Day two of the Sub Pop festival was an abbreviated one for me, so I missed the reunited Green River and Beechwood Sparks as well as Wold Parade. Sacrilege, I know, but having kids puts a dent in my rock and roll lifestyle. Even having missed those bands, my day was still pretty good. Once again I got there early enough to see an empty Marymoor. This time though I walked in only a few minutes before the Ruby Suns were about to play. The band, if you can call them that, are down to two people. Not sure what happened to the third member, but Ryan McPhun alluded to this being he first time they’d played as a duo. I had seen them a few months back and been disappointed in their live show, so my expectations weren’t very high for them. The fact that their set seemed to be marred by sound problems with their backing tracks took away from any momentum they could muster with double drum attack. The sound problems weren’t audible to the small group of people watching, so they should have just played instead of making faces to the sound guy the entire set. The double drumming parts were good, but again it comes nowhere near their albums. What they need for their live show is a drum core, horns, strings, guitars and bass. Go buy their albums so they can afford to bring all that on their next tour.

In between Ruby Suns and Grand Archives I made my way to the beer garden for another tasty Snoqualmie Wildcat IPA. I know there were some complaints about the “expensive beer” but $6 microbrews at a festival is not expensive. People in Seattle don’t know how good they’ve got it, anywhere else you’d be paying $10 for crap beer. Oh yeah, Grand Archives. They look a lot tougher than they sound , but that’s not meant as a put down, it’s just that front guy Mat Brooke looks a bit like a kick-ass Hell’s Angel which belies the sweet melodies that come out of his mouth. I should have already seen these guys live, them being from Seattle and playing here a bunch, but this was actually my first time seeing them live. Until this day, I thought the album was a little underwhelming, but now having seen them live it puts it in a different light. Their set was so good it totally changed my opinion of them, and I’ve gone back and listened to their album three times in as many days. I’ve seen where they do Left Banke and Bee Gees covers in their set. The connection is a no brainer when you hear their songs up close, the melodies and backing harmonies are direct descendants of those bands. There weren’t any covers in their set, but they did include a couple new songs. Grand Archives’ set made me not so bummed to have missed the Beachwood Sparks later in the day.

Blitzen Trapper are the third band of the day and finally a few people are starting to arrive at Marymoor. It seems like the second day attendance is a little off from day one. I know that Saturday had sold out a week in advance, but Sunday still had tickets available. Hailing from down the I-5 in Portland, Blitzen Trapper signed to Sub Pop about a year ago, they have three albums to date, none on their current label, and none that I’ve actually heard. They seem pretty earnest, with their Dylan crossed with Creedence indie rock.

Seattleites, Kinski opened the smaller stage with a little shock and awe. Their rollicking garage jams have few lyrics, but none are really needed. Their (mostly) instrumental cowboy space rock was kick in the pants after a mellow morning and got the adrenaline flowing.

Foals didn’t let the energy created by Kinski drop even a little. In fact, the Foals came to play, and the totally lit it up. The band are just as tight as the first time I saw them back in February at Chop Suey on their inaugural visit to Seattle, except now they seem to have everything down a bit better. A much more confident band strode on stage Sunday allowing them to inject a looser feel to their wound up highly synchronized rock. Right from the start, Yannis Philippakis had a manic energy about him, grabbing the mic and bouncing it off of his drum, and then lashing out at his amp at the end of the French Open, slamming his guitar neck into his amp leaving a gaping hole in it. He then turned to the mic and smirkingly said This is the third time we’ve been to Seattle, and every time we come, here shit breaks. That’s why we like it here! He wasn’t kidding either, because a few songs later the drummer broke his snare drum. This kind of stuff would normally kill a band’s set, but they seemed to feed off of it. Later in the set guitarist Jimmy Smith hunched over, which is the way he normally plays, and blew chunks of vomit on the stage. Philippakis mocked him after the song, with some quip about stinking up the stage, but Smith persevered and the band seemed to kick the energy up another level. Their album is good, but live, these guys are playing at another level. The guitars ping-pong around the stage and the precise song arrangements are executed as if the band are in some kind of mind meld. Bruce Pavitt seemed to be impressed, because I saw him lunging through the crowd with his camera to get some shots of the clinic Foals were putting on. The Foals set could be summed up by saying shit broke, the band rocked, the guitarist puked and more shit broke!
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My friend Jim in Albany has a funny story about Les Thugs. He was at a CMJ Convention in New York and Les Thugs were on the bill, he overheard someone ask who was the next band to play, and the answer was (in heavy American stoner accent) It’s Less Thugs dude. Well as I turned to head over to the second stage I heard a guy telling his girlfriend Less Thugs is next. Poor French band, nobody can say their name right. No matter, after all these years they can still rock, even after minor technical difficulties at the start of their set. I always liked the songs where they would get into these long repetitious Can-like jams, that’s when they really clicked. They did that a few times in their set Sunday, seemingly putting everyone, myself included, into a French style punk induced trance.

