Musicians who remain active in the recording industry for over 20 years usually become internationally famous and aim to save the world, or quietly cultivate a devout fan base by emancipating humanity one pair of ears at a time. Mark Pickerel—drummer, vocalist, and Ellensburg native—has followed the latter career path. While in high school, Pickerel joined what would become one of the most notable—and yet most overlooked—bands of the grunge era. Seven years later,......

Welsh five-piece Super Furry Animals are known for crafting catchy orchestral psychedelic pop-rock -- hence the terribly "trippy" cover art for their latest album Hey Venus. The band's been together since '94, and while most UK groups of that time period have split up or gone on permanent hiatus, SFA are still going strong. For that, you can credit the drugs. Seriously though, the Furries make songs with sunny melodies and melancholy, nearly doo-wop......

We're sure we don't need to say this, but you can't miss your caucus. This is the first year in our whole time in the Pacific Northwest where it matters what Washington voters think. If you're still wondering where to go, here are two Dem or GOP caucus locators. Caucusing starts at 1pm. We understand that if you know who you support and you don't want to spend an hour or two talking about it,......

The L Word's coming back on Sunday, 9pm on Showtime! This means weekly installments of nothing but gloriously bad decisions, lesbian sex both complicated and primal, stylishly coiffed men, women, and those who have yet to make up their minds, and -- possibly our favorite part--endless cups of coffee, gossip, and star guest performances at (all-purpose meeting point) The Planet. If you haven't been watching, get thee to the video store and rent thee......

Redmond native and actual Guitar Hero Carrie Brownstein did some work on the advertising of the game Rock Band. You might have seen these commercials; four rocker-lookin types sit around and cut on each other in the jaded and weary fashion of musicians on the road. That's not her work, thank god. She was on a different team pushing a different concept. Anyway, she's got an article up at Slate today about her experiences with......

On Sunday night, Seattlest and a bunch of other Seattleites showed up at Chop Suey for the "Jive Turkey Extreme" Cancer Rising cd release party. The Valley (a Seattle rock band) opened, but we missed their set due to an emergency Piecora's artichoke-heart and sun-dried tomato pizza slice run. Ah, well. No matter. We were still among the first hundred people to buy our ticket and therefore obtain a free copy of Cancer Rising's hot-off-the-presses......

Bumbershoot 2005 hosted the inaugural People Talking and Singing show, where 2,800 festival attendees packed McCaw Hall to see Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Mike Doughty, Sarah Vowell, and Death Cab for Cutie, all the while raising $18K for 826 Seattle, the youth writing center in Greenwood. Last year's event, also at Bumbershoot, was hosted by Daily Show Resident Expert™ John Hodgman and singer Jonathan Coulton. Eggers, Handler, Gibbard, and Vowell were back......

If there were a righteous God in heaven, Dr. Dog would be huge. Of course, if there were a righteous God in heaven, perhaps Dr. Dog wouldn't be saddled with such a horrid, fame-killing name. Despite the cringeworthy moniker, we love this Philly-based rock band: for their radiant layers of Beach Boys harmonies, for their shimmering jangle of major chords, for their psychedelic pop sheen. Haters claim that they are too derivative of the......

ROSEBURG, Ore. – 80’s glam-rock band Poison is in hot water over allegedly showing a woman’s bare breasts in a video projected behind the band during their performance at the Douglas County Fair. Fair organizers are demanding an apology. “I just think it’s wrong,” said entertainment booker Pete Mancloth. “I mean, I’m no queer. Women’s breasts are luscious things but they’re dirty too and should stay put away, in most cases.” Some concert goers felt......

Pearl Jam capped off this year’s three-day Lollapalooza blowout on August 5, and as anyone who knows much about the band might expect, singer Eddie Vedder badmouthed Big Government (Mr. Bush) and Big Business (BP Amoco) on stage. If you weren’t lucky enough to be there (as we weren’t), but caught AT&T’s “live” Blue Room webcast of the band’s performance, you missed some of Eddie’s poli-sci jabs because they were strategically removed. What did......

