Young dudes with an affinity for old songs, Swamp Boys have a delightfully nostalgic sound that calls back on a keen sweetness that dominated airway sounds back in the 60s and 70s. A little bit surf, psych and alt-country, the foursome are from a fairly small town not that far from both Portland and Seattle called Ridgefield, but they’re making their efforts to put their homebase more on the map.

Swamp Boys just released the first six songs they’ve ever written on an EP called Bahked, an obvious nod to some of the best greenery the Pacific Northwest offers. Each track on Bahked makes a good accompaniment for a smoking sesh, like the catchy garage tune of "I Don’t Know What I’m Doin’" to the ballad-esque "Love So Dear."

Those still local during this holiday week can see Swamp Boys play twice, on 12.27 at the Tardis Room with Freemans Dead from Long Beach, Ca, Rosebud and Major Arcana, and again hosting the American Legion Post 134’s New Year’s Eve show with Holy Smokes & Godforsaken Rollers, Weehawk, and New World Aviation Committee.

It’s Christmas Eve, it’s snowing, and the big day of presents and family time is just some hours away. For many, Christmas is all they look forward to but for others, it’s just another clock tick on the way to the end of the year. If you weren’t warm with the spirit of Christmas before, let this holiday cover from Thunderpussy fill you up.

Their rendition of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," the Phil Spector classic originally sung by Darlene Love and known as the greatest rock n’ roll Christmas song of all time as ranked by Rolling Stone magazine, keeps that hard romanticism alive. Whitney Petty’s guitar playing has a heavier twang to it, but Molly Sides’ vocals keep on the same emotive plane as Love’s. If anything, Thunderpussy’s version could go down as one of the greatest Christmas covers of all time. 

Thunderpussy likely won’t be playing this cover live after tomorrow is over, but take your chances at it by catching them at their New Year’s Eve soiree at the Showbox, with Industrial Revelation, KOLARS and other special guests. Give "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" a listen below. 

 Harsh noise enthusiasts rejoice, as today a 4-way split from some of the most deft musicians in that genre field. Featuring dynamically skilled artist Aaron Turner (Sumac, Old Man Gloom, Isis) and Faith Coloccia of Seattle’s Mamiffer as House of Low Culture, Daniel Menche, Andrea K.’s of Vice Device solo project Caustic Touch and EMS, the split showcases each artists’ ability to make even the most grating of sounds appealing.

Each artist got at least one track on the split, but Caustic Touch surely commanded much of the album having contributed three. The album carries itself almost like a grating tale, with House of Low Culture’s "The Pervasive Mind" as the album’s exposition, Caustic Touch’s "Desiccating Wind" beginning the rising action, "Is She Ectoplasm?" by Daniel Menche as the falling action, and "Hierarchy of Bodies" by EMS ending it as the resolution.

There’s a beauty to its discordance that makes the album gripping. What will be even more interesting to see is how each of these artist’s translates these tracks into live performances. See how each of them does it at the release show for the split tonight 12.15 at Modular 8.

 *photo by Heather Hanson

The Toads have been a crowd pleaser since they bursted onto the scene almost three years ago. First, their self-titled full length gave us a taste of their callback to 90s alternative and pop punk back in 2016. The Toads, still unsigned, have got a completely and fully supported DIY method of existing as a band that’s contributed to what’s made them such a delight so far. With Time having already been released earlier this year, band appreciators are lucky enough to get another one just as it’s coming to a close. Today, The Toads dropped "It’s for You."

Part of what makes The Toads so great is their reliability in sound. Even in welcoming new drummer Dylan Valentine to the mix The Toads haven’t stumbled or faltered, the Weezer-esque "You Don’t Deserve Me" and the raw punk feels of "Never a Good Time" for the new EP staying true to the band’s capacity.

The Toads are offering up two chances this weekend to see them perform all the songs from "It’s for You" live — at tonight’s release show at Clinton Street Theater with Cry Babe and Fire Nuns, and tomorrow night at the Turn Turn Turn for the Sounds Illustrated art opening with Piefight and Dr. Something.

Give "It’s for You" a listen below.

