Seattle’s all-ages concert guide You don’t need fake ID to have fun.

It’s over.
After 2.5 years, we have called it quits - we’ve moved on to bigger, inevitably more adult, things. Many of us are now in or have graduated college. Many of us are over 21. Zach Hale is currently hosting a radio show at RainyDawg radio at UW. Morgan Keuler can be found shooting for The Stranger. Tristan Pelton is working with the Vera.

We want to thank all the people who supported us and helped us while we were active, especially our parents, The Vera Project, Capitol Basement, the Easthope Family, The Lonely Forest, EMP SoundOff!, Three Imaginary Girls, Alina Misra and Skinny Productions, The Paradox, The Redmond Firehouse, Idiot Pilot, The Divorce, Schoolyard Heroes, BOAT, Mon Frere, The Cops, and all the local bands who gave us interviews and made our Friday nights so fun, Bumbershoot, Sub Pop and Sarah Moody, CAKE records, and all the local labels who treated us like...

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After two successful forays into fairly different styles of what most would refer to as “indie rock,” AIH has come back again with their third release, Places Like This. Following up last year’s We Died, They Remixed, a collection of remixes mostly from their second full length In Case We Die, PLT once again employs a new and distinct style throughout the record. Regrettably, this time around, they’ve fallen into that trap that’s eaten alive many a mildly experimental band: trendiness. Oftentimes excellent albums are made when bands expand their sound and experiment with a new ethos, but it’s got to be original and Places Like This does not have that touch.
PLT starts off great with cascading rockets and a groovy drum beat. Then your jaw drops (in the bad way) and this is what you think: ‘Was that Isaac Brock? When did he join AIH? I thought they lost members…’ I can think...

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When I first saw the Mission Orange, the guitarist was sprawled out on the stage floor, playing the guitar -passionately- on his back. This was not we’re-a-shy-young-band-with-just-an-ep-out-playing-in-a-park type garbage, they were blasting their music like hell, as if they were jamming in a garage or at band practice with nobody watching. I followed up by tracking down their streaming recordings on MySpace and playing “Live Long and Prosper” on repeat for about an hour. I was hooked on my new favorite local band.

The Mission Orange’s 16-minute, 5 track EP is a a maelstrom of fast-paced, classic-influenced rock consisting of only a guitar, vox, and drums. They show strong influence from The Black Keys, but their sound is heavier, faster, and much more modern.

I love the “The Answer”, which is just a simple track with more energy than a Costco case of Red Bull; it deserves a room full of listeners dancing, thrashing, and singing. “Live...

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Are you an escapist?

Books, music, art in general; I know that I enjoy them because they take me other places, manipulate the way I feel and think, go somewhere else for a while. That moment when you’re so absorbed in a book that you forget you’re sitting on a couch in rainy Seattle? The emotional peak of your favorite album, where the instruments are so beautiful, the lyrics so perfect that your emotions are practically tuned by the artist?

The Lonely Forest’s latest release, finally a full-length piece, combines both experiences of music and story in an enchanting experience titled “Nuclear Winter.” Alot has been hyped the past few years over “concept albums,” mostly from the punk scene, but forget that. This album is truly a beautiful tale that will take you away like your favorite book and play your emotions like your favorite albums.

The Earth is Hell. Nuclear war breaks out, in the final destructive moment of human...

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Capitol Basement’s first full-length album, “In The Park,” is both a continuation of the sound they have carved form themselves, as well as a progression in style since their last release, the “Ging Gong” EP. The 5-piece group put out a full-fleshed, ten track album in May to a crowd of family, friends, and fans (the three f’s of filling a venue, proportioned properly for a great live experience).

They’re still clearly recognizeable a Seattle band: not by sounding like everyone else, but by drawing influence from distinctly Seattle views of rock. This band’s members grew up listening to Pearl Jam and the Presidents; seeing live music; and in general, taking rock seriously. However, exhilleratingly abrupt shifts a la Arcade Fire, keyboard complexity drawing from classical and jazz influence, and moments of dischord pulled from more punk and hardcore roots all show the bands pull from a...

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Confetti, sex appeal, incredible music and kinky red boots…those are the essentials for a great show. The Killers originally postponed this show at The WAMU Theater due to a cold that Brandon Flowers had and alas I was disappointed. But my disappointment dissipated when Rachel reviled to me that Louis XIV would be opening for The Killers. My head almost exploded and I almost shot my load…I was excited. It had been two years since Louis XIV played Seattle and I needed a fix. This combination made for an incredible show as well, the energy was insane and no one could stand still; I don’t think that I have ever danced that much at a show before.

Rachel and I arrived a little late and thought that we might be screwed and stuck in the back of the general admission crowd, but alas we were not. The WAMU Theater is very nice, I had never been there before and I was very impressed. Their bar was pleasant looking (21 feels so far away), the sound in the WAMU Theater is really...

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I’m not going to say this isn’t a good album. I listened to Young Machetes, the newest Blood Brothers release, for most of my trip through Europe, tried to learn all the words, and was really excited when I got it. It was everything I’d expect from a Blood Brothers release. In fact, it didn’t stand out from their other works at all. And that’s where the problem was.

It’s not that the instruments weren’t decent - the sounds, the style, everything is done by talented musicians and fits together well. But it could have been better. Where was the chaos, controlled yet almost unintelligeable on the first listen? It lacked the unpredictability that made their older releases so fun. “Lazer Life” is melodic the majority of the track, with the most concessions to pop predictability than any other...

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“The Capitol Years are not a good band.”

No, that’s not a line from someone else’s review (well, not exactly); it’s a line from the Philadelphia band’s own song “Mirage People,” on their new album Dance Away the Terror. As you might glean from this line and the album’s title, the band has a dark, skewed sense of humor, which they put to admirable use in crafting their slightly disturbing pop songs.

I actually played a show with The Capitol Years a couple years ago, and I remember them being an upbeat, hook-filled rock band, with a strong 60s and 70s rock influence. At the time I could have easily seen them playing shows with bands like Ted Leo/Pharmacists or the Wrens (OK, I didn’t know who the Wrens were at the time, but you get my drift)....

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Tuesday, Oxford Collapse released their 3rd album “Remember the Night Parties”, an album that manages to bottle up the feeling of warm, liberating summers spent doing absolutely nothing but enjoying life without responsibilities. Oxford Collapse, a 3-man band from New York delivers an enjoyable performance, but lacks the spark needed to ignite passion for life, love, and summer within the listener.

With an initial listen, one finds that the music is upbeat, reminiscent of the vocals of early The Offspring (sans the shouting) and they have an overall sound of The Polyphonic Spree. After a few more listens of the album, one begins to realize that this is definitely not the type of album that can be kept on repeat for very long without suffering an eye twitch due to the irritating repetition of the guitar notes song after song. Although the lyrics are...

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Scissor Sisters 2004 self-titled debut featured what might be the greatest song of the 2000’s (the coming out anthem “Take Your Mama”), an excellent Elton John ape, an interesting Pink Floyd cover and them some other songs. In the last two years not much has changed in Scissor Sisters colorful camp: their newest album, “Ta-Dah,” still only reaches legendary heights once, but does come a lot closer to being a memorable album than their debut did.

Recording a song as good as Take Your Mama certainly has its benefits - Scissor Sisters have started rubbing elbows and getting musical direction from some of their initial influences. Sir Elton John himself lended his fast fingers to Tah-Da’s best track: “I don’t Feel Like Dancin’.” It would...

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