Plugged In

Words: Dan Halligan

Image: Amy Halligan

On a recent trip to Vegas, I hit the Double Down Saloon to catch Seattle’s Mea Culpa, whose tour coincided perfectly with my vacation. The band’s van broke down in the Nevada desert and they didn’t show up, but my friends and I hung around and enjoyed the dive bar’s drinks, décor (punk flyers, dirty bathrooms, drunk tattooed folks), and caught a few other bands. I had to ask the bartender about the “Bacontini” the bar was advertising. Yes, he said, it had real bacon in it. Gross! When the bartender found out I was from Seattle, he immediately asked if I knew the Boss Martians. It turns out they fucking love the Boss Martians at the Double Down. The bartender bragged about them playing the club on New Years and things “Got totally outta hand!” he said with a wink and a nod. And what’s not to love? The band has been kicking out a fun punk, pop and rock hybrid for a couple years, touring like crazy and released a great album a few months ago. They recently had a CD release party at the final Clinic at Re-bar and blew everyone away. Oh… apparently Mea Culpa were towed to the bar, showed up at 2am and played just after we left, whoops!

I mentioned the final Clinic night. After one year of booking, promoting and running a successful Tuesday rock night in Seattle, we’ve decided to call it quits. An amazing amount of work went into Clinic, and I personally would like to thank all the DJs, bands, bookers, naughty nurses and fans that all made it the best Tuesday night in town to get drunk and debaucherous at.

Chop Suey celebrated its second anniversary of bringing live rock, pop and hip-hop to Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Frank Nieto, the general manager, will soon be leaving the club to do music promotion full-time. The Crocodile Café in Seattle now has happy hour from 4-8pm and has opened their outdoor seating area for the summer. I love drinking outside and the best place to do it in Seattle is at the strip of bars along Second Ave in Belltown. Portland has a new club called Sabala’s at Mt. Tabor. It’s on Hawthorne and features both live music and indie films. Hard name to remember, but their booking schedule already looks great. I finally made it to Seattle’s Studio Seven for a show. With the Stitches and Epoxies playing the same bill, you couldn’t keep me away. While the club is way the hell in the SoDo district, it’s got a great set up with an all-ages floor and large balcony bar area for drinkers. The good sound and nice-sized stage were highlights too. The Epoxies made great use of both, blasting out songs from their album and quite a few new ones.

Damn, have you picked up the new Clorox Girls LP on Smartguy Records yet? I was intrigued after reading in “Maximum Rock’n’Roll” that the band included Justin from the Deadly Weapons [along with a number of old Bainbridge Island bands]. The album fucking rules. It’s limited, has hand-screened covers, and the LP plays on 45, but all that shit is meaningless to me. What matters is how great it is. The Clorox Girls’ catchy melodic ‘70s punk fits in perfectly with bands like the Briefs and the Spits, yet remains fairly unique.

I caught Vancouver, BC band the Rumours in a strip club in Canada last year when the club was taken over by drag queens for an event called Sleazeball. I was instantly drawn in because, well, they were hot girls. But they also threw down the rock. Their new CD is called “The Mighty Can Fall” and damned if they don’t sound even more ‘80s hair metal than I remembered. Way more rock than the new Donnas shit, these girls must be looking at Kiss and Ozzy for inspiration. Throw in mostly black clothes, a lot of cleavage and tattoos, and you’ve got the Rumours.

Larraine very much impressed me when they played Clinic, but I don’t think they quite captured their sound on their demo. The band is from Port Angeles and includes ex-members of 90 Lb. Wuss; they play catchy post-hardcore mixed with rock and will definitely be a band to watch. Portlanders the High and the Mighty gave me a CD with five songs they recorded in February and it fucking smokes. Think New Bomb Turks crossed with a little Texas rock’n’roll and you might get a glimpse of their guitar-driven garage rock sound. The Insurgence might be my new local favorite straight-up punk band after seeing them live and listening to their demo CD. They remind me a bit of the first Good Riddance album. I love ‘80s hardcore and ‘90s pop punk, and the Insurgence combine the two nicely. Word on the street is the band has recently added Josh Sinder, former drummer of the Accused, Gruntruck and Tad. Maybe it’s the sleaze in me, but I can’t help but love a band named the Gropers. They sing way out of tune, their songs are simplistic and raw, but they still retain that ‘70s punk charm I love so much.

I don’t wanna drown in American society... dan@tabletmag.com

JUNE ROCKS! 6/1 Dashboard Confessional, Thrice, Get Up Kids @ Seahawks Exhibition Center/Seattle (6/2 @ Metro Expo Center/Portland), 6/2 Black Nite Crash, Infomatik, the Jeunes @ Sunset Tavern/Seattle, 6/4 Gas Huffer 15th Anniversary, Plaster, Bug Nasties @ Graceland/Seattle, 6/4 Riot-A-Go-Go @ Lobo/Seattle (6/5 @ Twilight/Portland), 6/5 Mission of Burma, Kinski @ Neumo’s/Seattle, 6/5 Lars Fredericksen, Nekromantix, Roger Miret, Die Huns, Horror Pops, Graceland/Seattle (6/6 at Roseland/Portland), 6/5 Local H, Nebula, Fireballs of Freedom @ Ash St. Saloon/Portland, 6/6 Thrones, Replicators, Dove @ Funhouse/Seattle, 6/8 Franz Ferdinand @ Showbox/Seattle, 6/10 Three Imaginary Girls Rockstar Karaoke 2nd Anniversary Party @ Crocodile/Seattle, 6/11 The Minds, Winks, Hunches @ Twilight/Portland, 6/11 Hudson Falcons, Quick 66, Amazombies, Foulmouthed Scoundrels @ Funhouse/Seattle, 6/12 The Divorce, Turn-Ons, Slender Means, Blue Sky Mile @ Graceland/Seattle, 6/13 Moral Crux, Glorious Days, Rabid Dogs @ Funhouse/Seattle, 6/13 Blood Brothers, Challenger @ Neumo’s/Seattle, 6/14 Barfly Barfight, Hudson Falcons, Ill Gotten Gainz @ Twilight/Portland, 6/16 Von Bondies @ Showbox/Seattle, 6/17 Toxic Narcotic, Defiance, Drongos, Bristle, Rabid Dogs @ Graceland/Seattle, 6/17 The Fitness, Cripples, Tyco Party @ Chop Suey/Seattle, 6/17 Alabama Thunderpussy, Rwake @ Sabala’s/Portland (6/19 w/Cougars, No Means Yes @ Graceland/Seattle), 6/18 Eddie Haskulls, Gloryholes, Idol Threats, Fuckin’ Chachis @ Funhouse/Seattle, 6/23 Tablet’s Queer Rock Show: The King Cobra, Scream Club, Dead Vampires @ Hideaway/Seattle, 6/26 Legendary Pink Dots @ Berbati’s Pan/Portland (6/28 @ Chop Suey/Seattle), 6/26 Harkonen, Fall of Troy, Gods Among Men @ Ground Zero