Pilcrow

Three weeks ago, on Friday April 10, I went with a crew of KEXP staff and interns to the Crocodile to see Partman Parthorse, which includes KEXP DJ Rachel on bass. They were opening for Head Like A Kite, with Wild Orchard Children taking the middle slot in the bill. Despite the heavy KEXP presence, this was not an official KEXP event so I can forego the disclaimer about all views expressed here being solely my own... though that's still the case.

Partman Parthorse are a noisy post-punk art rock quartet, heavy on the punk side of post-punk. Like their namesake the centaur, the band is a somewhat awkward combination of two parts. The musical part was very good, with a lot of interesting things going on, and I believe they'd do well as just an instrumental art-rock band. However, the vocal part mostly involved very punk-style tuneless shouting, which is not my thing at all. At least one song featured more rap-style vocals, which I think worked better, but overall I'd prefer the vocalist turned down the shouting and put a little more singing into his style. Still, again like their namesake, the combination does work in its context, and they can't be faulted for not appealing to my particular taste. I did like the band overall, and perhaps the vocals will grow on me over time.

Although I may not have cared much for the vocal stylings of Partman Parthorse, they were far preferable to Wild Orchid Children. This psychedelic jam band can be easily summed up as sounding like Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) fronting the band Santana. The lead singer sang a little bit in one song, providing more of a Hendrix feel, but otherwise just shouted unintelligibly in a most grating fashion. I thought the music was fine and band was enjoyable enough when the vocalist wasn't shouting—he also played conga—but the longer their set went on the less I liked them, entirely due to the vocalist. It's rare that I will come out against a band, but while I'd recommend you check out Partman Parthorse for yourself, I cannot recommend Wild Orchid Children.

Fortunately, headliners Head Like A Kite were worth the wait. The duo of Dave Einmo (guitar, synths, sampler, and vocals) and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals) played a funky set of electropop to a very excited full crowd. They created a crazy party atmosphere for the show, starting with a fog machine and background video of Barbie-type dolls having sex, and later having dancers in weird bright-colored costumes—I was told the suits were of "Nordy", the old Nordstrom mascot—on stage and in the crowd. Graig Markel jumped in on backing vocals a few times during the set, which seemed appropriate as the band's sound was similar to his current project, The Animals at Night. Later in the set, they were also joined by a pair of female singers and a guitarist or two for a few songs, including "Daydream Vacation". I also recognized "We Were So Entangled" and "A Dime and a Cigarette", and was hoping for "Noisy at the Circus" but unfortunately they didn't play it. Oddly, I found the music was not as engaging as I had expected, but the show was still entertaining and enjoyable, and I'm glad I stayed to see them.

I have a small set of photos mostly featuring Head Like A Kite, starting here in Flickr.

Two Saturdays ago - November 10 - I went to The Crocodile Cafe to see Annuals for the third time this year. Opening for them was The New Frontiers and Manchester Orchestra. The show was all-ages, and when I arrived just after New Frontiers had begun, I found the room was divided roughly in half, with the all-ages side already pretty full and the 21+ side still fairly open. The 21+ side steadily filled in during the opening set, but never got too crowded.

Both of the opening bands were quintets comprised of two guitars, bass, synths/percussion, and drums, with a male guitarist as lead vocal and backing vocals from most of the other guys. Although first act The New Frontiers were competent and sounded fine, I found them fairly unremarkable overall - none of their songs grabbed me, nothing in particular stood out from other bands of that style. Manchester Orchestra, however, had a more individual sound. They opened and closed with solo songs by the lead singer, complementary introspective pieces about the pressures of being a working musician out on the road. In between the quiet bookends, they rocked out harder than The New Frontiers, making good use of contrasting quiet sections within the songs. One notable song opened as a sort of Gospel spiritual, featuring just lead vocals and an organ drone for a while before gradually adding some guitar, and building up to the rest of the band coming in for a rock-out ending. Overall I enjoyed their set more than The New Frontiers' set, and although Manchester Orchestra also didn't quite win me over as a new fan, I feel they offered more potential for future goodness.