 Of all the places in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle finds itself home to great producers and hip-hop. One of the main proprietors of such is Sángo, who has been making some of the funkiest beats for almost two decades. He’s got a whole new album’s worth of tracks coming to us, titled In the Comfort Of, but in the meantime, he’s dropped a different type of art piece – a short film.

Set to the tune of "One More Thing," one of the songs off of In the Comfort Of, South End is a home-based project, artistically looking at the youth living in South End, Seattle. The film is centered around how everyone needs to do what they can to protect the youth out there from any harm.

"They have a future ahead of them, and it’s important we highlight that," says Sángo. "We have to make sure we uplift them, even when they don’t want to accept the reality of growing up. South End forever."

Watch South End below, and keep an ear out for In the Comfort Of.

 Local record label and boutique music agency Marmoset specializes in seeking out some of the most talented acts and songs ranging from the timeless and rare to the emerging and engaging. Their latest endeavor, the Transference compilation LP, focuses particularly on songs lesser unknown and possibly forgotten.

In making Transference, Marmoset’s producers combined through the public domain for songs 100 years old and up. As they developed their extensive collection, they invited a series of artists join in on reimagining and rerecording some of these tracks. Marmoset’s team worked closely with the participating artists in evolving each track from its original beauty to a newly fashioned merit.

Some of the artists featured on Transference include Ural Thomas and the Pain doing a soulfully rhythmic rendition of "Hot Time in the Old Town," originally recorded in 1896, The Helio Sequence‘s vision of the Bing Crosby-recorded standard "Down Among the Sheltering Palms" as "Out Among the Sheltering Pines," and an electronic interpretation of Eugene Lockhart and Ernest Seitz 1919 classic "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" done by Distance and Frankie Simone.

What Marmoset has managed to create is an anthology of imaginative appreciation, showcasing a history of imaginative talent and musicianship. Dive into the 10 tracks on Transference below.

 Like a beautiful instrument itself, Shenandoah Davis‘ classically trained voice is dynamic yet welcoming, making it an integral part of the orchestral pop she’s been making the last few years. Now on her third full-length album, the Plume Records released Souvenirs, Davis has taken her astute way with words and turned it even more inward with the at home recordings that make the album. The songs have lyrical themes rooted in past relationships and lessons learned through personal experiences; "The Wings" is one paired with a well-crafted video.

Other tracks on Souvenirs sonically hit elements of doo-wop and the instrumetnally experimental, but "The Wings" is a chamber-meets-indie pop track with the slightest bit of a rock influence that is a good peek at the others. Her acute lyrics and jaunty vocal tones are visually accompanied by a mixture of digital compositing and stop motion animation for "The Wings" video, making it not only pleasant to the ears but to the eyes as well. 

Watch the video for "The Wings" below.

Not even two hours outside of Portland, Eugene is mainly known as a hippie haven or, on a more scholarly note, a college town. As with many college towns around there isn’t a lot that’s lively or thriving about them outside of academia, but Eugene’s a little different. They have the makings of a, albeit small, music scene, and at the forefront of it is one of the most enjoyable fuzzy garage rocks of late. They’re a little trio called VCR.

VCR debuted with Season One! last year. Doing what "pilots" are supposed to do, Season One! was the band’s introduction, developing each member and their instrumentation like characters in a show. With their latest release Season 2, these elements are further evolved, making for a more developed sound overall.

Season 2 starts with the mid paced lovey-ish ditty "A Walk to Remember" establishes the carefree air of the album, though following track "Next Day" blasts a beginning that jolts the system. Later in the album "Season of the Ball" trickles in as somewhat of a ballad, while "Halloween" is one of the most lively and memberable on the record. 

As a sophomore effort, Season 2 attests to VCR’s (hopeful) residency in the Pacific Northwest scene.

With love and an adoring energy, When We Met have been known to make tuneful indie pop songs over the course of their three years as a songwriting duo. While the wonderment of their tracks is already established, what has yet to become obvious is how the two go about rendering their songs visually. Luckily they’ve changed that, with a new animated video that’s attention grabbing. 

The animation for "Ride the Tide" is somewhat stylistically reminiscent of early Adult Swim cartoons like Home Movies, vibrant in color and effectively minimal and funny in its execution. With surfing cavemen, jet setting aliens and beach performance beach scenes, the video keeps you watching all the way through.

