On Saturday night, a small, but hardcore, audience gathered at The Neptune to enjoy a band that’s been touring steadily for 35 years. The Church is one of the few '80s bands that’s continued to put out new music throughout their long career and this tour is to support their 26th album Man Woman Lif…
So deep is the pool of local talent these days, there was sparsely room for out-of-town acts on the KEXP Gathering Space stage this weekend. One worthwhile exception was shoegaze four-piece Froth, who traveled from Los Angeles to pay a visit to the crowd at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival…
Middle kids, in general, struggle for attention. Middle Kids (the band), on the other hand, have had little trouble getting noticed during their short career. The Sydney trio released their first single, the Ryan Adams-esque “Edge of Town," before they had even played a show. Shortly thereafter, po…
ODESZA's set at Bumbershoot this weekend was a homecoming blowout of epic proportions. No, literally, the energy of the Seattle electronic duo's high-production value show -- which included smoke machines, flamethrowers, a few exciting guests, and much, much more -- temporarily blew out the power a…
Closing out the KEXP stage on Sunday night, you couldn't have asked for a better send off than Smokey Brights. The Seattle rock outfit wasted no time jumping right into what they do best: blaring killer guitar riffs and belting out infectious melodies that are sure to get people up and moving. This…
Even with a full band backing her on stage at the KEXP Gathering Space Stage on the second day of the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, it seemed like Seattle singer songwriter Shelby Earl hardly needed a mic. Her voice rang clear, powerful, and true even when she stepped back from her mic to …
Crater's afternoon set on the KEXP stage was an act of perseverance. The Seattle electronic act had a few technical difficulties midway through their set, delaying the track "Crater Head." Some well-played banter about vampires by lead vocalist Ceci Gomez kept the audience rapt and at attention unt…
In the lead up to Dave Depper's performance at the KEXP stage, we mentioned quite a few times on this blog how he's known to be a utility player for a number of bands -- most notably joining Death Cab for Cutie as a full-time member. However, his performance at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Fest…
Stas THEE Boss lives up to her name. When she's on the stage, she's in total control. It'd been awhile since I'd seen the former THEESatisfaction MC hop on the mic, but seeing her DJ around town (and on KEXP's Street Sounds) has continued to prove that she has impeccable taste and style.

In 2018, KEXP celebrated the 30th anniversary of local record label Sub Pop with a four-month retrospective, "counting up" every catalog number in their vast discography of over 1,200 releases. Dig into the archives of our catalog coverage, featuring in-depth coverage on the history of their releases.