The Small Change Rock

This should give you some idea of what The Whole Damn City will sound like this Friday at The Sunset, although the sound of this recording is really distorted and the picture is dark and out of focus but still, I think it captures the spirit. Anyway, here’s Kurt Block (Thee Sgt. Major III) and Scott Five (The Doll Test) joining The Small Change for kick-ass covers of The Who’s “The Seeker” and The Faces classic “Stay with Me” at the High Dive back in June.

The Whole Damn City at The Sunset Friday

I was really looking forward to seeing Tim Rogers (lead singer/songwriter of the excellent Australian band You Am I) at the Sunset Tavern this Friday but the Department of Homeland Security put the kibosh on the show by denying Mr. Rogers a visa. Apparently Tim Rogers’ visa wasn’t denied it just wasn’t issued in time to support his US tour. Here’s what his MySpace page says: “Due to events outside our control, the US tour has unfortunately been cancelled. We are all very disappointed, and will look to reschedule in the near future.”

That’s the bad news. The good news is that The Small Change and Thee Sgt. Major III are still playing the gig along with an all-star Seattle rock ‘n’ roll You Am I cover band, The Whole Damn City featuring members of The Presidents of the USA, The Tripwires, The Small Change, Young Sportsmen, The Riffbrokers, The Doll Test, Tube Top(!) and more, playing the very best of the You Am I catalogue.

Don’t miss this show; it’s sure to be great.

You Am I - "Get Up"

Tim Rogers at The Sunset 8/8/08

I’m pretty excited about this show:

The Sunset is extremely pleased to welcome Tim Rogers of the legendary Australian rock band, You Am I. Also joining Tim on the bill is Thee Sgt Major III and The Small Change.

Aren't we lucky!!! Here are the details:

Friday August 8th
Tim Rogers (You Am I)
Thee Sgt Major III
The Small Change
@ The Sunset
$10 tickets / buy advance tickets here
Doors at 8pm / Show starts at 10pm

Here's Tim Rogers preforming "Heavy Heart" from You Am I's fine album #4 Record.

Lund Bros./Small Change/Tripwires Live Review

Photo by Gwon Chang

A great bar at the center of the universe (Fremont) on a warm Friday night, outstanding performances by three of SPB’s fav bands - it was the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of summer.

The Lund Brothers remind me of Cheap Trick, Material Issue, Redd Kross – they play classic power pop with plenty of power, tight harmonies and catchy melodies. According to their bio, brothers Chris and Sean Lund have a rapport similar to that of Ray and Dave Davies or Liam and Noel Gallagher. There wasn’t any sign of sibling animosity at the High Dive last Friday night but there was plenty of evidence that musical talent runs in the Lund family.

Chris plays guitar, masterfully combining power chords and rhythm riffs with shredding leads. Sean’s a propulsive, hard-hitting drummer. They both sing, trading off lead vocals and singing close harmonies together. Bassist Gwon Chang holds down the low end with plenty of skill and energy and adds backing vocals and a third harmony whenever one is required. This is one power-trio with the skills and know-how to really fill the sonic spectrum. They played a great set of original, well-crafted songs, ending with an impressive cover of Badfinger’s “No Matter What.”

As the rest of the band looked on, lead singer Greg Collinsworth made a dedication to a friend and sang a rough but poignant cover of “Days” the lovely Kinks’ classic. Scott 5 (Doll Test) jumped up on stage after the first verse to lend harmony vocals and moral support. After that very moving opening Greg announced that it was time to rock as The Small Change launched into an inspired set of soulful, high energy, mod, power pop – think Elvis Costello & The Attractions mixing it up with The Small Faces, Fender guitars and Hammond organ the weapons of choice.

After a bunch of great Collinsworth originals, Kurt Bloch (Thee Sgt. Major III) was invited on stage to join the band for an incredible cover of one of the best power pop songs of all time, The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright.” As soon as they'd finished Bloch started strumming the opening chords of “The Seeker” and the band quickly fell in for another rousing Who cover. To top it all off Greg handed his guitar to Scott 5 and The Small Change proceeded to tear up The Faces’ “Stay With Me,” Collinsworth singing his heart out while 5 and lead guitarist Ryan Maxwell traded off fiery guitar licks.

The Small Change is a tough act to follow but The Tripwires where more than up to the challenge. The Tripwires have such a unique sound that it’s hard to compare them to anyone else. If pressed I’d say they mix twangy roots rock and power pop with a quirky but subtle sense of humor similar to Rockpile and NRBQ. John Ramberg is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. He’s an exceptional talent as are his band mates Jim Sangster on bass, Johnny Sangster on guitar and backing vocals and Mark Pickerel on drums. I’ve seen them perform several times now and they never cease to amaze me.

