Tuesday March 2nd gives Seattle an opportunity to get a good gander at two members of what I’ll term the cream-of-the-crop of the newest cohort of local bands. Locally in just the last year Noah Gundersen has dominated the Q Cafe, Neumos, the Triple Door stage, and most recently headlined the Crocodile. The other rising name on this bill is a name that you probably already know from our coverage of them over the years and their recent connection with Barsuk: the Globes. To our minds both names, by way of their music, are likely to be known far and wide by the time 2010 comes to a close.

Gundersen, who is a name that is still relatively new to us, seems to channel something other than typical singer-songwriter fare. Along with his sister Abby and his band The Courage, Gundersen has taken up where Pedro the Lion left off, writing thoughtful, philosophically complicated songs that come from a young and faithful point-of-view while still being strikingly accessible to those who might not count themselves so religious. “Jesus Jesus” from his most recent EP release Saints & Liars is the song that’s really caught a our ears here at Sound on the Sound (as well as the ears of a host of others who told us to look into him), and is just one of many reasons that we think Gundersen is going to be playing to larger and larger audiences:

Courtesy of Chop Suey we’ve got 2 spots on the list to give away to one lucky winner for Tuesday night’s all-ages show. Drop your name and email (which remains hidden to the public) in the comments and we’ll randomly choose a winner on Monday at noon to have their name “plus one” on the guest list for this sure to be popular affair.

Make sure you and your friends get in to this rare all ages night at Chop Suey by grabbing tickets ahead of time via TicketWeb for $8.

The Globes at Georgetown Music Fest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Globes are going to SXSW this year. Though no official announcement from the Barsuk camp has made it’s way onto the net, we’ve known of their involvement with the label via seeing them make an appearance at the Barsuk holiday party, a few words in a column by Hannah Levin, and some other more informal channels. A look at the day-by-day schedule for SXSW and the Barsuk showcase gives us a clue that maybe we should be expecting an announcement soon about the partnership:

March 18, 2010
Red Eyed Fly
(715 Red River St) (18+)
Barsuk
The Globes 8:00 p.m.
Blunt Mechanic 9:00 p.m.
Pearly Gate Music 10:00 p.m.
The Wooden Birds 11:00 p.m.
Rocky Votolato 12:00 a.m.
Phantogram 1:00 a.m.

Local labels supporting locals bands is something we can always get behind.

Local Bands on the Showbox Marquee ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

 It may not be a pretty picture per se, but few things have looked more beautiful to us.

The Maldives and Moondoggies Sing-Along ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

2009 was an inspiring year for live music locally. My favorite shows ranged from intimate living room gatherings to huge festivals. They spanned genres from horror punk to hip hop to Ballard Avenue twang. They were almost all exclusively local, though I’ve seen a number of great touring bands in 2009. My hometown is where my heart is musically. Lucky for me (us all really) it was a banner year for local music, with a new found energy in the air and coming off the stages of Seattle. 

Seeing that we have a couple weeeks left in 2009, I’m hopeful there’s still another show in my near future that will be worthy of being dubbed a favorite. Considering how great 2009 has been, it would surprise me more if that didn’t happen. While this list isn’t ennumerated, it is in a hierachal order of most cherished towards the top.

David Bazan in an Edmonds, WA Living Room

Bon Iver at Sasquatch

Black Eyes & Neckties Final Show - Halloween in Bellingham

Doe Bay Music Festival

Nurses in a South Seattle Living Room

The Moondoggies at The Blue Moon

 The Maldives Three Night Stand at The Tractor

The Lonely Forest, Telekinesis, and The Globes at the Showbox

 Blue Moon’s 75th Anniversary Shows

The Rural Alberta Advantage at The Sunset

 The Ironclads Final Show Before Hiatus

Widower with Pearly Gate Music at the Sunset

 Fresh Espresso at Seattle Weekly’s Reverb Festival

Hey Marseilles and all of the Bean Room Shows at Cafe Vita During Capitol Hill Block Party

J. Tillman and Pearly Gate Music at The Sunset

A Gun That Shoots Knives and Doctor Doctor at Neumos

Mad Rad at Sasquatch

The Ironclads CD Release Show with The Whore Hands and What What Now at Holy Mountain

D. Black CD Release Show at The Crocodile

The Lonely Forest at Bumbershoot

Though I don’t have a photo to include with the list Regina Spektor’s sold out show at the Paramount is also one of my very favorite concerts  of 2009.

