Yes! Now here’s part two of two of Black Flag, Cinema Cinema and the Loss from their show in May at the Showbox! Thank you to photographer Monica Martinez for the photos, and the bands for being awesome photo subjects (and bands, naturally). And welcome back to the recording world, Blag Flag!
Black Flag
Cinema Cinema
The Loss
Artist: The Acid
Song: “Ghost”
Why you want to watch: Cosmic freak outs in the desert.
Details: The video was directed by Eliot Lee Hazel and Petecia Le Fawnhawk, who have worked with artists such as Interpol, Beck and White Lies. The Acid’s debut, Liminal, was one of my favorites of 2014.
Total Slacker, PAWS & Flashlights @ El Corazon, 9/29/14
Show Review & Photos by Abby Williamson
Total Slacker
Hidden away in this rather sketchy corner of Eastlake Avenue sits El Corazon – a venue that I have literally only been to once before, at the second show I ever photographed, five years ago. What band, you may ask, brought me back to this venue for the first time in half a decade? Scottish punk three-piece PAWS opened for We Are Scientists five months ago, and when I saw that they were coming back to Seattle, I couldn’t miss it. Even if it was at a venue I was less-than-stoked about going back to.
This time the PAWS boys were on tour with Brooklyn’s Total Slacker and Orlando’s Flashlights – so it was quite the worldly bill, all cramped into – what I came to find out – not El Corazon, but the lounge next door. Shows how much I pay attention.
Opening the show was Flashlights, with punk rock that rang both sunny and melancholy at the same time. One might have the audacity to call them “emo,” but in the most endearing way possible. One might also compare them to Surfer Blood, but more free and less “twee.” I had no idea what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed their set. Even if it was a bit short. But they left me curious to find more, so that’s a good sign.
Flashlights
After a bit of a wait, PAWS took the stage, and I knew something was up. The set was awesome – ferocious, angsty, and powerful – but I could feel it all maybe too much. After a few songs, singer Phillip Taylor grabbed the case of water and threw it over his shoulder and exclaimed, “everyone, stay hydrated! It’s been a rough day at the office.” Now, some people might have been turned off by what’s called the “rock star” attitude, but PAWS was letting it all out on stage. Personally, I’d rather someone be real with a crowd and let us experience it with them than put on a façade and play a part. Sometimes you just have a bad day, and it’s moments of humanity like these that remind me of that. And honestly, what better way to get out frustration than screaming into a microphone, “Tired of acting like I don’t care, ‘cause you know I care, at least you think I care!”
PAWS
After collecting up water bottles from the floor, PAWS lugged out all their gear to make way for Total Slacker, who looked exactly like one would expect with a name like that. A hybrid of grunge and shoegaze, I guess Total Slacker calls themselves “slime gaze.” What does that even mean? Maybe the soundtrack to a bad horror movie you could find at Scarecrow Video? I’ll just tell you – the music truly bring me back to the days of Nirvana (though I was only five), but with softer and more melodic vocals. It was somehow dirty and sexy all at the same time. Smutty. Could one call music “smutty” in a positive way? Whatever, I’m doing it anyway. I’d gladly see Total Slacker again, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for the next time they come back.
Total Slacker
PAWS
Flashlights
Chromeo @ Showbox SoDo, 10/26/14
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar
Chromeo‘s David Macklovitch
With White Women, Chromeo released one of 2014’s best albums. The Canadian duo, who perfected the slinky and smooth disco sound early on, had a packed audience at their end of October show in Seattle. I also have to add that the Chromeo fans were some of the best put together I have ever seen. This is really neither here no there when talking about Chromeo’s music – although maybe Chromeo fans spend a lot of time dancing or working out to the music. Who can say?
Patrick Gemayel of Chromeo
When I am at a show, I don’t usually remember what music was played before a band comes on. Sometimes I will love it and other times I will hate it. Sometimes I have no clue what the music is, and want to know. Other times I don’t care. I don’t know if these recordings are something artists bring with them, or if they’re provided by the venue every time. But before Chromeo’s set, one of my favorite songs ever played: Skatt Bros’ “Walk the Night.” Thank you music gods. Because it suited Chromeo. I’m betting they brought that particular rarity with them. (By the way, get this album – it’s really good.)
Along with a continuous white laser beam, David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel excited the crowd with songs from each Chromeo album, holding off on the only song from She’s in Control, “Needy Girl,” until the very end. “Hot Mess, “Sexy Socialite,” “Over Your Shoulder” and the well-known “Fancy Footwork” were dazzling. My favorite though might have been “Night by Night,” even though this year’s “Jealous (I Aint’ with It)” was 2014’s ubiquitous tune. At one point I left a venue playing it, only to turn on my radio 10 minutes later, and there it was, again! For real. They also performed another of their other truly awesome songs, “Don’t Turn the Lights On,” which has been covered by Mayer Hawthorne.
The atmosphere was similar to what it would be like inside a shaken disco glitter ball. Good fun.
Chromeo
My Brightest Diamond & Rabbit Rabbit @ the Crocodile, 12/6/14
Review by Nick Nihil
My Brightest Diamond
Those familiar with the dominant traits that are my general nihilism and emotionally stultified sense of expression know that I can also become giddy as a white five -year-old princess under the right stimulus. Given to effusive histrionics and hyperbole in the presence of a particularly revelatory performance, I become rather inarticulate. By the time Rabbit Rabbit finished their astounding performance opening for My Brightest Diamond, all I could say was:
“Shut it down! Rabbit Rabbit just won music.”
Multi-faceted, theatrically dynamic, exquisitely poetic, and musically virtuosic, they managed to rearrange their recorded material to fit a trio consisting of violin/vocals, cajon/floor toms/keys/harmonica/vocals, and guitar, lending the material a greater sense of space, atmosphere, and urgency than found on their records. What really hit me is that theirs was the kind of material I wish I had written. It worked on every level I aspire to in my own music and I couldn’t help but feel a little defeated as well as elated. Fuck you, Rabbit Rabbit, you’re a godsend.
Rabbit Rabbit
Naturally I was worried how My Brightest Diamond (or anyone else) could have followed that up.
In short, “fuck you, My Brightest Diamond, you’re a godsend.” In all honesty, by the time the MBD set wrapped, I’d almost forgotten how good Rabbit Rabbit was. I swear, Shara Worden is incapable of hitting a wrong note, and her band, consisting of Abe Rounds on drums and Chris Bruce on bass and guitar, was equally tight, rhythmic, and dynamic as they proved equally adept at stripping lush recorded arrangements down to a three-piece. On some songs she was able to capture some of the intricacies of the arrangements by triggering samples, on others, particularly “This is My Hand,” she ripped it all down and rearranged them completely. Bruce’s syncopated fingerpicked guitar work on the aforementioned managed to groove while simultaneously being sparse and haunting. All this technical perfection would be moot if not for Shara’s joyous energy as a performer. Clad in a slick white suit with red sneakers she recalls a bygone sense of class and elegance while engaging a postmodern sense of playfulness. No matter how she jumped, danced, pulled at the rhythm with her simple but precise guitar and keyboard work, she never lost a breath. Backed by a crack band and armed with material that becomes more potent live, My Brightest Diamond was a 2014 standout in a slew of highly impressive shows I’ve been privileged to catch this year.