Gosling pretty much says it all. Tennis Pro is playing on Wednesday, February 8 at Chop Suey with two Japanese bands with perfect rock-and-roll names: Troll 8 (also the owner of Chop Suey's band) and Gnosis  - plus, The Terrordactyls, who also hail from Seattle, and post pictures of sad pizza. Oh, and they also sound pretty neat, so they should complement Tennis Pro's awesomeness just fine.

So I'll see you guys up front near the stage, right? 

Chop Suey Presents 
TENNIS PRO
The Terrordactyls
Troll 8
Gnosis
plus guests 
Friday, Feb. 8 | Doors at 8pm | $7 

{photo courtesy of Tennis Pro's Facebook page} 

This weekend is getting so good, we may just have to draw out of a hat to see where we wind up -- with so much to choose from, it's getting hard to decide on just one place to be each night! Case in point, this show at Chop Suey on Saturday {Absolute Monarchs, The Young Evils, and Land of Pines} just popped onto the radar, making it one notch closer to impossible to sort out our plans. Depending on traffic and parking -- and since a little bird told us The YEs are actually headlining this one -- it's completely feasible to plan a double dip, starting the night out in Columbia City for a chunk of the Honky Tonk Angels tribute show, and then moseying on over to Capitol Hill to catch this show's last set.

Can anyone confirm or deny the final call on the lineup order? Let us know!

It all starts with one thing: words.

Your favorite songwriters are all, well, writers in some way, shape, or form: whether they pick up pens and pencils, scribble furiously in notebooks, tap away at keyboards or typewriters, borrow phrases that they repurpose, or speak into a tape recorder -- they're wordsmiths. All (well, most) of them. And therefore, we find it fitting that we help get the word out about two benefits going on this weekend to help the next generation of writers and songster-ers of the Bent Writing Institute here in Seattle. There's two events you can choose from, depending on your speed -- a night of spoken word at the Fremont Abbey on Friday, and a full-force Big Gay Dance Party at Chop Suey on Saturday. Here's some more details on both:

Friday night, the Fremont Abbey will be host to a night of true performance, with acclaimed poet and activist Andrea Gibson {along with Tara Hardy and members of Youth Speaks Seattle}. Hold on to your sighs, folks: this isn't just some kind of wannabe coffeshop redux full of mediocre poets with exaggerated inflection. Andrea Gibson is the Real Deal: she's touring behind her fifth album and second book, her work has been featured on the BBC, Air America, C-SPAN, and Free Speech TV; and in 2010 a piece of her work was read by a state representative in lieu of morning prayer at the Utah State Legislature. Short version: if you're going to hitch your wagon to a spoken word artist in your lifetime, she's the one. Tickets here, Facebook event page here.

Then, we've got Saturday's event, which'll be much less heavy on the heartstrings but just as fun to attend: LICK!, a monthly-ish dance party at Chop Suey, will be hosting a benefit for BENT, with real-live DJs, dancing, a holigay photobooth, and all kinds of fun stuff! Dress to impress, and don't forget some ca$h money for the tip jar! Proceeds from the night will be going right to the BENT folks. (And ps, if you get there while they last, a rad new 'zine is being released too!) More info at the Facebook event page here.

more...

 

Photo borrowed from Tennis Pro's Facebook page.

The last time I saw Tennis Pro, they were singing Liz Phair songs in dresses...a memorable event, not just because of their attire, or the fact that it was the 6th Anniversary of TIG, but also because these guys CRANK out some seriously bouncy power pop! But uh, where have they been since then, you might ask? Well, I was fortunate enough to run into Mr. David Drury during all the SIFF festivities and that's when I found out they didn't really go anywhere, they've actually got a brand new album, and (no kidding) they're totally BIG in JAPAN.

This news made me incredibly happy, and started me on a kick of listening to Cassie's Junior Varsity Make-Out Squad, and Are You There, God, It's Me Tennis Pro - reminding me how much fun they are live and also that they have a song called "Imaginary Girl" that rocks my little heart out. The new album is called Shimokita is Dead, and Tennis Pro is having a CD release party/show at Chop Suey this coming Thursday {6/30} so everybody can hear what it sounds like. In the meantime, here's a preview to get you ready:

 

 

more...

at Chop Suey

It never fails to sadden me when I attend the concert of a well-established artist and the venue is nearly empty.

Peter Kember, aka Sonic Boom/Spectrum/Experimental Audio Research (EAR) stepped onto the stage at Chop Suey on Thursday night, and if my estimate was high, there were maybe one hundred people in attendance.

Kember was one of the founding members of the brilliant Spacemen 3, a group that combined garage rock and drugged out trippy auras like none other.  The other core member of the band, Jason Pierce, went on to form the highly successful Spiritualized, while Kember’s later efforts have remained obscure at best. This said, the shockingly under-attended Spectrum show was incredible, with a sound remaining true to Spacemen 3’s original vision. Spectrum’s ever challenging music continues to impress, making the often bloated Spiritualized sound like the Kingston Trio.

more...

For those out of the loop, Tomten is a Seattle band that enchanted the judges this year at the EMP Sound Off! finals. So much so, they aced the "Wild Card" vote and won. (OK, yeah, I was one of those smitten judges, hence the following interview.) They have a sweet nine song debut available at local record shops, and with a lot of shows coming up, you're going to be hearing a lot more of them. They're booked to headline the High Dive this week on Thursday, April 28, then the all-ages Vera on May 13. Both shows are more than worthy of your night-out dollar.