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Why is my heart so full? - “Centennial” by the Lonely Forest

The Globes welcomed us to the Showbox as we waited in a healthy early line for will call and attempted to get a lay of the land. The unsigned (for now) Seattle foursome fills a niche for rock that occasionally taps the modern edge of Radiohead but more often veers into Pavement territory, the raw but sweetly rhythmic guitarwork and slightly pitched vocals included. We’ve been watching these gents grow for some time now, and a relentless work ethic is starting to set them apart. These guys always play like they would rather be doing nothing else.

The second band to take the stage, Telekinesis, is a band in flux, despite being the only band with significant label support in the form of Merge Records. This night marked Chris and Jonie Broecker’s last night as members of Telekinesis after a year of touring with the band through 2009, while producer/Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla filled in on auxiliary guitar for regular Chris Staples, who I suspect may still be out with an injury. Even with change on the horizon, and with this special backing for this special occasion, Telekinesis frontman Michael Lerner was also making his first go at the Showbox, and so had a whole lot to prove. If not to anyone else then at least to himself.

The floor’s full all-ages section appeared just as enamored of Lerner’s quirky daydreams as one would expect of a headliner, providing a robust choir of “oh oh oh’s” on Tokyo like most adults would be embarassed to sing, and mouthing the rest of the words with the air of genuine fans. Taking a turn of three songs at the acoustic, “I Saw Lightning” rang of early Death Cab and the “Foreign Room” mid-song transition to drums from acoustic takes a pages from Walla & friends more recent temperament. Anchoring his set with this blog’s favorite song “Coast of Carolina,” nobody in the seemed reluctant to add their own “na na, na na na na na’s” into the mix as he began, or dance their pants off until it was over.

The Lonely Forest, with their name on the marquee, were without a doubt the focus of the night. That they attracted so many people, fans of specifically them, on the Friday following Thanksgiving, was a mark in the win column before they’d even played a note. And yet the band spared no energy in playing to that crowd. I didn’t really expect any less considering frontman Jon Van Deusen can barely contain himself when he tries to, but considering that this night may have been their biggest yet, a whole ‘nother level of excitement must have been pulsing through his arteries. When bands coming up in Seattle are thinking about “making it,” playing the Showbox is pretty much the definition of “making it.” (Rolling in bags of money is not part of that definition.)

Early on “Two Pink Pills” and then “Centennial,” both with super-fan sing-along intro’s and choruses, revealed the pent up anticipation wasn’t just on the part of the band. “Centennial’s” repeating line “Why is my heart so full?” somehow seems to sum up the teenage experience, and of anyone, the youngest in the room screamed the refrain with the naivete and earnestness that only that youth can provide. “Mt. Constitution’s” round and then “Tomato Soup” gave the girls in the audience their time to shine, and they it seemed, were even less reluctant than the boys to play their part in the choir.

“We Sing in Time” was the set’s final flourish, the apex of which had the most enthusiastic all-agers in a flurry activity right in front of Van Deusen’s own microphone. With a nod to the girls getting crushed up front he finished the song by offering himself up for sacrifice to quell the crowd, floating on top for only a second before being swallowed up in appreciation. For an encore Van Deusen offered a number on piano, before finally finishing off with the aptly titled “They’re Onto Something,” a song where he traditionally loses all body control and careens around the stage with no regard. That he’d contained his nervous excitement to this point was impressive, but pressure had built up so much that by the end of the song, after jumping off of every conceivable object on the stage, he bulldozed his keyboard into the front row and found himself five rows deep in the crowd.

