Sadly, it sounds like supergroup Wild Flag is now at half-mast. Drummer Janet Weiss tells UK publication The Skinny that the band is pretty much done: “It was great, but I think it just kinda ran its course. It’s hard to have a band when you live five hours apart by plane.” Weiss is currently on t…
British rock group The Heavy, rumored to be the only band David Letterman has asked to perform an encore on his show, stopped by the KEXP studios to deliver their own brand of rock and soul. The band effortlessly exudes cool, from lead singer Kelvin Swaby’s shades and grey tank top to Chris Ellul’s…
Directed by bandleader Danny Mekonnen, the Boston-based Debo Band take inspirations from 1960s Ethiopian jazz music, elements of klezmer, funk and rock and roll. They combine these into original instrumentation and create a rhythmic, thoughtful, often trans-like musical narrative. Adding to Mekonne…
As the mythology goes, Trampled By Turtles formed as a side project by the band members in order to get a chance to play acoustic songs together. Now look at them! Featured in mainstream movies and on tour nationally! “The first year of existence of this band was also the last year of existence for…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, selected by Morning Sho…
The Internet doesn't seem to know a whole lot about Somerset anarcho-punks Thatcher on Acid. (Can you think of a band name that more specifically places a band in time, place, and genre? I sure can't.) One thing I appreciate about this gig is that these posts often serve as a way to add to the know…
It's hard to believe, but LAKE are celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band this year. The charming Northwest outfit formed in Olympia, debuting at frontman Eli Moore's birthday party, and since then, have released eight full-lengths, four of those on legendary local label K Records. Over the …
Good morning! How about a little funky Afropop, all the way from Iceland, to start your morning? That's how we began our broadcast from Iceland Airwaves last month, with the 13 member Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band blasting you awake at 6AM. Now you have the luxury to enjoy the SJS Big Band wheneve…
BSH. BSH. BSH. BSH. The sound of four defiant cymbal crashes spreads out across Pike Street. It's Seattle band COSMOS’ turn at the main stage. Melding hip hop, jazz, and funk in a high-energy set, the Seattle band proves yet again why they won last year’s Sound Off! contest, an annual battle of the…
Local band Tacocat lead the pack in a very busy week of new releases. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says "this Seattle band's third album is an excellent set of punkish power-pop with crunchy, occasionally surfy guitars, energetic rhythms, sugary melodies and often-biting, wickedly humorous lyrics …
Seattle band Special Explosion release their second album, To Infinity, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls "a softer, dreamier and more melodic take on the band's dynamic, '90s-steeped Northwest rock, combining jangly guitars, shape-shifting rhythms, emotive lyrics and shimmering pop melodie…
Ranging from searing heat to sludgy gravel, Meatbodies' powerful, muscular, and meaty (of course) garage rock is an immediate rush of blood to the head, more than ever on their latest album, Alice. Joining DJ Morgan in studio, the band runs through six Alice tracks, discusses their guilty p…
It's that time of year again: MoPOP’s Sound Off! has been pitting local bands against each other for 16 years now. The all-ages "battle of the bands" has introduced us to acts like The Lonely Forest, Naked Giants, Manatee Commune, and more. Every Friday night this month, a new band will progress to…
Canadian indie legends Metric have undoubtedly "made it." They're at the glorious stage in a career where they have the commercial success to justify any off-kilter choice they make, while still being independent enough that they have the freedom to make those off-kilter choices without any corpora…
Indie-jazz-folk sounds from this singer/songwriter and her band.
South Carolina-via-Seattle group Band of Horses galloped on to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night. Watch the guys perform the track "Casual Party" off their latest, Why Are You OK, out now on Interscope/American Recordings, and produced by Jason Lytle of Grandaddy. KEXP was lucky to…
While most of the well-known Minnesota bands hail from Minneapolis, out on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior is the city of Duluth, hometown to the band Low. In the early '90s, the local sound was loud, abrasive, and grunge-inspired. Someone made the joke, what if a band were to play quiet musi…
Get ready for some two-fers on The Midday Show on KEXP: the new Spoon album is finally here! KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, the "Austin band's ninth album finds them tweaking their sound with more prominent dance beats, electronic textures and adventurous sonic touches, while still providing …
Day two of Portland's first ever Project Pabst began with Portland psych-pop band Grandparents, then a Heart-meets-Led Zeppelin performance from 2014's Thelma & Louise, a.k.a. rock band Deap Vally, as well as a set from Massachusetts indie rock band Speedy Ortiz. The beer was once again aflowin…
Vancouver/Toronto-based band Gold & Youth continue in the Canadian tradition of bands like Stars and Broken Social Scene, combining boy/girl vocals over danceable pop beats. Released on the iconic Arts & Crafts label last year, their debut full-length Beyond Wilderness captures '80s-style s…
