two shows this Saturday night at Neumos. Here’s a note from Jon Auer explaining what’s happening:

The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows @ Neumos (full band!) 2nd Show added! The first show is sold out.

If you have tickets and you want to see DJL and Preston the bands start at 7:30 sharp doors are at 7PM!

They just added a second show and tickets are selling fast! Doors for show #2 on the same evening are at 11:10. No openers.

See you there!

The Posies are incredible musicians, great songwriters, they sing the most amazing harmonies, they’re pretty damned funny and quite entertaining too. The last time I saw The Posies, Ken Stringfellow ended up stripping to his briefs while Jon tossed his guitar into the audience – they also played a ton of great songs.

The Posies - Conversations

Roy Loney at The Sunset Tavern this Friday

2008-05-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

When it comes to rock & roll, Roy Loney is the real deal. He’s wild, impossibly cool and maybe a little dangerous (watching him perform you get the feeling he could come unhinged at any moment) but he’s smart, articulate and has a razor sharp wit too.

Loney first came to fame in the late ‘60s as the frontman of the fabulous Flamin’ Groovies with whom he recorded two absolutely essential albums: Flamingo and Teenage Head. He started a solo career in the ‘70s, had a few inevitable ups and downs but always made consistently strong records. For over a decade now he’s been working with The Longshots whose members include Seattle pop/rock luminaries Jim Sangster, Johnny Sangster, (The Tripwires) Graham Black, Scott Sutherland, (The Doll Test) and Joey Kline (The Plaintiffs). His latest album with The Longshots, Shake It or Leave It was one of the very best albums of 2007.

Expect a fun, raw, exciting, 100% committed performance from Loney and his band and an explosive blend of rockabilly, British Beat and garage-punk. Hopefully we’ll get to hear a lot of songs off of Shake It or Leave It and I’m sure Loney will sing a bunch of his great Groovies classics like “Road House,” “Slow Death,” “Second Cousin” and the unsurpassable “Teenage Head.” This is going to be a great show.

Get there early because the opening acts are pretty amazing in their own right. Tacoma’s The Fucking Eagles carry on that loud, raw R&B/garage sound in the tradition of T-Town greats The Sonics and Girl Trouble and like Roy Loney they give each performance everything they’ve got. The Tripwires, one of Seattle’s premier power pop bands, always put on a great show too. Their album Makes You Look Around was another of 2007's best.

Q: A Gun-Shaped Knife

2008-05-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

A: Bright orange camouflage.

Young Sportsmen - If You Want It

2008-05-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

An excellent record from Young Sportsmen, brimming with sharp songwriting, well-crafted arrangements and inspired performances, all superbly captured by producer Johnny Sangster. Like its predecessor, this is immediately appealing power pop with all the requisite energy, volume, hooks, harmonies and melodies the term implies but If You Want It also introduces an angular, highly rhythmic component to Young Sportsmen’s sound that was only hinted at on Death to Palaces and like sweet and tart it’s a great combination. This is power pop with an edge and plenty of substance, one of those rare albums that sounds great the first time you play it and only sounds better with each subsequent listen as you begin to absorb its various textures and ideas.

Wesley Nelson’s oblique, evocative lyrics leave plenty of room for interpretation but he seems to have a knack for turning out weighty lines that concisely express the tenor of our times, however bleak. On “Tomorrow Disappears” the centerpiece of the album, Nelson sings in his expressive, clarion voice “Everything we have today is resting on the shoulders of a maybe” and anyone other than an eternal optimist will reflect and agree. In “Sesame Street Fightin’ Man,” a song that cleverly incorporates the riff from the “Sesame Street Theme” and makes it sound driving and urgent, he sings, “Good-luck no longer means a thing/In this town you’re on your own” and in “Hey Gasoline” the refrain: “It’s true that the fools keep us choking on gasoline” makes an indelible impression. Pretty pessimistic stuff but not entirely devoid of hope, in “The Deadenders” Nelson looks forward to better days “Where truth is evident/And the worker gets a better wage” and its swelling, anthemic chorus “And on this day deadenders win” is as stirring as any Woody Guthrie ever penned. On the final track “Long Way Down” he only just admits the possibility of salvation: “You can throw me a line/But you’ve got to come a long way down” before the song ends with a cathartic extended instrumental coda.

Don’t get the idea that If You Want It is a downer though; it’s anything but. When I crank it through my stereo speakers I feel elated - the songs have so much momentum and lift. Jeff Roeser’s powerhouse drumming is amazing. Richard Davidson’s bass lines alternate between anchoring pulses and buoyant melodic flights. The guitars of Ryan Maxwell and Wesley Nelson riff, ring and buzz with power as their vocals soar over the top. Keyboards and percussion provide addition color and texture. Young Sportsmen’s myriad influences (The Beatles, The Jam, XTC and The Breeders to name a few) are well assimilated giving the band a fresh, distinctive sound. This is simply an outstanding album so go out and get it and go see Young Sportsmen live if you get the chance – they put on an incredible show.

www.myspace.com/youngsportsmen

www.myspace.com/unsmashablerecords

Recommended shows for the week of 5/11/08

2008-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday the 14th:
The Posies at Hell’s Kitchen (Tacoma)

Thursday the 15th:
Thee Sgt. Major III/Young Sportsmen/The Lund Brothers at The Sunset

The Posies at Winterland (Bremerton)

Friday the 16th:
Roy Loney & The Longshots/The Tripwires/The Fucking Eagles at The Sunset

The Posies at Dante’s (Portland)

The Evaporators/TacocaT at The Funhouse

Saturday the 17th:
The Small Change at University District Street Fair (1:00 pm)

The Posies/Dear John Letters at Neumos

Roy Loney & The Longshots/The Tripwires/The Fucking Eagles at Java Jive (Tacoma)

Sugarcane Mutiny at Jules Maes

Young Sportsmen and Friends at The Rendezvous Saturday Night

2008-05-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

The Pranks at Jules Maes

2008-05-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Pranks are playing Jules Maes tomorrow night on a great bill with Thee Sgt. Major III and The Doll Test. Here’s a video of The Pranks doing a cool acoustic version of their song “Your World Falls Down” live on 107.7 The End. That's Erik's brother Evan Foster on rhythm guitar and second vocal - nothing like the sound of two very talented brothers harmonizing together. I don't think Evan will be joining The Pranks tomorrow as his band The Boss Martians are scheduled to play a show at Boondock's Bar & Grill in Sedro-Woolley before they head back out on tour to rock the rest of the Country.