With your name on the marquee you get to do stuff like that. People expect it and cheer you for it. And if it were just a lot needless antics and posing, I’d probably take issue with it. But for Van Deusen, it’s not like that at all. That movement is channeling something he obviously needs to express, and hardly calculated, it feels like a window into the tumultuous chaos brewing just under his skin, possibly the same chaos that’s fueled the experiences that led to writing of many of his songs. The “Body Electric,” indeed.

Telekinesis ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Telekinesis ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Chris Walla in Telekinesis ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Flickr: The Lonely Forest, Telekinesis at the Showbox at the Market

Thanksgiving is all about coming to the homeland and taking time with family, and this year many of our town’s recent favorites and up-and-comers are doing just that by joining forces to keep a usually quiet weekend very entertaining.

Black Friday at the Showbox at the Market is a doosie of an all-ages triple bill, with Anacortes based Lonely Forest headlining the venue for their first time, but certainly not their last. From the side of the stage at Bumbershoot, a fellow long-time respected music writer told us that the local adoration for and momentum behind the Lonely Forest reminded him of the buzz behind an early Nirvana. Joining the Lonely Forest will be Telekinesis, the Merge Records-supported band led by Seattle’s Michael Lerner, and fellow Burning Buildings Records signee’s the Globes. This group of bands is in a way a summation of this years list of the best young pop bands from our area, so you can’t go wrong hitting this one up.

Saturday at the Showbox at the Market might be an equivalent bill to excite another set of taste buds, tapping the list of Seattle’s strongest Modern American players. I think people are starting to get that the currently-recording Moondoggies are more than a bunch of slightly dorky, talented, flannel lovers. With their late-night blues jamming and repetitive lyrical themes they’ve struck a chord that now brings people out of the woodwork to dance and hoot and shout in enthusiasm at their shows, always. Local institution Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter along with Star Anna & the Laughing Dogs have the pleasure of warm-up duty, so treat a lady right, show some respect and show up early.

Friday November 27th at the Showbox at the Market
The Lonely Forest
Telekinesis
The Globes
All Ages, 8pm, $10 + fees at Ticketmaster

Saturday November 28th at the Showbox at the Market
The Moondoggies
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Here After
Star Anna & the Laughing Dogs
All Ages, 8pm, $14 + fees at Ticketmaster

Looking for a place to lose the in-law blues? The Crocodile’s Saturday show is an all Seattle band bill that’s an event in its own right due to the one night reunion of pop powerhouse the Lashes. Though they’ve been away you can be assured that Ben Lashes will have a gag or two up his sleeve and that you’ll leave with at least one Lashes melody stuck in your head even if you didn’t know it before. Because really that’s what this band is all about: infectious, person-to-person, fun. Thee Emergency, who knows a thing or two about how to entertain a crowd, and Curtains for You will both be opening, and considering our long time endorsement of the former and our recent endorsement of the latter, you know we’ve got an opinion about showing up late.

Saturday November 28th at the Crocodile
The LASHES for one night only!
Thee Emergency
Curtains for You
21+, 8pm, $10 via the the Croc

In recent years Seattle has called itself home to a number of stellar producer/wordsmith duos participating engaging collaborations: Blue Scholars and Common Market who’ve been holding it down for ages, last year’s White Van Music via Jake One, and this year’s breakout act Fresh Espresso all quickly come to mind. For this year’s list it looks like we’ll need to add the latest collab between Seattle’s Macklemore and producer/filmmaker Ryan Lewis, called Vs. The first single “Otherside” weaves a RHCP bassline into a horn section backing a Macklemore rhyme that takes me back to the early days of Slug & Abilities. Looking at the lineup for tonight’s two show EP Release party at the Nectar, you can count on this being the hip-hop center of gravity this weekend.