Also coming up is the beloved literary/music event Verse Chapter Verse, this time held at Chop Suey on Saturday, May 28 (7pm). This installment will be with cult science-fiction author China Mieville, who will be interviewed live by The Stranger. Paul Constant, a VCV promoter and fellow Stranger scribe, descibes Tomten as, "...a local up-and-coming rock and roll outfit that calls back to the Rolling Stones and the Zombies while moving forward with a jittery kind of gonzo energy. I think their organ-heavy music will mesh with Mieville's self-described weird fiction in fantastic, science fictional ways."

Below is our hot-fresh interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist/organ grinder Brian Noyeswatkins, initiated when I ran into him at the Elliott Bay Bookstore Cafe as he was planning to quit his job at Value Village and grabbing a coffee. He had a bad cold, but that didn't prevent us from lining up this exchange and bonding over Big Star and other sublime frequenices.

more...

Find yourself looking for some electro-synth in all that alt.earnestcore you've had on heavy rotation lately? Well, look no further: we have the solution, and it's Uh Huh Her. Not to play the this-sounds-like-that game, but if you're not familiar, think about the good parts of bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, School of Seven Bells and Beach House, but leave behind the yawning fluff and hipster hype. Add in some girl power that's been sliced through with a decent dose of "I Don't Give a Fuck" (in a good way, of course) and you've got what's sure to be the most dancing-est well-penned set of songs that one could hope for on a Sunday night in Seattle.

And if that doesn't get you, take that video up there for a whirl and then tell me you don't want to see this sound live. Seriously.

Lucky for you, we've got tickets to give away -- and to the tune of FIVE PAIRS. That's right! Five chances for you and a friend to check out UHH's set this Sunday at Chop Suey. Send us an email at tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "MoreThanJustTheLWord" (we will also accept "AllTheYoungGirlsLoveAlice") to be entered for a chance to win. But act fast -- the show's next weekend, so we're going to need all your entries in the hopper by 3p next Wednesday, March 23rd.

more...

Were there a way to insert the needle-pulling-off-the-record noise here as the sound effect, we'd do it. Because this is the noise that rings out when someone talks about how they haven't heard of Chris Pureka or, more specifically, haven't listened to the album she put out about a year ago called How I Learned To See In The Dark. It's a literal symphony of earnest ache, of sadly-toned sounds fused with a glimmer of hope, of moments filled to the brim with faded photographs and creaky floorboards (worthy of a page full of adjectives, in fact, that you can read in their original context here).

The bottom line is this: simply put, Chris's music isn't this way because it's some trendy extension of some alt.americana.lumbercore sound that so many people seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of -- her music is this way because it has to be. It's got no other way, similar to how the alphabet lays out or how stairs connect us between the floors of our houses... it just is. And rarely these days do such honest leanings and compelling sound meet the way hers do.

So, with all that said typed: first off, head on over to the album's page on her website and pick up a copy of the record. (Shame on you for not owning it already, PS.) Second, take a minute to get yourself a ticket to her upcoming show at Chop Suey before it sells out -- she's taken the Tractor to near-capacity more than once her last few runs through town, and there's no reason to believe that won't be the case next Tuesday as well. And thirdly, if you're up for a little roll of the dice, take a minute to send us an email for a chance to win two tickets to the show, courtesy of the fine folks over at Chop Suey.

more...

Upon hearing about Buffalo Tom's upcoming Chop Suey appearance, we couldn't help but time-travel back to this particularly terse Angela Chase / Jordan Catalano scene from My So-Called Life. You know. The short-lived angst-riddled show that we may or may not own the entire box-set of.

Want to feel ancient? MS-CL originally ran in the '94-95 television season, which makes this clip about 16 years old. Which means a baby born the year this aired is now of legal age to borrow her dad's keys, lie about a homework date with Rayanne, and drive downtown in a moderately successful attempt to sneak into a bar to see a band.

more...

When computers acquire the ability to experience emotions, they just might come to consider Will Wiesenfeld a kindred spirit. If you're a member of the ever-decreasing choir of those who find electronic music to be inherently cold and sterile, Baths offer up a soothing remedy.  The latest moniker of the LA-based Wiesenfeld (formerly of [Post Foetus]), Baths' debut Cerulean is wrapped in more warmth than the entire catalogues of most so-called traditional performers. Fewer anywhere couple stellar beat-making with such potent, emotive songwriting chops. Baths aim to please visually as well, proven by the shockingly beautiful video for "Lovely Bloodflow."

Though he has yet to be name-checked in any recent Radiohead singles (a la Flying Lotus), the future is undeniably bright for the 21-year-old prodigy.  Whether you label it hip-hop, glitch, glo-fi or something altogether different, Baths succeed in moving both body AND mind. And whether you're dealing with guitars or samplers, isn't that all any of us really need? Head to Chop Suey on Tuesday, 3/1 to see for yourself.

Baths, Braids, Gobble Gobble
Tuesday, 3/1 @ Chop Suey
All Ages (Bar w/ ID)
$10 adv/$12 dos/Doors @ 8pm

more...