Modest Mouse grew more as a band over the course of 3 LP’s than any other artist from Seattle (Issaquah) I can think of. They broke a glass ceiling for indie bands at radio and on late night TV in the early 2000’s, and anyone who caught them when they were still playing small clubs has a story about them.
Years before Garden State soundtrack I flew to Dallas and took a greyhound bus to Austin between Shins shows, leading into SXSW 2001 where they opened the Sub Pop showcase. They always borrowed my drums when playing NYC one-offs… at a Conan taping Max Weinberg gave my ‘65 Slingerland’s (in Blue Agate) a silent nod/thumbs up.
Before the release of their debut LP, Wolf Parade were a little known band from Montreal at the time the city was riding a huge creative wave.
When they arrived to perform an opening set at All Tomorrow’s Parties in Long Beach, CA (Nov ’04) they were still a very new act, and had probably the least notoriety of any artist on the bill… which made it even stranger when these kinda bookish Canadians absolutely wrecked their trailer backstage in the middle of the first day of the weekend festival.
The stunt got them kicked out of their hotel rooms, aboard the big haunted cruise ship that was permanently docked next to the stage. I still had my (very small) single cabin, so for the next 2 days six Quebecers slept on my floor. The following year, “Apologies To The Queen Mary” made every best-of list.
You either love this band, or ask “why does that guy sing like that”. If you catch them live, it will probably be hard to hear Craig Finn’s voice over the entire crowd screaming along with every lyric… or Tad Kubler’s amp that’s perpetually on 11. Hold Steady fans are the realest fans on earth.
The Rapture’s sound seemed to evolve overnight. Their 2001 Sub Pop EP Out of The Races And Onto The Tracks was the last time you could call their fusion of punk/disco “scrappy”… In 2002 they re-recorded a song that first appeared on an Insound Tour Support CD. The DFA-produced version of House of Jealous Lovers was a global hit, and their debut LP Echoes was #1 & #2 respectively on the Pitchfork & NME Best Album Of The Year lists.
I have never met a human being with more cool or charisma than Ish Butler. Who else could possibly pull off aka’s such as “Butterfly” & “Palaceer Lazaro”. Black Up proved that the man is not from Seattle, or America, or this earth… but was instead sent to us from a much more fascinating corner of the galaxy, or perhaps the multiverse.
Still the world record holder for “client that gets asked to perform at stranger’s weddings”…. from the first time you hear Sam Beam’s voice, it’s pretty obvious why his songs are so meaningful to his fans.
Most fans probably associate BOH’s music with a special moment, person, or that time they listened to a particular jam 50 times in a row. I associate them with goofy inside-jokes and backstage golf cart races, but all that other stuff tracks too…