When you think of Seattle you think of Modest Mouse, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney. Or you’re probably thinking of anything notable released by Sub Pop. And why is it that you’re still thinking about flannel? It seems that Seattle hasn’t been relevant since the early to mid nineties, a time that I suspect you remember faintly if at all. For the folks of my generation, Seattle barely exists but for what we know in our study of groups quickly becoming “classic rock”.
A band or particular scene takes the world by storm, overshadowing any development that fails to approach the drama and grandeur of the last. It seems that later national or international acts emerging from Seattle (cf. Fleet Foxes; Band of Horses; Death Cab For Cutie) don’t evoke the same association with place as their forebears.
This might have something to do with the way music is currently produced and consumed.
This may have something to do with the fact that Band of Horses is now based in South Carolina. And Death Cab For Cutie is actually from Bellingham, a town [1.5] hours North that a non-Northwesterner would have no clue about.
No matter what the reason for Seattle’s seeming invisibility on the modern music scene, the fact remains that good music is indeed being made there; music worth knowing about. A brief and biased overview of said music is presented below; my Somewhat Random Selection Of Music I Find To Be In Some Way Significant To Seattle As A City Where Music Is Made. This is by no means an exclusive list; nor is this a list that pretends to make any statements beyond vague impressions of like and dislike. These picks are heavily influenced by my personal relationships with the musicians themselves. I do not pretend that this list is either complete or accurate yet maintain that it is as good an introduction as any to Seattle music. Totally missing from this list is any representation of Seattle’s Hiphop and Americana scenes.
iji
On his most recent release, Cool Dream, Zach Burba sounds like a combination of Edwyn Collins and Kevin Barnes. Or perhaps Stuart Murdoch minus perversion. Writing as iji since he was fifteen, Zach has like ten million self recorded releases and represents the music I like best out of Seattle. I saw iji play intensely to no one at the Ballard Mine—in my usual hyperbolic way I imagined that it was indeed something like what seeing early Belle & Sebastian may have been like. Now that I think about it, the B&S comparison doesn’t hold up compositionally or emotionally. I still, however, hold that there is a vague aesthetic resemblance—soft guitars, horns, and sincerity. Zach would later describe iji as a “Ska band”…
Live, iji is composed of friends representing 5-6 other projects (Sundance Kids, Megabog, Mill Kids, Huge Cookies, Gazelle), of which Zach is also a member, has been a member, or probably will be a member. He and his band are adorable.
Wet Paint DMM. Photo taken by: Ryan Furbrush
Wet Paint DMM is a three piece that sounds a little like DNA and a little like Ponytail. Their singer is theatric and their guitarist plays abrasive but effective lines and jabs under the singer’s yelping. Sometimes there is a neat delay effect on the bass drum. I’m telling you this once, and only once: this is going to be an interesting band to watch. I can’t wait to ebay their CD-R demo for 50-85 dollars next year.
Stephanie
Stephanie is a four piece that sounds a little like Joy Division with an iPod. The singer, however, is nowhere near suicidal. He wears fun costumes and is melodramatic in a self-aware fashion. The keyboardist is very tall and plays effective lines. Stephanie plays Cairo a lot. The bassist has strong cheekbones and was in a band called Dimples, since broken up.
Brain Fruit. Photo by bearclaw.
Brain Fruit play with a hand of bananas on their massive rack unit. They sound a little like something I would cite if I were on top of my electronic music listening. I think about the color ‘green’ when they are playing. They sound a little like this—lovely textures, repetitive patterns with minor alterations that build, moving the song to new places, sometimes a climax with a soloistic keyboard part or something. They play like two songs a set and look super professional and focused while they manipulate parameters and hit keys. They are my friends and are mixing my band’s record.
TacocaT
I want to marry every single member of this band. They sound a little like a faster, rowdier girl group in garage band formation. They are sort of flippant and very fun. I used to work with both the drummer and the singer. I utterly failed a job interview with the singer’s current employer.
Pill Wonder
They are good. Don’t know much about them besides that they are signed to Underwater Peoples, a D.C. label, have at least one good song (“Wishing Wale”) and have possibly broken up.
PWRFL Power. Photo by Anna Ryon.
Kaz is the reason I moved to Seattle. Really—while pondering my possible move, I walked into a café in West Philadelphia with the intention of working on a final. As it goes, there happened to be a show at the café and Kaz was on the bill. I found out that he was from Seattle and took it as a sign.
Butts. Photo by Kyle Johnson
Two-girl garage group sings about panty exchanges and smoking. Their band logo features the band name, a ¾ profile of a set of buttocks taking the place of the “B”. They are really funny and nice on stage. I have conversations with both of them on Facebook and in person and they both seem like genuinely nice people. Not sure if they are in it to “make it” or if they are having too much fun to even think about it.
Herr Jazz
We went on tour with them; they borrowed our drummer. In Portland, some Reed girl mentioned that his band sounded “a lot like Vampire Weekend”. Ben asked, “Who are they?” They are a wonderful band; Ben plays guitar like an Afro Jazz vampire (or something). Ben once stripped to briefs during a corporate sponsored show. This was after having us hoist him into the air during a song and before denouncing the sponsor. He connects well with positive youth who’d like to dance hard in a consensual manner.
Dave, who plays guitar in my band, and I saw them open for Gary Wilson at Nectar about a year ago. We thought it was OK but nothing to write home about. We agreed that they needed a drummer. I saw them last month at Cairo—they had a drummer and they were good. I think. I was squished in the storefront section of Cairo trying to talk to a girl. Still not terribly familiar with the music.
USF
Half of this chillwave duo writes for the Stranger music section. USF was originally named Universal Studios Florida. Wonder why they changed it. I saw them and did not like them.
Big Spider's Back
I “did sound” for him at the Ballard Mine. Meaning, I made sure that his mixer was turned up. He was pretty cool. I was about to unfavorably compare him to Panda Bear but I’m caught wondering whether that’s fair or not. I hear he’s moving to Brooklyn. I should probably give him a fair listen.
PartMan PartHorse. Photo Gregory Perez.
I don’t know much about them but they are supposed to be a big deal. I went to a show they were headlining to see Stephanie but missed Stephanie. I watched Dimples and Butts then decided to leave for another show. They apparently put a song out in which they “talked mad shit” on other bands in Seattle or something. I think they may be badasses.
The sound is somewhere between the keyboard-centric 80s bands like Human Nature (late Human Nature) and 80s R&B like S.O.S. Well, the band is comprised of mostly bass, drums, and keyboard; so hopefully that gives a better idea of the sound we’re talking about. Sometimes you start to get tired of the intro an want to change songs but don’t. This initial impression is very deceitful; as the best part of the group, the voice of lead singer Yukimi Nagano, often creeps in later into the songs. Nagano has a lengthy stretch outside of the band as well; with guest appearances on such diverse artists as Gorillaz (“Empire Ants” and “To Binge” on Plastic Beach) and Koop (on Koop Islands and Waltz for Koop) so you can tell that there are enough people that believe in her vocal abilities to invite a curious listener to check her out. Somehow, she easily stretches between R&B to Pop and to Jazz effortlessly in a similar manner to Sade, and it’s not only on the guest spots on other peoples albums but on Little Dragon’s as well.
