Rev. Adam McKinney
Kishi Bashi Is Ready to Feel Everything
Ten years after Sonderlust pushed his music in a new direction, he’s bringing the pivotal album to The Crocodile—and playing it in full for the first time.
Back in March of 2012, I snagged a last-minute ticket to see Of Montreal at the Showbox. As amazing as Kevin Barnes and company were, along with tourmates Deerhoof, the biggest impression made on me was the opener, Kishi Bashi. Armed with little more than a violin, a loop pedal, and a pristine voice, Kishi…
The Cult of Family Worship Center
The Portland band sounds like a long-lost '70s relic, right down to the mysterious religious backstory.
The internet may never be able to replicate the experience of digging through a box of vinyl and pulling out something completely inexplicable, something that might have only ever been heard by a few dozen people. In those albums, you can sense an untold story. Such private presses, what one might uncharitably call “vanity projects,”…
Seattle’s Brudi Brothers Go From Busking to Big Time
The local band is bringing its analogue Americana to Climate Pledge Arena with Kacey Musgraves.
In discussions of film and T V, there’s a phrase that sometimes comes up: “They have a face that looks like it’s seen an iPhone.” The same can be said of music, especially as vintage inspirations and pastiche have become more standard. Some bands sound like contemporary interpreters, some sound like tourists, and a few…
Seattle Rock Band Stereo Embers Rekindles for One Night
After four years apart, the quartet reunites for a hometown show.
Bands break up, dissolve, or otherwise drift apart all the time, for all sorts of reasons. No matter what the impetus for the split, though, fans will naturally conjure images of scorched-earth implosions like Fleetwood Mac or Oasis—and optimists will note that even those two bands eventually reunited. In the case of Stereo Embers, their…
Northwest Tune-Up Bike and Music Festival Brings Big Air and Loud Sets to Bellingham
The three-day festival celebrates its fifth year with bike competitions and a genre-spanning music lineup—plus one unforgettable band of mummies.
If I were to summarize the sensation of attending Northwest Tune-Up, Bellingham’s three-day bike and music festival, in one image, it would be watching Tomomi Nishikubo—a Japanese street trials biker—doing acrobatic acts of derring-do on his bike while Seattle rockers Thunderpussy shred in the distance. My second lasting impression of the festival would be rounding…
The Clouded Surf: Warren Dunes Makes Beach Music for Seattle
The local band is the unlikely mascot we need.
Contrary to what you might think, the best mascots are born, not manufactured. Yes, a lovable socialist monster like Gritty might emerge to provide a face for the soul of a city, but sometimes, there are artists who rise up to define the character of that city. One of the enduring memories I have of…
KEXP DJ Kevin Cole Broadcasts From the Heart
A new documentary follows the Seattle tastemaker through a remarkable life spent championing music.
For those of a certain generation, there may be no more trusted a voice when it comes to music than Kevin Cole. From navigating his way from the clubs of Minneapolis to DJing Prince’s birthday parties, to starting his own radio station, to revolutionizing how radio can function in the 21st century via KEXP, Cole…
Grapes of Wrath
Blood of Gods brings heavy metal and wine back to Walla Walla for its fifth annual Merrymaking.
The fervent cross-pollination of culture continues to bear fruit, with new subgenres and micro-niches popping up every day. Every time you see a collision between two seemingly disparate worlds and ask yourself, “There’s an audience for that?”—the answer is a resounding, “Yep!” Here, we have Blood of Gods, a biannual zine based in Walla Walla…
Staying in the Pocket with True Loves
The Seattle funk powerhouse heads to Jazz Alley for five soulful nights.
If you were to pull aside any casual music fan and ask them to cite quintessential Seattle music, you’d get a lot of grunge, the indie-rock explosion and folk revival of the ‘00s and ‘10s, and maybe some of the hip-hop that came bursting from the underground in the last 15 years. Your average person…
Curmudgeonly Hope
The UK punk heroes Mclusky have returned, loud and pointed as ever.
When you listen to the sardonic, whip-smart, and perennially ornery UK band Mclusky, you get a certain impression of the type of person that must be behind it all. Frontman and founder Andrew Falkous was just home from having seen his daughter perform at a choir recital when he got on the phone, and he…
Earthen Art-Rock
Seattle trio Mt Fog’s music is, at turns, dreamy and feral.
There’s a concept in psychology called “nominative determinism,” where people may be drawn to pursue a career in a field suggested by their name—a substitute teacher named Mr. Fillin, or a polar explorer named Daniel Snowman, for example. It’s a condition that seems to mostly affect Batman villains (you can’t just name your child E….
Going Widescreen with Clouds of the West
The chamber-pop band celebrates the vinyl release of 2025’s earthy and compelling Glass Radio.
When bands get described as having a “cinematic” sound, there’s typically a type of film that’s being evoked: a sweeping epic, a magnum opus, fraught with love and peril, careening across time and space and indulging in the highest of drama. This music may be beautiful and engrossing, but something it rarely feels is natural,…
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