This August marks six years of Sound on the Sound covering the Seattle music scene and beyond, and for the last two years we’ve been sponsoring the first Friday of each month with handpicked lineups at the Columbia City Theater. Our most recent Friday featured a few familiar faces from that time showing in support of the release of Hounds of the Wild Hunt’s new record “El Mago”
Opening in the Bourbon bar, Lonesome Shack’s country blues vamps proved us to be sleeping until now on one of Seattle’s best roots talents, who I’m told was at one point a Cafe Racer Tuesday night regular sporting tacks on his shoes for percussion. Any party with Strong Killings on the bill we’d be pleased to be a part of as they epitomize the irreverent attitude that brought Seattle’s version of rock and roll into view with the Sonics, and then some two-some decades later with Sub Pop’s efforts. Up third, Hobosexual doubled down on that humor, the hair and the skillz to lay their claim as Seattle’s shreddingist two-piece.
With their latest record The Hounds of the Wild Hunt are now fully engrossed in their more pop oriented ego. Though they might have shed some of the punk irreverance I loved so much with the loss of their old name (The Whore Moans), they’ve taken more control of their tones and now display a matured irreverance a la Paul Westerberg’s Replacements. Rock & Roll culture is as much a slick mainstream fashion statement as advertising angle in 2012; now any notion of counter-culture leanings among popular rock music is pretty laughable. The Hounds continue to ignore the memo by remaining a little rough around the edges, and so on their own terms are delivering provocative performances with an anthemic everyman grit.
