Intelligence on the Intelligence

June 30, 2010 at 2:05 pm | Posted in Seattle | 2 Comments
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The new Intelligence album is called Males and is out on In The Red on 24 August. (I feel like MBV…actually this post would stop after the first sentence, the album artwork would be larger and a lot more of you would be looking at this if that were the case.)

This record is reported to be a full band effort as opposed to the regular Lars doing it all himself thing.  As evidenced by the track list it contains some songs previously released elsewhere, though they are undoubtedly rerecorded.  Chris Woodhouse is in the producer’s chair , as well as now being a full time member of the band.

1.  Bong Life
2.  Tuned To Puke
3.  Sailor Itch
4.  The Universe
5.  Like Like Like Like Like Like Like
6.  Estate Sales
7.  Mom Or A Parking Lot
8.  White Corvette
9.  The Beetles
10.  Chateau Bandit
11.  Males

In other related Intelligence news: this Thursday is the final Trainwreck of the summer.  Trainwreck is the monthly party that happens at the Orient Express where half of the Intelligence (Finberg and Susannah Welbourne) get all gussied up and perform as Puberty.  You don’t want to miss it.

The Cave Comes Alive

June 30, 2010 at 1:01 pm | Posted in Comet Tavern, Gigs, Seattle | Leave a comment
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Ty Segall & Idle Times at the Comet Tavern, Seattle | 28 June 2010

Prior to Melted I was on the fence about Ty Segall. After seeing him at the Sunset Tavern a few years back opening for Thee Oh Sees and Intelligence, I was kind of amazed how he played guitar, drums and sang all at once, but I thought the songwriting on his first two albums was  monochromatic and sonically they seemed a little flat. It was all  three chord jams that pegged the VU meter in the red. Listening to his self-titled debut or Lemons all the way through could be monotonous and a little bit mind numbing. Somewhere along the way Segall eschewed the garage for some acid.  Last year’s Reverse Shark Attack record he did with Mikal Cronin  and the single on Trouble in Mind (that included a cover Echo and the Bunnymen‘s Do It Clean) hinted at a move toward something a little different.  His third album Melted which came out earlier this month on Goner meets those heightened expectations and  is leaps and bounds ahead of than anything he’s done to date.  It’s got this rich garage-y psychedelic sound, and sees Segall hitting a sweet patch with regards to his songwriting.  Melted boasts songs so good they could make you start believing all of the wunderkind accolades this guy was getting early on are valid.

I’m not sure if the packed house at the Comet cared whether or not Segall was branching out as a songwriter or not. They mainly cared about getting their PBR’s and rocking out. The bar seemed a little overwhelmed for the thirsty mass of Ty Segall fans on a Monday night, but Segall was more than obliged to provide the jams for the rocking out part.   The set was sprinkled with a couple new songs, some older ones, but mostly concentrated on the new album. He set the bar high early on with the song Imaginary Person. While good on record, this song really shined displaying its huge unabashed pop hooks. Segall looked all California, with his sun bleached Surfer Joe locks and his laid back, rocker attitude. He sweetly dedicated songs to his muses, his home state California and the girl at the merch table, but forcefully delivered the garage jams. The set ended with Caesar, the song from Melted that features piano and Thee Oh Sees’s John Dwyer of going nutty on a flute. There was no piano or flute at the Comet just a killer song with a huge chorus and a room full of sweaty Ty Segall fans wanting more.

mp3: Ty Segall – Imaginary Person (from Melted, destined to be one of the better albums of the year)

Seattle’s own Idle Times opened as a three piece and sported a new drummer.  Leo Gephardt who is usually in the band only stepped out of the crowd and played guitar for one song, leaving Brian Standeford to handle all the guitar and vocals the rest of the time.  This downsizing didn’t seem to alter Idle Times’ ability to rock out. In fact, I think every time I see Idle Times I’m more impressed by them than the last.  To me, their songs evoke Led Zepplin and Bad Company without being too obvious. Their first full length is due soon from Hozac and is something you should keep your eye out for.