While always sounding idiosyncratic The Tripwires cover a lot of stylistic territory from the infectious Merseybeat sound of “Zigzag” to the roots rock choogle of “Monument,” to the swaying, anthemic ballad “Big Electric Light.” They’ve also got a ragtime, a twist and a new song with a pronounced disco feel – did I mention this is a great dance band? I’d say at least half the audience was dancing their entire set, Ramberg encouraging us to divide into Jets and Sharks, to do the twist, to do the Grizzly Bear and finally to take a Beatle bow.

While Ramberg’s songs are uniformly great The Tripwires also have a knack for finding obscure but terrific covers and making them their own. Last Friday they played Graham Parker’s (via Dave Edmunds) “Crawling from the Wreckage,” Los Shakers’ “Break It All” (Side note: If you don’t already own Rhino’s Nuggets II Boxed Set you should seriously think about buying it.), “She’s A Mod” by Ray Columbus and The Invaders and The Hi-Risers’ “One Note Joe.”

Great music, great fun and summer is here at last Seattle.

SPB 2nd Anniversary

We’ve reached an important milestone here at Seattle Powerpop Blog: our Second Anniversary. To mark the occasion I asked Gary Miller if he would write something pertinent and he obliged me with this very heart felt reflection. Thanks Gary!

What can happen in two years? Let's see. You could earn an associate's degree. You could walk around the earth a couple of times. You could even potentially have two children, like my sister did (I wouldn't recommend it). You could also start a blog with humble intentions, watch it take root, and then pack up and move away a few months before it hits that two year mark!

Given how much fun it was to start, it feels odd that the blog was created and maintained through what was probably the most gut wrenching time in my life. In the same span that SPB has existed, my wife and I lost two pregnancies and that's what motivated our return to the East Coast. That's probably too much information. But, I'm feeling sentimental. Cut me some slack!

Today, however, I find myself missing Seattle. Don't get me wrong, I love being in North Carolina. I can see my family anytime I want to. I can drive to Atlanta or take a quick flight to Florida and in no time have a niece and nephew on each knee. That's a reward all it's own.

But, on random Friday nights, I long to see Greg Collingsworth, drunk off his ass, singing at the top of his lungs at the Sunset Tavern. On hot, sleepless evenings if I close my eyes tightly, I can just make out The Boss Martians crammed into the corner at the Comet. And when it's quiet in my neighborhood, I swear I can hear the Young Sportsmen practicing.

It's hard to get too worked up over this little blog, of course. I mean it started as a diversion at work on a boring afternoon. It's not like it is a Seattle institution or anything. That said, it certainly has its place and has achieved more than I had ever anticipated. So, I was thrilled that Andy wanted to keep it going after I moved away, and thrilled for the same reason I started it in the first place -- there are bands on the scene who don't get attention corresponding with their talents.

But, it ain't easy. Andy, like me before him, struggles to find time to post -- fitting it around work and life and family and fun. It's hard to post consistently, and you'd be surprised how hard it is to get information from bands sometimes. That said, in two years there have been over 1000 posts, focused on good, quality music, and I'm proud of it!

So, this rambling post isn't a call to arms, nor is it a lament. Through my muddled thoughts, this is meant to be a celebration of effort. You know, it's easier not to blog than to blog. But, we do it anyway. It's easier to not write great songs. But, the bands do it anyway. Heck it's probably easier to not read this blog than to read it! But, some of you do it anyway. So, yes, this is a celebration of effort. Thanks to the bands first and foremost for doing what they do. Thanks to Andy for keeping this blog going. And thanks for whoever is out there reading. Happy second birthday, SPB!

Three Great Bands @ High Dive Friday

Wow, three of Seattle's best power pop bands on one great bill. OK technically the Lund Brothers are from Tacoma but never the less this should be a great show so don’t miss it.

Here's the Lund Bros. preforming "New Horizons" to a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Recommended shows for the week of 6/15/08

Sunday the 15th:
Champagne Champagne/The Greatest Hits/Booze at The Comet

Friday the 20th:
The Tripwires/The Lund Brothers/The Small Change at High Dive

The Girls at Vera Project

Saturday the 21st:
Andy Werth/The Dimes/We Wrote The Book On Connectors at Fremont Fair

Thee Sgt. Major III/ Guns & Rosetti/The Riffbrokers at Slim’s Last Chance

Studio 66

The Sinister Six

The Small Change

Recommended shows for the week of 6/1/08

Sunday the 1st:
Elba/The Quit/Another Perfect Crime at The Sunset Tavern

Tuesday the 3rd:
Lushy/The Bug Nasties at Nectar

Wednesday the 4th:
The Color Bars/Mouseheart Factor at High Dive

Andy Werth/The Capillaries at The Sunset

Thursday the 5th:
Friday Mile/Two Sheds/The Dimes at Nectar

Friday the 6th:
The Submarines/Bad Dream Good Breakfast/The Color Bars at Chop Suey

