Those of us who have lived in northern enough climes to experience snow in the winter months are the ones who, I think, can most perfectly relate to the mood of Lee & Willbee’s debut album North Carolina. A dichotomy of cold and warm permeates the album; much like the shiver of reality you receive emerging from bed on a frigid winter morning, with covers still wrapped tightly around your shoulders, planting your feet on the shock of cold floor, you move to evaluate what the world has brought overnight. When you pull your curtains, the world that awaits you is silent and pristine in a layer of white. It is a scene both familiar and strange, where each step forward is uncharted, no matter how many times you’ve walked that same path. North Carolina seeks to warm that snowbound silence, as much as it urges you to go out into that cold whitened landscape and explore the world anew.

Though North Carolina is moody and melancholy, this geographically dispersed threesome’s folk-meets-Notwist sound still maintains enough humor to celebrate life’s simpler pleasures: fornication, a 40 and a sack, and the resignation of self determination. The making of North Carolina recalls the making of Postal Service’s Give Up as it was crafted and recorded by three friends who currently live thousands of miles apart: Markus Willbee in Salt Lake City, Lee Chameleon in Chicago, and guitarist Patrick Roche in Seattle. The comparisons don’t stop there,  songs like “Loves Not Worth It,” feature the long delay and reverb of early Death Cab records and the album swoons with the downtrodden yet warm electronic strains of the Postal Service. Unlike other current Postal Service comparisons, this isn’t a “Ben Gibbard should kick these guys in the shins” comparison, rather the spirit of the album and how it was made is much in the same vein of what made Give Up so special.

Though electronic elements are threaded throughout the record, the nine songs still retain a distinctly low-key “bedroom” feel that envelops the listener and communicates the analog reality of the material. Given it’s such an intimate sounding album, North Carolina is best when listened to on headphones, or while driving alone in the car, where the beat of windshield wipers on high seem to perfectly keep time with tracks like “North Carolina” and “Tumbleweed.” The stand out track of the album “Day of Sunshine,” which journeys from weeping resignation to reassuring anthem, is one of my most listened to songs of 2009. North Carolina is an album well-equipped to warm the freeze of a mid-western sized blizzard or a broken heart, and it is filled with reminders to keep moving in the wake of loneliness and lost love. It is a fast winter friend.

It seems I wasn’t  the only one who felt a distinct sense of season with this record. The person who filmed the band’s first video for the song “Snowtrain” used dark winter scenes entirely:

There are few bands making music today that I love more than the Hopscotch Boys. And I adore just about everything about the band–from the in-your-face, is-Blowdog-secretly-screaming-from-behind-my-speakers? way their record plays to the unmatched insanity of a live Hopscotch Boys performance.  No band has yet to match the sheer spectacle that is a Hopscotch Boys performance, so it is safe to say the only thing I would change about this week’s recommended show is that it is the bands last.

Based on my past year of dedicated attendance of Hopscotch Boys shows, I can guarantee that somehow this Saturday you will see at least one thing that is crazier than any of the following previous stunts–the Hopscotch headlock, Santa Blowdog,  witness a near stabbing, the great glowstick fiasco,  human neutering, beer can in the face, an innocent groundhog day puppet show, creepy serial killer masks , insulting personalized drumheads, and/or a whipping. There is no doubt this show will be one for the ages and likely a performance that straddles the line between art and misdemeanors.

The last Hopscotch Boys show ever will also featured a few other great bands, including two of my local favorites Thunder and Thunderbird Motel. There is nowhere else to be in Seattle on Saturday, as far as I am concerned.

Thunder::: Photo by Abbey

Thunderbird Motel:::Photo by Abbey

Shy in Sunshine, what was once a side project for Hopscotch Boys guitarist Sneezy Waters Jr., made their live debut at The Blue Moon on Thursday night. It’s apparent that Shy in Sunshine is a labor of love for Sneezy, who admits to spending over five years on the songs which make up the debut recorded release, Patriot Music.

I was especially excited to see how the songs off of the lush Patriot Music, which includes cello and piano, would sound re-imagined for a very rock’n'roll three piece. Currently made up of a few fellows from Sneezy’s musical past, Dave (Fred X) on bass from Hopscotch Boys and Tommy on drums from Chuck Yeager, Shy in Sunshine started with a beautiful rendition of “Father Time” (the first song off the album) and erased any worries that the delicacy of the songs would be harmed by the abbreviated arrangements. Despite lacking the weepy cellos, Shy in Sunshine’s three piece renditions seemed to somehow highlight the song’s heartache even more.

The band treated the audience to the complete track list from Patriot Music, as well as a song “God’s Green Earth,” which didn’t make the cut. True to the perfectionist nature of the album, Sneezy told me even with five years of work, he just couldn’t get the production right on “God’s Green Earth” for its inclusion. The new tune, as well as my favorites from the album, sounded as if they had been served well by Sneezy’s high standards. Each sounded more beautiful and heart felt than the last.

Starting tomorrow Sound on the Sound has a solid few days of one great show after another!

Tomorrow, we wouldn’t dream of missing our friends from San Diego, The Antiques, perform at The Comet. We’ll be relaxing with beers watching all you guys packed over at the Vampire Weekend show. If you didn’t catch the last Antiques show in Seattle, and we promise, you didn’t–because we were just about the only folks there–you’d be a fool to miss them tomorrow night. Last year I stumped the guys by requesting a song they had never played live, save the time they’d recorded it. They were total champs and played it anyways, making my night.

Thursday we’ll be at The Blue Moon to enjoy Shy in Sunshine’s first live performance. Shy in Sunshine, is 2/5ths of the Hopscotch Boys, led by Sneezy Waters Jr. If we weren’t long promised to attend the Shy in Sunshine show, we’d be over at the Sunset celebrating with H is for Hellgate and enjoying a few new Hellgate tunes.

On Friday we’ll be celebrating the wonder that is The Wig Fits All Heads pr and it’s phenomenal leader, Ashley. Another Wig Bash–another excellent line up. Friday’s Seattle show will be at The High Dive featuring Das Llamas, Shim, Hockey, and Bird Monster. Sound on the Sound is a proud sponsor of the event, and you should be seeing a little love this week for a couple of the bands who are playing.

And lastly, on Saturday, hell could open up and devour Earth, and I would STILL find my way to see Iceage Cobra’s Official Return to Seattle show at the King Cobra. I am hoping the King Cobra stage, which I haven’t see yet, will have a few design elements to make the following shenanigans possible.