Unsuppressing the Tago Mago

June 28, 2010 at 8:11 pm | Posted in Music, Seattle, Vera Project | Leave a comment
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Eddy Current Suppression Ring at the Vera Project, Seattle | 27 June 2010

Last night at the Vera Project was the second Eddy Current Suppression Ring gig in as many days here in Seattle. Saturday night’s one at the Funhouse with Partman Parthorse and A Frames opening would have been my preferred show, but last night was the one I was able to attend, and I was put through the ringer by a couple hardcore bands that played first (I missed the Unnatural Helpers super early set). I’m a punk rock fan, but I never really got into hardcore. It comes off as too forced, contrived and you can’t dance to it. You can stage dive, but since all the bands last night set up on the floor that wasn’t a possibility (Q: Why does the Vera Project have a stage? A: Uh, I’m not sure). I guess you could also slam to it, but no one was doing that, it was a crowd full of head bobbers for both Iron Lung and the Slices. I couldn’t even bob my head, I just kind of endured it.

After the pummeling, polite gentlemen punks Eddy Current Suppression Ring was much needed relief. I don’t even think I would go so far as to call The Melbourn, Australia band punks. Their songs, may be informed by punk, but many of them extend into these shuddering-inducing Spacemen 3/Can-like jams that many punks would disavow. In a kind of immaculate conception, the band were born at a record pressing plant (Corduroy Records) where they use to work, and not an electrical substation as their name would suggest.  As the band set up and plugged in, singer Brendan warmed up with leg stretches the way a runner would, and then tightened his belt and put on his gloves transforming him from mild mannered dude to the maniac that stalks the stage like he is part avian, part dementia victim.

Instead of overwhelming our ears with relentless forced intensity though, Eddy Current Suppression Ring coaxed and cajoled it out of their songs.  Tuning Out began unassumingly with the raw chords of Mickey’s guitar, then bass and drums and finally Brendan’s vocals.  Each verse seemed to build on the next with the band feeding off each other, forming it into a turned-out groove.  The highlight of the night had to be I Admit My Faults which also started out slow and minimal, then built to a peak somewhere in the middle, and then somewhere after that Mickey’s guitar dropped out revealing a rhythm section that literally put shivers down my spine.  The entire room seemed to lock into the groove, the space time continuum slowed, I blinked and everyone was dancing and smiling, and I think I saw Lars Finberg of the Intelligence on the floor hanging onto Mickey’s leg.  That song last night was like a drug literally, altering minds and making people go nuts.  It wasn’t all long songs and jams, the band played stuff from all three of their albums including some under three minute highlights like Walked Into a Corner, Anxiety, Memory Lane, and It’s All Square, but it was the ones they stretched out that won the night.

mp3: Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Anxiety (from the highly recommended Rush to Relax)


Here’s some dark video of It’s All Square:

Update From Seattle

June 24, 2010 at 10:10 pm | Posted in Music, Seattle | Leave a comment
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In case you were wondering, summer has yet to arrive in the Pacific Northwest.  It’s nearing the end of June and we’re just now starting to shed our thick blankets of clouds and precipitation.  So enough with the weather update, let’s move onto the  music update.  This weekend is has a lot of music packed into it.  The rock and roll marathon is Saturday and there’s a band every mile.  I don’t know too many indie rockers who run marathons (not enough irony in it), but even if you’re not a runner you can get up early to see BOAT, the Purrs and the Redwood Plan play along the route.  If you’re not an early riser, the annual Georgetown Music Fest is this Friday and Saturday and starts a little later.  Friday the bands start at 6:00 PM and Saturday things get underway at 2:00 PM.  The line-up is always worth a trip down to the south of end of town and this year is no exception with Webelos, Pica Beats, Pink Snowflakes, Hotels and the Tea Cozies all playing.