Remember the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind, the album that made the band—and the word "grunge"—a household name? A naked baby, swimming blithely in pristine water, reaches for a dollar bill—a dollar bill that's on a large fish hook. The image is memorable for its ironic, dangerous, clear message. Courtney Love didn't catch the meaning. Director AJ Schnack does. Love reportedly made $50 million selling 25% of Nirvana's song catalog in 2006. More recently, she......

Yes, we know we've been plugging this band a lot lately, but it's only because they live up to the hype. Besides, after Battles' show tonight at the Croc, we probably won't have anything to say about them for at least a week or so. But no promises. Seattlest chatted with John Stanier, the man behind the kit, as the sonically solid foursome headed up the West Coast. Have you been surprised by the......

The five lads in British goth-garage rock band The Horrors describe their music as "psychotic sounds for freaks and weirdos." So they're a bit dramatic. Check out the creepy cartoon video for their latest single "She is the New Thing" from the band's debut full-length Strange House, distributed in the U.S. by Stolen Transmission. Sez mp3.com: "A raucous mixture of late-60's psychedelia, rockabilly, and malevolent indie splendor, the album is an assured melting pot......

Hey, whaddya know? Ever since the Showbox upped the service fees and made a pact with the devil, their bookings have been less than stellar. In fact, we haven't been to the downtown venue for a single show so far this year, which is totally out of the ordinary. Sure LCD Soundsystem and the Arctic Monkeys played last month, and of course Robin Williams sold out his three-day stand, but taking a look at......

Ah, the festival. The half-pound Gorge Burger, the ten-dollar beer, the fragrant smell of weed and clove cigarettes carried along by an occasional, much appreciated breeze. And of course, all that music. By the time our feet hit festival ground, Viva Voce were setting up at the Yeti Stage. We got our burger and a beer and settled in for a bit of Seattlest's favorite married rock couple. We hadn't seen Viva Voce live......

Dammit, she auditioned in Seattle. Can't we claim her? It probably wouldn't be fair, since she's from Arizona, but last night it was the closest Seattle got to blowing minds on American Idol. Sparks gave us chills and goosebumps, proving that she has what it takes to be the runner up for this year's show. She still hasn't quite shut MindyDoo down, but chances are nobody really will. MD came out and rocked it......

Yeah, we tuned in last night for the elimination round, figuring that, once and for all, our local sweetheart Sanjaya would be among the bottom two. The show started out with the contestants split into groups of three: Blake, Sanjaya and Timberfake; Whatshername, BaldWeirdo, and Gina Glocksen; MindyDoo, J-Sparks, and La-Jones. It was pretty clear who was the bottom three. "Giiinaaaa???" we screamed at the screen. How could she be in the bottom three? Why......

Sitting in the renovated opulence of the Triple Door, waiting for The Mountain Goats' show to begin, we were a little disturbed that so many teenagers were there with their moms. Don't get us wrong--we dig on all-ages shows (how else would we have wiled away lazy Saturday nights when we were teens?). But it was a bit of a surprise that the esoteric acoustic-alternative of a guy who started releasing albums recorded on......

MUSIC: The grandfather of punk (and thus the great-grandfather of indie rock) Jonathan Richman is in Ballard at the Tractor tonight. You might recall his song "Roadrunner" in the School of Rock soundtrack or you may recognize his influence in every rock band everywhere since the mid-60s. 8pm // The Tractor // $12 THEATRE: The Washington Ensemble Theatre's production of "Never Swim Alone" is about two guys who grew up competing against each other on......

Here's to the ice melting away because there are some good shows this week. Tuesday 28th >>> Cat Power at the Showbox. Chan Marshall plays the piano and sings. Our heart breaks. That's just how it is. She's on NPR, too. *mp3: The Greatest 8pm doors; tickets $30 at the door. >>> The Lemonheads at The Crocodile. Evan Dando's spent the last few years focusing on drugs solo work, but now he's brought back......

This weekend Seattlest ventured out into the wilderness to spend both nights in Ballard. This rarely occurs, but we're willing to make the arduous journey if we know the music's going to be worth it. Friday night was Dan Bern at the Tractor. We've seen Dan perform approximately nine million times, and he's always good and full of charming stage banter, especially when there's politics to discuss. So Dan did his best nasally Bob Dylan......

Monday night's Kid Koala show was on the other end of the "change" spectrum from last weekend's Jamie Lidell show. While the Lidell show was about how things stay the same (although a good same), the Kid Koala show was all about change (or at least doing things differently). While most people were in attendance for Kid Koala's playful DJing, Seattlest was most intrigued to see openers Fog, who have made a huge departure from......

The best word we've heard to describe Danish band Mew is "unabashed." This trait is a good thing---we'd much rather hear a band play shoegazey post-prog rock earnestly than with their tongue firmly in cheek. Truly, if you (as a band) firmly believe in your over-the-top-ness, well, you just might convince us too. Embrace the inherent cheesiness and you've got a good chance in winning us over. Mew knows this all too well, and......

Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker are touring and taking pictures together. You might think it funny that two bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker fronted by the same guy (David Lowery) both played at the Crocodile last night. You might think, "What a tremendous ego this man must have." And you would be right. During the middle of the Cracker set he stopped briefly and said, "This might sound rude, but…" He paused to......

Because Friday night had been a late one, it was nearly noon before Seattlest awoke on Saturday. Dazed we were and wondering, Had we really been rocked by pirates last night? Yes, yes we had. Those thieving, snarling, dirty darlings raped and pillaged their way into our hearts Friday night. The setting: Ballard’s own Sunset Tavern. The pirates: Captain Bogg & Salty. So who are these pirates? -Think Jack Black, Axle Rose, ACDC, with......

After kicking our collective asses for four consecutive days, the heat is finally backing down. So pull yourself together. Go outside again -- especially to Capitol Hill this weekend. Tuesday 25th >>> The Long Winters at Sonic Boom in Ballard. Putting The Days To Bed, the third LP from Seattle's The Long Winters, combines the lyrical intimacy and melodic complexity of the Ultimatum EP with the guitar pop rave-ups of the bands previous full lengths.......

This week Seattlest invites you to get your hand out of your pants and join us for some shows... Wednesday 12th >>> WIRE presents: Pleasurecraft This is a Blackout cd release; performing live with New Gray Area at The Baltic Room 9pm; Free! Thursday 13th >>> The Clumsy Lovers at St. Edward State Park (Kenmore) >>> "Trapped In The Closet!" at Rebar 7pm doors; 8pm show, $10 >>> Refugee All Stars of Sierra Leone......

Seattlest had heard nasty rumors from brother Austinist that New Orleans-based Mute Math was, in fact, a Christian rock band. At first, we didn't know whether or not to believe it. After all, there's nothing to the band's overproduced Police/early U2 sound that seems overtly religious, nor was there the requisite shout-out to the Man Upstairs in the CD liner notes or on their website. Plus, people from Texas lie. However, when we got......

Last night at Benaroya Hall, we were distressed by the sight of something terrible amidst the sold-out crowd: there, a couple rows in front of us on the orchestra level, were four guys with their collars popped. Yuck. Kids, do you know who pops their collars? Tools and/or douchebags. Case(s) in point. So leave that shit in Bellevue, Chad, 'cause you're here to see Sigur friggin' Rós. All issues of meathead fashion aside, the......

It'd been a while since Seattlest had seen Montreal band The Stills. After their extensive year-plus of touring for 2003's Logic Will Break Your Heart, they took some time off and made a major overhaul to their line-up. They lost a guitarist, who they replaced with their drummer, meaning that they had to get a new drummer; then, on top of everything else, they upgraded their sometimes-keyboardist to full-fledged band member. And now they've got......