Half Light/The Purrs/Jones Family Fortune/Delusions at The Comet

Thee Sgt Major/Head/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse

Saturday the 7th:
Brent Amaker & The Radio/Mass Sugar/The Riffbrokers at Skylark

The Sinister Six/The Small Change/DJ Chrispo/DJ Gort/DJ Vodka Twist/Tangerine Tonic at Lo-Fi Gallery

Recommended shows for the week of 5/11/08

Wednesday the 14th:
The Posies at Hell’s Kitchen (Tacoma)

Thursday the 15th:
Thee Sgt. Major III/Young Sportsmen/The Lund Brothers at The Sunset

The Posies at Winterland (Bremerton)

Friday the 16th:
Roy Loney & The Longshots/The Tripwires/The Fucking Eagles at The Sunset

The Posies at Dante’s (Portland)

The Evaporators/TacocaT at The Funhouse

Saturday the 17th:
The Small Change at University District Street Fair (1:00 pm)

The Posies/Dear John Letters at Neumos

Roy Loney & The Longshots/The Tripwires/The Fucking Eagles at Java Jive (Tacoma)

Sugarcane Mutiny at Jules Maes

Young Sportsmen and Friends at The Rendezvous Saturday Night

Recommended shows for the week of 5/4/08

Sunday the 4th:
The Cute Lepers w/ The Buzzcocks/Damned/Rezillos at Academy in the UK Festival (Birmingham)

Thursday the 8th:
Ms. Led at The Sunset Tavern

Marty Willson-Piper/The Moon Maidens/The Transmissionary Six at The Tractor Tavern

Friday the 9th:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Pranks/The Doll Test at Jules Maes

Saturday the 10th:
Young Sportsmen/The Small Change/The Riffbrokers/The Lund Brothers/The Doll Test/The I Love Myselves/Rusty Willoughby at The Rendezvous Grotto

John Wicks and The Records at The Comet Tavern

Seeing your Rock & Roll heroes perform decades after they’ve made the music that first drew you to them can be a risky proposition. Often they’ll have lost that certain essential vibe, soul or sound that once made them so special and you’ll be let down and disappointed but occasionally our heroes come through for us, meeting or exceeding our expectations, leaving us amazed and elated.

I’m happy to report that John Wicks still has it and that John Wicks and The Records delivered in full last Saturday night. John’s wonderful voice, those great harmonies, the killer guitar riffs, incessant hooks, buoyant melodies, the witty engaging lyrics, everything I’d hoped for and then some, because live the band added an additional power and grit sometimes lacking on The Records’ recordings.

They opened with the rocking “All Messed Up And Ready To Go”, which like The Stones’ “Start Me Up” makes for a perfect introductory number, followed by the super catchy “Hearts In Her Eyes” and a couple of great new tunes. I was especially taken with “That Girl Is Emily” (which Wicks dedicated to Syd Barrett) with its compelling lyrics, great guitar riff and highly infectious melody. The classic “Teenarama” from The Records’ debut album was another highlight among many although its comical lyrics about an ill-conceived romance with a teenager come off much more Lolita-like now that Wicks is in his mid-fifties than they did when he originally sang the song nearly 30 years ago.

As I looked around at the audience I noticed many like me nodding their heads to the beat, singing along or simply gawking in awe with wide grins stretched across their faces. The show climaxed with “Starry Eyes” The Records best known song and a prefect piece of timeless power pop.

I should quickly mention the other bands on the bill as all performed excellent sets. I was impressed with The Shy Ones who have a cool sound that’s one part The Beatles, one part The Shangri-Las and two parts The Ramones. This was only their second show but they played a tight and entertaining set. Keep an eye out for them. The Small Change sounded great as always with their infectious “Maximum R&B” style of power pop and Portland’s The Neat played a riff-heavy set of classic jangly power pop.

Great Powerpop Line-up at The Comet Saturday

This is going to be a great show so don’t miss it. All four bands are excellent, John Wicks and The Records are Powerpop Legends, Kurt Bloch will be spinning discs between sets and there will even be a secret surprise guest guaranteed to “blow your socks off.” Wear clean socks and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to initial them with a Sharpie.

Check back tomorrow for part one of my interview with John Wicks.

Recommended shows for the week of 4/13/08

Tuesday the 15th:
Elf Power/Flowers Forever/The Tripwires at the High Dive

Friday the 18th:
The Turn-Ons/Hypatia Lake/Charmparticles at the Sunset

Speaker Speaker/The Don’ts/The Apple War/Curtains For You at the Comet Tavern

Saturday the 19th:
John Wicks and The Records/The Small Change/The Neat/The Shy Ones at the Comet Tavern


Let me know if I’ve missed something.

Decision ‘08

Some choices are easy and some choices aren’t.