Annuals are a sextet from North Carolina, including Adam Baker (lead vocals/synths/drum), Kenny Florence (guitar/backing vocals/drum), Mike Robinson (bass), Zack Oden (guitar/drumset), Anna Spence (keyboards/backing vocals), and Nick Radford (drums). When I first saw them, they were headlining at Neumos. After the second time, I wrote that I expected them to be headlining The Showbox when they next came to Seattle. Perhaps that was a bit hyperbolic, but still I was surprised that they were returning to a relatively small club, and I wondered how they would all fit on stage, let alone whether their expansive sound would overwhelm the smaller space. Of course, they proved to have no problem with the space at all, physically or audibly. They even had two members of Manchester Orchestra come on stage for added backing vocals and drum in one song. Throughout the set, I was impressed by the clarity of the sound and well-tempered volume: even without earplugs, there was no feedback hiss and even more surprisingly my ears weren't ringing after the show. Their set included a couple new songs, one of which featured guitarist Florence on lead vocals, usual lead vocalist Baker on the secondary drum kit, and Oden playing Baker's synth as well as his own guitar. Rather than break up the momentum of their set, they said they weren't going to bother leaving the stage before the encore, and they played another new song, the anthemic "Do You Like It?", which with its dramatic sound and repeated calls of "Goodbye!" in the lyrics is a perfect set closer. As evidenced by their set list, that was indeed the planned encore, and they left the stage when they were done. However, the audience enthusiasm was so great, it dragged them back out for an unplanned encore. For my part, even after three shows this year I'm eagerly looking forward to their next visit, and to a new full-length album they have planned for next year.

( one of many Annuals photos )

Monday evening I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see The High Violets open for Ulrich Schnauss. In between the two was local band The Turn-Ons. The High Violets were the draw for me, as I'd been looking forward to seeing them again since last December. I'd heard of The Turn-Ons but couldn't recall anything about them, while I knew I'd heard Ulrich Schnauss's music before but just knew that it was electronica of some kind.

The High Violets are a dreampop/shoegazer quartet on guitar and vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. This show had better sound than the last one I saw, and it made a real difference. The band was loud, but still tolerable without earplugs, which was nice. For a dreampop band, they did not use a lot of guitar shimmer/sonic wash, but this was good as the distinct parts could be heard: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and bass were all clear, the better to appreciate the interplay of the parts. Lead singer Kaitlyn ni Donovan provided ringing ethereal vocals on top, and her voice is well-suited to the band's sound. As I noted last time, my one reservation is that although they are a solid dreampop band, which is fine in itself, I feel they need a little something more to truly stand out. I'm not sure what that is, but I hope to hear them develop it on their next album (which is currently in the works).

The Turn-Ons are another quartet of two guitars, bass and drums; lead singer/guitarist Travis switched roles with bassist/backing vocalist Erik for the last two songs. Like The High Violets, The Turn-Ons are a dreampop band, although they lean more to the indie rock side of things than shoegazer. In fact, I found the lead singer's voice to be more apt for Britpop or punk - it was a bit brash and flat, and he didn't seem to always be in tune or hitting the notes. In contrast, when the bassist took over the vocals, his singing was more of a typical shoegazer style, a quieter, crooning sound. Both sang together on the rocking last song ("PS I Love You"), with Travis matching Erik's style and both sounding good. Certainly the music was melodious and the band played well, with ringing guitars prominent. Besides the last song, I also particularly liked the one before, "Robert Altman", featuring quiet verses with sudden loud instrumental passages, in place of a chorus, in between. Overall I enjoyed their set, and although I'm not sure about the quality of Travis's vocals, I'd say this is a band to listen for.

Ulrich Schnauss is an electronic musician, one man and a tableful of electronics, including a Mac laptop, (musical) keyboard, and various boxes with knobs to fiddle with. He played a set grounded in ambient/trance electronica with forays into a heavier drum n' bass style, always with a danceable beat at the foundation. Despite the danceable beat, on the whole the audience seemed content to bliss out, standing attentively and maybe swaying a bit. Schnauss himself mostly sat calmly at the table, with occasional head-bobbing with the beat and some vigorous keyboard playing at least in the encore. To offset the lack of visual performance, the requisite arty experimental video played on a screen in the background. The music was continuous, with transitions to new songs apparent only when the volume hushed and the tempo changed. Indeed, for me only the occasional cheer as of recognition from the crowd suggested that his set wasn't improvised on the spot. However, that seemed appropriate enough - I felt the music was meant to be experienced as a series, and I shouldn't be able to point to a particular song and say "I like that one". At the encore, Schnauss did tell the audience he would play two songs, and it was easy to distinguish between the first driving, rocking song and the second spacious, dreamy song. I did really enjoy the performance, but I felt I wasn't left with something to grab onto, a particular bit to make me eager to get a CD. However, I will be listening more carefully for his music on KEXP in the future.

