Image via Nate Watters

I’m sure you’ve noticed that Monotonix did not burn down Neumos. Thankfully. There was no fire at all which, given how tightly the crowd clustered around whatever member of the band was closest, was definitely for the best.

The last time I saw Black Eyes and Neckties was kind of a high water mark for me in terms of impressive ridiculousness, what with the wheelchair and skull. I enjoyed them no less this time around. It was a little sad when they came onstage, knowing that this was their last Seattle show. They are sinister and seething when they play and charmingly goofy in between songs. If you can, you should probably head up to Bellingham on Halloween and catch their final show.

Second opener Unnatural Helpers have a singing drummer, which is a thing that always amazes me because it seems like it would take an extra helping of coordination.

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the depreciation guild (above) & the pains of being pure at heart (below) played neumo’s on tuesday. more pictures in the photoset [flickr]

On Tuesday night, early-arriving fans at Neumo’s were no doubt disappointed to find that a burrito in Idaho had spoiled their efforts to see Cymbals Eat Guitars. Food poisoning had derailed the band’s plans to claim a much-anticipated opening set, leaving its members unfortunately ill and Seattle with a bit more time on its hands to get a drink. Sadness about missing them aside, I think that anyone who has suffered from severe digestive illness knows which party got the better end of this arrangement.
That left the Depreciation Guild, basically the shoegaz[ier] A/V club (or rather subcommittee) of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, in the role of warming the crowd. Combined with the last-gasp of summer outside, the poor ventilation inside, and videogame bleeps blipped over guitar washes and energized by a live wall of shifting color blocks, they stepped-up to the task admirably, holding and gathering a crowd.
Although the all-ages balcony had plenty of breathing room, the main floor soon attracted a perspiration-heavy gathering for the headliners, who ran through most of their recorded material — including geographically-appropriate “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan” (which, they admit, cribs more from the Vaselines than Nirvana), and venue-appropriate “103″, and closing with an encore of their rock out freakout “Gentle Sons”. Along the way, they played some material from their forthcoming Higher Than the Stars EP along with old favorites about library sex, taboo love, and dedicated a get well song to their ailing tourmates. Predictably, the vocals were sometimes swallowed by the giant wall of fuzzed out guitars, but it was OK. We heard about how they loved Seattle and that season of the Real World with the fish throwers, the slap heard ’round the world, and the teddy bear sacrificed to the Sound. The front rows pogoed madly and more than a few guys with giant hair air drummed aerobically.
By the end, during the “banter part”, some people implored them to ditch Brooklyn for Capitol Hill. And while I’d concur that we’d love to have them in town all the time, I’d not encourage anyone to live in the basement at Neumo’s. Until then, though, we’ll have the records and the hope that they’ll bring their big tour van back someday soon.

John Vanderslice, the nicest man in indie rock.

John Vanderslice is no stranger to the Seattle area. He has played just about every area venue, festival, and record store in support of his 7 studio albums. He even once played a special secret show on the Fremont Bridge after performing at Capitol Hill Block Party, which is what the picture above is from. His latest album; “Romanian Names” is yet another accomplished record and well deserving of your ears.

John kicked off a small Pacific Northwest tour yesterday in Vancouver, BC and will be playing tonight in Seattle at The Crocodile. The show only costs $14 if you buy advance tickets. I’ll assume somewhere around $15-$20 if you pay at the door. Either way, a good deal for some great music.

Personally I’m really excited for this show. John Vanderslice is easily one of my favorite artists of the last 10 years. I’m also interested in seeing the inside of The Crocodile for the first time since it was reopened.

The lineup tonight is:

John Vanderslice
The Pink Mountaintops
Mimicking Birds

The Crocodile (2200 2nd Ave in Belltown)
8pm
$14 adv
21+

It’s no secret that Grand Archives is a band well-loved by certain members of the Metblogs team (also, a band made entirely of nice, nice guys) so it’s pretty exciting that today is the official release of their second album, “Keep In Mind Frankenstein” [subpop]. (Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a novelty bandana. Hard to say.) This album is softer and darker than the last one, and it will be the perfect soundtrack for the beginning of fall. Celebrate by listening to the band live on KEXP at 3:00, or go to the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom at 7:00 and listen to them play the whole thing acoustically. I’m pretty sure that if you don’t want to fold these guys up and put them in your pocket for all of your road trips ever, it’s because you’re made of stone.

I know, I know; Bumbershoot was SO last week. But after 3 days of PAX and another day of Bumbershoot, I kind of got buried in photos there for a while. Lame excuse, but there it is.

