Sound-Off! An Underage Battle: Tomten
Ok, we're going to call BS. There's no way every member of Tomten is under 21. We simply don't believe it. From song structure to arrangements to basic chops, Tomten's tracks seem the product of musicians weathered and traveled. More than that, though, is the emotion they capture so effortlessly: whimsy. See, to do whimsy well, there needs to be an awareness of the past and a knowledge that the present recapitulates it in endless cycles, which then has to be tempered with bemusement. You have to realize that everything repeats itself and find it funny. That's a pretty tall order for people not old enough to drink.
Lacing jangling guitar to fabulous full-octaved organ with left-field production, Tomten sounds very little like anything else going on in Seattle right now. Their closest musical siblings are probably The Raggedy Anns. But while both are smartly updating and honoring their idols, you certainly wouldn't confuse one for the other. Tomten is deliberately pursuing their own muse, no one else's.
They'll be taking on Ambulance, Northern Departure, and Young Pacific this Saturday at the first round of the 10th Annual EMP Sound-Off! Competition. It's going to be just like the movies: a bunch of 20 and 30 year-olds pretending to be in high school. We're so on to you Tomten.
Saturday 7:00 p.m. // EMP/SFM // $10 ($7 students / EMP|SFM members)
