Blue Scholars is two decks, two mics and two men. Geo is the second son of working-class Filipino immigrants, has a son, works days at the Wing Luke Asian Museum and writes rhymes at night. Sabzi is Persian, follows the Baha’i faith, and, in addition to his time behind the decks, does some minor hustling during the day....MORE

Representations of snakes range from a monstrous killer in horror films to the embodiment of Satan. Compare this imagery to the ebullient musical hooks and translucent maze of noise that is the Charming Snakes. The hypnotic sound swells between throbbing bass notes as twin guitars shock the listener into catatonic fits like the venomous bite of a cobra. ...MORE

This troubadour knows the essence of melancholy. It’s in each of the 12 songs on his latest release, “On My Way To Absence.” Be it up-tempo or down, Jurado’s words and soft-sung heart evoke bittersweet reflections on love and loneliness, the trials and tribulations of what could be anyone’s and most often feels like the sadder part of me. ...MORE

On their third album, the Fruit Bats are perfecting their country-hued pop songs. The theme of “Spelled In Bones” invokes emotions familiar to many of us who were born in the ‘70s. I recently spoke with Eric Johnson, who’s been the Fruit Bats’ principle singer-songwriter amidst a rotating band line-up. ...MORE

Currently, there are two Chris Martins making music news: one is the frontman for the overrated wet noodle band Coldplay, the other is the multi-talented frontman for Kinski. ...MORE

Light in the Attic's latest release, “The Now Sound Redesigned,” is a compilation of Free Design re-mixes. Participants in this unusual project include Caribou, the High Llamas, Kid Koala and Styrofoam. Free Design was a New York soft-psych band from the 60s and 70s. ...MORE

I spend my summers jet-setting around the pop underground, which this year included witnessing a stellar performance by the Math and Physics Club at July’s San Francisco Pop Crush Festival. Bassist Ethan Jones describes that show as the “best we’ve ever played together. The fun thing about playing live is that the next show we play could be my new favorite.”. ...MORE

If you were an energetic band playing melodic post-rock with a smattering of horns and vibes—not to mention one of the best vocalists around—and were picked both as one of the best bands in Portland by a local weekly as well as one of the bands voted to close out the PDX Pop Now Festival, you might expect to start feeling a swelling of pride from all the acclaim and growing audiences, right. ...MORE

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If you been around the underground scene in Seattle, or anywhere on the West Coast for that matter, you have heard the name Skarp. Started more than five years ago as a ska-punk band, Skarp has progressed into Seattle’s premiere grindcore band. ...MORE

In February, just a few months after practicing in a garage, the Emergency burst onto the Seattle music scene with urgency and excitement. With a mix of rock’n’roll, garage and punk and a soul singin’ woman up front, people are bound to draw immediate comparisons with the Bellrays. ...MORE

While it’s fun to contemplate what kind of crazy record might come out of a working relationship between Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, the Lights are focused simply on making fresh rock’n’roll. Having known each other since grade school and playing together for around nine years, the three guys in this band (Craig Chambers, PJ Rogalski and Jeff Albertson) are brothers in the sense that the Ramones were brothers. ...MORE

A lazy music journalist would simply say that the Cops sound like the Clash. Sure, you take four white guys, turn them on to dub and there’ll be songs that sound that sound like Strummer and Co., but a penchant for the sounds of Jamaica does not make a Clash cover band. ...MORE