If Georgetown's too far south and Sedro-Wooley's too far north for you, there’s also a good show in Ballard at The Tractor with Shim, Sunday Night Blackout and The Fucking Eagles.

Seattle Powerpop Radio Playlist #9

2008-05-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Playlist number nine, number nine, number nine…

More great power pop from a few of my favorite Seattle bands including a new song from The Young Fresh Fellows taken from a compilation CD called R.E.M. Jukebox that came with last month’s Q magazine. The track will eventually be released on a forthcoming Robyn Hitchcock produced Young Fresh Fellows album. I can definitely hear Mr. Hitchcock’s influence here.

I’m really excited to have a cut from Young Sportsmen’s excellent new album If You Want It. I’ll have a full album review up soon.

The Greatest Hits are aptly named since every song they record sounds like it should be a greatest hit. This is a new one produced by Steve E. Nix and Johnny Sangster.

James Hall sent me this great track from Shake Some Action’s soon to be released second album Sunny Days Ahead. Listen carefully to this song about an after school fight and notice how perfectly Gary Miller’s guitar solo colors in the action and emotion outlined by the lyrics.

The last song here is a classic from The Model Rockets off of their 1996 album Snatch It Back and Hold It. It’s a really great punky power pop song. John Ramberg’s hilarious social observation is right up their with Ray Davies’ and it doesn’t get any better than that.

Here's the playlist:

The Young Fresh Fellows - "Let The Good Times Crawl"
Young Sportsmen - "The Deadenders"
The Greatest Hits - "Electric Blanket Boogie"
Shake Some Action - "Half Past Three"
The Model Rockets - "Cul De Sac"

Recommended shows for the week of 5/4/08

2008-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 4th:
The Cute Lepers w/ The Buzzcocks/Damned/Rezillos at Academy in the UK Festival (Birmingham)

Thursday the 8th:
Ms. Led at The Sunset Tavern

Marty Willson-Piper/The Moon Maidens/The Transmissionary Six at The Tractor Tavern

Friday the 9th:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Pranks/The Doll Test at Jules Maes

Saturday the 10th:
Young Sportsmen/The Small Change/The Riffbrokers/The Lund Brothers/The Doll Test/The I Love Myselves/Rusty Willoughby at The Rendezvous Grotto

Tea Cozies on Tour

2008-05-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Tea Cozies who were recently named Venus Zine’s Band of the Month. There’s a nice article about them up at venuszine.com. They'll be kicking off their West Coast Tour this Saturday in San Francisco. Go check ’em out.

Friday at The High Dive

2008-04-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Dave Dill - Follow the Summer

2008-04-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Another short record review of an artist not from Seattle but like The Goldbergs’ CD that I reviewed a few weeks ago this was just too good to pass-up.

Follow the Summer is talented singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Dave Dill’s gorgeous ode to summer, nature, love and good vibrations. Combining elements from The Beach Boys, Queen, Badfinger and Todd Rundgren, Dill has created a minor-masterpiece of contemporary Sunshine Pop full of lovely melodies, upbeat lyrics, layered instrumentation, and soaring vocal harmonies. Dill has a clear artistic vision and although several of the songs here sound like they could have been ‘70s AM hit singles this breezy, luminous, effervescent album holds together cohesively from beginning to end - the perfect soundtrack to a lazy summer afternoon.

www.davedill.net

Recommended shows for the week of 4/27/08

2008-04-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Only one show on my calendar this week:

John Wicks and The Records at The Comet Tavern

2008-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Seeing your Rock & Roll heroes perform decades after they’ve made the music that first drew you to them can be a risky proposition. Often they’ll have lost that certain essential vibe, soul or sound that once made them so special and you’ll be let down and disappointed but occasionally our heroes come through for us, meeting or exceeding our expectations, leaving us amazed and elated.

I’m happy to report that John Wicks still has it and that John Wicks and The Records delivered in full last Saturday night. John’s wonderful voice, those great harmonies, the killer guitar riffs, incessant hooks, buoyant melodies, the witty engaging lyrics, everything I’d hoped for and then some, because live the band added an additional power and grit sometimes lacking on The Records’ recordings.

They opened with the rocking “All Messed Up And Ready To Go”, which like The Stones’ “Start Me Up” makes for a perfect introductory number, followed by the super catchy “Hearts In Her Eyes” and a couple of great new tunes. I was especially taken with “That Girl Is Emily” (which Wicks dedicated to Syd Barrett) with its compelling lyrics, great guitar riff and highly infectious melody. The classic “Teenarama” from The Records’ debut album was another highlight among many although its comical lyrics about an ill-conceived romance with a teenager come off much more Lolita-like now that Wicks is in his mid-fifties than they did when he originally sang the song nearly 30 years ago.

As I looked around at the audience I noticed many like me nodding their heads to the beat, singing along or simply gawking in awe with wide grins stretched across their faces. The show climaxed with “Starry Eyes” The Records best known song and a prefect piece of timeless power pop.

I should quickly mention the other bands on the bill as all performed excellent sets. I was impressed with The Shy Ones who have a cool sound that’s one part The Beatles, one part The Shangri-Las and two parts The Ramones. This was only their second show but they played a tight and entertaining set. Keep an eye out for them. The Small Change sounded great as always with their infectious “Maximum R&B” style of power pop and Portland’s The Neat played a riff-heavy set of classic jangly power pop.

Seattle Powerpop Radio Returns w/ Playlist 8

2008-04-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wow it's really been a long time since the Seattle Powerpop Radio has been updated, playlist 7 was posted by Gary last September, but I've finally figured out how it’s done and I think this new playlist 8 is an especially good one. New songs from three of my favorite Seattle bands, a new song from up and coming Seattle band The Shy Ones and a cool Big Star cover recorded a couple of years ago by the very talented Braden Blake.