However, I do want to share some of the photos I took for your enjoyment. These are my favorite pictures from the 3 acts I enjoyed the most. Jason Webley, Truckasauras, and Metric.
My favorites from each: (many more after the jump)

Jason getting the crowd “wasted” for his final song of the set before the parade out to the fountain.

Truckasauras playing in front of the MASSIVE digital screen at EMP’s Sky Church

The stage lighting of the Broad Street Stage where Metric played was pretty terrible, but I like how this photo came out. Metric killed it. I’m actually surprised Metric did not play the main stage.

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Image via Josh

Neumos may have lost their minds, to your advantage–horror punk act Black Eyes and Neckties are opening for Unnatural Helpers and the destructive force of Monotonix. Who they are allowing to set up on the floor.

Let’s just pause and review that for a second. Black Eyes and Neckties will start the show covered in fake blood and almost certainly be smeared in a little bit of the real stuff by the end. The last time I saw them, singer Brad Lockhart was in a wheelchair after breaking a foot and spraining his ankles during a show, and I still managed to get clocked in the head by a fake skull during a particularly dramatic bit of cabinet destroying. (I immediately sent their album to my teenage brother.) On both feet and with this being their last Seattle show ever, I can’t imagine that they’ll hold anything back. Just these guys on the bill would make for an epic night.

But then there’s still Monotonix to watch! Those crazy Israelis had their Bumbershoot set last year shut down in about 11 minutes. They’ll spend the entire performance on top of whatever they can climb, possibly while on fire. You might be holding up the band while they sit on top of the drums and play from there, like they did at the Comet last year. In the middle of the afternoon at the Sunset they handed out pieces of the drum kit and took to the streets. Mayhem is generally an understatement, and I’m not sure it’s possible to do anything but love these sweaty, smelly guys,

It’ll be an unmissable show, if only because Neumos might not be left standing by the end of it. (Ok, also because both bands play good enough music that the spectacle isn’t even the best part of the show.) And we have a pair to give away to one of you! Email us at seattle.metblogs @ gmail.com with the subject line “Monotonix” (or tell us you want them on the twitter: @seattlemetblogs) by Friday morning to be entered to win them.

kip berman from the pains of being pure at heart, chbp. photo by josh [flickr]

Their cunning, fuzzy, self-titled album took the indieverse by storm with sounds of upbeat yearning reminiscent of explosive basement pajama parties and covert library action. They charmed the pants off of the mainstage during the Capitol Hill Block Party in the middle of the summer. Now, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are returning to Seattle on Tuesday, just a few days ahead of the release of their new [already!] EP, Higher Than The Stars (22 September, Slumberland, complete with a trancy St. Etienne remix of the title track).
As much as I liked seeing them on a big stage in the great outdoors, I have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll be even more in their element in closer, darker quarters. If you haven’t already purchased tickets for this show (now with an all-ages balcony!), we might be able to reward your procrastination.

We have a pair to giveaway to one of you. Just drop a note to us (seattle.metblogs @ gmail.com or on the twitter @seattlemetblogs ) — with “tPoBPaH” in the subject line before Saturday afternoon and you’ll be entered to win. Those who identify the skeletons or highlight meaningful entries in the bibliography of “Young Adult Friction” [youtube] video — a near-perfect visual expression of the band’s sonic aesthetic, as far as I’m concerned — will improve their odds of victory.

// the pains of being pure at heart, with the deprecation guild & cymbals eat guitars. tuesday 15 september, $13 adv, 8 pm [neumos]

Have you emerged from the fog of Bumbershoot? Don’t worry, I, too am still in recovery mode. Still, as soon as memories of one festival fade, another rises to take its place. Announced today [reverb], the full schedule of Seattle Weekly‘s Reverb festival should get you excited for October (or, if you will/must, rocktober) with a full-day slate of mainly local bands who will be taking over Ballard on Saturday October 3rd.

Take a look:

The Sunset: 12:30 – Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground; 11:30 – Coconut Coolouts; 10:30 – Unnatural Helpers; 9:30 – The Girls; 8:30 – Final Spins; 7:30 – Erik Blood; 6:30 – Telepathic Liberation Army; 5:30 – Born Anchors; 4:30 – Katherine Hepburn’s Voice; 3:30 – Little Cuts

Tractor Tavern: 12:00 – The Maldives; 11:00 – Staxx Brothers; 10:00 – Widower; 9:00 – Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme; 8:00 – Fences; 7:00 – Raggedy Anns; 6:00 – Brent Amaker & The Rodeo; 5:00 – Southside; 4:00 – Hallways; Ballard Loft

5105 Ballard Ave NW: 10:00 – DJ Taco Supreme; 6:00 – Trashy Trash DJs ;

Conor Byrne: 11:30 – Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs; 10:30 – Barton Carroll; 9:30 – Zera Marvel; 8:30 – Kaylee Cole

