Seattlest Pix 09Nov24
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Dance Dance Party Party Back in Session
Last Thursday night...yes, we're late posting -- another lost weekend of coke & strippers & head-exploding mornings of self-loathing and fear. Stupid family reunions. So last Thursday night we went to hear Favourite Sons [myspace] at Chop Suey.
We'd previewed Favourite Sons at their website before going, but we were unprepared for the amount of rock 'n' roll swagger they were packing. Lead singer Ken Griffin is just that, a singer. In a world of multi-tasking singers running multimedia apps, feeding loops, and sketching the audience with their free hand, Griffin just stands up and sings, with only a microphone to cover his songs' soul-baring. The first thing you think is Lou Reed, but after a few songs you stop comparing and just listen. (Okay, maybe you think he looks a little bit like an angry young Van Morrison in the right light. But you've probably been drinking.)
Then, if you're sitting in those fancy new black leather, low-backed club chairs Chop Suey has added to the edge of the dancefloor, your ass starts to wiggle, your foot swings -- and Favourite Sons aren't letting up. They open with the up-tempo "Hang On Girl" and never look back -- "Tear This Room Apart," "Pistols & Girls" stand out -- Griffin bookended by two very tall, skinny musicians, and one of regular height. (The drummer was sitting down, but we recall him being average in stature.)
Down Beside Your Beauty is just out as of September 12, from Vice Records (which is streaming an album preview). All of the members of Favourite Sons are band veterans. They've got old-school poise and delivery. It takes deep self-confidence to win over a low-energy Thursday night crowd in Seattle. We want Favourite Sons to come live in our favorite bar and we'll drink bourbon with them and never back down from what the world throws at us.
Oh, and Martian Memo To God will open.
We couldn't believe our luck, actually. We were dragging a bit by Thursday, just one of those weeks, and The Glasses opened -- fun, jangly sound, singer's voice completely flat, the sort of thing that makes our eye twitch to signal pain. They reminded us of Tullycraft with more testosterone. They have an EP called Sunbreaks out, if you're into that kind of thing.
Anyway, we were dubious about the whole evening's prospects when the post-punk band Martian Memo To God [myspace] showed up. Call us crazy, but it was like Midnight Oil mixed with Green Day. [Here they are playing at KEXP.] You could tell they were post-punk because they kicked off with "Dear Mom," a slow-burn of a song about mom-the-drug-addict almost guaranteed to clear to the area around the stage.
It was ballsy enough we perked up a bit, and started paying attention to the lyrics because they seemed to be about more than how much it hurt when that girl made the lead singer feel bad that one day. During "Six Miles," Kelly McShane's sputtering baritone rocket of a voice launched itself up and out across Chop Suey and the crowd collectively thought, "Hell yes!" Loiterers in the corner emerged and made their way back out to the floor for pop-punk flavored "Mr. & Mrs. Pine."
Martian Memo plays October 28 at the Crocodile. If you can't wait that long, their EP, "...So Go The Dreams Of The Rough And Tumble," is at Sonic Boom. It's supposed to be at Easy Street, too, but we didn't have any luck with the search box.
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