Martin Douglas dives into the history of the power-pop band on the eve of the release of their immersive sophomore album.
This electric, bomb-dropping session from Dennis Rea's band aims equally at prog rock partisans, jazz aficionados, and metalheads.
Pop drum n' bass music with a fascinating hybrid of influences played live by KJ Sawka with his first band in Seattle.
Some gigs feel like a secret you have all to yourself. The first time Savages played in Seattle, the band had released one song and the room was half full. Half a year later, they sold out Neumos months in advance of the date. The first time HAIM played Seattle, their Neumos date sold out a week be…
Leave it to a Welsh indie pop band to take a perfectly innocent game invented by beloved children's author A.A. Milne for his son and turn it into a band name with unpleasantly coprological overtones. (The most unpleasant part: "The Pooh Sticks" works as both a plural noun and a sentence. Ew.) In c…
Al Doyle is a wunderkind. Whether he's hopping between three or four different instrument setups at a Hot Chip show, turning the guitar part on "Losing My Edge" into a rock 'n' roll masterpiece at LCD Soundsystem's last show, or having the time of his life jamming out with fellow Hot Chip member Fe…
Oklahoma psychedelic freaks The Flaming Lips have never been ones to abide by the norm. But now, we really know there is zero method to their madness. This week, they released patiently awaited, heavily marketed new LP The Terror, along with a previously unmentioned split EP with Oklahoma band Hors…
Since its formation in 2008, Bleeding Rainbow has evolved into the kick-ass psychedelic rock band that you will have the pleasure to jamming to today. Although every young band goes through some growing pains, most don't have to deal with cease-and-desist letters over their chosen name. Philadelphi…
Yoni & Geti's Testarossa project is one of the most refreshing albums of the year, full stop. It brings two repeat collaborators together for a project that plays into each of their strengths with twice the strength and precision of any previous joint efforts by a mile. Furthermore, it's a larg…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Icelandic art-rock band Agent Fresco. Formed in 2008, mere weeks before playing in the Icelandic battle of the bands (Músíktilraunir), at which they won best guitar, best drumming, and best bass playing. The four-piece band inc…
Our third live show of the day from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Mammút. This rock band won acclaim with their latest album Komdu til mín svarta systir (Come to Me, My Dark Sister), scoring eight nominations at the 2013 Icelandic Music Awards. Eventually they snagged wins for best album, song…
Besides deliberate misspellings and prodigious capitalization in band names, we hope that one of the trends people will note about the music of 2013 is the ascendency of female voiced indie pop. CHVRCHES, HAERTS, HAIM (okay, a few bands fall into both categories!) as well as London Grammar, Lorde, …
New Radiohead! The idiosyncratic UK band sneakily released a new album online this past weekend. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "This British band's ninth album is a transportive blend of brooding avant-pop, spacy prog-rock and psych-folk, with an intricately textured, tension-filled sound com…
It's unquestionably the strongest week of new releases this year (especially since it's only the third week of new releases). Leading the pack is the highly-anticipated sophomore releases from UK group Savages. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "this British band's excellent second album features…
On September 11, Minnesota band Low will release their 11th studio album, Ones and Sixes via Sub Pop. The album was co-produced by the band and BJ Burton at Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon's studio in Wisconsin. Listen to the record's first single "No Comprende" below. [CoS]
Tangerine is a Seattle four-piece that plays power-pop with catchy rhythms and soft, touching vocals. The band recently released their EP, Behemoth, and will play a bunch of local shows in support of the record. We had a chance to catch up lead singer and guitar player, Marika Che, to talk about th…
With their brand-new EP Fade Away, California band Best Coast prove they're not doing any such thing. The seven-song release just came out this past week, but we were lucky to have the band in the KEXP studios back in August for a sneak-peek at these new summery-sounding songs. You can't help smil…
DJ Sharlese hosts a podcast featuring bands competing in the 2015 Sound Off! competition, the premiere Northwest battle of the bands hosted by the Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum. 1. Bleachbear - Astoria 2. Champagne Babylon - Lost In Eden 3. Nightspace - Insecure 4. Super Soaked - Wannabe…
The dusty desert-damaged rock of All Them Witches made its debut in the KEXP studios earlier this year, and it only underscores how the wait was too long. The long-evolving Nashville outfit's latest album. Sleeping Through The War, is a fiery, gritty LP that's highlighted in this sessio…
Although they've been constant staples in Seattle venues, it had been more than four years since Dude York's last KEXP session, but with the release of their sophomore LP Sincerely, the self-styled “America's Band” have triumphantly returned with a new set of catchy garage jams. Joi…
