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The trio of Raven Marcus, hailing from San Francisco, consists of Natalia Montana Rose Miner (vocals and mandolin), Rob Johnson (drums and percussion) and Bronwyn Dexter on bass. They describe themselves as "cowboy glam rock," which does a nice job of describing their folky approach to pop songs. With a
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I don't know what it is, but I've grown up with a particular love for doo-wop and '50s romantic music. Of course, a large part of it has to do with being raised on the defunct 97.3 KBSG, which truly did play oldies. The latest they would extend would be
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It is goddamn freezing outside! As I write this, pitiful snowflakes listlessly fall to the cold Tacoma ground, almost as if to whisper, "Get out while you still can." Winter has arrived, and with it comes the almost overpowering urge to stay inside and never, ever leave again. Fight it!
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Befitting an album featuring Ben Roth's first major creative output, Bod's EP, Party Drug, feels like it's crammed with ideas and off-kilter detours. "Gigantor" kicks off the album in a haze, before '70s prog-indebted guitars charge in. Tricky time signatures abound, lending a stop-start dynamic that challenges without taking away
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After a couple years of being stranded in the wilderness of Alaska, Saucy Yoda is once again gracing the Pacific Northwest with her presence. For those who haven't had the pleasure of catching her live, Saucy Yoda is a whirling dervish of gonzo party energy. Combining a garage punk aesthetic
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Orden Mundial do not fuck around. The Spanish hardcore outfit lay everything out on the line in their recent LP, Obedienca Debida, with 10 tracks that almost never make it past a minute and a half. Still, within these unfathomably tight structures, Orden Mundial find compelling melodies and enough crunch
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In some ways, the Tacoma School of the Arts in particular, and Tacoma in general, have a tendency to function as a sort of musical farm league for the country. While this may be a fact shared by other smaller, quirky schools and cities in the U.S., my firsthand experience
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Olympia's Wauby usually play plugged-in, sunshiny indie pop, but this Saturday they'll be going acoustic. Still, as much as the vibrancy of their synths will be absent from their Le Voyeur set, there isn't much that can dampen the enthusiasm that Wauby bring to their party. If anything, the acoustic
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Like Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, Trees and Timber have a knack for writing perfect pop songs that don't get just get by on production sheen. There's a tactile feel to Trees and Timber that lends weight to songs that are otherwise light as a feather. On their new LP,
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The Fabulous Downey Brothers are aggressively, endearingly strange. Half performance art, half spiky art-rock, the Olympia band always bring a surging current of off-putting energy to their live performances. Calling on the daring New Wave of late '70s/early '80s groups like Talking Heads, Devo, and Adam Ant, the Fabulous Downey
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In the late '70s, a record label was born in London called Stiff Records. Among the prominent voices in the label were the prolific and pop-minded likes of Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Wreckless Eric. What these artists had in common was a love for pop structure, albeit informed by
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Charlatan is surging, post-punk inspired electro-rock. As a solo project of Omar Rashan, Charlatan combines programmed beats, synthesizers and fuzzed-out guitars into a sound that's reminiscent of Joy Division. All cleanliness and precision is smeared with layers of noise, and the persistent drum machine gets drenched in discordant guitar. In
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In the annals of Tacoma rock history in the new millennium, a handful of names stick out. One of them has to be Umber Sleeping. Though Umber Sleeping hasn't really existed in years, the mastermind behind it has remained active. Peter Tietjen, drummer and lead singer for Umber Sleeping, has
Viva South Sound
Ed. note: Jeff Ross' Tacoma Comedy Club shows have been postponed. The shows will be rescheduled. I've never been very good at ribbing people. I think it comes from all of the anger that churns deep inside of me, but I could be wrong. Whenever there's a group of people playfully
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As much as an album cover featuring a black-and-white photo of a nude woman chained up and wearing a black mask and leather gloves might seem like something out of This is Spinal Tap, it's actually the cover of The Killing Scene by Animal Bodies. Rather than the arena rock
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From Mexico, by way of Venezuela, the psych-hardcore outfit Cardiel make an ungodly racket that belies their status as a two-piece. Even if it's never quite said explicitly, there's a feeling of revolution that permeates their music. Every song seems to be violently pushing back against anything that threatens to
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Portland psych-pop group The Hugs has been steadily picking up steam since their formation in 2007 - being featured in illustrious music publications like NME, and sharing the stage with tons of indie rock luminaries - and they've recently released a new EP. "When we were younger, we had
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Is there such a thing as selling out, anymore? Was there ever such a thing as selling out? I've personally never felt an overwhelming desire to shit on bands that I liked way back when after they eventually find success and fame. Is it disappointing for them to change some
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One unfortunate thing about doing previews for bands is that I don't always have time to do reviews. Bands blow through town, and all I have to go on is their recorded music and whatever cell phone footage has been shot of them at some dingy bar show. If I
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Still Caves, out of Portland, shine with a kind of lo-fi exuberance that could only come from a bunch of friends goofing off and hitting a bunch of different effects pedals just to see what they can make. There's a ragged charm in their noise, which does little to hinder