The Eighth installment of Seattle Powerpop Radio includes the following tracks:

The Riffbrokers - "Evaporate"
The Shy Ones - "All I Ever"
Doll Test - "The Decider"
Shake Some Action - "Looking For Someone"
Braden Blake - "The Ballad of El Goodo"

Just click the play button on the red widget over to the right and enjoy.

Recommended shows for the week of 4/20/08

2008-04-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Monday the 21st:
Mexican UFO at The ReBar

Wednesday the 23nd:
The Color Bars at The Tractor

Thursday the 24th:
The Greatest Hits at The Funhouse

Friday the 25th:
The Minus 5/The Dimes at The Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)

Saturday the 26th:
Danielli at The Skylark

The Heavy Hearts/The Cute Lepers at High Dive

John Wicks Interview (Part 2)

2008-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

SPB: Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses is a great compilation of the best of the three albums The Records cut with Virgin Records, and I think it's the perfect starting point for someone wanting to check out your music. Were you involved in selecting and sequencing the tracks? Whoever was did a wonderful job.

JW: Thanks. I would agree that it is a pretty darn good compilation, and certainly a good starting point for anyone wishing to get to know the essence of the band. I wasn't personally involved in assisting with song selection or sequencing. But again, I agree that it was very well put together. I especially like the original 1988 U.K. release. It featured a comprehensive and informative booklet, with a photographic history of the band, which I thought was very cool, unlike the later U.S. version, which was, I presume - for reasons of economy - scaled down to a scant two-pager. I guess that's progress for you.

SPB: Last year you released Rotate, which I understand is an anthology of tracks recorded over the past several years by your new band John Wicks and The Records. I don’t have the CD yet, but I love the tracks from it that you’ve posted on your MySpace page. Did you write the lyrics as well as the music for these songs? Did you have a hand in producing the record?

JW: Oh Yeah! Sorry you don't have a copy yet. I will take care of that when we come up to Seattle next week. In the meantime I'm pleased you were able to take a listen to some of the tunes on MySpace. Now that IS progress! LOL!! In actual fact: It's been a long, strange journey that led this former Record to Rotate. Returning to the States back in the early to mid nineties, my plan was to form a new band, play shows, record new material and get it released. However, without the necessary financial support from a major label, recording songs for the proposed new CD proved somewhat problematic to say the least! So basically I laid down tracks, wherever and whenever, with whoever was in the band at any given time! LOL! But there were just so many roadblocks along the way, and by the late nineties I had begun to think that it was an impossible task. For example, the studio back East, at which I had recorded “That Girl Is Emily”, “So Close to Home” and “Edges of a Dream” and where I planned to complete the rest of the album, was suddenly, for reasons I won't go into (suffice to say nothing to do with me or my then bandmates!) dramatically seized by the F.B.I. Then there were the L.A. sessions, which were aborted after the initial backing tracks were recorded when I ran out of money! Consequently, some of the songs originally intended for inclusion on Rotate won't see the light of day just yet. Stay tuned though... Eventually - thanks to the invaluable assistance of an extremely good friend and fan, who came to my rescue - a new concept for Rotate was born. So it was, that with a fusion of my brand new material and other recordings I'd made over a period of years - an anthology of sorts if you will - Rotate finally came to fruition. Working with many different recording engineers and musicians, I handled the overall production duties for the album, wrote and arranged all the music, vocal parts and lyrics for eleven of the twelve tracks contained on the disc, except for track 12 - "We Can Work It Out" - which for anyone who wasn't around at the time, was written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney. “Oh Yeah!”, “Desert Sky” and the title track, “Rotate” are the three newest songs and were the last tracks to be recorded. I co-produced these three tracks together with Zak Nilsson, (son of the late-great Harry) and Randy Hoffman. Not having a regular band at the time, out of necessity, except for Zak on drums and keyboards, I played all the instruments and sang all the vocals. “Different Shades of Green” was the only finished recording salvaged from the L.A. sessions, and features a blistering lead guitar solo by The Knack's Berton Averre. He's a phenomenal player to be sure. Also on these sessions: Yours truly on rhythm guitar/lead and backing vocals, Gary Schwartz on bass guitar, and Robbie Rist on drums. “That Girl Is Emily”, “So Close to Home” and “Edges of a Dream” were recorded with a terrific line up I had back on the East Coast. Namely, yours truly on rhythm guitar/lead and backing vocals, Gary Schwartz on bass guitar, Joel Titman (Yeah I know, I know! He was an ass-man too! LOL!) on drums, and a - then - 20 year old lead guitarist, Chris L.C. Abshire. Also on-board, assisting me with additional high harmony vocals - Shaun Donovan, an extremely talented singer. “Rising Stars” was also recorded back East. I'm playing rhythm guitar and singing lead and backing vocals as usual, but this time assisted with a slightly different line up. Joining me on these sessions: Gary Schwartz on bass guitar, Dave Egelhofer on lead guitar, and Joe Parsons on drums and additional high harmony vocals. “The Lost Years” is actually a basement demo recorded on the East Coast in 1994 - featuring moi on rhythm guitar/lead and harmony vocals, Gary Schwartz on bass guitar, Dave Egelhofer on lead guitar and Evan Pollack on drums. “Come on Round” is a demo I recorded back in 1994 - just prior to coming back to the States in fact. Recorded at ex-Strawbs bassist, Chas Cronk's West London studio, in addition to programming the drums, Chas played lead and bass guitars, whilst I played rhythm guitar and sang the lead and harmony vocals. “Whenever You're Near” was written and recorded in 1990. I was kindly assisted on this one by keyboard ace Duncan Mackay, (Alan Parsons, Cockney Rebel, 10cc., etc). Duncan played keys and took care of all the programming, leaving me free to concentrate on all the vocals. “We Can Work It Out” is a really basic home demo, recorded during May of 2002 at various different locations around the L.A. area, on a really, really tiny Korg machine! Originally intended to be included on a Beatles tribute CD - it features Randy Hoffman on lead vocals, Zak Nilsson on drums and keyboards and yours truly on harmony vocals and rhythm guitar.

