Seattle Bound

Seattle's Tacocat

Old Stomping Grounds

Setting out with the coolfamily for a little trip to Seattle. CoolMom and I spent about half of the 90s out there while we attended graduate school at the University of Washington (U-Dub). This will be the first trip for the cooldaughters to the Pacific Northwest, and we're excited to show them some stuff.

Here's some stuff from a few Seattle / Northwest bands who aren't Nirvana or Pearl Jam. See you on the flip side.

Tacocat, "Dana Katherine Scully," from 2016's Lost Time



Dude York, "Love Is," from 2017's Sincerely



La Luz, "Cicada," from this year's Floating Features



Chastity Belt, "Used to Spend," from 2017's I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone



Brandi Carlile, "The Joke," from 2018's By The Way, I Forgive You



Jo Passed (Vancouver, BC), "Milennial Trashed Blues," from this year's Their Prime



Pure Bathing Culture (Portland, OR), "Pray for Rain," from 2015's Pray for Rain

Tacocats, Dudes York, Sharkmuffins, Primitive Finkses, and Zombies, Asbury Park, 10/1/16

Saturday, Asbury Park, I Think It Was the First of October

Rainy, lazy weekend. I'd been feeling kind of under the weather, and the weather hadn't been helping. I decided to get off my ass, though, and head down to Asbury Park and get some pictures of the 2016 Zombie Walk.

The amount of available parking at around 3pm was pretty amazing to me. I guess the weather kept some people away. There were plenty of zombies prepping by their cars and milling through the Grand Arcade as I made my way over to Beach Bar to catch a bit of Philly surf band, The Primitive Finks. First, though, I stopped by Anchor's Bend to say hi to my friend, Johnny Frana.

Johnny

The Primitive Finks wear rubber monster masks even when it's not the Zombie Walk, so they fit right in with the day's overall theme.

The Primitive Finks

Then, I moved out to the boardwalk to get some shots of zombies. There were lots of people taking pictures.

Jeff Crespi

...and some pretty cool costumes.

I headed back home to fuel up before Saturday night's show at Wonder Bar featuring Tacocat, Dude York (both from Seattle), and Sharkmuffin. The show struck me as a real "Lanes Show" (something I'll probably have to stop thinking now that we've been without Asbury Lanes for a full year), so I was kind of worried what the turnout would be like at Wonder Bar. The overall party atmosphere of the day and the strength of the bill, though, seemed to generate a good amount of walk-up business, which was cool.

Sharkmuffin were playing their first-ever set at Wonder Bar and were impressive. I've really enjoyed watching how they've become part of our little scene here in Asbury Park, playing and supporting local shows while bringing some new faces into the crowds. Our buds from Little Dickman -- local stalwarts -- were there, of course; but so were some of Sharkmuffin's family, Brooklyn friends, and Little Dickman label mates. Just lots of warmth and fun.

Sharkmuffin

I wasn't familiar with Seattle's Dude York before Saturday, but they honestly kind of blew me away. Guitarist Peter Richards and bassist Claire England traded off on lead vocal duties as the band powered through a set of catchy, heavy pop rock. At the end of the set, Richards went audience member to audience member to let everyone who wanted take a turn screaming into the mic.

Dude York

Tacocat, whose album Lost Time has been a favorite of mine this year, brought their tongue-in-cheek approach to some pretty serious issues to what ended up being a relatively packed house. Singer / lead tambourinist, Emily Nokes, is a charismatic emcee, punctuating every beat to every song with her dance moves. She and the rest of the band churn out fun, poppy, punky songs about street harassment, mansplaining, menstruation, girls who love horses, and Dana Scully while the whole crowd bops along.

Tacocat's song "Bridge to Hawaii," which deals with the seasonal affective disorder that can creep up on residents of Seattle, and Peter Richards's "Capitol Hill" button from earlier in the night had me thinking wistfully of all the great moments CoolMom and I had together back when we were living in Seattle in the 1990s.

Tacocat

Just an overall great day and night in Asbury Park. Today is the one-year anniversary of the closure of our beloved Asbury Lanes, and it truly sucks that it's gone. It's easy to get caught up in looking backwards. I do it plenty. But there are still chances to make great memories if you look past the corporate bullshit and the scene bullshit and just focus on the music and, most of all, the people you love.