Friday November 27th At the Nectar Lounge

The VS. EP Release Party! featuring:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Early All Ages Show w/
Hella Dope
The Next Door Neighbors
Kung Foo Grip
DJ Sabzi
Hosted By Grynch
All-Ages, Doors at 5.30pm, $8 adv. at TicketWeb

Late 21+ show w/:
The Physics
Symmetry
Xperience
The Next Door Neighbors
DJ Terry Radjaw
Hosted by El Mizell
21+, Doors at 10pm, $8 adv. at TicketWeb

In short, this really complicates my usual post turkey day sleep schedule.

The Lonely Forest ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Just a word to the wise…don’t stuff yourself on Turkey Day left-overs on November 27th, lest you miss a stellar all local line-up at the Showbox. The Lonely Forest just confirmed the line-up for their first headlining show at The Showbox and what a line-up it is: The Globes, Telekinesis, and of course, Anacortes’ finest.  All three of these bands stand to burst out of the local scene in 2010 to find national acclaim. In fact, if I were to make a list of Seattle bands likely to break big nationally, there’s no doubt all three of these bands would be somewhere near the top of that list.

So, the day after Thanksgiving, give thanks to three great local bands and to the Showbox for hosting some amazing all local bills on their big stage. And don’t forget, you’ll be back at the Showbox on November 28th for another amazing all local bill featuring The Moondoggies.

And if you need further convincing, here’s a video from each of the bands:

The Globes:

Telekinesis:

The Lonely Forest:

Avoid the rain tonight by hanging out at The Skylark! Not only is it FREE, which is great in this economy, you’ll have a chance to see two great up and coming Seattle bands: The Globes and Magic Mirrors. Joining the local acts on the bill will be Silverlake’s Voxhaul Broadcast, who comes highly recommended from Sound on the Sound favorites The Local Natives. When we asked the Local Natives about some of LA’s best up and coming bands, Voxhaul Broadcast was the first name they mentioned. We planned on staying in tonight, but after seeing this line-up, we’ll definitely be making the drive across the West Seattle Bridge.

Lonely Forest Choir ::: Photo by Josh

Most of the time, the shows I attend at the Vera Project are pretty mellow affairs, but from the second I walked in the door I knew this was not going to be one of those nights. As we walked down the stairs to main floor, the Lonely Forest front-man Jon Van Deusen intercepted us with high fives and a warm welcome before bouncing off to attend to other details of the what looked to be an already successful, at least attendance-wise, evening. The Globes already were pounding away on the stage with abandon, off on one of their signature instrumental tangents.

This might be the first time I’ve actually seen the Globes play an actual venue on an actual stage. I’m sure they have before, but previously I’ve only ever caught them in festival-ish or record store settings. It’s a pain not being able to hear everything, since they cultivate layers and instrumental dynamics in the way of Radiohead in addition to sounding simply a thoroughly modern and young rock band. The Globes are well situated to continue to mature as a band on the all-ages scene and beyond.

The New Faces on the other hand might just be the reigning champions of the all-ages scene at the moment, following a jam-packed calendar in banner 2008. In that time both Nico and Kyle have really picked up on the stage presence, moving around and having a whole lot of fun, feeding and feeding-off-of the very excited front rows. What the crowd couldn’t find in the Globes unconventional structures, the New Faces could deliver in spades, and led by a cadre of excited teenage girls(!) the crowd obliged with bouts of dancing and hyperactivity.

The Wild Orchid Children, after an extended sound-check immediately encountered issues with lead singer Kirk’s microphone cable. After instrumentally jamming for 10 minutes while the sound crew figured things out, the band was left with 10 minutes, and then time was up. The set was over as suddenly as it had started and a crowd that had been teased was left I think unsatisfied. I honestly felt sorry for everyone involved.

That the entire crowd still remained present and really was all there for the Lonely Forest wasn’t a surprise at all, and in fact I was pretty happy to see that a band I predicted had a ton of potential has been reaching it. Even way back when Van Deusen was manning the piano full-time I felt like these gents had something special, but now in addition to his natural charisma they’ve got some damn catchy pop songs and the overflowing energy to pull it off. Upon hearing lead single “We Sing in Time” on a homemade EP, packaged in pink cardboard paper and decorated with farting elmo stickers last year, visions of screaming masses freaking out were already entering into this band futures.