If you’re more the stay at home type the rest of this post is for you. We’ll start with the  GGNZLA crew striking again, this time with the new Partman Parthorse record.  The song that’s gotten a lot of mileage around town is Emerald City Dollar Bin which is one big giant diss of Seattle bands.  Partman Parthorse are arty punk rockers and could never be accused of being too soft, cuddly and melodic, but it’s pretty funny to hear lead man/horse Gary Smith take the piss out of the Seattle indie scene (Dutchesse and the Duke? They make me wanna puke/Mount St. Helens Vietnam Band, more like Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Bland). If you’ve ever seen Partman Parthorse, you know then that Smith likes to strip down to his skivvies when they play.  Partman Parthorse? More like Partman Part-Underwear Model Wannabe.  Bonus: cover of the Intelligence‘s World Is a Drag.  They’ll be opening for Eddy Current Suppression Ring and the A Frames tonight at the Funhouse.

mp3: Partman Parthorse – Emerald City Dollar Bin (don’t be a dummy, get Emerald City Dummies from GGNZLA)


Consignment are a band that seem to be pals with the Shackles who’s Carlos Lopez (you may have seen his hilarious video for Butt‘s Panty Exchange) shot their video for sleepy sounding Always Tired. The band recently put out a cassette on Hi Shadow and have a 7″ due soon on Vancouver, BC’s Sweet Rot. If you’re like me, high and dry with no cassette player and waiting for the vinyl, here’s the Carlos Lopez directed video for Always Tired to tide you over.  The next Consignment gig is Monday, July 19th at the Comet Tavern.

The Night Beats sound like they should be from Austin instead of Seattle with their Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Black Angels, Woven Bones inspired sound.  No. A quick check and I can confirm they are from the Northwest.  I can also confirm that they have a 7″ due out on Chicago’s Trouble in Mind in July.  A couple of weeks ago Insound made it their mp3 of the week (whatever that means, besides a free song for us), and local blog Seattle Subsonic have been all over them as well.  Night Beats play Black Lodge on Monday, July 5th and will be at this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party.

mp3: Night Beats – H-Bomb (soon to be released on Trouble in Mind)

Picking up where the Turn-ons left off are Hunting Grounds.  They’ve got three songs up currently on Band Camp.  They’re all slow burners that definitely have a highly stylized UK slant to them.  It’s kind of precious stuff with whooshing keyboards evoking barren fields and gray skies.  I’m always pleasantly surprised when a local band goes all anglophile, and Hunting Grounds with these three songs have have me reaching for my  Suede, Sub Circus,  Roxy Music, and Bowie records.  Hunting Grounds play this coming Thursday, July 1st at the Blue Moon in the University District.

mp3: Hunting Grounds – Life In Ice

Former Catheter and Tall Bird Brian Standeford and his new band Idle Times finally have a full length record coming out after a couple of singles.  The self-titled album is coming out on Chicago’s Hozac later this summer.  You can get a preview over at Hozac’s blog thing.  They’re streaming Hey Little Girl in all of it’s paint peeling stupendous-ness.  Get an even more in your face preview when they open for Ty Segall this Monday, June 28th at the Comet Tavern.

Stream: Idle Times – Hey Little Girl

Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (and It’s Wintertime)

June 22, 2010 at 10:33 pm | Posted in mp3, Music, Psychedlia | Leave a comment
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The new Young Sinclairs is like a paisley slice of Forever Changes cake, an overgrowth of kudzu Murmers, a play where the characters are wearing Their Satanic Majesties Request wizard costumes, a Blurred Crusade to an Unguarded Moment, an Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, a Lolita Nation and a Clue leading to Megan’s bed.

Did the Roanoke, Virgina band record this in Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studio 25 years ago?  No.  For all intents and purposes the Young Sinclairs are a one man band on record and the one man is Sam Lunsford.  Is he an unsung genius or just another guy in his bedroom recording songs and putting them out on CD-r’s?  Based on his new album Chimeys (his seventh if your counting) I would go with the former.  After hearing this album you’ll likely find yourself wanting to catch up, searching out the other six albums.  For convenience and brevity, Kindercore released a sort of best of earlier this year that you can pick up and bring yourself up to speed.  If that ain’t enough, the Young Sinclairs also have a 7″ coming soon on Planting Seeds.  Gotta go, the paisleys and kudzu need tending in the garden.