SPB: Who are the musicians in the current line up of John Wicks and The Records? I saw that a couple of years ago you had a really hot band consisting of Jamie Rounds on lead guitar and vocals, Lynne Davis on bass and vocals, and the mighty Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums. I just saw Clem Burke at The Comet Tavern a few weeks ago with Magic Christian. They were excellent.

JW: Yes that was a pretty cool line up, albeit a temporary one, but it was an honor to have Clem on-board. Jamie was great and a girl bass player too! Rock on Lynn! Anyway after several more attempts at securing a stable line up, running up and down a whole lot of blind alleys in the process, I finally attained that lofty goal early in 2007 - shortly after playing the Purple Weekend festival in Spain in December 2006. So, my current partners in rhyme are: Mick McMains - lead & bass guitar/vocals, Dennis Taylor - bass and lead guitar/vocals and Tommy Montes - drums/percussion. These guys are all extremely talented and accomplished musicians in their own right, and they are totally dedicated to the music. Indeed, I consider myself very fortunate to have them as friends and colleagues. Thank you so much guys! And speaking of Magic Christian, we just played a show with them back in March at Safari Sam's here in Hollywood. It was very cool to meet up with Cyril Jordan. The last time I saw Cyril was when The Flaming Groovies played a London show back in the late seventies. And of course Clem, Eddie, and it was great to meet Paul, he's a great singer and a very engaging and charismatic frontman. Just thinking about it makes me wanna go "Shake Some Action!"

SPB: What can Seattle music fans expect from your upcoming show at The Comet Tavern?

JW: A set of Led Zeppelin covers! Just kidding! Seriously, we will be playing some of the old Records' classics, interspersed with some of my new songs from Rotate for good measure. I must emphasize that this is not based just on nostalgia alone, but rather a continuation of where I was interrupted all those years ago. We just hope that the audience will have as much of a blast listening and watching us as we will have playing, 'cause at the end of the day it's a two-way street. Our interaction with the audience is a vital and integral part of the whole experience.

SPB: What's on the horizon for John Wicks and The Records?

JW: Well, we have a tour of Japan slated for the Fall - a double whammy if you will - to promote a live Records CD that was released in March, and also my new CD Rotate. More live dates are in the works, and of course we have to commence recording songs for the next CD. Fortunately I'm in the enviable position of having a wealth of material already written to choose from. All I need is the time to get the damn songs recorded!

SPB: Along with this interview I'm planning on posting a video from YouTube of The Records performing "Starry Eyes" in what looks like a London shop window. You guys look so cool with your “rock 'n' roll” hair and your sharp threads. What do you remember about making that video? Is that a Les Paul Jr. you're playing?

JW: Very cool! Yes, that was shot in an empty store in London's trendy Notting Hill district, long before Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts made the area even MORE trendy courtesy of their excellent movie! It had previously been a "Co-op" store or whatever the hell they called it. Anyway, the company went out of style fast, hence the empty space that our videographer (either Julien Temple or Russell Mulcahy, one of the two!) took full advantage of. And thanks for the kind comments. When I look at that clip now, I think we looked pretty darn cool too. Anyway, I remember that towards the end of the shoot, a couple of cops came to shut down the shenanigans. You see them early on in the clip, but that, as I recall, was edited in for effect. In actual fact they arrived just prior to our finishing up, so it was all good, since we were pretty much done by then anyway! The crowd that gathered outside was totally spontaneous and not staged in any way. I think it's an extremely cool video, and pre-MTV too. And yes, it is indeed a Gibson Les Paul Junior that I am playing in the video. I used to own two in fact, a '56 and a '57. I think it was the '56 that you see in the clip, which sadly was stolen some years later, but I still have my '57.

SPB: Thanks for answering my questions John. I'm really looking forward to your show here in Seattle on Saturday (4/19/08).

JW: Thank you Andy. I'm really looking forward to playing.

Here are The Records playing "Starry Eyes" in blatant defiance of the law.

John Wicks Interview (Part 1)

2008-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Singer/guitarist/songwriter John Wicks formed the seminal British power pop band The Records with drummer/lyricist Will Birch in 1978. Their career took off fast and by ’79 The Records were flirting with fame and fortune as their excellent self-titled debut album and their glorious power pop single “Starry Eyes” both bubbled-under the Billboard Top 40, but due to misfortune and a misstep or two their career took a downward trajectory and after one more great album Crashes (1980) and one good album Music on Both Sides (1982) The Records called it quits.

Fast-forward to 2008, John Wicks has a new album out and a new band called John Wicks and The Records and they’ll be playing this Friday at The East End in Portland and Saturday at The Comet Tavern in Seattle. John was gracious enough to conduct this interview with me via e-mail. If you love power pop but find the subject of weather boring skip past my first question – I think you’ll find the rest of the interview quite interesting.

Seattle Powerpop Blog: Hi John. It's a typical spring day here in Seattle, cold, gray and wet. What's the weather like in L.A. today? How long have you been living there?

John Wicks: Sorry to hear about your gloomy weather. It sure sounds a lot like England. It's often said that here in L.A. we don't have “weather.” However, that's not totally true. I've lived here since February of 2001 and in that period of time I've endured triple digit heat during the summer months, contrasted with extremely windy and rainy conditions during the winter months. (And yes! In spite of what you may have heard to the contrary, we DO have seasons here!) Anyway, today (April 6th) was a little breezy, and cloudy with sunny spells, although the temperature was a bit below average, but I still managed my power-walk through Griffith Park. It was very pleasant, so I can't complain.

Weather update! By way of contrast, today is April 12th and we are experiencing a hot sunny day with temperatures in the high 90s! I've already been in the pool, that's how hot it is. Tomorrow promises to be similar. Simply perfect!

SPB: Where are you from originally?

JW: I was born and raised in Reading, (pronounced Redding) in Berkshire, England, which is a town located approximately 40 miles west of London. Around the age of 18, I left home to join my first “real” band in London. That lasted about a year, and then I moved to a place called Southend-on-Sea to join a cover band. Southend is located about 40 miles east of London, and little did I know at the time that this would eventually lead me to “The Records.”