( a few photos )

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Yesterday I finally looked through the various club calendars for October and November, and discovered that if I wanted to (and didn't have some conflicting events), I could go see at least two shows a week into mid-November. As it is, I'm likely to average a show a week. Film School are at the Crocodile on the 10th. Interpol are at the WaMu Theater on the 18th, although as I mentioned before this show's pricey enough ($27.50 + TicketMaster fees) that I'll pass. Beehive just announced that they'll be opening for Digitalism at Chop Suey on the 22nd, and you know how much I love Beehive. New Young Pony Club are at Nectar Lounge on the 27th, and I'm really excited to check them out; I bet this will sell out, so I think I'll order a ticket soon. I have a horrible dilemma for Halloween: do I go see Freezepop, also at Nectar, or do I go see Do Make Say Think at the Crocodile ? It's a tough call - I did just see Freezepop recently, that show will undoubtedly be packed, and I haven't seen Do Make Say Think since October 2004; but still, I do love Freezepop dearly and I'm hoping for a better set, plus it's a 21+ show so maybe it'll be a little less crazy. Finally, looking forward to November, Battles return on the 3rd to play at Neumos, while Annuals play the Crocodile (how are they going to fit on that stage?) on the 10th; those are both don't-miss shows.

Friday night I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see Imperial Teen, with Bella and Derby opening. Imperial Teen are not a band I know very well - like Blonde Redhead who I saw back in April, they're a band whose songs make me say "wait, who does this again? oh yes, this is Imperial Teen." However, KEXP has been playing several catchy songs off their latest album, The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band, and I decided it was time to check them out live.

First up was Derby, a quartet with guitar/lead vocals, guitar/backup vocals/keyboard, bass, and drums. (Their website indicates the band is a trio, so apparently the bassist was a guest musician.) They played mid-to-uptempo rock falling in the general, somewhat nondescript category of post-punk "alternative pop/rock" style. The lead singer's voice sounded something like Pete Townshend to me, and the songs made me think of Nick Lowe or perhaps early Elvis Costello. (Despite these British references, the band is from Portland, OR.) The band had a good solid sound, but none of their songs really made my ears perk up. They're definitely worth checking out, but I'd like to hear them develop their sound a little more - I'm not sure how exactly, but they need something a bit grabbier.

Bella are a trio on keyboards/vocals (female), guitar/bass/vocals (male), and drums/guitar/vocals (female); drum samples filled in when the drummer switched to guitar for the last couple songs. The keyboardist sang lead on most songs, but the guitarist took lead for a song and when the drummer switched to guitar she also sang lead. All three members were capable vocalists and the songs featured some sweet harmonies. Bella played generally upbeat but sometimes wistful-sounding indie pop that had a certain mid-80s sensibility to it; I could imagine them appearing on the soundtrack to a John Hughes film. The band had some sound troubles during the show, and their performance occasionally felt a bit rough, though that could be excused as they'd just returned from NYC that morning. My impression overall was that they're still developing, but I really enjoyed their sound and I think they're very promising. I bought their latest CD, No One Will Know, which just came out this past week, and it has a very polished sound. I'll definitely be watching out for Bella in the future.

Imperial Teen are the quartet of Will Schwartz (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Roddy Bottum (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals, guitar). Although Schwartz is the primary vocalist, some songs featured Bottum on lead, a couple featured Truell, and they all sang harmony on pretty much every song. Like Bella, they played upbeat indie pop, though more of the 90s style (when the band formed) than the 80s - the two bands that came to my mind were Ivy and Papas Fritas, although those are not the best comparisons. They played a fairly even mix of new and old songs, and to my surprise I recognized more of the old ones than I expected. Early on they played "Ivanka" from their previous album On, which is the song by them I know best and features the band trading off lead vocals. Truell switched from drums to bass for a couple songs, including "Yoo Hoo" from their second album, and current single "Shim Sham", on which she sings lead vocals. Bottum took over drums for those songs and Stebbins went to guitar. The audience had a great time at the show, roaring with approval whenever an older song was played and cheering appreciatively for the new songs as well. I enjoyed their set too, but not as much as the fans who knew the material, and I was left with the feeling that having just one of their albums - or perhaps a greatest hits compilation, if they had one - would satisfy me. I did pick up The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band, and I'll see how much it grows on me; perhaps I'll find myself interested in more from them after all.