mp3: The Young Sinclairs -Kind of Soul (get the limited edition purple vinyl straight from the source: Chimney Sweep Records)


mp3: The Young Sinclairs – Girl, I’m For Real (get the 7″ from Planting Seeds)

Gold Soundz From Cleveland

June 18, 2010 at 10:43 pm | Posted in Cleveland | 2 Comments
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Last time I was in Cleveland, it seemed to be dying.  The east side hangouts I use to frequent were gone.  I drove downtown and the streets were ripped up with construction.  Headed over to the Flats after that to discover empty streets where  there use to be boats, bars and booze everywhere. The city may be heading the same way as the majority of the country in regards to jobs, industry and economics, but musically there seems to be a little something going on.  Herzog are the latest of a current steady stream of quality bands coming out of this north coast city.

After a split single with UK band Yuck, Transparent records decided to take this promising Cleveland band along with them on the label’s first foray into 12″ records and albums.  The album is called Search and is steeped in the sounds of the 90′s similar to the Happy Birthday record that came out earlier this year on Sub Pop.  It’s heartfelt, earnest and at times feels like a desolate Cleveland street.  There are upbeat songs like Living Alone with its Vampire Weekend-like guitars, and the complete rock-out Paul Blart and the Death of Art, but it still has this pervasive sadness to it.  Sadness like Buffalo Tom use to do so well even when they were rocking out, or the plaintive kind that Pavement excelled at on songs like Range Life, Here and Summer Babe.  Nick Tolar has a voice that can do big and loud but also he also has a softer acoustic, folky side.  Culture of Faggots sounds like a Dylan song  and Steady Hands could be Crosby, Stills and Nash or Band of Horses.

As a whole, the record is a little scattershot, but the good songwriting keeps it from losing the plot. As a first record it’s pretty damn good, and I can see Herzog moving onto a much bigger label, but for now cheers to Transparent for unearthing this band with huge potential from a city currently not living up to its own.

mp3: Herzog – Living Alone (from Search, order one of those hard copy vinyls from Pure Groove or go for the bytes at BandCamp)


mp3: Herzog – West Boulevard

Another Pop Overload (This One Goes to 11)

June 13, 2010 at 10:22 pm | Posted in Craziness, mp3, Music, Pop Overload | Leave a comment
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It’s been a crazy week over here at Finest Kiss central.  The fiber has been clogged with ace songs piping from various points of dissemination.  Keeping up is a pain and a blast at the same time.  To quote one of those 80′s teen movies: Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. So in a futile attempt to keep up, let’s stop and look around.


This has been out since sometime in March, but it just showed up in my mailbox this week.  Ireland’s Girls Names do something that only Irish bands can do, and that is make gritty, anthemic indie rock.  They just sold out of the second pressing of their EP that’s out on Tough Love, but you can still get the superior Captured Tracks four song 12″.  They’re a little bit of A House some Power of Dreams and a whole lot of bombastic, reverbed goodness.

mp3: Girls Names – Graveyard (grab the EP from Captured Tracks)


Joining the PENS in the post post riot grrrl UK are Trash Kit.  Like the PENS they are a trio that bring to mind Huggy Bear, Skinned Teen and looking even further back the Raincoats and the Slits. Fame is a minimalist, hand clapping umm, riot.

mp3: Trash Kit – Fame (grab the album from Upset the Rhythm)


Moving back over the US of A, Frisco to be exact.  Wet Illustrated were born stoked.  California-speak for indie-rock surfers.  Their debut 7″ was recorded by Fresh & Onlys‘ Tim Cohen (where does he find the time?).  Wet Illustrated use to be a Television Personalities cover band.  I bet they know the Art Museums.

mp3: Wet Illustrated – Born Stoked (click here to buy their record from Corvette City Records)


This Many Boyfriends‘ single I Don’t Like You (‘Cos You Don’t Like The Pastels) could be the trainspotters’ single of the year.  Sounding like a meld of the Pooh Sticks and Art Brute and reinforcing the notion that in today’s society it’s not what you’re like, it’s what you like!

mp3: Boyfriends – I Don’t Like You (‘Cos You Don’t Like The Pastels) (pre-order from Thee SPC and be the first on you block to own it.)