SPB: Were you a Mod or a Rocker or a Mocker, (as Ringo once claimed to be) or none of the above?

JW: Definitely not a “Mocker!” More of a little “Focker” really! Seriously, it's fair to say that I considered myself a “Rocker,” since as a young impressionable teenager - much to my parents horror - I used to hang out at night in a local park with a bunch of biker dudes and chicks, affectionately known in the U.K. as “greasers.” Quite a few of these characters, and believe me they WERE characters, had already served time in “Her Majesty's Service,” otherwise known as jail. I witnessed some extremely brutal fights during this period of time. It's true to say that Reading was quite a violent place. For example, downtown during the late evening hours, after the pubs emptied out, it wasn't unusual to see people get knocked through plate glass windows, and seriously injured, or on occasions even worse - beaten to death - whilst people were minding their own business waiting for their buses to come and whisk them home to safety. In fact even during the daytime, every so often, train-loads of “Mods” would come down from a town called Slough, and pitched battles would erupt in the street outside Reading Station as the local greasers defended their turf. There were so many of them, that the police who weren't armed at that time, were vastly outnumbered and pretty much had to let the riots run their course. Thankfully I managed to steer clear of all that nonsense. I mean these guys' took their perceived status waaay too seriously! They clearly considered themselves “the-real-deal” whatever that meant. In any event, it was a much too scary prospect for me. So I guess when all is said and done, you could say that I was more of a "pretend" Rocker really. Not that I was a "real" bonafide hippie either you understand! LOL!!

SPB: A lot of American musicians around your age, or maybe just a bit older, say that watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show completely changed their lives and converted them to Rock ‘n’ Roll. Did you have an equivalent experience growing up in England?

JW: I guess so. Obviously The Beatles come to mind, and of course The Rolling Stones. Like so many of my musical peers, it's true to say that these artists, together with the likes of The Who, The Kinks, The Move, etc., had a dramatic effect on our collective lives, not to mention redirecting our future paths in life. I think it's fair to say that without such a dramatic influence, many of us would more than likely be leading very different lives. Had this musical revolution not come to pass for instance, I might well have fallen into the family furniture and carpet business - "J. R. Wicks & Son Ltd." Having said that, I don't mean to suggest that it would have been a bad thing, probably quite the opposite in fact. (Kind of like that Spinal Tap thing: "Yes madam, may I suggest that this luxurious, polka dot, three piece suite, matches your carpet just perfectly and would look extremely elegant in your living room, if you don't mind me saying so!") Anyway, when my father and mother retired, my cousin Francis took the reins and has been very successful. Can you imagine? I would have been cutting out of work early, anxiously trying to get out at night and play gigs, only to be late for work the next day! I'm pretty certain Frank would have fired my ass. LOL! Seriously, I mean, I had always liked music, but once The Beatles exploded on the scene, my fate was sealed - I literally fell in LOVE with music! Plus, the truth of the matter is - when it comes to customer service, I'm like John Cleese's Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, and besides I sucked at sewing sections of carpets together. LOL!!

SPB: Your former songwriting partner/bandmate Will Birch has written that The Beatles’ Revolver was a huge influence on The Records. What were some of your other favorite records?

JW: Oh Yeah! (Cheap plug!) Seriously, Revolver was such a cool album, as were most of the other Beatles L.P.s too of course. Although I never cared much for Yellow Submarine, but Magical Mystery Tour was another one of my faves, along with Rubber Soul, Help, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, etc...Songwriting genius to be sure. I bought pretty much everything The Rolling Stones put out, Brian Jones was my fave Stone btw. It's too bad about his sad and tragic end. ("Rumour Sets The Woods Alight" was written about Brian). Anyway, I recall buying The Stones' Their Satanic Majesty's Request and marveling at the (then) 3D hologram adorning the front cover. "Jumping Jack Flash", "Gimme Shelter"...
So many great songs. Not to forget The Beach Boys. "God Only Knows" for example, is another example of songwriting genius, imho. The Small Faces' Ogden's Nut Gone Flake was always on my Dansette record player, singer Steve Marriott being another hero of mine. I also embraced the psychedelic period, Pink Floyd etc. Syd Barrett's "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" just blew me away. Then we had the likes of Led Zeppelin, Cream, Traffic, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, etc., etc. There really was just so much incredible music around at that time.

SPB: I think that Birch/Wicks is right up there with Difford/Tilbrook at the pinnacle of great New Wave Era songwriting teams. Classics such as "Starry Eyes", "All Messed Up And Ready To Go", "Teenarama", "Girl In Golden Disc", "I Don't Remember Your Name", all had wry witty lyrics set to gorgeous melodies and completely infectious hooks. Can you describe how you two worked together?

JW: Firstly, thank you so much for the compliment. Both Will and myself are huge admirers of Chris Difford & Glenn Tilbrook. As you say, they were a great songwriting team. And thanks for the kind comments about our songs. More often than not I don't get too excited at the prospect of co-writing, but I have to admit that working with Will proved to be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. As far as how we worked together, Will was the lyricist and I the tunesmith, for want of a better description. At the very beginning of our partnership, he and I would get together, listen to music and play around with ideas. Usually he would have the bones of a lyric, to which I would try to write a melody, and sometimes I would already have a melody and he would then endeavor to come up with a lyric. For the most part we managed to make the process work efficiently and successfully either way. Prior to our partnership, I had always written the music as well as the lyrics, but I found that - in most cases anyway - coming up with good lyrics was very time-consuming, usually taking considerably longer than composing melodies. Consequently I'd have a backlog of tunes, so I welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with Will. Later on, as our relationship evolved, we would very often work separately, he handing me lyrics, and me giving him a cassette recording of a melody to work on.

SPB: You and Will wrote the song "Pin a Medal on Mary" for Rachel Sweet, (it was one of the highlights of her album Fool Around) and then The Records were her backing band on Stiff Records "Be Stiff Tour" in '78. Was that a lot of fun? Wasn't Wreckless Eric also on that tour? He just played The Comet Tavern a few months ago. He really puts on a great show.

