Romance doesn't so much borrow from the great, goth-rock bands of the 1980s as they pay them proper tribute.

When I listen to Romance, I hear the montone vocals ala Ian Curtis of Joy Division as well as instrumentation that recalls Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, Bauhaus, New Order and Sisters of Mercy. Yet, they never really sound derivative. Their song "Killer in the World" stands out with a driving guitar part that goes nicely with the throbbing bassline. The emotion comes from melody, as it is nearly absent from the harmonies.

Their set in their Sky Church should make you long for the past while remaining optimistic for the future.

You can watch that video here:

Romance plays Bumbershoot at EMP's Sky Church at 5pm on Sunday, September 6.

Dyno Jamz most likely were the first band to be named to perform at Bumbershoot this year, as their set was part of their prize for winning the EMP's Sound Off! competition earlier in the year.

Like their predecessors Digable Planets, Dyno Jamz is a group that finds the common threads in jazz and hip hop. They have a tight, funky 7-piece band (including a horn section!) that provides the music for their emcee, Zac Millan, to rhyme over. From watching the clips of the Sound Off! performances on YouTube, it's quite clear that the band has a comfortable stage presence with a fully fleshed-out sound. With Sound Off!, all band members have to be under 21, so I'm anxious to see how this band grows and realizes their full potential as musicians and artists.

Here's the video of the band performing "Come Out and Play" during Sound Off!:

Dyno Jamz plays Bumbershoot in EMP's Sky Church on Saturday, September 5 at 12:30pm.

{Dyno Jamz photo by joshc from TIG's Flickr pool.}

The case against Black Eyed Peas is a rather compelling one: one of their biggest hits was "My Humps" (a monstrosity, even to my pop-loving standards); they had another single called "Let's Get Retarded"; Fergie might be the most-loathesome pop starlet today (I have a much easier time defending Katy Perry [she's not that bad] and Lady Gaga [actually, she's pretty awesome]); Will.I.Am's Pepsi commercial where he annoints himself as this generation's Dylan, literally, is probably the most arrogant 60 seconds I've ever watched; they've sold so many songs to commercials that it has crossed over to shameless whoring and this list could go on and on.

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Between the Block Party, this weekend's Doe Bay Music Festival, Bumbershoot, and some gigs around town, you'd be hard-pressed to get away from Hey Marseilles these days. This band is everywhere right now, and with good reason. Their talented, infectious vibe is catching the eyes and ears of some pretty important folks of late, most notably Christen Greene over at Fuzed Music. According to our exclusive pre-press release, Greene officially inked a management deal with Hey Marseilles a few weeks ago, just after their stellar mainstage performance at the Capitol Hill Block Party. It's Greene's first signing under the Fuzed Music roof, and it looks as though she's hit a homerun.

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I’m not really convinced that I need to rent Super High Me because I don’t think I’ll find it all that funny. I’m also not a huge fan of stand-up, but let me tell you what does sounds like it would elicit more than a few laughs from my obviously cold, hard, no-sense-of-humor self:

Some guy who puts his friends on stage to perform their own comedy routine, and then interrupts them whenever he damn well feels like it.

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On Point Juncture, WA's website, they helpfully point out that "it's a band, not a place."

It's actually quite a relief that I don't have to try to draw parallels between a place I've never been and the band's music.

Point Juncture, WA is a Portland-based, four-piece band that uses atmospheric instrumentation (including a vibraphone!) to complement their low-tempo, blissed out indie rock. The effect is often really shimmering and beautiful with the electronic melodies complimenting the male/female harmonies. That would be fine if that was all that they did, but the members of Point Juncture, WA aren't content to being a straight-forward indie rock band with electronic flourishes and the occasional time change. Take my favorite song in their catalogue, "Sioux Arrow", which gets injected with some noise and chaos during the song's last two minutes and makes for some beauty in its own right.

