Pipsisewah ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Surrounding the re-release of Nevermind and the PJ20 anniversary there’s been a whole lot of navel-gazing about what “grunge” means for Seattle’s rock sound right now. While there are many ways of answering the question of what it all means, I largely agree with the survey of artists done by the Seattle Weekly in the lead up to their REVERB Festival. The collected opinion seems to be that there is no singular “Seattle Sound” and that the legacy of that era is manifest in the intense independence of musicians in our area seeking to find their own way. Instead of a sonic influence, it’s an attitude and ethos that came out of that era.

To my mind the sonic legacy of the Sub Pop explosion was that this town continues to have a special appreciation for rock n’ roll of all stripes. Seeing and hearing bands that rocked but that nobody seemed to be talking about was the initial reason for this blog. Though in this space we’ve certainly been focusing on music of all kinds lately, there is something unusually satisfying to finding a resonance of that sonic legacy in current bands. Maybe it’s seeing that Seattle’s international reputation for hard rock remains legit. Or maybe I really do just love the music that much. Something of both to be sure.

The bill we hosted at Columbia City Theater on October 14th with Dude York, Pipsisewah and The Golden Blondes is the loudest show we’ve booked since our days first booking at The Blue Moon. The kind of music that keeps bartenders busy and the crowd rowdy. And we’re just as excited about that today as we were three years ago. Maybe more so. Dude York swaggers with the unlawful presence and surety of professional party crasher who’s been given control of the keg. Gonna drink your beer, in your face, and recklessly have fun doing it. Soon he’ll probably be making sure your having fun too. Live Dude York embodies the “grunge” ethos more than just about any band I’ve seen while covering Seattle music for Sound on the Sound, flippantly cracking jokes and diving head first into dangerous territory by sampling the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” solo in a song titled to the effect of “Wherein The Coward Dude York Murders Kurt Cobain.” It’s a bold gesture that says much about the bands LOSER attitude and the legacy of that era today. Certainly a helluva lot of catchy hooks are this band’s bread and butter, but still, no sacred cows here.

The occasion for the show was Pipsisewah’s 7″ release, and their hour of 70′s jamz graduated the audience from Manny’s to Maker’s before we closed with a tallboy and the Golden Blondes. To call Pipsisewah’s set a ride wouldn’t be inappropriate, as lead guitarist Tim Gadbois points his Gibson like he’s reigning in a stallion. Bassist Jesse Bonn mounts a rodeo bull. Among the night’s bevy of great slingers, Blonde’s frontman Josey O stood out most as the rock archetype while repping his “New Sportcoat.” Bouncing across the stage he swings his guitar about with such a naturally kinetic stage presence it’s a wonder he gets any singing done at all. Bassist Johnny Nails (Ryan Leyva) matching him move for move and pose for pose with first class harmonies to boot cemented the night’s quality and solidified our answer to the question of how much of an active verb “rock” really is in relation to Seattle’s musical identity.

We were looking to present one angle, a possible answer to the question of the state of rock in these parts. Friday proved to be a convincing answer, but we recognize hardly the only answer or even the definitive answer. If anything that REVERB questionnaire reveals we shouldn’t hang on to the notion of a singular “Seattle Sound” too tightly. The musicians who live here aren’t viewing this place monolithicaly, and never really did, so it doesn’t really make sense for the rest of us to view it that way either.

Dude York ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Dude York ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Pipsisewah ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Pipsisewah ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Golden Blondes ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Golden Blondes ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth