Hey! You guys! Remember way back in May 2011 when I was gushing all over The Pauses debut album, A Cautionary Tale? Well. THEY ARE FINALLY COMING TO SEATTLE TO PLAY (in support of their new split EP with Great Deceivers) and TIG is presenting the show!!!!!!

There are just not enough exclamation points for this post. I mean it. I cannot wait to see them play live! They are coming all the way from Florida!

Please join me at The Comet on Monday, Sept. 17 at 8:30pm for some awesome tunes by The Pauses, Best Band from Earth, and The Black Tones. Three bands for $6! A total steal. 

{The Pauses w/The Black Tones and Best Band from Earth | The Comet Tavern | Doors at 8:30pm, 21+ | $6}

Some motivation to get you there:

at Showbox at the Market

Monday nights can be a little hit and miss as far as shows go: crowds can often be worn out from the preceding weekend -- in this case, that weekend involved three days of Block Party goodness -- and occasionally reluctant to venture out again for yet another show on Monday. That was certainly not the case with Wye Oak and Dirty Projector’s show at the Showbox this past Monday night.

Wye Oak opened up the evening to an already fairly crowded Showbox. The duo of drummer (and occasional bassist) Andy Stack and guitarist Jenn Wasner made enough noise that you have thought you were listening to a much larger band. Maybe it was the sound capacities of the Showbox on this particular night, but even if not, Wye Oak is much, MUCH louder and heavier live than their recorded version is. Wasner’s guitar playing often created a punishing wall of sound, with her vocals just barely lifting over the top. Their moody and contemplative sound harkened back to some of the shoegaze bands of the early 90s. This was my first time seeing Wye Oak, and I was certainly impressed.

Dirty Projectors took the stage to an anxiously excited crowd, with lead singer David Longstreth high-fiving audience members in the front row upon entrance. The first twenty-five minutes of their set consisted of songs from their new album, Swing Lo Magellan. That fantastic new material punctuated their setlist, as they played the majority of the twelve songs on the album, with highlights from their 2009 album Bitte Orca interspersed throughout.

One noticeable difference between the current incarnation of Dirty Projectors and previous ones is the adjusted lineup. While most members remain the same, former drummer Brian McOmber left the band on amicable terms and was replaced by Mike Johnson. More noticeable however, is the absence of Angel Deradoorian. The trio of Deredoorian, Haley Dekle, and Amber Coffman made some of the most unique and gorgeous melodies in indie music -- however, Deredoorian left the group earlier this year to pursue other projects and was temporarily replaced by Wye Oak’s Jess Wasner, who has since been replaced by former Chairlift member Olga Bell. Considering some of the harmonies and offbeat timing involved in playing their songs live, Bell did a fantastic job and certainly held her own with the rest of the band. When the three of them harmonized together on songs like “Useful Chamber”, they didn’t just settle for singing their beautiful melodies in perfect harmony, they did so at full volume. Not only were they all perfectly on-key, they absolutely belted those notes as loud as they could, and the audience loved every second of it. I noticed several people around me turn to their friends with that "wow, that sounds fucking amazing!" look on their face.

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It’s probably totally weird that I’ve never read a Harry Potter book, that I find the movies utterly forgettable, and that I just plain don’t get people’s extreme HP fandom—but, you guys. BUT.

I’ve been crushing on brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters since I saw them play at the UW Bookstore sometime around 2003. They are exceptionally cute, very sweet, and just all around awesome guys who play rock-n-roll about all things Harry Potter.

As if that weren’t enough, these adorable rockers put together the Harry Potter Alliance; an organization that inspires social activism based on HP themes, and the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club: a club featuring monthly releases from wizard rock bands, with proceeds going to literary-based non-profits. To date, they’ve raised over $50,000.