No Age are the latest in a lineage of guitar and drum duos on Sub Pop. But unlike the Spinanes new wave and the Helio Sequence’s moody miasma, No Age are more akin to the SoCal school of punk mixed with needels in the red, shreds of noise from bands like Times New Viking. Their sound is geared more towards someone’s garage or basement instead or the huge outdoor setting of Marymoor. It seems like these guitar and drum bands always have a few really killer songs and the rest is filler, or maybe the dynamic wears thin over the course of an album making you just scream for a bass guitar by the end of it to fill out the sound. No Age don’t really prove any exception to this, their set was ok, and drummer Dean Spunt has kind of a goofy smart ass persona. He came out from behind his kit at one point and just sat on a monitor dangling his feet over the edge of the stage. I half expected him to do something crazy like kick a photographer or jump into the crowd, but he just casually got up and went back behind his drums. It’s kind of analogous to their music, you can see the potential for great things just under the surface and you keep waiting for it, but it never really arrives.

After No Age, I had to get back home, but even missing the last part of the day on Sunday, what a great weekend of music! I didn’t even mention the other extracurricular activities affiliated with Sub Pop’s 20th that were happening around town all weekend. You can read a couple Seattle and Sub Pop insiders’ run down of the weekend over at Blurt and General Bonkers. The Marymoor two day festival was just about perfect as far as festival go. The weather was perfect, not too crowded, beer wasn’t too expensive and you could actually walk around with a beer, you weren’t relegated to fenced off beer garden. The music was an excellent representation of the old Sub Pop and the new Sub Pop. The sound of the music being released by the label may sound different from 20 years ago, but the ideas and philosophy haven’t. People this weekend embraced both the old and the new from a label that looks like it’s never been better. So really, not much has changed, only now Sub Pop is 20 years old.

I was rally impressed by Grand Archives’ set on Sunday. Here’s video of one of two new songs they did.

Sub Pop 20 started off with a gaggle of people in front of the main stage. Apparently the rest of Seattle was not as excited about this festival as I was. My neighbor Bryan and I got there a little early and walked in as the gates opened at 11:00, I guess most people couldn’t arsed to roll out of bed for the first bands of the day. Marymoor park has regular concerts in the summer, but for this occasion they had added a second, slightly smaller stage to the left of the main stage, so that there was literally no down time between bands. Never having been to Marymoor park, I was surprised at how small the actual concert venue was. Not that I’m complaining, it made for a relaxed day, not too crowded, lots of shade, and pretty easy to get up as close as you wanted to see the bands. I also saw both Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt numerous time throughout the the day, not on the side of the stage watching the bands but down on the ground, just like rest of us.

All that I had heard about the Obits was that it was Rick Froberg of Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes new band. Thats pretty cool in and of it self, but when the band took the stage Saturday, I thought I recognized someone else in the band. I wasn’t sure at first, but a few songs in I was pretty sure that the other guitarist in the band was Sohrab Habibion formerly of DC band Edsel. For any Edsel fans out there, you’ll be happy to know that Sohrab took the lead vocal for one of the songs, and his distinct guitar sound was very present and accounted for too. The band knocked off the cobwebs from an early 6am wakeup and playing the Funhouse the night before to put in a solid set of what I would call punk with a twist. The angsty vocals from Froberg and the guitar interplay made me look forward these these new Sub Pop signing’s first record.

Toronto, Canada’s the Constantines were up next. Can’t say that I’m a fan, but their bassist is pretty animated. They had a couple guests come up and sing the final two songs of their set. First Julie from Eric’s Trip sang the Elevators To Hell (An Eric’s Trip offshoot) song Why I didn’t like August 93, which I thought was the best song of their set. Next they covered the Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man with Red Red Meat’s Tim Rutili. Rutili, hurried off stage before the song was even over, like he’d lost a bet or something.

