Local Music I Like

Being small-to-smallish regional fests, Pickathon, Timberfest, and Doe Bay Fest all feature a lot of local bands. Other local bands like Dave B and Black Belt Eagle Scout have popped up in posts before. But I moved to Seattle for the music, so a post dedicated to current local music I like is probably way overdue.

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Daisies

One of several bands I discovered in a recent Seattle Times article highlighting new local album releases, Daisies is a far cry from the folky indie rock that has characterized most of my local band listening the past few years. What Are You Waiting For? is bright and sparkly synth pop, but just weird enough to be from Olympia.

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Dark Smith

Another Seattle Times find, they had me at ” deep, haunting baritone.” Dark Smith would be equally at home in my dark and moody post, but since they are from Seattle, I’ve put their dreamy goth-punk album Degressive here.

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Shana Cleveland

Okay, Shana Cleveland was living in L.A. when she wrote and recorded the solo album Night of the Worm Moon. But her band, La Luz, is a Seattle band, so I’m going to count her. It’s a little ironic, because I never really got into La Luz, but I seem to love everything else Cleveland touches. This dreamily surreal acoustic album is no exception.

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Xoth

Seattle puts out so much good music in so many genres, but metal seems to be missing from the menu most of the time. When I do find local metal bands, most of the time they are.. sorta meh. Obviously, in the 30 years I’ve lived in this town, there have been exceptions. And even if there weren’t Xoth would make up for it. By now, I think I’ve seen Xoth on every single metal blog I follow, and on several music blogs with a wider palette. And they’ve all said the same thing I’m going to say. Interdimensional Invocations is really good.

Some say the album has themes of societal decay and renewed primitivism that play on my fear that we are entering a second dark age. Other reviewers describe it as belonging to my favorite genre of scifi. Either way, I’m too busy grinning stupidly to decipher lyrics. Machine gun drumming pairs with thrashy 80’s riffs and a variety of extreme vocal styles and a good time is had by all. As much as I love Seattle, I could never get excited about that 12th Man thing. But these guys are hometown heroes I can celebrate. Seriously, y’all, Xoth is hella fun.

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Great Grandpa

Described as “Seattle snack rock” on their Bandcamp page, Great Grandpa has the hallmarks of all my favorite indie music: a poppy or even folky, easygoing surface sound that belies the actual tension and dissonance in the music. Bands like Car Seat Headrest and Vampire Weekend sound nothing like them, but also share this geode-like character. Four of Arrows is an excellent addition to my deceptively aggressive good mood music.

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Year of the Cobra

Considering the chill, mildewy climate, it’s no surprise that Seattle has some great doom bands. What is weird is how long it took me to find them. I usually prefer my doom with a baritone death growl, but Amy Tung’s reverby soprano is quite effective. With all of their songs clocking in under six minutes, Year of the Cobra could just as easily be accused of stoner rock as doom. But I don’t want a semantic argument, I just want lumbering low notes. Ash and Dust delivers them.

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