I inadvertently saw Cloud Nothings at this year’s SXSW and was kinda smitten.   The Cleveland band’s  first album Turning On came out earlier this year and already the band is moving on.  A super limited 7″ came out on Group Tightener a few months ago and now Old Flame is about to unleash the Cloud Nothings next super jangly affair.

mp3: Cloud Nothings – Even If It Worked Out (per-order this from Old Flame, but hurry it’s limited to 300)


After three singles, former Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall is ready to release a full length album.  Going against the grain of her first three upbeat dancy singles she’s opted for a paranoid ballad.  Will her beau find her out as a uninteresting fake or figure out that Rose is the best thing to happen to him since, well, since forever?  We all know the answer to that, no?

mp3: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out (the single is up for order)


Shark Toys are from SoCal but remind me of the Intelligence albeit a much less blown-out Intelligence and one that grew up on Shrimper Records instead of  Wire the Urinals and Cabaret Voltaire.  Their first single came out earlier this year on Felter Skelter and it contains a song to live your life by…Stayed up all night and I listened to records…Yeah, I kinda know about that.

mp3: Shark Toys – Stayed Up (this 7″ is orderable from the venerable S-S records)


Oh man, is it good to hear the Vaselines again!  Last year when they played Seattle they did a couple brand new songs which gave us hope that a new album would eventually appear. Prayers have been answered, Sex With an X comes out in September on Sup Pop.  Amazingly this is their first new record in 20 years.  Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Eugenius and Suckle, but this new Vaselines’ song confirms the fact that they should have never broken up. Yeah the 80′s were shit, but at least they had the Vaselines.

mp3: The Vaselines – I Hate the 80′s (eventually buy-able from Sub Pop)


Oh my (Talula) Gosh, The new single from Amelia Fletcher’s Tender Trap is Heavenly.  Not only that, Do You Want a Boyfriend? is smart, cute(does he have to like the Jesus & Mary Chain?  Yeah, that would be heaven!), packed full of harmonies and sees the band swinging back towards a more guitar oriented blast of sound reminiscent of Fletcher’s two earlier bands.    The single comes on white vinyl and is out now, with a full album entitled Dansette, Dansette to follow soon.

mp3: Tender Trap – Do You Want a Boyfriend? (get your copy direct from Slumberland)


Aias answer the question: What happens when a C-86, lo-fi, girl group goes to Spain?  Answer, nothing really new, except it’s sung in Catalan.  That’s not really a gripe because these three chicas from Barcelona not only have the sound down but know how to write a song too.  It’s not really ground-breaking, that’s fine by me though, pushing the envelope is overrated.  Their debut 7″ recently came out on Captured Tracks 7″.  This song ain’t on it (but is still bueno).  It’ll be on their forthcoming album due any day now on Captured Tracks.

mp3: Aias – La Truita (take a leap and get the 7″ from Captured Tracks)


We have Bubblegum Lemonade to thank for making this post go to eleven. Their new single on Matinée is buzzing barrel of hooks and reminds me of a young Teenage Fanclub.    The A-side is a preview of the Scottish band’s upcoming second album.  It’s an ode to pirate radio, that uses the Beach Boys’ Caroline Knows for some kind of double entendre.  The single comes on red vinyl with two b-sides one of them Stalling and Laughing, alludes to hometown heroes Orange Juice, and is limited to 500 copies.

mp3: Bubblegum Lemonade – Caroline’s Radio (get some from Matinée)

The Purrs Tearing Down Paisley Garden

June 9, 2010 at 9:46 pm | Posted in Music, Paisley Underground, Seattle | Leave a comment
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The Purrs kick off their latest EP with a Red Lorry Yellow Lorry Cover.  Only Dreaming which comes from the Lorry’s album Nothing Wrong was kind of a plodding dirge from the UK quasi goths.  The Purrs on the other hand make the song soar.  Guitars come diving in from multiple directions and Jima out disaffects the Lorry’s Chris Reed with his dead-pan vocal.  The Purrs vastly improve on the Lorry’s source code, altering it to the point of making it their own.