JW: Yes. In fact unless I'm mistaken, that was the first song that Will and I wrote together. I don't recall us knowing about Rachel at the time, but at some point Stiff Records honcho Dave Robinson heard the song and had Rachel record it. When the prospect of the Stiff Tour came up, Rachel needed a backing band and Dave called to ask us if we'd be interested. Somewhat naively, concerned that should we accept, there was the very real danger that we might be perceived as - "just someone's backing band" - I suggested Will call Dave back, informing him that we would agree to back Rachel if we could also have our own slot on the tour. To our total amazement, Dave said, "Sure!" And yes, it was a whole lot of fun and some! Indeed Wreckless Eric was also on that tour, as was Lene Lovich, Jona Lewie and Mickey Jupp plus his band, members of The Sinceros if my memory serves me correctly. And I did hear that Eric had played at The Comet Tavern recently. Hope he didn't trash the place! Just kidding. Speaking of Eric, Will and I actually wrote "All Messed Up And Ready To Go" - specifically for him. We dashed it off on board the Stiff train that transported us around the U.K. during that tour. Anyway, he didn't record it, so we did!

SPB: The Records signed with Virgin and recorded their self-titled debut album in '79 with producer Mutt Lange and engineer Tim Friese-Greene. That album really sounds great and the song arrangements are incredible. How did you guys do it? Did you record demos first? Did you rehearse until you had the arrangements perfected, and then lay down the basic tracks live as a band and then overdub on top of that, or did you lay down a scratch track and then build the tracks up one instrument at a time?

JW: Well, whenever I compose a melody, it also includes all the chords, riffs, etc., and I almost always have an arrangement in mind, so the song is pretty much fully formed right from the get-go. Mutt came in and routined 5 songs with us, whilst Tim took care of the rest. We had in fact recorded demos of most of the songs, Mutt and Tim building on what was already there, improving and refining the arrangements, at the same time making sure they preserved the essence of the songs in the process. We laid down the basic tracks in the studio live as a band, and then overdubbed parts as required. My musical background growing up, and my many years of experience singing lead vocals and harmonies in cover bands, enabled me to arrange and sing the bulk of the lead vocals and harmonies in the band. Consequently, in the interests of studio time constraints, I sang most everything on that first album, except "Girls That Don't Exist" (Phil, Mutt & I) "Insomnia" (Phil & Huw) "The Phone" (Huw). Getting back to Mutt and Tim. In addition to their both being inspired producers and arrangers, they are extremely talented musicians and writers. And boy Mutt's a great singer too! Indeed it was an honor and a great pleasure to work with both of them.

SPB: I used to watch The Midnight Special (rock concert TV show) regularly when I was in High School, even though it was mostly awful, because occasionally they would have a really exciting performance, and I have to say that the best episode ever was the night The Cars hosted and The Records appeared as special guests. Did you enjoy that experience? That was probably when The Records were at the height of their fame, was it not?

JW: Thanks! I just wish the "powers-that-be" would release that Midnight Special episode in its entirety, if they haven't done so already. If not, clips can be viewed courtesy of YouTube folks. And no, I didn't post them! But yes, it really was an extremely enjoyable and unforgettable experience, the guys' in The Cars were all just so wonderful to us. (Speaking of whom, I ran into Elliot Easton at a club here in L.A. a couple of weeks back). Anyway, we played live on that show too btw. Absolutely NO lip synching, and NO wardrobe malfunctions! And I guess it was around the height of our - "15 minutes" - since the album was inching it's way up towards the top 40 on the Billboard chart, and the single, 'Starry Eyes' was following close behind. T.V., Radio, Publicity, Planes, Limos, Girls, etc., etc... Ah... Heady days!!

SPB: Your second record Crashes is debatably even better then the first, great songs from start to finish. It was released in 1980 and although I was a big fan of The Records, I didn’t even realize Crashes was out until I found it in a cut out bin about a year later. In '79 “Starry Eyes” was getting a lot of airplay, The Records got a rave review in Rolling Stone, you were on The Midnight Special and a year later it was almost as if you'd completely disappeared. What happened?

JW: Oy vey! Where do I begin??? Well, for starters Mutt had apparently expressed his desire to produce Crashes. In hindsight it is my belief and opinion that we should have continued our professional relationship with him. Anyway, for whatever reasons, foolishly we didn't. With Huw Gower no longer in the band, and Craig Leon at the helm producing, we hired ex-Kursaal Flyers lead guitarist Barry Martin to lay down the lead guitar tracks. The backing tracks were recorded at George Martin's Air Studios in Oxford Street, West London. After a week or so of laying down the basic rhythm tracks, we returned to the studio after a weekend break, and went into the playback suite to take a listen to our efforts. As the 2 inch tape started rolling, (Yes! This was good old analog folks!) I recall being absolutely horrified by the muffled sound that I heard coming through the speakers. It sounded like someone had literally covered them with blankets, the sound being an ill-defined, muddy mess, with practically no high end whatsoever. Unfortunately, for us as a band anyway - prior to the commencement of our initial recording sessions - it transpired that apparently no one had taken it upon themselves to perform the extremely important and necessary, if unsexy task, of aligning the tape heads! Presumably, the house engineer thought that Craig had taken care of it and, presumably, Craig thought that the house engineer had done so... Oops! Knowing how disastrous, and potentially damaging to our career this was, I made the suggestion that we should scrap everything and start again from scratch. As you can imagine, for economic and practical considerations, my suggestion was shot down in flames. A false economy if ever there was one, and my prediction at the time that it would prove to be the beginning of the end of the band, was sadly right on the money. By way of irony, a shit-load of moolah was expended during the mixing stage of the recording process, in a valiant though ultimately vain attempt at salvaging the recording! When it comes to frequencies, you can't put back what's isn't there. Indeed the decision not to re-record, proved to be a very unwise and seriously expensive mistake at best. At worst - arguably - it may well have cost us our career... At the end of the day, whilst it's certainly true that the songs were great, the record still sounded substandard sonically, in spite of all the well-intentioned efforts to salvage it. One positive aspect of things though was the arrival of our newest member. Hearing that we were looking for a singer capable of handling the high harmonies, Craig had introduced us to Jude Cole, an extremely talented 19-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist hailing from Moline, Illinois, by way of Los Angeles. Jude was flown over from L.A. to London, I gave him a high harmony to sing on "Rumour Sets The Woods Alight" and he nailed it right off the bat! "BINGO!!" He was in! We embarked on our second tour of the U.S. and Canada, and the band had never sounded better live. Alas, Virgin at this time were in deep financial trouble, plus their licensing deal through Atlantic Records was coming to an end, and even though the folks at Atlantic loved our band, unfortunately there wasn't enough money left in Virgin's piggy-bank to maintain the necessary promotional push. Couple these problems with our substandard sounding record, and it all became a recipe for disaster... Hence little or no "T.V., Radio, Publicity, no more Planes and Limos," which just left us with the "Girls." LOL! I think the record "bubbled under" at #210 on the Billboard chart before disappearing into the ether. That was when the "Girls" left us... DAMN!!