The second Canadian band in a row and of the day were Eric’s Trip. They also hold the distinction of being the first Canadian band to be signed to Sub Pop. Back in the mid-90’s when they were putting out albums, I kind or ignored them. Not sure why, because their anthemic indie rock sounds pretty timeless. That was immediately evident with their set this afternoon. Bassit, Julie Doiron hit all the right buttons (even when she messed up her ohh, ohhs) with her backing vocals and Rick Whites catchy melodies over a bed of distorted guitar haze just sounded so right. White nailed it when he said, We sound really good, For not getting high.

Seaweed were the first band of the day to play on the smaller stage right. It seemed like all the bands playing that stage were the punks. Like a lot of the bands playing this weekend, they’re in semi retirement as a band. Though not broken up, this Tacoma band aren’t exactly active. They, like a lot of bands this weekend had gotten back together to play for Sub Pop. Apparently singer Aaron Stauffer’s daughter is big Helio Sequence fan and made it a point to say that her favorite song is their song Blood Bleeds. Helio Sequence took note of this and specifically played Blood Bleeds for her. It seems like, now that Sub Pop is 20 years old, kids, and I mean children are more a part of the scene. I noticed a lot of parents brought their kids with them to the festival. It was cool to see such a diverse crowd and mix of ages, old guys walking around with Rocket t-shirts and mom’s holding their hands over their kid’s ears while rocking out. I even spotted numersous youngsters sitting up on stage watching bands. Back the Helio Sequenc, who are a duo of drums and guitar with the aid of backing tracks. They seemed to connect with the much Marymoor crowd. I like the Helio Sequence, but live they’re kinda boring, stuck to playing against a pre-recorded backing track.

Pissed Jeans were Definitely not boring. These Pennsylvania hard core boys mosh to the beat of a different tune. Throughout the set the singer kept stuffing towels down his pants for no apparent reason, until he looked all lumpy. He also blew his nose into the mic, shot luggies out at the audience and smashed ice cream cones into the bass guitar. So, this must have been what the early days of Sub Pop were really like, except they had longer hair back in those days.

From the hard core sounds of Pissed Jeans straight into the pastoral harmonies of Fleet Foxes took a bit of adjusting. I can’t imagine hearing these two bands back to back any other place. The Fleet Foxes have been crowned with the next big thing status, their album has been getting gushing reviews nearly all around. I agree that the record sounds great and has some good songs, but these guys have about zero stage presence. Front man Robin Pecknold insists on sitting on a chair while playing in front of a few thousand people, and then there were the uncomfortable long silences between songs. Things livened up a bit when drummer Josh Tillman got into a drum off with the Fluid drummer setting up on the stage next door. You could tell the band were visible annoyed by the drums and guitar blasts coming from the Fluid setting up. It almost seemed like Fluid were doing it on purpose, which wouldn’t surprise me since the these Denver punks were raging against bands that sounded like the Fleet Foxes back in the 80’s.

You never would have know that The Fluid were reuniting for the first time in 15 years. Their set was as tight as a knot boasting big crunchy guitar hooks, and choruses that reminded me of the Buzzcocks, and early Nick Lowe. Singer John Robinson looked smart, sporting a pink shirt, blue vest and striped tie, these colorado guys know how to dress, and rock. Robinson also made the day’s first foray into the crowd to test the crowd surfing. He was successful!

By this time of the day I was starting to detect a pattern between the stages. A kind of a slow-fast-slow -fast thing with the smaller stage sporting the early punk/grunge/hardcore sound of the label and the larger stage showcasing the Sup Pop of today, a little more mellow and understated. Providing no exception to this rule, slowcore specialists Low were next up on the main stage. Low’s minimalist and at the same time extremely intense sound filled the outdoors. I’ve always avoided seeing themlive thinking that they’d put me to sleep, but the music has an intensity that makes them very engaging. The highlight of the set for me was their song Canada one of their was more upbeat songs. The band ended their set inviting everyone to come visit them in Duluth, Minnesota, because according to singer Alan Sparhawk it’s always beautiful in Duluth.

Mudhoney packed it in. In a forty minute set they pretty much played all the hits and everyone pretty much went crazy. I think the band were just as excited as we were, with both Steve Turner and Mark Arm breaking strings from their intense fuzzed out guitar playing. There was much slamming and crowd surfing throughout the set, and for a brief moment it felt like it was 1992 again. Mark Arm still has that slithery Iggy like thing going on, the only difference was that the band weren’t back bending in those contortionist poses that were immortalized in Charles Peterson’s photography from the early Sub Pop days.

