Walkie Talkie Blog
IT'S GOING TO BE NUTS >>> Brotherhood of the Black Squirrel's second record, The Dust Bowl Ghosts, released last April, is described as "a trip through the dreams and nightmares of a down-on-his-luck circus comedian with a bum leg and child support payments." If that doesn't sound like a
Walkie Talkie Blog
TUNE IN FROM 8-9 PM OR REGRET IT FOREVER >>> Last night was big for us. Tonight will be even bigger. Crossing a long-desired item off our collective bucket list, last night the Weekly Volcano recorded the very first episode of Volcano Radio - the Volcano's new Internet radio show and podcast. It
Walkie Talkie Blog
ZEROING IN >>> Sure, it may seem easy to scoff at miniature golf, or "Putt-Putt Golf" as it's been called (and trademarked). But that wouldn't be doing the sport justice. Yes, I did just call miniature golf a "sport." While that classification may seem debatable (and, OK, it probably IS debatable), there's some
Walkie Talkie Blog
THE FAIR OPENS FOR BUSINESS >>> More than simply cows, crowds and cotton candy, the Puyallup Fair has grown up alongside the town it calls home. Featuring a vast array of livestock, rides, booths, games, foods (of course) and big-name concerts, the 17-day Puyallup Fair, Sept. 9 - 25, promises enough
Walkie Talkie Blog
TRANSPARENCY IN MEDIA >>> Making editorially decisions for SPEW isn't always easy. Sometimes, tough ethical and practical situations arise that require careful contemplation. For instance, sometimes Robert "the Traveller" Hill sends me a press release. What to do? Post or ignore? Acknowledge or disregard? The predicament is tricky, and a number of factors
Walkie Talkie Blog
SCORE ONE FOR OLYMPIA >>> Last night at Northern in Olympia, Wild Flag - perhaps at least momentarily better known as Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole - played its first show ever. As Brownstein noted (herself and Weiss Sleater-Kinney alums) most of her bands have played their
Walkie Talkie Blog
CHECK IT >>> On the first Sunday of every month I visit the Northwest Convergence Zone - a South Sound based podcast orchestrated by the venerable Darrell Fortune. It's "kind of a big deal," for lack of a better description, as the pro bono, weekend warriors behind the Northwest Convergence Zone
Walkie Talkie Blog
BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>> Admittedly, I'm sick. I'm snotty. My throat hurts. And I'm not even at the office today. Yet, The Prefunk - a regular weekend primer for you and your liver - waits for no one ... not even the sick. The show must go on - and so
Walkie Talkie Blog
BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>> Last week I was on vacation. There was no Prefunk. Your weekend still happened, of course, and I assume you still figured out a way to occupy yourself. But, you didn't start things off with tasteless whip-it jokes from the Weekly Volcano, and there was no
Walkie Talkie Blog
BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>> Well, O. M. G. The workweek is drawing to a close, and not only is the weekend upon us - but it's of the THREE-DAY variety! That's cooler than the other side of the pillow, as they say; the bee's knees (so to speak). It's groovy,
Walkie Talkie Blog
BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>> Honestly, it would probably be best to let this week slide - to mysteriously (and probably unnoticed) duck out of my regular Prefunk obligations. The South Sound has already been forced to endure nearly 10,000 words from me this week (most with the expert help of
Walkie Talkie Blog
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES >>> Despite the fact Dignitaries drummer Lino Fernandez was recently involved in a scooter vs. automobile accident (with Lino, naturally, on the scooter), and surgeries and pain medication have followed, I just received word from Lino's brother, Reylan, that the band is still planning to take the stage this
Walkie Talkie Blog
BEST OF TACOMA 2010 PREMIERE PARTY RECAP >>> In addition to the 2,375 awards handed out at last night's Weekly Volcano Best of Tacoma 2010 Premiere Party, there was one award we had to save for this morning. Best Hangover. I win. Or, rather, tequila wins ... again. You would honestly think
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TONIGHT PIONEERS WEST, TOMORROW A HANGOVER >>> To cut to the chase, Pioneers West is one of the better things this town has going, an unabashed sonic perpetuation and proliferation of a genre of the band's own making - "Western Doom." It's a self-contrived genre that sounds badass, both in
Walkie Talkie Blog
LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>> PUNK ROCK: While I'm not against the idea, let it be known that I'm not specifically writing about San Francisco's The Meat Sluts because of the name - which is totally awesome, by the way. No, I'm writing about The Meat Sluts
Walkie Talkie Blog
GORILLA PRODUCTIONS VS. GIRL TROUBLE UPDATE >>> As we have been since the very beginning, the Weekly Volcano is continuing to follow the ongoing court battle between Ohio-based Gorilla Productions and local rock heroes Girl Trouble. If you've been following along with us, you already know Girl Trouble, and most specifically
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SUNDAY RECAP AND MONDAY PREVIEW >>> There's nothing easy about the Sasquatch! Music Festival. They make you work for it. First and foremost - don't believe anyone that tells you different; the Gorge is in The Middle of Fucking Nowhere. The view is spectacular, of course - and there's really nothing in
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FIRST DAY RECAP, DAY TWO HIGHLIGHTS >>> Mothers and fathers of America - these are your children. They come from comfortable suburban cul-de-sacs, liberal arts schools and YouTube - Day-Glo hippies with short attention spans and a thing for Miike Snow. They wear fake neon Raybans, side ponytails and face paint -
Walkie Talkie Blog
THE BEST PART OF WAKING UP IS MANTHOU NEXT TO YOUR CUP >>> As we've mentioned ad nauseam, May is Bike Month - also hyped insufferably by Pierce Transit, Pierce County and the city of Tacoma. More specifically, May 17-21 (or this week) has been the Bike to Work Week
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TALKING THE WAREHOUSE, HOUSE SHOWS AND TACOMA WITH DREW GROW >>> Talk about a friend of Tacoma - Drew Grow, and even his Pastors' Wives, feel like long-lost soul mates of Grit City. Originally won over by the warmth of the arts-slash-music scene emanating from The Warehouse (R.I.P.), and intrigued enough