Jason Holstrom may be known as a founding member of two local bands, Wonderful and United State of Electronica, as well as a producer for such acts as Dolour and Aqueduct, but now he's got a new group up his sleeve: The Thieves of Kailua, a one-man island-pop project. Through its sunny surf sounds, layered loungey vocals, and a mixture of production techniques both old and new, the self-titled album evokes a Hawaiian vacation--starting with the visitor's first enchanting aloha, the typical tourist encounters, and a brief brush with the titular thieves, all the way to a bittersweet "Hula-Bye." We spoke to Jason about his island adventures on the cusp of the Thieves of Kailua's CD release show: Thursday at Chop Suey, $8, doors 9pm, 21+. more ›

At work the other day, Seattlest was talking to a coworker and friend who originally hails from Minnesota. Naturally, we talked of the bridge collapse. As one would expect these sorts of conversations to go, the conversation logically ended with us looking up the coordinates for the northernmost point in Maine. more ›

As a wise man (Stephen Malkmus) once said, "Aloha means 'goodbye' and also 'hello,' it's in how you inflect." He must've been predicting the advent of local musician Jason Holstrom's new tiki project The Thieves of Kailua. A huge departure from Holstrom's other work with Wonderful and United State of Electronica, the self-titled album (just released on Mill Pond Records) is a loungey ode to Hawaii, complete with Beach Boys-inspired harmonies, plucky ukuleles, and percussion like waves hitting the seashore. Like a lazy day at the beach, it goes well with a maitai or a mojito or a bucket full of Coronas.... more ›

Local music guy, Jason Holstrom, best known as a founding member of Wonderful and the happypartyfuntime supergroup United State of Electronica, has a new solo project: The Thieves of Kailua. Made over a three-year period and released on Mill Pond Records this past Tuesday, the self-titled album has its origins in a trip to Hawaii with his then-future/now-current wife. more ›

Our little ditty against the Statuette of Liberty drew some comments from Dan Savage yesterday: more ›

What better way to enjoy Memorial Day weekend than under a cloudless sky with a sweltering sun on the hottest day of the year? Seattlest hates hot weather (we tend to sweat easily and a lot), but we braved Saturday's exxxtreme temps to catch some outstanding music at Sasquatch. When it was all said and done, we had seen eight full acts and pieces of another three; we also managed to successfully avoid sunburn. more ›