If you were looking for Eugene Kelly based on the old album photos of him with long hair, you’d never recognize him today. He’s an older looking fellow, with short hair, and actually has a very ‘dad’ look. Francis McKee, on the other hand, doesn’t look like she’s aged a day since the Vaselines called it a day back in 1990. The duo were backed up by the Belle and Sebastian rhythm section and guitarist Stevie Jackson. With this stellar set of ringers (Jackson’s guitar on You Think You’re a Man was simply perfect), Kelly & McKee seemed totally at ease playing their songs that they hadn’t played in more than 18 years. To say that the Vaselines are about sex is putting it mildly, and their stage banter wasn’t about to change that impression. Kelly introduced Monster Puss as being about McKee’s pussy and then Francis feeling bad for not having any t-shirts for sale, offered dry humps for $20. The songs, you ask? They sounded pretty damn amazing. What more can I say really. It was such an honor and pleasure to be able to see the Vaselines live. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way with smiles all around and tons of people singing along to the songs from this little band from Scottland. Something like this never would have happened if it wasn’t for a little label that could from the Pacific Northwest and a guy from Aberdeen.

The Vaselines were easily the highlight of the day and worth the price of admission alone, but the day wasn’t over yet. Sam Beam or Iron and Wine as he call himself came out all by his lonesome and filled the night air with his wistful acoustic pop. I can’t help but think that he’ll be playing Marymoor by his lonesome in the years to come. It was just about perfect music for the clear night sky and the moon hovering over the stage. Flight of the Concords were the closers this evening, but we opted to avoid the mad rush for the exit.

The entire day was a blast, but for me this was worth the price of admission…

Photo from Laura Mussleman’s flickr.

If you live in Seattle, and even if you don’t, this week has been Sub Pop overload. It seems like everywhere you turn there’s something being written about the label in the newspaper, magazine, blogs, or something on the radio, or TV. Hell, they’ve even taken over the Space Needle with a Sub Pop flag and had it painted like a record. Will they not stop? Probably they will, but it won’t be at least until this weekend is over. The grand finale to Sub Pop’s 20th birthday party is a two day music fest extravaganza over in Redmond at Marymoor Park. If you haven’t heard, (you haven’t heard?!?) it’s two days of music with a lineup that includes the reunited Vaselines, Beachwood Sparks, Green River Les Thugs and Eric’s Trip as well as current label powerhouses Fleet Foxes, Foals, Wolf Parade and No Age.

I was not one that really started off loving a lot of the music Sub Pop put out, but I always had respect for the label. They put out records of bands they liked, and as the label grew, the diversity of it’s roster also grew. Both Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt were rabid music fans and it definitely shows through in their label’s catalog with everything from Combustible Edison to the Fastbacks to Mudhoney to Iron and Wine to Foals. It seems like I was more of a fan of their more left field releases, at least early on. Some of my favorites include:
Pernice Brothers - Overcome by Happiness
Eric Mathews - It’s Heavy in Here
The Spinanes - Manos
Velocity Girl - Simpatico
Zumpano - Look What the Rookie Did
Fastbacks - Zucker

One of the coolest things the label ever did was start a singles club where you paid up front and got records mailed to you each month. They just recently announced they were starting up the club again. Records start shipping in August, you can sign up here, but better do it quickly, each release is limited to 1500. To tempt you into signing up and to celebrate the label’s 20 years, here are few singles from the Sub Pop catalog that are now out of print. Happy birthday, and see ya at SP20!

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mp3: Tindersticks - Here (Pavement cover)

Long Winters, the Cops and Boat at Showbox, Seattle | 5 July 2008

The Cops singer Mike Jaworski was ribbing John Roderick throughout their set, and in between songs he says, “John Roderick, I’ve got three words: Off the Grid” He did kind of look a bit mountain man like with his fully fuzzy beard, long hair, and erm…horn rimmed glasses? On second thought, he’s more part the Dude from the Big Lebowski and part tenured college professor. Roderick is kind of the tenured indie rock prof around town and something of a renaissance man, as evidenced in the column he writes for the Seattle Weekly, but music is his strong suite. He’s been around, put his time in with Harvey Danger and fronting a number of his own bands. He’s finally come into his own with the Long Winters and now he and his band are reaping the rewards. After the Long Winters‘ 2006 release Putting the Days to Bed, they seem to be on the verge of something big. The only problem is recording a new record, something they are about to do. But before going into the studio, the band have scheduled a handful of dates on the West Coast and one in New York. Saturday night’s show was a stellar Seattle line up featuring Boat and the Cops opening for them.

