.

Goes down on a Monday, February 15th, with tickets available on the 12th. Press release from Live Nation after the jump/cut/fold/whatever.

.

Seattle, WA – Live Nation and Adam Zacks are pleased to announce The 2010 Sasquatch! Music Festival Launch Party presented by Esurance and sponsored by Jack Daniel’s happening on Monday, February 15, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Crocodile.

For the first time in the festival’s history the lineup will be announced LIVE at this very special event featuring performances by Surfer Blood, Atlas Sound and Fresh Espresso and hosted by Luke Burbank. Prize packages from Esurance and Xbox will be given away all night, along with limited-edition festival posters and more.

Free tickets are available courtesy of Esurance by listening to 107.7 The End all week to win, or by stopping by either Easy Street Records locations starting Friday, February 12^th at 9:00 a.m. (limit 2 per person).

Surfer Blood calls West Palm Beach home and, while still in their early 20s, pen summery indie songs that even the most hook-laden power pop band would rightfully be jealous of. Called “irresistibly catchy” by Pitchfork, Surfer Blood’s critically acclaimed debut album, Astro Coast, was released on January 19.

Atlas Sound is the solo moniker of Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox, so named since 1994, when a sixth-grade Bradford made recordings on a karaoke cassette machine. Now signed to 4AD, Atlas Sound is those ideas that he “can’t make work with a five piece rock band,” employing stream-of-consciousness writing alongside ambient electronics.

Fresh Espresso, named by local blog SoundOnTheSound as representatives of “the next wave of Seattle hip-hop,” is producer/composer P Smoov (of Mad Rad) and MC Rik Rude. (LB’s note: pretty sure Charles Mudede over at Line Out coined that designation…but whatever.)

.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about the show, and  I was vocal about this – I’ve been burned before by setting my expectations too high for the first tour of a hotly-anticipated band. (A Perfect Circle comes to mind) And I was doubly wary because the tickets were so damned expensive – about fifty bucks a piece. When a band’s only put out one record, there’s about an hour of material to work with. Sure, the back catalog of Zep songs alone would be like sitting through Wagner’s Ring Cycle, but I had a strong sense that this supergroup wasn’t going to touch the members’ previous work. And I was right. Right, for one, that they wouldn’t play any covers, and right to set my expectations low because I had my socks rocked off that much more. It also paid off that our buddy Matt was the sound tech and helpfully advised where to stand for the show. Helpful tip of the day: consider asking the guy at the boards for the best sound location in the house.  The band thundered through all of the songs on the album, plus a B-side called “Highway 1″. Though I admit having to grit my teeth and avert my eyes from the stage during Josh’s inane hulu antics for “Interlude with Ludes”, the album’s only throwaway track, the rest of the show was structured a lot like the record: loud, quiet, loud. If you have the record, you know this is often the case within one song.

.

The whole show came across better live than on the record, from the vaguely Pearl Jam-esque “Bandoliers” to the homage to Cream with “Scumbag Blues.” The extended outro to “Bandoliers” was especially powerful with the guitar-drum battle between Grohl and Homme. As you’d expect of some high-profile rockers, their equipment and lighting was top-notch.  The illuminated fretboard on JPJ’s bass was about as mezmerizing as the number of strings that may have been attached to it. Eight? Ten? I dunno. Kudos to Grohl for trying his damnedest to try to wear out his bass pedals.
.
When comparing notes over beers after the show, we collectively agreed that our initial skepticism was pretty misplaced. While the last Queens of the Stone Age show was inferior to shows past, we should have respected the cumulative road time that those three musicians have accrued. Between the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Zeppelin, Queens, and Eagles of Death Metal, that’s quite a few decades of rock music experience. As Grohl said a few years ago of this project, it “wouldn’t suck.” He’s right.
.
In case you have had your head in a cave, or missed my fanboy post here last summer about the emergence of the rock supergroup made up of the (last) drummer of Nirvana, Queens’ frontman Josh, and Zep bassist John Paul Jones, you can catch them this weekend on that NBC sketch comedy show that airs on Saturday nights at 11:30pm.  Or, you can cut out the adverts and check ‘em out on the youtubes.
.

.
Continuing their support of the Deserve the Future tour, Them Crooked Vultures is scheduled to play Coachella Festival on April 16.

.

Also, bad-ass local grim-folkers See Me River provided a small nugget regarding their upcoming LP, The One That Got A Wake (ha! word play!). From myspace:

.

We finished our new record “The One That Got a Wake” towards the end of last year. It’s a really awesome album that we’re all really proud of. It should be out shortly.

On Saturday Feb 20th, there is a full slate of  local rock all smashed into the Comet – likely to cause a total  implosion of awesome. Former lead man of the COPS (RIP) Mike Jaworski takes the front again with his newest and greatest project, Virgin Islands. They have only have a single EP, The Age of Anxiety listen here, recorded so far. I have to say, it’s righteous front to back and there is not a scrap of fat on it. Fast, furious, frantic rock-n-roll straight through. They’ve taken all that made the COPS good and made it great.
.

Little Cuts, also on the bill, have quietly been putting together a fan-fuggin-tastic punk rock trio of their own. Consisting of former COPS bassist Drew (Droo) Church along with Dave Hernandez (of Shins fame) and drummer/incredible tattoo guru, Curtis James (Old Haunts) taking up the skins. Tight licks ranging from freight train to F-15. Say goodbye, face. This is a supernova of Seattle greats.

.

Who the fuck said Seattle rock was dead? Ha.

See you there.
.

Saturday February 20th,  $7

@ the Comet

Virgin Islands

with Western Hymn,

Little Cuts and

Sharpening Markers.