Recommended shows for the week of 3/16/08

Sunday the 16th:
The Get Off/Dateless/The Heels/Dead Xs at the Comet

Thursday the 20th:
The Small Change/The Valley at the Sunset

Danielli/Tea Cozies/Kiss Her For The Kid at the Comet

Friday the 21st:
Thee Sgt. Major III/The Beltholes/The Knast at King Cobra

The Small Change doing Rod Stewart

Okay... not "doing" Rod Stewart, although that would be some salacious video. In fact, they are performing "Stay With Me" in this New Year's video on YouTube via Chris Force.

Review: Heidi & Nick's Birthday Bash at Sunset

Andy Miracle (aka "Full English Breakfast" on myspace) posted a review of Nick and Heidi's birthday bash in the comments of a previous post here on the blog. I felt like it deserved its own space. So, I'm bumping it here. Great work, Andy. Thanks for the report!

_____________________
"Heidi and Nick's Birthday Bash" at the Sunset last weekend was incredible.

The Doll Test sounded better than ever (and they’ve always sounded great) with the addition of Nick Millward on guitar and vocals. Unfortunately I arrived late and missed most of their set. They closed with Gasoline and Banks (such a great song) and left the crowd yelling for more.

Next up was an unadvertised but well received performance from a band consisting of Heather Burnett on bass, Jason Toft on drums and Nick's older brother (I can’t recall his name) on guitar and vocals. They weren't bad, played all covers including a cool version of "River Deep, Mountain High".

The Small Change played a really great set despite the fact that guitarist/lead vocalist Greg Collinsworth had had at least one too many drinks before taking the stage. He actually played a whole song with absolutely no sound coming out of his guitar amp. It didn’t really matter though because the band is great and Greg is such a charismatic performer with a great voice and great songs like “Cheating a Cheat”. The highlight of their set was when Ryan Maxwell of Young Sportsmen joined them on guitar for an awesome cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Police On My Back" by The Clash.

The Riffbrokers were great but they kept their set short. Nick said he was getting tired of playing and wanted to get off and let the Tripwires take over.

The Tripwires where excellent per usual. They seem to really be hitting their stride, tight but at the same time loose in all the right ways. They opened with “Break It All” by Los Shakers (but I’d say the Tripwires pretty much own the song at this point) and proceeded to play a bunch of John Ramberg’s incredible originals including “Monument”, “Arm Twister” and the anthemic “Big Electric Light”. The crowd was very enthusiastic, dancing and shouting out requests that the band seemed happy to oblige. They played “She’s a Mod” after which John and Jim pontificated on whether or not one could be both balding and a mod, “One Note Joe” featuring an awesome one note guitar solo by Johnny Sangster, “Crawling from the Wreckage” and an NRBQ song, I think it was “It Comes to Me Naturally” but I can’t remember for sure.

John announced that their record will finally be coming out in November on Paisley Pop Records and that they will be playing a record release show at the Tractor on November 9th with The Young Fresh Fellows!

The night ended with Scott Sutherland joining the band for an impromptu rock ‘n’ roll version of “Happy Birthday” played in the key of A. Good times rock ‘n’ roll.

Photos: IPO Day 1

The IPO kicked off at the Sunset Tavern last night with its typical early start of 7:30pm with Catfight! and rocked solidly (and efficiently on time) until The Tripwires shut it down about five hours later.

I had a great time (if a little woozy by The Tripwires, thanks to Ryan from the Young Sportsmen buying me two Red Headed Sluts... and I'm an alcohol wimp), and it was a good sized crowd, and they were enthusiastic about the rock emanating from the stage.

Rather than try to write a review about each band, I'm going to let the photos do the talking this year. So, without further ado, here is your photo guide to Day One at the IPO.

Garage pop duo Catfight! started the night off with a bang:



They were followed by Portland's Beyond Veronica:




The Scheme was on third, but there are no photos, because I was on stage playing bass rather than in the crowd taking pictures.

The Young Sportsmen were on fourth, and they put on what I thought was the best set of the night:





The Small Change is such a great band that even when they come close to coming completely off the rails, it's still a great rock show. I know I said I was going to let the photos do the talking, but I have to tell a Small Change story. I was snapping pictures and had a perfectly framed photo of Greg in mid jump. But, due to the delay of my digital camera, he landed by the time the shutter engaged, resulting in a perfectly framed photo of his ass. Sadly, I accidentally deleted the shot.







Stuporhero was the second male/female duo of the night, but their ace in the hole was a mannequin named Bubbles Chuckles (thanks for the correction!) on drums and a laptop computer:





The Sterling Loons followed Stuporhero, and did a number of tunes from their upcoming album, which they described as a "popera."





Closing out the night were the fabulous Tripwires. It took them a while to get on the stage, because Mark seemed particularly annoyed and frustrated by the drum kit. His frustration continued into the first couple of songs. But, once they all settled in, they killed it.