The night started off with Boat, and their first time ever playing the Showbox. It’s likely the biggest room they’ve ever played, and they seemed pretty chuffed to be playing. The regular four piece Boat were augmented by a fifth member this night who provided a third guitar and saxophone. The additional fifth guy really seemed to flesh out their sound. It gave them a little more polish, and I don’t think they’ve ever sounded better. They plucked songs from both albums, played all three songs from their new single Topps and even threw in a brand spankin’ new song at the end of their set that seemed like it was written especially for the night, name checking the afore mentioned man of the evening.

Second of this Seattle trilogy line up were the Cops. I wasn’t sure what to expect from these tightly wound post punkers. Their second album Free Electricity which came out last year is good. It’s Gang of Four crossed with Jawbox, loads of attitude and lots of hooks, if a bit same-y sounding at times. After seeing them I can tell you that the Cops totally bring it, and they leave nothing. From the first chord, these guys where whirling, jumping, posing and just totally rocking out for their entire set. I thought there was now way they would be able to keep up their energy for the entire set, but I was wrong. Guitarist John Randolph made me dizzy with his constant whirling and jumping, and singer Mike Jaworski punished the mic with his intense delivery. Their showmanship was made easy buy the super tight rhythm section of David Weeks and Drew Church. This band have the songs and the chops to go beyond their obvious post punk roots and to the next level, I’m looking forward to what comes next from them.
mp3: The Cops - N. 99 (from Free Electricity)

mp3: Long Winters - Fire Island, AK (from Putting the Days to Bed)

It’s weird how you listen to something in one context, and it doesn’t click, but in another context and kablam! it hits you. That is the case with Slow Club. I have this Moshi Moshi Singles Club cd that collects a bunch of singles the label has recently put out, and on it is Slow Club’s Because We’re Dead. I’ve listened to the cd a handful of times but nothing has really stood out, even the Wave Pictures‘ We Dress Up Like Snowmen failed to grab me. So the other day I came across the video for Because We’re Dead and for some reason, it totally hits home. Maybe because it was out of the context of the all over the place Moshi Moshi sampler and in it’s own little place, maybe it was because the sun has been shining for days and I’m in the mood for bounce around happy music, or maybe it was the chair dancing choreography in the video. Who knows?

Whatever the case, this duo (Charles and Rebecca) have such an upbeat sound that at first I thought they were Australians. Charles’ voice has a lot in common with Darren Hanlon, and their stripped down folk sound and dexterous lyrics remind me a little of the Lucksmiths. It turns out they’re not Australians at all, but the north of England. Sheffield to be exact. The vocal interplay, the harmonies and the big shouted choruses of their two singles currently available form Moshi Moshi will make you weak in the knees if you are a Los Campesinos or a Talking with the Taxman era Billy Bragg fan. I am really looking forward to the album this duo have in store and ready for release later this summer.

mp3: Slow Club - Because We’re Dead

It was a beautiful 85 degree day Saturday and 90 and sunny today in Seattle, so what does one do on such a perfect weekend? If you’re me, you paint your basement. Yeah, I’m an idiot. So in order to finish the painting, I had to move all of my cd’s out of the space they usually occupy. For most people this wouldn’t be a problem, but for me and I’m sure most music obsessed people it can be an endeavor. I got my son to help me out, and he was totally into grabbing stacks of plastic jewel cases out of shelves from one side of the basement and putting them in piles on the other side. In the midst of moving all this plastic, it was funny to hear his thoughts. Things like:

Dad, you have a lot of cd’s.
Dad, you have a thousand cds.
Dad, how many cd’s do you have?
Dad, you have too many cd’s.
Dad, you’ve gotta quit buying cd’s.

My wife came to the conclusion of those last two many years ago. I admit it, I am an obsessed collector, and I love sitting down there, with music going, just going through them, and remembering back to where I was and what I was doing when I bought or was totally into a certain album. The only time I hate the cds is when I have to actually move them. That’s when I see the absurdity of it all. What in the hell am I doing with all of these, and what exactly is the point in having all of this music. So right now in the corner of my basement there is a cube of cd’s sitting there looking pretty absurd, but once the painting is done and the move is over that silly nonsense of questioning myself goes away and I’m back to my obsession. Ahhh, I can’t wait until the relief of that, right now I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable wondering if I should get help for my problem.

mp3: Strangelove - Freak (from Strangelove)

Did powerpop ever really go out of style, or come to think of it, was it ever in style? It seems like music history is littered with great bands and songwriters too numerous to mention, that wrote short catchy juiced-up songs that should have been hits. The two bands with killer singles this week are both named after two other great bands. So they’ve not only got great songs buy great pedigree too. I’m partial to bands naming themselves after songs of their favorite bands, as you might have guessed based on this blog’s name.

