Arts Feature
The culture of watching bad movies because they're so terrifically bad has been growing, outside of the light, insidiously, for years and years. Edward D. Wood Jr. conquered, very early on, the art of having such awesomely misplaced judgment in one's own talent. In his stead-and especially in the '70s
Scene It
I don't make it down to Olympia as often as I'd like, but when I do, I make it a point to hit up two of the city's most well-talked about bars: The Brotherhood Lounge and Le Voyeur. Each has its own personal charm, and I had an opportunity to
Features
I'm sitting here, staring at my keyboard, and trying to think of more to say about Lozen other than they f#@*ing rock. I guess that's ultimately the best place to start. Lozen - a two-piece, all-girl, alt-metal-experimental-tribal-etcetera band - f#@*ing rock. They exploit the limitations of having a band made up
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Calvin Johnson's history is filled with such odd touchstones (the iconic International Underground Pop Convention, Kurt Cobain talking shit about him in print) that it's sometimes easy to forget that he's still creating music that is obsessed with the tonally odd and the religiously low fidelity.
Features
For those of us who have grown up in the Pacific Northwest, who've been weaned on indie rock, and Pac NW indie rock in particular, the name Calvin Johnson is a known and loaded one. For the uninitiated, Calvin Johnson is - for all intents and purposes - Washington's indie
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Grab the Bat Killer is one man who sounds like a lost transmission from a very dark dance floor somewhere in the world, late at night, after booze and other substances have thoroughly infested the exhausted minds of after-hours revelers. The persistent beats are like desperate pleas to keep the
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For years, now, Colonies have been upholding the indie rock and shoegaze flag in Tacoma. While our city has its fair share of punk, garage, metal and psychedelic rock, indie music has not typically flourished. The success of Colonies (who have now been booked at Seattle's colossal who's who festival,
Features
To paraphrase Paul Simon: If you took all the mosh pits you played to in tiny rock clubs and brought them all together for one night ... Title Fight is a band that's finding out just how that would feel. "We started when we were 12 years old," says Title Fight bassist
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There's something perversely pure and bloody-minded about recording a 9-minute electro-opus about acne, but Johnny Unicorn does just that on "Break Out!" the opener to his giddily loopy double album, Thinking Hard to Overcome Nervousness. Musically, Johnny Unicorn can approach areas like the transcendent dance rock of LCD Soundsystem, the
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Taking cues from early hardcore, as well as perennial punk from the '80s, Portland's Autistic Youth make driving, anthemic stuff that'll clear up your sinuses. Songs rush by in delirious two-minute bursts of group cheering and insistent drumming. The band will be joined at Tahoma Tea & Co. by a
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I know I'll probably come off as naïve when I say this, but I am consistently blown away whenever I see a musician build a song with a looping pedal. The first time I saw this live, it was at an Andrew Bird concert, and I'm sure my jaw was
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Citing whimsical, prolific, minor-key songwriters like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson as influences, OK Sweetheart's M.O. seems to consist of crafting delectable nuggets of pop music that equally serve the heart and the brain. Frontwoman Erin Austin's delicately lovely voice stands front and center and is
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If I were to guess, I'd say that Sources in Code are not a band that would shy away from a label like "epic" or "mind-expanding." They describe themselves as progressive and experimental, but these qualities mainly manifest themselves in the form of these momentous, expansive
Features
I know I'll probably come off as naïve when I say this, but I am consistently blown away whenever I see a musician build a song with a looping pedal. The first time I saw this live, it was at an Andrew Bird concert, and I'm sure my
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Margy Pepper are one of the most adorable slash awesome slash rocking slash slash bands out there. If you like your punk with a sense of humor and maybe a little bit too much of an obsession with kitty cats, Margy Pepper is for you. The band's music is imbued
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As a writer in Tacoma, I've had the unique privilege of documenting SOTA alum Brad Oberhofer's group, Oberhofer, and their rise to fame in indie rock. Brad was an interview of mine in my first year of music writing. I spoke with him on a trip to New York. I've
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Recently, and very suddenly, Dave Graham was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma, and has since undergone painful and costly treatment to battle this vicious cancer. Sunday's benefit show will hopefully provide a little financial relief for Graham. But the biggest aspect of the event is to show Graham how much
Features
For all the guff Tacoma takes from outsiders and its own population for various exaggerated reasons, something I will always defend and take a certain modicum of pride in is that we take care of our own when it's called upon us to do so. Part of the reason people
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An album as astonishingly overblown as the '90s Smashing Pumpkins landmark, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, is uniquely suited for the astonishingly overblown treatment being given to it on Saturday. The over two-hour, 28-song concept album will be covered in its entirety by a cavalcade of local artists and
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Last year, I was melting in Austin, Tex., during South By Southwest. In a sticky haze, I found myself outside a blue theater. There, in the parking lot, I saw the best performance of my time at SXSW: the Back Pockets, from Atlanta, Ga. Some 10 or a dozen members