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It only occurred to me after Derby's set that hey, I had a phone with a camera now, I should try taking some pictures of the bands. I think they came out pretty well; apparently stage lighting is sufficient for the iPhone to get decent photos. Since the concert review is already plenty long (and since I already did a photo-heavy post earlier today), I'll put these photos ( behind a cut. )

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Coming up: They Might Be Giants at The Moore Theatre this Wednesday, and Kinski's CD release party at the Crocodile Cafe this Thursday. Next month, the High Violets are opening for Ulrich Schnauss at the Crocodile on Monday the 1st, Do Make Say Think are headlining the Crocodile on the 31st, Interpol are at the WaMu Theater in the middle of the month on the 18th (although at $27.50 + TicketMaster fees, I'll probably pass), and I haven't even looked at the calendar listings to see what else is happening in October. Exciting stuff!

Saturday night I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see the Young Fresh Fellows (links to eMusic) with the Paul Lynde Fanclub and the Nice Machine. All of these bands are pretty much just plain old rock bands, of no particular subgenre. I ended up bored by the show.

(I'm on vacation with Doug in town and am just getting this quick post in now, so I don't miss the week; I'll have to come back and edit it later to fill out the concert review some.) (August 30: Okay, here's the rest.)

The Nice Machine were a quartet playing early-80s-style top-40 rock, resembling Pat Benatar, or Foreigner, or even Kiss. In fact, they quoted from Kiss's "Rock and Roll All Night" in one of their songs. Although they deserve credit for playing their own original music (despite the Kiss reference), they never sounded very interesting to me - and it's well-known that I have plenty of love for modern takes on music from that era. The lead singer played up her reasonably-attractive appearance with gestures and attitudes that were meant to be sexy, but felt like she was play-acting at being a rock star. In short, the whole band came across as pretentious, acting at being a serious, genuine rock band but not making me believe it.

Of the three bands, I enjoyed The Paul Lynde Fanclub the most. The Fanclub are a trio of guitar, bass and drums, with the drummer serving as lead vocalist as well. Unlike the Nice Machine, they conveyed both a sense of quiet competence and genuine musicianship, and also a sense of wit and humor. Unlike the Young Fresh Fellows, they showed some inventiveness in their music. Although I wasn't inspired to pick up their CD, I'd still like to hear them again at another show.

I'm familiar with the Young Fresh Fellows for two reasons: they were name-checked by They Might Be Giants in the song "Twisting" off Flood ("she doesn't have to have her Young Fresh Fellows tape back"), and they have a catchy theme song that KEXP has played before. I was looking forward to hearing the theme song, and hoping that their other songs would prove to be just as catchy on first listen. Their music was generally uptempo and good-spirited, and I enjoyed it at first. As it turned out, about halfway through their set I realized I was simply bored, tired of the series of similar-sounding unfamiliar songs. The crowd around me was clearly having a great time, but also pretty clearly consisted of people who were in college back when the Fellows got started. When they finally played their theme song toward the end of the regular set, it was good, but not worth the long wait through the rest of the material. They proved to be a decent good-time college-bar band, but they're not my thing.

Saturday night I did end up going to see Kinski at the Crocodile Cafe. A group called Unnatural Helpers opened, and IQU (pronounced "eek-oo") held the middle slot.

I hadn't actually eaten dinner yet, so I sat and had a hamburger through most of Unnatural Helpers' set. I could hear them just fine though, and they sounded like a typical hardcore punk band to me, down to each song being no more than two minutes long. To their advantage, at least they had a lead singer, not a lead screamer. However, they managed to fully capture my attention at the end of their set. They announced that they were going to perform a new song that they'd just written the night before, and then broke into a Kinski song, "The Wives of Artie Shaw" (from their latest album Alpine Static). This was a bold move, and particularly amusing when they got to the part of the song featuring wild flute-playing and all the band members sang/hooted a rendition of that part. As I'd finished dinner, they were able to get me out of my set to actually go watch them play, so I discovered they're a five-piece with two percussionists (at least on that last song).

IQU were a band I'd heard of before, and when a song by them played on KEXP the day before, I said "oh, these guys are IQU!" (After diligent searching of their great playlist archives, I found that the song in question is "Flower and Moon" from Chotto Matte A Moment!.) I'd heard that song several times before on KEXP and it'd caught my attention enough that I'd recognized it, but I'd never been interested enough to write down the band name. Well, they certainly held my interest that night. The band is the duo of Kento Oiwa and Michiko Swiggs, though they included a live drummer (who was called "Chavez!" by someone in the audience). IQU plays electronic pop with a healthy dose of breakbeat (impressively drummed by Chavez) and Eurodisco. Michiko played three keyboard/organ synths and sang on a couple songs (using a vocoder for one), while Kento played an eclectic mix of theremin, guitar, turntable, and more synth - generally all in the same song. Kento is a virtuoso on theremin, and the instrument took the role of "lead vocals" on a few songs, including a cover of "Loving You" that (my sister) Andrea would've loved.