(Part 2 tomorrow)

Great Powerpop Line-up at The Comet Saturday

2008-04-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a great show so don’t miss it. All four bands are excellent, John Wicks and The Records are Powerpop Legends, Kurt Bloch will be spinning discs between sets and there will even be a secret surprise guest guaranteed to “blow your socks off.” Wear clean socks and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to initial them with a Sharpie.

Check back tomorrow for part one of my interview with John Wicks.

Recommended shows for the week of 4/13/08

2008-04-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 15th:
Elf Power/Flowers Forever/The Tripwires at the High Dive

Friday the 18th:
The Turn-Ons/Hypatia Lake/Charmparticles at the Sunset

Speaker Speaker/The Don’ts/The Apple War/Curtains For You at the Comet Tavern

Saturday the 19th:
John Wicks and The Records/The Small Change/The Neat/The Shy Ones at the Comet Tavern

Let me know if I’ve missed something.

Recommended shows for the week of 4/6/08

2008-04-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 6th:
The Quit at the Sunset Tavern

Monday the 7th:
Dateless at Chop Suey

Thursday the 10th:
Steve Pearson at Finaghty's Irish Pub (Snoqualmie)

Friday the 11th:
Ms. Led/The Earaches at King Cobra

Saturday the 12th:
The Heavy Hearts on Audioasis, Live on KEXP

Doll Test at Rendezvous

Thee Sgt. Major III at Wildrose

Let me know if I’ve missed something.

New Song from Shake Some Action!

2008-04-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

Seattle Powerpop heroes Shake Some Action! have a new record coming out in June called Sunny Days Ahead and you can download a really cool track from it for free over at Three Imaginary Girls.

Their CD release party is set for Friday June 13th at the Sunset Tavern. I’m really looking forward to it. Maybe Gary can get me on the guest list.

Here’s an inside look at Shake Some Action! recording their new record at Rob Sharp's Playroom Studios in Seattle.

New Album from The Turn-Ons

2008-04-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Turn-Ons describe their sound as Skagit/Brit psych-pop. They remind me a lot of The Church and The Chills and a little of The Verve. This is another great Seattle band that I should have been hip to a long time ago – they’ve been together for over 10 years now and have played shows with the Strokes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Imperial Teen.

They’ve got a great new album called Curse and it’s available for free at www.theturnons.com. I was able to check it out yesterday but haven’t been able to access their site today. If you can’t get on either I suggest trying again in a day or two and in the meantime head over to their MySpace page where you can hear a couple of the new songs.

Here’s a video of The Turn-Ons performing their song “Stop Waiting” at The High Dive back in September of 2006.

Advanced Notice: Roy Loney May 16th

2008-04-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

This show will be the best. Roy Loney is Rock & Roll personified. Don’t miss it.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/30/08

2008-03-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 30th:
X/Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands at Showbox

Friday the 4th:
Cute Lepers/Napalm Beach/The F-Holes at Funhouse

Saturday the 5th:
The Dimes at High Dive

The Hands/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse

Let me know if I’ve missed something.

Andy Werth/Young Sportsmen at High Dive

2008-03-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Looks like a great show at the High Dive tomorrow night with Andy Werth, Young Sportsmen and Love Like Fire.

Young Sportsmen are a one of SPB’s favorite bands and their album Death to Palaces was one of the very best records of 2007 - if you don’t have it yet you really should pick it up. They have a new record (produced by Johnny Sangster) coming out in May and they’ll be previewing some of its songs tomorrow night.

Andy Werth is a very talented guy and his super catchy, upbeat piano and horn driven pop will remind you of the ‘70s AM gold of Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Chicago and 10cc. He’s an exuberant performer and his set is sure to put a smile on your face.

I don’t know much about Love Like Fire except that they're from San Francisco and that Spin magazine called their music “beautifully orchestrated rock”.

Go check it out.

The Goldbergs - Under The Radar

2008-03-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Goldbergs (singer/songwriter/guitarist Andy Goldberg and various ace New York session musicians) aren’t from Seattle but they are classic power pop in the Beatles/Badfinger mold and their new record Under The Radar is the best album I’ve heard so far this year.

Under The Radar sounds like the great solo album George Harrison never made, with 11 perfectly cut gem like songs full of compelling melodies, indelible hooks and buoyant harmonies. There’s plenty of really great, expressive Harrisonesque guitar throughout and even ukulele on the closing track. The lyrics are all about being love sick, heart broken and irrationally sunny and optimistic never the less.

Nothing really innovative or ground breaking here, just classic, impeccably-crafted power pop and a really strong album from start to finish and in 2008 I think there’s a lot to be said for that.

Wig Bash '08

2008-03-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Recommended shows for the week of 3/23/08

2008-03-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 23rd:
Visqueen at the Sunset (7:00pm)

Ms. Led/Siren’s Sister/Speaker Speaker at High Dive

The Greatest Hits on “Loud and Local” KISW 99.9FM (10:00pm)

Thursday the 27th:
Wig Pre-Bash with Blackie at the Comet

Curtains For You at the Tractor

Friday the 28th:
Wig Bash with Shim at High Dive

Cute Lepers/The Greatest Hits at King Cobra

Saturday the 29th:
Young Sportsman/Andy Werth at High Dive

Jon Auer at Fremont Abbey Arts Center (8:00pm)

Ms. Led

2008-03-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Not sure how it happened but I just checked and we’ve never posted anything about Ms. Led before on SPB. Never mentioned their excellent album Shake Yourself Awake that made both Sound on the Sound and Three Imaginary Girls best of 2007 lists. Completely missed their cool video of “New Agenda” when it came out last December. Never noted any of their shows even when they opened for The Posies or Imperial Teen. All I can say is this is the first of what I’m sure will be many more posts about this awesome Seattle powerpop band.