That this vision was brought to life on the night of the record’s release party only serves to reinforce that sense that the Lonely Forest experience will be around for a while. The new mini-community of adorers that they create each night when they play through anthemic sing-alongs and invite the audience to be their friend is just as much a part of the lure of this band as the songs themselves, and the promise of a return to that joyous-togetherness feeling will bring people back time and again.

Van Deusen was obviously beyond amped at the turnout for this night, and before the first song had even finished in a fit of wild guitar playing he had upended his electric piano. In the time since I’ve last seen the band they’ve added a second guitarist, and for this special show they recruited thirty friends from the hometown Anacortes High School choir to sing backup on selected songs. Whether dancing or belting out a chorus, it seemed like just about everybody was physically invested in making the set go off well in one way or another.

“We Sing in Time” was saved for last. After the crowd demanded an encore the curfew allowed for just one more song. The band passed cookies out to the crowd, and after downing a sugar shot he didn’t need, Van Deusen launched into the final number. Afterward as we allowed the room to empty, packs of teenage girls flitted from room to room buzzing about how cute everyone was. A lonely cigarette roller along with a nicely hand rolled cigarette lay at the foot of the stage, forgotten as the exhausted patrons filed out (I didn’t smell anyone light up). As they ascended the stairs, a smile and a copy of We Sing the Body Electric appeared to be almost the universal take away from the night. Could the Lonely Forest have asked for a better result? I’d have to say not.

The Lonely Forest ::: Photo by Abbey

VERA Crowd ::: Photo by Abbey

Wild Orchid Children ::: Photo by Abbey

New Faces ::: Photo by Abbey

Flickr: The Lonely Forest CD Release Party at the Vera Project, April 24, 2009

The Lost Episode ::: Photo by Abbey

You would think that a writer currently “employed” by a Seattle-based music blog like Sound on the Sound would have a pretty deep background in terms of, well, the local music scene.  You know a wide-reaching knowledge of what has come before, what’s currently happening, and what trends are like to take off in the local scene.  Well, I’m a writer currently “employed” by Sound on the Sound and my knowledge of the Seattle music scene (no matter that I’ve lived here for all 26 years of my life) is pretty pathetic.  Under the tutelage of Abbey and Josh I’ve started to change my ways, but it’s learning process, and a slow one at that.

Thus, I was pretty damn excited to score a free pass to last weekends Georgetown Music Festival.  A chance to not only meet Josh and Abbey in person for the first time, but also to immerse myself in some of the lesser known names popping up around town.  I had big plans, clear my schedule for the weekend, attend every hour of every day of the festival both Friday and Saturday - generally geek out on the goodness currently flowing from our little town.  That was the plan at least.

Friday, due to complications involving women, moving and alcohol was entirely a bust.  Not one set scene, not even a foot set in the general area.  It was okay though, I’d make it down for Saturday, and plant myself at the festival, see everything from The Globes to Thee Emergency.  Yet, a forgotten appointment with the Mariners for Father’s Day and a late start due to the aforementioned alcohol, cut my time short, allowing me only a brief, yet highly enjoyable slice of the greatness that is/was the Georgetown Music Festival.

My thoughts are brief, but I’d thought I’d at least break down the bands I saw and offer a few observations.

1.  I’m a terrible festival attendee.  I’m unable to either create and/or follow a schedule, and often times find myself more inclined to search out cheap beer/drugs in favor of seeing a band.  This usually leads to me catching a couple songs of a lot of bands that I really had no interest in seeing in the first place.  On most occasions this is a bad thing, but for some reason at GMF I just sort of followed my beer-stinc, Abbey and Josh’s recommendations, and was able to see a handful of pretty interesting acts in the short amount of time I was there.

Read the rest of this entry »