This year is their 10 Year “Bandiversary”, so the boys are rockin’ their way up the West Coast with a Summer Tour, and lucky for us, they are landing in Seattle on July 31 at The Vera Project with fellow dude of awesomeness Hank Green, and The Potter Puppet Pals. Yay!

You might ask if Harry and the Potters are a kid's band, and if so, you then might ask WHY I like them. All I can say to you is that you need to experience the imaginary goodness that is H&tP yourself to truly understand. Get a taste of some “Wizard Rock” by checking out one of my personal favorites below, “Save Ginny Weasley”—and then get some tix to the Vera show, before it’s sold out!

{Harry and the Potters w/Hank Green | Tuesday, July 31 | The Vera Project | All Ages | $10 | 6pm}

Tasseomancy: Ulalume
I shouldn't even like this. But I do. Twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman infuse their folky music with a dreamy, Julee Cruise-esque feel and beautiful vocals. Basically, listening to Ulalume feels like you're in a fuzzy, drug-induced haze. Napping might seem like a good idea too -- until you realize the tunes will probably fuel crazy Gothic-fairy-tale-tinged nightmares.

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One of the bands that's been rocking my literal socks off lately is Atomic Bride. I still haven't had time to sit down and fully absorb their full-length CD Dead Air yet, but the second I slipped it into my CD drive, I was dancing to their retro-surf-punk-poppy tunes as hard as I ever did to early The B-52's. (If anyone could hold their own against Kate Pierson, it's lovely raw-throated vocalist Astra Elane). 

So anyway! Let's just say I'm INTO it. And I think you will be too. Check out their video for the ultra-catchy "Radio Recession" above, and then go see them live at The Comet on 7/14 (with The Valley).

I have finally caught up with SIFF madness and found three musical selections in the TIG stacks that are worthy of a shout-out.

Hermetic Delight: Universe Like Thousands of Red Alternatives
This band hails from Strasborg, France, so it was a pretty exciting package to open (we ♥ INTL mail, you guys!). Anyway, despite a totally mistranslated PR sheet, I snapped this up because hello. THAT IS A RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME BAND NAME.

Hermetic Delight specializes in throaty vocal whisperings that ramble all over swaying beats, keyboards, and sexy, sexy, sexiness. So, you know, very French. I can't really make out half of what lead singer Zey K. is saying, but it's damn compelling anyway.

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{photo: John E. Hollingsworth}

There's no denying that every single member of Tullycraft has a firm place in our hearts.  Their songs encompass all things we love.  They spice up indie-pop with aggressive guitar and swoon-worthy campfire sing along harmonies.  Blips and bleeps are sprinkled through out as are record store clerk culture references and nerd-core punchlines.  Beyond that, the folks that make up the band more than make our heart flutter.

Our ties with Tullycraft go all the way back to 2003, when at our 2nd anniversary Rockstar Suicide Karaoke show a very brave Tullycraft-er took the stage to sing Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts." Since then, we've been able to cajole Tullycraft into performing at many an imaginary event (YAY!).  It's hard to pick a favorite moment, but we still watch video of their performance at the Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs show over and over (video sample of the night below). And then there was our 2007 holiday show, the 2004 Shamrock the Vote showcase… well, you get the idea. We can't get enough Tullycraft in our lives.

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It's hard to remember imaginary life before Math & Physics Club came along.  We are forever honored to have been one of the first places they sent their demo to back in the summer of 2004.  With their sweet indie-pop blend of The Smiths with The Lucksmiths, and all things Sarah Records with Matinee Records, their beautiful songs (even as demos) immediately made us both jump with glee and fill with pretty heartache.

Besides being hella nice folks who write hella nice songs, we adore them because they have been kind enough to be a part of many of our (even wackiest) show endeavors.  They are brilliant when they play their own songs (as we've written about countless times), but they are also really great at covers! They did a couple magic Magnetic Field covers at our 69 Love Songs cover night and they even perfected a Stone Roses cover at one of our showcases (video of them performing it in CA below).