All the pics from the day are over at the Facebook page and in the Flickr galleries.

CoolDad Does Austin: SXSW Day 4

It's been three years since I could see Fear Of Men again.

Mitski, Protomartyr, Tacocat, Fear Of Men, Beach Slang (again)

I was beat when I got up on Friday morning. Thursday was one long, hot, humid day; and I may have overdone it a bit. On Friday, then, I decided to take things kind of easy and see some of the acts I'd come to see but had missed so far. The Pitchfork Day Party at Barracuda had a few, so that's where I made my first stop.

Mitski has been to Asbury Park a few times; but, for various reasons, I missed her every time. I resolved to catch one of her sets at South By Southwest, and I'm happy I did. The crowd was quite attentive and quiet during her set, which Mitski appreciated. That quiet attentiveness would change as the place filled up.

I made my way over to the outside stage and set up for Protomartyr. They're probably one of the main reasons I was so excited to come to Austin. Their last two albums, Under Cover of Official Right and The Agent Intellect, are two of my favorites from the last several years. Singer Joe Casey snarls the lyrics like he's just about to burst into a rage, remaining precariously calm as the band lets loose around him.

Protomartyr

Katie Crutchfield was finishing up her set inside as I made my way towards the door. By this time, the crowd had swelled, and the attentiveness from earlier in the afternoon had disappeared.

Not wanting to overdo it again, I decided a sit down lunch was in order. I made my way over to Iron Works Barbecue and was thrilled when I found no line and plenty of seats. Amazing what walking a few blocks can do. Brisket, a beer, and just some sitting. Then it was time for Tacocat over on Rainey Street at Container Bar.

Tacocat took the stage to the strains of The Everymen's "Spain" and powered through some sound issues to deliver a set of smart, funny, and subversive pop. They'll be at Mercury Lounge on April 12th, and you should try to catch them.

Back out to my hotel for some R&R.

I made my way back downtown to Sidewinder for the Flowerbooking / Polyvinyl / Topshelf showcase where I'd get to see Fear Of Men and Diet Cig, both of whom I'd been trying to catch all week, along with Beach Slang. The two surprises of the night for me were Palm and Wildhoney. Philly's Palm are mathy and complex. Wildhoney from Baltimore are dream pop in the vein of, well, Fear Of Men.

I've waited to see Fear Of Men again since catching them at FYF in 2013. Since then, their sound has moved from jangly post punk to something more synth driven. The songwriting and singing of Jess Weiss, though, still carry things; and, freed from her guitar, she's able to lose herself a little bit more in her performance. They were great.

Diet Cig guitarist / singer, Alex Luciano, is some combination of a kid on a sugar high and an aerobics instructor. From the opening chord of Diet Cig's set until she made her way down into the crowd for the end, she was non-stop high kicking, bouncing, and smiling. A few folks down front were right there with her. Drummer Noah Bowman gave some heft to the band's poppy bounce.

Diet Cig

It was time for Beach Slang again. Compared to the set at Frank the day before, both the audience and the band were a little more ramshackle. A few folks up front decided that they would try to direct the show, and frontman James Alex took the band well past their time limit, repeating "Noisy Heaven" as requested and throwing in covers of songs by Jawbreaker and The Replacements (2). Another great set for totally different reasons. Watching the band absorb and adapt to the crowd was pretty amazing.

That took me right up to 2am. I made it back to my hotel and tried to get enough sleep to collect my energy for one more day. I can barely walk anymore, but I'll dig deep. Until next time.

This Tacocat Single

"I Hate the Weekend"

Seattle's Tacocat announced recently that they'd be releasing their third album, Lost Time, via Hardly Art on April 1st. To coincide with the announcement, the band released single "I Hate the Weekend."

It's a song for locals, waiters, and bartenders everywhere. Since it's the Friday before a long weekend (for some) and I'm probably heading up to Hoboken tonight, I had to share. Check out the song and try to have fun this weekend.

Tacocat are coming to New York for two dates on April 12th (Mercury Lounge) and 13th (Palisades), and you should definitely try to check them out.