Salmon Thrasher: Bad Blood [mp3]
On my radar this year is one of Seattle’s newest and most prolific artists, Justin Ripley. I have, honestly, loved… Read More »Salmon Thrasher: Bad Blood [mp3]
Math & Physics Club: Jimmy Had A Polaroid [mp3]
It’s been a hair under three years since the last proper Math & Physics Club release, an EP titled Baby I’m Yours, and just about four since their debut and only LP, 2006’s Math & Physics Club. Prior to the so-called hiatus, the band had been quite busy, also participating in a single compilation in ’06 and two additional EPs back in ’05. One might have gotten the impression the band was no more. Thankfully, they would have been wrong. The band is back with a new album titled I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do, and tagging along is a new drummer — Chris Mac, owner of Jigsaw Records and IndiePages and former guitarist of Suretoss and percussionist of Patients Please. Read More »Math & Physics Club: Jimmy Had A Polaroid [mp3]
Carissa’s Wierd: Die [mp3]
“Die” ultimately picked up where Songs About Leaving left off, and it adequately summed up where the band was heading… Read More »Carissa’s Wierd: Die [mp3]
Butts: Panty Exchange [Video]
Butts writes silly songs about bad vices. It’s in their nature to do so. There’s one about alcohol, another about cigarettes, and a third about pot. Then there’s “Panty Exchange”, for which they just released a new video. It’s a vice that’s downright dangerous as the girls (Rachel and Shannon) demonstrate. Featuring the black-clad Butts duo, Leo Gebhardt, a colorful array of “panty protectors”, and superb camera work and video production by Turtleneck Productions and Carlos Lopez, “Panty Exchange” is sure to turn some heads. It has all the right elements: a briefcase drop, a getting-ready-for-mischief montage, and a plot line that almost makes sense. Read More »Butts: Panty Exchange [Video]
Recommended Show: Hey Marseilles’ LP Release Shows
The show is just one week away, so you have no excuse: go mark your calendar! Hey Marseilles has been dubbed one of the Northwest’s “bands to watch” by many, myself included. Thus, I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering when these guys will head to Bellingham. They are on the cusp of releasing their debut LP, To Travels & Trunks, slated for a late June drop date. To celebrate the arrival of the album on vinyl, the Seattle band will play two shows in their hometown, one of them all ages. Read More »Recommended Show: Hey Marseilles’ LP Release Shows
Justin Ripley: Personal Space [Album Review]
Personal Space is the latest solo work by Justin Ripley, who not all too long ago gave us Just Just. From the opening notes of “The Gold Of Similar Sand”, we’re treated to a similar sound though it has a few more psychedelic sensibilities. The song gives the impression of minimalism, yet is packed with interesting riffs, catchy vocal hooks, and precisely placed instrumentation. Read More »Justin Ripley: Personal Space [Album Review]
The Paiges [Demo Reel]
The Paiges are another new Pacific Northwest group. Blending a lo-fi pop sound with folk-rock in the vein of Woodsist artists or a much softer side of Slumberland Records, The Paiges’ track “You’ll Never Know” sparks the sort of curiosity I found so intriguing with that Salmon Thrasher demo, “In A Balloon”. Read More »The Paiges [Demo Reel]
Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs [Album Review]
Fronted by Dean Whitmore, Unnatural Helpers‘ percussionist and lead vocalist, the band released their LP Cracked Love & Other Drugs this week on Hardly Art. This band of musical misfits have a pretty impressive past and present, having performed in local Seattle acts as Idle Times (Brian Standeford), Charles Leo Gebhardt IV and Catheters (Leo Gebhardt), Intelligence (Whitmore himself), and Hardly Arts very own The Dutchess & The Duke (Kimberly Morrison). Collectively, they go by Unnatural Helpers, and frankly, they rock! Read More »Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs [Album Review]
Jeremy Burk: Clapping Song [Video]
It’s been about ten months since Jeremy Burk was featured on Fensepost. Since then, he has officially released his debut album I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For via West Advocate Recordings and has been riding the coat tail of it’s modest appeal ever since. After hooking up with first time director Brent Anderson for his first video for “The Clapping Song”, our dance along folk friend is back on the Post to show us what exactly he has been up to. Read More »Jeremy Burk: Clapping Song [Video]
Guest Column: In Praise of 1973
Words and music by Jon Rooney, who records as Virgin Of The Birds.
To begin with a broad shot of dubious hyperbole, I declare that things have never been better than they were 1973. By things I mean popular art: art that was neither conventionally entertaining by modern tastes nor particularly coherent yet existed in some sort of hazy, avocado mainstream rather than the academy or the crevices of marginelia (sorry, Jazz). The early 1970’s, thanks to the persistent adolescent myopia of Baby Boomers and their now five decades of self-lionization, are often derided as being a hazy bummer – a depressing, cruel comedown from the halcyon days of Wavy Gravy and the war against the squares. In idealized retrospect, it doesn’t seem like there were any squares left by 1973. 1972 saw both Deep Throat and “Walk on the Wildside” become huge hits, signaling either a total collapse of traditional mores in the popular conscience or just a fashionable interest in lasciviousness. Either year, all bets were off by the following year.
Read More »Guest Column: In Praise of 1973
