Last Listen at Sonic Boom Fremont

Seattlest has always felt odd using the listening stations in music stores. We love 'em and--the purchased and downloaded ringtones of strangers on the bus not withstanding--still feel that they're the best way to check out new music. It's just kind of weird rocking out in a store with the cans on while other people around you browse the shelves, blissfully unaware of the epiphany you're having, or that in some small but significant way your life is changing. Good weird, but still weird.

Sonic Boom in Fremont was always one of our favorite places to listen to new music for a number or reasons, but chiefly because coupled with Fremont News and Dusty Strings it was well worth the long-ish walk from our house and it always had great stuff available for listening. We first heard Modest Mouse (for example, although it could have been any number of great bands that once we didn't know about and now we do) in there, way back once upon a time, and still remember wanting to grab everyone who came within reach of the headphone cable and implore them to listen to this fantastic shit. Saturday we were in there listening to the new-ish Helio Sequence (which seems ok enough) while the buzz of a liquidation sale was in full pitch around us and were struck by the fact that it would probably be the last time we slipped the headphones on in Fremont. The sale, however, was awesome and included new releases and vinyl so if it's still going on you should get down there and get your discount on, and put on the headphones at the original Sonic Boom for one final listen.