Tearing Down Paisley Garden seems to be a kind of a stop gap between albums where the band hone their spaced-out paisley rock.  It allows them to stretch out and clear the closet of old favorites that they never gave enough attention to, do a couple cover songs, and fit in a couple new ones that didn’t quite fit onto last year’s Amused Confused and More Bad News.  Live favorites Just A Little More and It Could Be So Wonderful finally get laid down to tape, and there’s another cover in Lee Hazlewood’s I Move Around.  The Purrs have been going for ten years with no signs of slowing.  Tearing Down Paisley Garden continues the Church, Luna and contrary to the its title, Paisley Underground direction.  The band seem to have the uncanny ability to toss off laid back spacey vibrations without raising their heart rates.  Here’s to their continued good health and the next ten years.

mp3: The Purrs – Only Dreaming


Order up your copy of Tearing Down Paisley Garden direct from the band. If you live around these parts, be sure to head on over to the Crocodile for the their CD release gig on 24 June.
mp3: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry – Only Dreaming

The Green Flash of the Spires

June 8, 2010 at 9:57 pm | Posted in Music | 2 Comments
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Late last summer the ultra-laid-back sounds of the Spires hit me by surprise with their second album A Way of Seeing.  The three piece Ventura, California band are back with an EP entitled Curved Space that picks up right where they left off last year.  You can tell the Spires come from a sea side town, their songs have this kind of oceanic quality to them that evokes set after set  of waves rolling onto the shore. The sing-song quality of Jason Bay’s vocals have a tenderness to them that makes me think he’s somehow related to Martin Phillips of  seminal New Zealand band  the Chills.  The relation isn’t a blood one, but one of the Pacific Ocean and aesthetics.  The seven songs have a woozy essence to them, partly informed by shoegaze, psychedelia and the ocean.  Shimmering guitars easily bring to mind surf, sunsets and endless summers.  This most certainly is a record that was made to be brought to the beach and played as you wait for that green flash.

mp3: The Spires – Dreamer In My Mind

Order up your copy of Curve Air from the Spires’ label Beehouse Records and check out this video for Orange Yellow, another song on the EP.

Gold-Bears // For Ex Lovers Only

June 4, 2010 at 10:24 pm | Posted in 7 inch, Singles, Vinyl | 1 Comment
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A couple excellent singles have recently hit the street courtesy of the fine folks at Magic Marker down in Portland. Gold-Bears are from the South.  Atlanta, Georgia to be exact. They have a kind of manic energy that the Judybats seemed to posses in abundance, and singer Jeremy Underwood has certain similarity to John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. With that said, you might assume they subscribe to the REM and Let’s Active school of thought.  What did your mother tell you about assuming?  Drop the needle on the record and you quickly realize they are firmly in the Wedding Present/Boyracer camp of blistering guitar sonics and feedback.  At first I thought they had figured out the secret to the patented Boyracer feedback, but then I saw that they had enlisted Stewart Boyracer Anderson on the b-side Jezzer.  Nothing like having a secret weapon.  Their debut Magic Marker single is three songs, over in a little over five minutes.  Gold-Bears don’t dilly-dally with their short songs that draw you in, knock you over then leave you with little birdies and stars in a halo around your head.  Look for their next single on Cloudberry.

mp3: Gold-Bears – Tally


Grab the white vinyl from Magic Marker

For Ex-Lovers Only hale from a strange place, Orlando, Florida.  If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that geography doesn’t matter.  Kids in Topeka have the same access to (once) obscure indie music as those in New York or Chicago.  First thing’s first, yes they’re named after a Black Tambourine song and yes they kind of sound like it, especially the a-side Coffin which is a everything an a-side should be: short, scorching and catchy.  The two b-sides are a little more restrained.  Scraps is an acoustic song displaying the band’s strong sense of melody and restraint, defying the their rookie status.  If they’ve got 5 or 6 more like the these then they’ll be making kids swoon and breaking hearts real soon.

mp3: For Ex-Lovers Only – Coffin


Another one on white vinyl, grab it from Magic Marker.

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