On the "Ride the Tide," the band say: 

"Underneath the new wave surf vibe is a sexy love song. The back and forth movement of lust, the up’s and downs of life and abstract thoughts formed ‘Ride the Tide’. Because we are fans of his crude imagery, playful takes on serious subject matter and taboos, we were thrilled to work with the cartoonist Magnificent Kaaboom for this song. With just a little direction from us, we wanted him to have the freedom to create something magnificent… and he did." 

Watch the video for "Ride the Tide" below and catch When We Met’s last set of the season on 12.23 at The Lombard Pub where Sorta Ultra will be playing their last show ever and the New Not Normals will be debuting a new drummer.

 Back in 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (or MH370/MAS370) mysteriously disappeared while in route to its destination of Beijing, China. The plane, which was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, last made voice contact some 30 minutes after takeoff, and entirely disappeared off radar an hour after that. After a few years of extensive searching only fragments of the wreckage were found earlier this year but ultimately, the search for anything more was suspended just some months ago.

Right before the Malaysia Airlines flight went down, local rocker Mike Stortz was writing some of the first songs for his band Johnny Raincloud. One of those songs coincidentally was of the same name as the flight, and has sat shelved until basically now. "When the search for the plane stopped, I wanted to make this song to be a reminder," says Stortz.

So, Stortz and the rest of Johnny Raincloud decided to record the track and make a live music video for the song at Surburbia Studios down in southeast not for profit, but as a means of keeping the lives lost on the flight in memory. "We’ve become so insensitive to real-life stories like MH370 but for that brief moment in time I felt connected to the whole world in a way I haven’t felt in a long time," says Stortz. "It’s just another reason I wanted this song to be a reminder of the brief time of when we did care. I think it’s sad it takes the mystery of a missing airplane for the world to come together with love.  I think it should be like that all the time."

Watch Johnny Raincloud play "MH370" in their live video below, or later on tonight at the Twilight Cafe. Seattle bands Tyler Songs and Great Shame will also be playing, along with WorryDoll.

*photo by Travis Trautt 

Strawberry Mountain has been around the way for awhile, just not necessarily as montaña de la fresa. Formerly known as Basement Surfers, the DIY music and art collective are as large with their sounds as they are with their member count. Having played two sets at Freakout this year attendees were able to enjoy them twice over, but their sounds were entirely perfect for the Conor Byrne and its crowd.

Aside from their all-ages "2nd chance" Filson set Strawberry Mountain packed onto the Conor Byrne’s stage as festival goers crowded the walkways of the bar-venue, lining up for Will Call tickets and press check-in. Upon their first notes the heads in the room focused with intrigue on their expansive, experimental psych sounds, much of which came from their early 2017 album Human Music.

With that album and everything prior, Strawberry Mountain are definitely ones we’ll keep our eyes on.

 Mo Troper has got a voice unlike most others. Not solely with his vocal timbre, but also with the way he chooses to convey his thoughts lyrically. With slight cynicism and a sarcastic wit, Troper has become one of the modern maestros of power pop. On his third solo effort Exposure & Response, Troper is definitely exposing and responding to certain facets of the modern music scene, biting commentary a recurring element.

From the first choral "ahhs" that open up the record, "Rock and Roll Will Change the World" is supple and attention grabbing in its Beach Boys qualities, before leading into some of the more sharp tongued tracks on the record. "Your Brand," one of the first songs to come off the record, calls out participation for the sake maintaining aesthetic. "Turn a tragedy into something you can work with/Keep your finger on the pulse that’s in your pocket/Think about your brand" the lyrics go on, truthful of so many players in the scene. As is "The Poet Laureate of Neverland," which tells of elder hipsters that just don’t know how to let it go.

At points, Exposure and Response trades its snarkiness for cheekiness. "Freebin" and "Clear Frames" describe millennial Portland romance perfectly, the former relating the receptacle of choice for old love and old clothes alike being the freebin, and the latter a nod at the bad familiarity of similar looks between current and bygone relatioship partners.

Exposure and Response is a fetching ode to the nostalgic finesse of rock and power pop’s past. Its charm and sass packed into short bursts of songs