LISTEN: The Pharmacy - "Dig Your Grave"

Photo by Adarasha Benjamin

Let's go through a checklist real quick:

Distorted, fuzzed out bass? Check.
Punchy organ and a Leslie speaker? Check.
Misleading piano and cello intro? Check
Pleasant surprise at what the intro lead to? Check.
Best recent use of 2 minutes and 2 seconds? Check.

SEE & HEAR: Deep Sea Diver - "NWO"

Seattle trio Deep Sea Diver may have started as the solo project for songwriter Jessica Dobson (The Shins, Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), but with this year's release of the project's debut album, History Speaks, it's clear that this has grown into something much more. The album's latest single, "NWO," is an ebb and flow of rhythmic beauty supporting an earnest and sweet melody. Album producer Matt Wignall (Cold War Kids, the Delta Spirit) took the reigns for the song's music video treatment, which you can scope below. It's a flash of archival film and black and white footage of Dobson, drummer Peter Mansen, and bassist John Raines that makes an abstract whole out of a puzzle of imagery.

LISTEN: My Goodness - "Blackout Baby"

My Goodness - "Blackout Baby"


The first time I heard this song, I thought it was some lost MC5 b-side. But the MC5 were never this bluesy, and they never did sound this Southern fried. "Blackout Baby" has that raw, sort of guttural punch that sounds big and hits even harder -- like the MC5 meets Led Zeppelin. It only takes one electric guitar, a drum kit, and a howling set of pipes to stir up this storm of bluesy rock 'n' roll, and that certainly says a lot about the conviction and talent of this Seattle band. My Goodness, rock 'n' roll is alive and doing quite well (sorry, I couldn't resist).

LISTEN: Elba - "Statues & Shipyards"

Elba - "Statues & Shipyards"


What would happen if Orange Juice and Built to Spill were crossed in the petri dish of indie rock? I'd put my money on "Statues & Shipyards." With a simple but catchy melody, Seattle-based Elba hide the details of the straightforward lyrics in the swaying beat and guitar riffs; it's about what they don't say and what they do play that tells you everything you need to know. It's a charming ode to the strain of distance and the beautiful heartache it breeds.

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REVIEW: Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
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Up until the past few months, Seattle hip-hop group Shabazz Palaces had been shrouded in a fair amount of mystery. Their initial, official promotional photo featured a man with what looked like a black hole – or a galaxy – for a face, seated in a sci-fi, CGI-generated planetary landscape. The image happened to be rather apropos when it came to representing the project. Following 2009’s self-released Of Light and Shabazz Palaces EPs, interest in the group only skyrocketed. While it’s not strictly a solo project per se, there is a particular individual who’s at the forefront of Shabazz Palaces ascent and music: Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler of 90’s rap group Digable Planets). The latter fact will certainly be used to give context to Shabazz Palaces, but, honestly, there is nothing quite like this out there right now – Black Up, the debut album, proves it.