Single of the week number one comes from Shake Some Action who are named after a Flamin’ Groovies song. The Seattle band have just released their second album entitled Sunny Days Ahead, and it’s a corker. Especially the lead track Get It Together, James Hall’s voice booms over crunching, screaming guitars urging someone to get it together, and with a song this convincing how you not Get It Together?!

mp3: Shake Some Action - Get It Together (buy: Sunny Days Ahead)

mp3: Julie Ocean - #1 Song (buy: Long Gone and Nearly There)

The Purrs at Neumos, Seattle | 21 June 2008
Green Pajamas at King Cobra, Seattle | 21 June 2005

Saturday night up on Capitol Hill the Paisley Underground came to life again for a brief fantastic moment. Not that any of those seminal Los Angeles bands like the Rain Parade, Three O’Clock, or the Long Ryders had reformed and were visiting, it was in fact two of Seattle’s very own in the Purrs and Green Pajamas. They weren’t playing together, that would have been nice, but they were playing across the street from one another. Both band’s websites said that they were on at 10:00 pm, poetentially making for a logistical impossibility to see them both. As I walked by King Cobra I spied on the door that the Green Pajamas wouldn’t be on until 11, so I hurried across the street to Neumos to see the Purrs who were in an opening slot for Tacoma’s Mono in VCF.

I walked in to the jangling buzz of She’s Got Chemicals from their latest self-released album the Chemistry That Keeps Us Together. The Purrs have a new rhythm guitarist who goes by Dr. Robert, and they seem all the better for it. Their short set really popped with ripping bass and vocals from Jima and shimmering beautiful lead guitar from Jason Milne. Go Cindy go and Miles Away were both just about perfect and hit that soft spot between Rain Parade and early Church, but it was the inclusion of a couple new songs especially the Fear of Flying, that have me anxiously awaiting a new release from one of Seattle’s best kept secrets.

The Purrs set was over in plenty of time to make it back across the street for the Green Pajamas who I had never seen before. They don’t play out too much and their website states that this date and one later this summer at the West Seattle Fair will likely be the only two live dates for them this year. The Green Pajamas are a band that for a newcomer, seem a bit daunting to get into. It’s not that their albums are spotty, on the contrary, most of them are pretty strong, it’s that they have so many of them. It’s like discovering the Fall or Robyn Hitchcock, where the hell do you start when you go to buy one of their albums? They have two best of cds, Indian Winter that focuses on their early career of releasing singles and cassettes and Through Glass Colored Roses which focuses on their later career, both are worth getting. If you want to start with an album I would recommend All Clues Lead to Meagan’s Bed. It’s from the late 90’s after they reformed, and is a solid album with good songs slathered in garagey psychedlia any of which would fit in nicely on the Children of Nuggets box set.

Since I am one of those newcomers. I wasn’t sure if I’d be familiar with everything they would play. At least I was pretty sure that I would like whatever they decided on, because of the quality of their albums. They ended up playing a good cross section of their later career. It seem like they picked something from nearly every one of their albums from the late 90’s and 00’s. She’s Still Bewitching Me from Seven Fathoms Down and Falling was a real highlight of the set with it’s Byrds sounding chorus and jangly guitar lead from Jeff Kelly. Joe Ross took his only lead vocal of the night on his song Dying to Love You from Strung Behind the Sun. Their wasn’t much dialog between songs, with the band preferring to play. They brought up a friend to play clarinet for Graduation Day which seemed to add a livelier dynamic to the stage. The biggest surprise of the night was Kim the Waitress as their final song. I figured that they’d never play it, since I’m use to jaded bands shying away from their old hit (especially since it was Material Issue that made it a hit). But that was certainly not the case with the band playing it without any irony whatsoever, and the small crowd totally lit instantly recognizing within it’s first chords. It was icing on the cake, especially for this newcomer to this prolific unsung Seattle band.

mp3: Green Pajamas - The Secret of Her Smile (from All Clues Lead to Meagan’s Closet)