Ms. Led will be playing an early show this Sunday (3/23) at High Dive with Siren’s Sister and Speaker Speaker – should be great.

In case you’ve somehow managed to overlook it too, here is the video for “New Agenda” directed by Gina Mainwal.

Thee Sgt. Major III at King Cobra Tonight

2008-03-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

Decision ‘08

2008-03-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

Some choices are easy and some choices aren’t.

Tea Cozies

2008-03-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

The amount of great Seattle bands, which can at least peripherally be considered power pop, never ceases to amaze me. It seems like I discover a new favorite just about every week. This week it’s Tea Cozies who play smart, quirky, rhythmic, punk spiked pop that reminds me of Elastica (one of my favorite bands of the ‘90s), Deerhoof and Blonde Redhead.

They have a new single Pretty Pages/Réglons, the former ostensibly about libraries and the latter about love. You can hear both sides over at Tea Cozies’ MySpace page along with some great songs from their self-titled EP.

I haven’t seen them live yet but by all accounts they put on an energetic, rocking show. They’ll be playing the Comet Thursday night with a few other bands that have a similar sound that I’ve also just discovered but think I really like: Danielli, Kiss Her For the Kid and Daguerreotypes.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/16/08

2008-03-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 16th:
The Get Off/Dateless/The Heels/Dead Xs at the Comet

Thursday the 20th:
The Small Change/The Valley at the Sunset

Danielli/Tea Cozies/Kiss Her For The Kid at the Comet

Friday the 21st:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Beltholes/The Knast at King Cobra

Steve E. Nix and the Cute Lepers

2008-03-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Cute Lepers are playing at the House of Blues in New Orleans tonight and at SXSW in Austin tomorrow. They’ll be back in Seattle on the 28th for a show at King Cobra with the Greatest Hits, which should be excellent.

They’ve recently signed with Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records and have an album coming out in May.

Here’s Steve E. Nix and the Cute Lepers singing “Its Summertime Baby”.

Ballard SXSW Party

2008-03-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

If you down in Austin tomorrow…

Ventures Hall of Fame Induction Tonight

2008-03-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Seattle area band The Ventures who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 23rd annual induction dinner tonight.

Check out this awesome video of the Ventures Live in 1966 from Ventures’ guitarist Nokie Edwards’ YouTube page. Amazing drumming by Mel Taylor and super fast finger picking from Edwards. I love those Mosrite guitars and big Fender amps. Pretty sharp outfits too.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/9/08

2008-03-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Monday the 10th:
The Presidents of the United States of America at Easy Street Records

Tuesday the 11th:
The Color Bars at the High Dive

Friday the 14th:
The Riffbrokers at King Cobra

Knast/Boss Martians/Magic Christian

2008-03-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

I’m psyched to see the Knast, Boss Martians and Magic Christian tomorrow night at the Comet. Sure to be an awesome night of Powerpop.

Seattle Powerpop - Log On and Rock Out

The blog is officially dead

The Riffbrokers CD Release Party

Todd Rundgren at The Triple Door

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

The Color Bars Live

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

This Week's Recommended Shows

The Small Change Rock

The Whole Damn City at The Sunset Friday

Recommended shows for the week of 8/3/08

Girl Trouble Tonight at Sunset

Chopperfest at Sunset Tavern Sat.

The Pharmacy at Balagan Theatre Friday

Free Cute Lepers Show Tonight

Doll Test Record Release Show at Skylark

Recommended shows for the week of 7/27/08

Send The Lund Bros. to Austin

Jim Basnight Interview, Part 2

Jim Basnight Interview, Part 1

The Doll Test – Mosque Alarm Clock

Powerpop Needs Energy

Recommended shows for the week of 7/20/08

Stuporhero - Weightless

The Chris and Tad Show

Mr. Suave and the Wild Weekend

Recommended shows for the week of 7/13/08

Candyfest!

More Video of the Model Rockets Show

The Model Rockets Reunion Show on SyncLive

Recommended shows for the week of 7/6/08

Andy Werth Interview

Doll Test/Tripwires/Model Rockets @ Tractor

Recommended shows for the week of 6/29/08

Shake Some Action! Go Digital

Candy Fest 2008

Tim Rogers at The Sunset 8/8/08

Lund Bros./Small Change/Tripwires Live Review

Shake Some Action! Interview

The Baseball Project

Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville

Recommended shows for the week of 6/22/08

SPB 2nd Anniversary

Three Great Bands @ High Dive Friday

Shake Some Action! – Sunny Days Ahead

Recommended shows for the week of 6/15/08

The Cute Lepers – Terminal Boredom

Team Gina - Rock the Like

Tullycraft East Coast Tour

Recommended shows for the week of 6/8/08

Studio 66

Recommended shows for the week of 6/1/08

Video from The Posies 20th Anniversary Show

Recommended shows for the week of 5/25/08

Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival

Holy Ghost Revival/Greatest Hits @ King Cobra

Recommended shows for the week of 5/18/08

The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows @ Neumos

Roy Loney at The Sunset Tavern this Friday

Q: A Gun-Shaped Knife

Young Sportsmen - If You Want It

Recommended shows for the week of 5/11/08

Young Sportsmen and Friends at The Rendezvous Saturday Night

The Pranks at Jules Maes

Seattle Powerpop Radio Playlist #9

Recommended shows for the week of 5/4/08

Tea Cozies on Tour

Friday at The High Dive

Dave Dill - Follow the Summer

Recommended shows for the week of 4/27/08

John Wicks and The Records at The Comet Tavern

Seattle Powerpop Radio Returns w/ Playlist 8

Recommended shows for the week of 4/20/08

John Wicks Interview (Part 2)

John Wicks Interview (Part 1)