The Bit Saloon: 12:00 – Midnight Idols; 11:00 – Mobile Slaughter Unit; 10:00 – The Keeper; 9:00 – Redwood Plan; 8:00 – Tea Cozies; 7:00 – Levator; 6:00 – The Basements

Hattie’s Hat (all-ages): 10:30 – Hattie’s Hoot! featuring many special guests; 9:30 – Rusty Willoughby; 8:30 – Shenandoah Davis; 7:30 – Shana Cleveland; 6:30 – Lonesome Shack; 5:30 – Lindsay Fuller; 4:30 – Jet Sparks

New York Fashion Academy (all-ages): 10:30 – Thee Satisfaction; 9:30 – Fatal Lucciauno; 8:30 – Spaceman; 7:30 – SK; 6:30 – GMK; 5:30 – Astronautalis; 4:30 – Fresh Espresso; 3:30 – Grynch

Salmon Bay Eagles (all-ages) : 10:00 – Shook Ones; 9:00 – Cute Lepers; 8:00 – Thee Emergency; 7:00 – The Lonely H; 6:00 – Valis; 5:00 – Wallpaper; 4:00 – Visqueen (all- ages Record Release!); 3:00 – Recess Monkey

Mr. Spot’s Chai House (all-ages): 9:00 – Kore Ionz; 8:00 – Heatwarmer; 7:00 – Lady Drama;

Volterra: 10:00 – Los Volcanes; 9:00 – Lushy; 8:00 – Leif Totusek & Freestyle Candela; 7:00 – Matt Jorgensen + 451; 6:00 – Greta Matassa; 5:00 – FOWM Jazz Combo and String Ensembles

Wristbands for the whole thing will run you $5-10, depending on your age and timeliness. [$]

Alright! So let’s finish up talking about the Bumberfest.

The Lonely Forest packed the EMP tight enough that they were asking everyone to move at least a half step forward. I had no idea they were so popular, but clearly, I am dumb: these Anacortes boys brought the sort of powerful rock music to the stage that makes it difficult to take photos because I’m too busy dancing around. I might be late to this party, but I am really glad I haven’t missed it altogether.

The Devil Makes Three was less ragtime-y than I had hoped, but I still really enjoyed their three-part harmonies and hoe-down songs. Last year I felt like I was suffering from alt-country fatigue at Bumbershoot, but this year I really needed a little goth country in my afternoon.

Trying to get in to Metric in the KEXP lounge turned out to be a ridiculous proposition, so I headed off to see Dead Confederate, which was the correct decision. They were Southern and loud, loud enough to sound pretty good even in the sound hole of the Exhibition Hall.

More surprising sound came from Franz Ferdinand at the Mainstage. I usually skip Mainstage shows because I’m just not very down with the muddy sound and being elbowed in the head by stoned teenagers, but Franz Ferdinand have become a total stadium band and they sounded great in there.

I walked down the stairs to see 3 Inches of Blood next to a couple of teenage boys, who had been waiting all day for that show. The crowd was almost solidly male and sparse at that–everyone else was at Modest Mouse or Metric–but who needs a giant crowd when you can have a smaller one of superfans? 3 Inches of Blood stomped and raged and made loud, loud metal sounds, and everyone in the crowd ate it up.

So let’s talk about Bumbershoot magic. For me Holy Fuck stole a lot of the show, and there was a moment during their Broad Street set where the drummer and the bass player were locking eyes and playing hard, and the other two were synced and intense, and that gave me goosebumps. It was perfect. I walked in to the Exhibition Hall for Dead Confederate during their soundcheck, just a few people and a giant empty room and a loud rock band playing for the moment just for us, and that was quite sincerely a Moment. Magic also happened when the sun came out in the beginning parts of U.S.E. and when Matt & Kim stopped what they were playing to tell the crowd how sincerely thrilled they were to see so many people so excited to see them.

This was a great Bumbershoot, I think. Metroblogging readers, what were your favorite parts?

Romance in the EMP

Hey you guys, today it has been raining off and on. FYI.

It turns out that U.S.E has the power to both make it rain and make it stop raining, among other talents like creating dance parties and wearing gold spandex. They’ll be having a cd pre-pre-release party at Havana tonight.

Holy F**k played in the KEXP lounge earlier–you may have heard them–any they’ll be on the Broad Street stage at 7:45 probably ripping the clouds back open with their robot dance party. I still don’t understand how they make all of those noises, but it’s guaranteed to be a good time.

Have you heard post-punk cute boys Romance? I think you’d like them. They were a member short today–their keyboard player’s wife just had a baby last night–but it didn’t seem to slow them down at all.