The band released their most recent album, Heart to Elk, on local label Mt. Fuji earlier this year.

Point Juncture, WA plays Bumbershoot in the EMP Sky Church at 1:45pm on Monday, September 7.

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In the past lives of Past Lives, the geneology includes four former members of the notable post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers.

What Past Lives does musically, is to forget the lineage from Blood Brothers and create a new sound that is built especially around the art-rock guitar parts from Devin Welch (who also was in Chromatics and Shoplifting) and Morgan Henderson. The vocals are almost secondary to the instrumentation that blends math rock precision with a level of punk noise and some occasional chaos for good measure. The band has played several high-profile shows since the first time they took a stage in early 2008. The most recent show I caught was when they opened for Murder City Devils and the intensity and noise made for a perfect compliment to the legendary Northwest rock band.

Here's a video of Past Lives playing their song "Beyond Gone" at their second show ever, opening for No Age and Liars at the Showbox:

Past Lives play Bumbershoot at EMP's Sky Church on Saturday, September 5 at 3:30pm.

{Past Lives photo by Chona Kasinger from TIG's Flickr Pool.}

In addition to all the fabulous bands at Bumbershoot this year, how about exploring the 100s of others things going on?

The first thing that caught my eye on the schedule is The Scream Contest, because it involves screaming your head off, and something called the SCREAM-o-METER. How can that not be tons of fun?

You sign up to read a short radio theater scene that ends with lots of murderous screaming, and then judges consult the aforementioned SCREAM-o-METER to decide who wins! I’m not sure what your prize is, but I know at least a few people who’d love to participate (especially after a spell in the beer garden). I'm considering it my chance to see if I'd make a good Scream Queen - you know, in case Sam Raimi calls me for his next film.

Presented by Performance Space 122 NYC: Seattle Edition, with lo-fi NY band Japanther.

The Scream Contest takes place Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, from 8-10pm.

With their latest album, Fantasies, Canadian rock band Metric doesn't really break any new ground, at least as far as their sound goes. Instead, the band does exactly what they've always done: craft some excellent rock music. There are plenty of lyrical and melodical hooks on Fantasies and is carried by the lyrics and harmonies of lead singer Emily Haines.

What Fantasies is, though, is Metric's most consistent and strongest album. It's a fine collection of synth and guitar-driven rock songs, with plenty that could be standout singles. "Help, I'm Alive" and "Gimme Sympathy" are my favorites at the moment but "Stadium Love" is the type of catchy song that will get entire crowd to hum along to the "oooh oooh oooh"s.

This show will be a homecoming of sorts as Fantasies was recorded just outside of Seattle at Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville. Haines explained to me it was because "It’s a beautiful studio in the woods, and being far from home was the whole point."

Watch Metric perform "Help, I'm Alive" on "Letterman" in July below:

{Metric plays Bumbershoot on the Broad Street Stage at 9:30pm on Monday, September 7}

The story with Mayer Hawthorne is that he recorded a couple of neo-soul songs and the would-be head of his label, Stones Throw, initially assumed they were covers before eventually signing Hawthorne. It is an easy assumption to make. Listening to Hawthorne for just a few minutes, you hear his soulful crooning over breakbeats and don't initially assume it's a white kid in his late twenties. Claiming inspiration from artists like Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and Isaac Hayes, Hawthorne wouldn't be out of place if one of his songs came on the radio in the middle of a playlist of songs from his aforementioned heroes.

Hawthorne is set to release his first LP, A Strange Arrangement, just a few days after his set at Bumbershoot on the LA-based hip hop label Stones Throw, who were said to have signed him after hearing just two songs. They also released his single "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" as a 7" with a red heart on the vinyl. Hawthorne is set to begin his first headlining tour, with Bumbershoot being his first stop.

Here's his single "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out":

{Mayer Hawthorne and the County play Bumbershoot at 4pm on the Fisher Green Stage on Saturday, September 5.}