Ethan Jones from MaPC is going to represent the band on at 10th Anniversary Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Bash on Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey {tix}. You might also remember Ethan as a touring member of Eux Autres in addition to his MaPC responsibilities of bass guitar and harmonies.  Besides rumors swirling that MaPC are possibly talking about one day maybe recording something perhaps sometime, Ethan is also currently working on an EP of his own.  And, also of very important indie-pop note, Math and Physics Club donated a very rare and very exclusive song to the 10th anniversary commemorative imaginary zine, which you can be the first of your friends to pick up AT THE SHOW!

He was one of the first folks to send over their requested song, so we can only imagine that he's spent ever single moment working on his new wave poses.

We are over-the-moon excited about this Friday night, when the Vera Project will be filled with indie-pop giddiness and sweet melodic musings of one of our favorite  bands, Allo Darlin', and stellar opening band The Wave Pictures.  

The night is also a celebration of Three Imaginary Girls 10th Anniversary!  This is the first show in our series of anniversary celebrations and we would love to mark this special event with you, Allo Darlin' and The Wave Pictures.

It's been over two years since Seattle has had our Allo Darlin' fix, when they sold out the Rendezvous on their first visit to the Pacific Northwest back in October, 2010.  Since then, they've recorded and released (just last month) their amazing sophomore effort, Europe.  It's beautiful and smart, with lush engulfing waves of orchestrated pop and moments subtle unassuming diary entries. The album is clever, while steering clear of pretentiousness or preciousness… and white vinyl versions of it will be for sale at the merch booth!

And don't just take our word for it.  KEXP, who knows a lot more about what's what, is in love with them too. If you've listened to 90.3fm/kexp.org recently, you've likely heard the first single from the album Europe, "Capriconia."  It's catchy, without losing its ability to tug at your heartstrings (that pull you home!!!) and bring a tear to your eye (don't worry, we wont tell anyone you got so touched).

The show is all-ages and doors are at 7.30pm.  Don't dilly-dally, because the opening band is The Wave Pictures, visiting us all the way from London (as well).  They have a freshly-released brand new album, chock full of pop songs that some have described as gawky, sublime pop… but I like to think of them as a sweet blend of Hefner, Clinic, and Jonathan Richman, with the wits of John Peel.  I predict that seeing their set will add points to your indie-coolness klout score.

There's going to be so much imaginary love at the Vera Project this Friday, this show is not to be missed.  I don't want you to truly regret missing this double-bill of UK radness and imaginary anniversary fun, so here's a couple more reasons you should go:

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at Paramount Theater

I shouldn't have to tell any of you this, but if you missed M83's sold out performance at the Paramount Theater this past Thursday night, you missed one hell of a show. 

Backed by lighting effects that at times looked a lot like giant multi-colored neon glow sticks, M83 started their performance the same way they did at their Neumos show this past November -- with Hurry Up, We're Dreaming's opener "Intro" -- and they never looked back. Half of the balcony where I was at was standing from the very start, and midway through the set, the lead single from HU,WD (and probably their most popular song to date) "Midnight City" got pretty much everyone who was still sitting down up on their feet and dancing. One of my minor qualms with their Neumos show last November was the lack of any saxaphone solo during Midnight City, since it's such an energetic, climactic moment in the song, and as cheesy at it sounds, I just want to hear that saxaphone kick in at the right time. This time around, they brought in a live sax player to belt out the solo, and people seemed pretty excited about it. 

Considering that their Neumos show was just a little over five months ago, moving over to the Paramount Theater was a big step up for the band. Gonzalez seemed a little overjoyed and grateful to be playing a sold out show at such a massive venue. He even took a moment between songs to voice his amazement at it all saying "This is such a huge fucking venue for us, it's exciting!" Towards the end of the set, Gonzalez asked to have some of the lights brought up so he could take it all in, which he did briefly before emphatically collapsing to the floor, almost in disbelief.

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