THIS WEEK'S VOLCANO IS AWESOME >>>

Honestly, it was hard to concentrate this week. With all the time I spent organizing the new South Sound chapter of the Tim Tebow fan club, it was nearly impossible for me to give my full attention to this week's Volcano.

Luckily,  the Volcano's music writers are trained professionals. While I might be easily distracted by a handsome, non-aborted left-hander with an awkward throwing motion and a lot of heart, the Volcano's music scribes surely are not. They keep their nose to the grindstone.

Here's a look at the musical goodness headed your way in print & online in this week's Volcano ...

FEATURE: The Bismarck loves the riffage  

True to the name, the Bismarck is made up of friends who met while growing up in North Dakota, though the band was formed in 2002 after they had all individually made the trip to the Pacific Northwest. Bismarck's songs are raucous, jumpy affairs, dominated by overdriven guitars and an unerring sense of energetic urgency. To describe the band as punk would be incorrect, though the Bismarck does seem to embrace a DIY spirit and a fuck-you attitude (at least musically). Mostly, it just seems like Bismarck values noise and the very real possibility of damaging eardrums as much as classic rock structures. This also helps to explain why the vocals seem to have an insistent and frequently futile desire to rise above the music.

"I would say that the entire vocal structure is an afterthought," says Marshall. "It literally gets written after the rest of the song is done. ... Usually what happens with lyrics is we get a concept for either a phrase someone said, or a concept based on the song title, and we just build on that. We definitely concentrate more on the riffage, as the kids call it." ... -- Rev. Adam McKinney

HIP-HOP: Young Krime, a.k.a. Ghetto Baby, Illizm, Sonny Bonoho

To start off the new season, check out Illizm's video for "Dark," featuring Young Krime, a.k.a. Ghetto Baby. Ya'll can YouTube it. Technically the video's not new, but I just came across it.

It also gives me a good excuse to speak on Young Krime, a.k.a. Ghetto Baby. Some may remember when he was Felony Entertainment's flagship artist. For those not in the know, Felony Entertainment was one the most successful Tacoma hip-hop labels in the late '90s, and it's still in existence. Felony Entertainment brought us artists like Awall, a.k.a 2-Piece and Skirt Diggla. ... -- Josh Rizebeg

PUNK: The Load Levelers

Was it always destined that bluegrass and punk would make such a happy marriage? In hindsight, it seems like a natural fit, but the first person to bring a banjo or washboard into a punk band had to have had such brilliant intuition. The Load Levelers continue in this tradition, slamming together the most recognizable tropes from punk and Southern music into a freakish amalgam that also finds the time to inject some speed metal into the affair. ... -- Rev. Adam McKinney

PLUS: Better Living Through Music - Violin vs. Vinyl, Voxxy Vallejo, Side Show Spook-tacular

PLUS: Concert Alert

PLUS: Live Local Music Calendar

PLUS: Nonsense