.

Well, as luck would have it—and oh does it have it—there’s a new night there and one of my favorite bands, the Intelligence, has its grubby little paws all over it. Lars Finberg and his woman Susanna Welbourne formed a band, named it Puberty, and invited some dudes from the Old Haunts, the Shins, and the Cops to play with ‘em as the house band. Curtis James, Drew Church and Dave Hernandez play in a newish band called Little Cuts and will be joining Finberg and Welbourne in what looks to be a debaucherously wacky time. The Facebook page says Mike Jaworski (Virgin Islands, the Cops, Mt. Fuji Records) is in the mix, too. Yowza.

.

A DJ, drag queen, and signature drink will all play host to the catatonically zany tunes of Puberty. If you like the Intelligence, you’ll no doubt enjoy this offshoot. You can listen to some demos on that aforementioned FB page (I wouldn’t worry about their sluggish nature, the band will surely rip the roof off the place). The inaugural “Trainwreck!” goes down tomorrow night (2/4) at 10 pm, and looks to be setting up shop for the next two first Thursdays as well. Press release (copped from Line Out) after the jump/cut/fold/whatever.

.

KLR and The Incidental Tourist PRESENT:

.

TRAINWRECK! First Thursdays thru April, 10pm till.

Held in Seattle’s best kept secret, this party has it all:

.

AMBIANCE: A collection of antique train cars (once ridden by FDR!)

KILLER DANCE PARTY: Featuring DJ Porq of “COMEBACK” fame!

SEXY RESIDENT BAND: PUBERTY! (Secret side project of The Intelligence)

CHINESE FOOD: Did we mention this is also a rad Chinese restaurant?

STRONG DRINKS: How many “Trainwrecks” can you handle?

MAKE-OUT Rooms: Meet a new friend? This party has nooks.

FABULOUS HOST: Seattle’s favorite trainwreck, KISSEE SIMMONS will be holding court!

PRIZES for the BEST/WORST DRESSED TRAINWRECK.

.

ALL THIS JOY FOR ONLY $6!

FIRST TRAINWRECK! IS FEBRUARY 4TH!

.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT ON THE TRAIN @ brownpapertickets.com or take your chances at the door. Capacity is limited!

Secure your spot on the list HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/95322

.

COME EARLY FOR SYLVIA O’STAYFORMORE‘S COCKTAIL HOUR! 7pm

.

Alkaline Trio – This Addiction

.

Alkaline Trio – Goodbye Forever

.

Omaha indie rock darlings Cursive join the bill, on tour to support their latest release, Mama, I’m Swollen. After several records on Saddle Creek that stormed the college charts, Cursive broke into wider acclaim with the release of 2003’s The Ugly Organ. The sullen, introspective story of an organist and the perils throughout his life, told in a daze of discordant musical genius, drew many new fans and exploded Cursive into a wider fan base. After their next album, Happy Hollow, fell flat, they stormed back on to the music scene with 2009’s Mama, I’m Swollen. It is back on top that they team up with Alkaline Trio for this tour.

.

Cursive – From the Hips

.

Cursive – The Recluse

.

This is going to be a great show, and it is not very often that we get a show of this caliber in the more intimate setting of a smaller venue, so come on out and enjoy a great night of music!
.

Saturday, February 20th @ Neumos

Alkaline Trio

Cursive

The Dear and Departed

Door at 7 / All Ages, $20

.

In long, it’s a fantastically dense sci-fi record of cyborgian proportions, filled with caustic synthesizers, shimmering vistas and thundering drum crackles. There are scant vocals, and only of the vocoder variety. One gets the sense that this could be the “singer/songwriter” album of a gentle yet erratic T-1000 in a post-human war-torn compuscape. In fact, there’s an alluring (for fans of artificial intelligence, anyway) string of thematic imagery that combines both the organic and the synthetic in bombastically beautiful ways. In the album’s title, in the song titles (i.e. “Tired Channels”, “Capsule-Collapse”, and “Static For Blood”), and even in the arrestingly varied moods found throughout.

.

“Eyes Spliced Open” has a wonderful change of pace 3 minutes in where the manic drumming and suffocating sheets of laser suddenly cease, as if to recharge, or shake hands with their inevitable demise. I often envision the final scene of “Terminator” during this song, feeling as though I should be in an abandoned steel mill, thick steam pouring out of loose valves, precariously perched on rickety catwalks. This outro is indicative of a pensiveness that pervades SEOD’s modus operandi and shows up in other places, in other forms. This thoughtfulness, melded with such a brisk and futuristic record, should be cause for applause.

.

Fun Fact: Did you know Sera Cahoone played drums on “Cells Divide”? Man, she just keeps getting cooler and cooler.

.

Eyes Spliced Open

In Parallel

Separated by Circuits

Cells Divide

.

Robert Lang Studios is offering studio time for less that 1/2 price . You can track, mix, record, do voiceover work, whatever they want. Normal price is $850 for a 10 hour session or $425 for a 5 hour session. Some of the albums they have recently helped produce are Death Cab For Cutie’s “Narrow Stairs“, Nada Surf’s “Lucky” and Minus the Bear’s “Planet of Ice“. The deal is available through the “Living Social Friday Deal”  and if you’re waffling, it will be held-over until Monday morning (2-1) at 5:00 am. Gives you the weekend to stew on it. You have to purchase the time up-front but it is good for use all the way until the end of the year. Anyway, I thought it was a good enough deal to share.
.

Anyone use Robert Lang? Let us know what you think! (I just hope their recording is better then their web design… nice montage.)

.

Here is the link to the deal www.deals.livingsocial.com (fri 1-27 thru mon morning 2-1 only)