Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg may have been better known as the guys who co-wrote & produced and won a Grammy for Britney Spears' "Toxic" (under the moniker Bloodshy & Avant), but since adding Andrew Wyatt to the lineup and releasing an album of original material, they will probably be better known as their latest project, Miike Snow. The Swedish band formed in Stockholm in 2007 as "three people just messing about". Wyatt admitted in an interview, "We didn't even think about touring when we started the album." A lot has changed since then. The band has been touring almost nonstop since last summer, hitting up all the major festivals including Lallapalooza, Coachella, SXSW, Sasquatch!, and Bonnaroo. And tonight they are playing Showbox SoDo. more ›

It took five songs for Eddie Argos & co. to beat the Seattle chill. As they began their set around midnight Saturday, the audience was depressingly reminiscent of the last time we saw Art Brut play, when Argos (possibly probably drunk) began expressing his disgust with the audience's lack of enthusiasm. Aside from a small core of 15 to 20 enthusiastic under-21s (God bless 'em) crowded in front of the stage, the rest of the audience was painfully staid--indie rock kids who couldn't deign to do more than slightly bop their heads, scenesters trying to carry on conversations during the show. more ›

Two reasons: Kultur Shock on Friday (with X-Ray Press and Orange Tulip Conspiracy, $10, 21+), Art Brut on Saturday (with Miike Snow and Black Nite Crash, $13, all ages). Local gypsy art punks Kultur Shock are releasing their fourth studio album this year, and are about to jet off on tour in Russia. They don't play Seattle all that often anymore, and they're an insanely wild live band, mixing Sabbath-style guitar riffs with Balkan trad, shredded violin solos competing with lead-singer Gino Yevdjevic's melismatic vocals. As for Art Brut, they were indie rock darlings a couple years ago after an amazing debut record, , recorded in beautiful Salem, Ore. and produced by the legendary Frank Black. Also, like Kultur Shock, Art Brut is a fantastic live band that gives it their all and is best seen in a club. more ›