There's not much that I haven't already said about Kinski; they do an amazingly powerful live set of hard-driving art rock, and I love them. One thing I noted this time was the quietly efficient way they all came on stage and started setting up their gear before their set, it struck me as very professional-looking. Another thing was how much broken hair was hanging off the bow that the bassist uses occasionally on her guitar, and I kept wondering how often she has to have it rehaired but didn't have a chance to ask after their set. I did think that I'd like to hear a few more of their older songs in concert, though I also realized that I only had their previous album and they have a couple others, so I wouldn't necessarily know if they played any older material. Still, they're always great in concert, and I know I can rely on them whenever I want to go see a good show.

I bought IQU's newest album, Sun Q, and also an older Kinski album, Be Gentle With The Warm Turtle, getting the UK version which has an extra track. I haven't listened all the way through either album yet, but both have good stuff on them.

I may catch one more show in November, as The Fading Collection are playing Chop Suey next Monday. As for December, Echo and the Bunneymen (!) are playing Neumos on Saturday the 3rd; with December being busy in general and also with my plan to go back East for Christmas, this is likely the best show for me to catch. I'm just wondering whether it'll sell out, perhaps I ought to buy a ticket in advance.

February's concert was Mates of State, Aqueduct, and Smoosh, at Chop Suey. I knew at least one track by Mates of State and I'd been wondering what their other stuff was like. I had no idea they were so popular however; when I arrived at 6:30 there was already a long line to get in (doors at 7), and by the time I finally got into the building, I'd completely missed Smoosh's set and Aqueduct was just about to start. That was too bad as I'd been looking forward to hearing Smoosh live.

The venue was completely packed but I managed to find a decent spot to stand at the back with an okay view of the stage. Aqueduct, sadly, was blah. Mediocre alterna-pop, and the singer sounded to me just like the singer of the Long Winters, another mediocre alterna-pop local band. I was somewhat amused that their last song was the expletive-laden "Damn It's Good To Be A Gangster" - it seemed a poor choice for an all-ages show with the 10-and-12-year-old Smoosh as the opening act. Mates of State I did enjoy. They're a husband-and-wife duo on drums and keyboards respectively, with a lot of harmonized singing. I did not end up buying a CD though.

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March's concert was Kinski, Oneida, and Black Mountain at the Crocodile Cafe. This turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable show, and once again demonstrated that showing up for the opening act is always a good idea, because I never know when I'll discover a good new band I'd never heard of before.

Black Mountain is a five-piece out of Vancouver BC, with a guitarist/lead singer, female backup/sometimes lead singer, bassist, keyboardist, and drummer. This band seemed to have been transported directly from the early 70s - the guitarist even had that shaggy hair/beard look. There was a little funk influence in one song, but mostly it was straight-up classic guitar rock, in that style between blues and progressive. Their record label cites Zeppelin, the Velvet Underground, and Meat Loaf among the influences, and it's accurate, but here's the thing: Black Mountain sounds like themselves. That is to say, they're not just copying their influences, they have their own original take on the classic rock sound. And they were really good at it.

From the early 70s, the show jumped to the early 80s with Oneida. A three-piece on keyboards, guitar/bass, and drums, they had the look and sound of nerds for whom Devo and hardcore punk were divine revelations. Most of their songs were fast, loud, and raucous, with unintelligible vocals shouted or mumbled by the guitarist or keyboardist. The drummer also sang three songs, and his songs were slower and more like straight-up hard rock - and less enjoyable for me, as it happened. One thing the band did was announce before each song some variation of, "this next song was written by a band called Oneida out of Brooklyn NY; we're Oneida." It actually got more amusing each time, and late in their set when they paused and didn't actually make that announcement, I helpfully called out, "who's this song by?" They replied, "all the songs tonight tend to be by a band called Oneida."

Finally, the show concluded with the art rock of Kinski. It would be neat to complete the pattern and say their style was that of the early 90s, but that's not really the case; at least, not the early 90s of grunge and Nirvana. Rather, Kinski follows in the traditions touched on by Black Mountain and Oneida: classic driving guitar rock; lengthy instrumental prog rock; loud, chaotic, experimental rock. Don't let "art rock" or "prog(ressive) rock" fool you, either: Kinski are ferocious and overwhelming, not trippy and self-indulgent. This was my second time seeing Kinski, and I was just as impressed by their powerful sound as the first time. I need to buy more of their CDs; I highly recommend Airs Above Your Station, their last full-length album from 2003, and I'm looking forward to their new album due out this summer.