Three Imaginary Girls - Fishboy

Monday morning check-in: John Roderick and the warmest day of the year

imaginary liz — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:12:34 +0000

Happy Monday morning!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to make the most of what the experts have claimed to be the warmest day of the year. My weekend was packed with some mundane blah stuff which was thankfully overshadowed by one hellava Saturday night in Columbia City. After an amazing dinner at my new favorite restaurant (Island Soul, do not leave without trying one of their coconut corn muffins!), my friends and I headed over to the Fishboy / BOAT / Aqueduct show at the Columbia City Theater.

All the bands went above and beyond, but the highlight of the night was a surprise super special guest appearance. Mr. John Roderick joined BOAT on stage to chime in on "Landlocked," and then stayed on stage for a super-rock rendition of the Long Winters classic, "New Girl." {!!!} To say it was jaw-dropping would be an understatement. It's been a while since I've heard the Long Winters rock-style, and boy oh boy, I hope this is a sign for things to come (next album, more shows).

My favorite part of the story? The part in which I found out that BOAT and John hadn't actually ever practiced "New Girl" together. The band just sprung it on John when he arrived to the show that night {sprung = asked really nicely}. This just furthers my claim that BOAT (with J. Rod on lead vocals now and again) would make a great house band for the next late night talk show. Watch out Roots!

How was your weekend? What were your highlights?

Huge thanks to Button Dave for capturing the magic and posting to youtube:

(videos after the jump)

Recommended Saturday show: Fishboy, BOAT, Aqueduct at Columbia City Theater {9/10/11}

imaginary liz — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:38:03 +0000

This Saturday, the Columbia City Theater will burst with niceboy poplicks! Starting off the night, Fishboy is in town for the first time since the release of Classic Creeps, their foray into anthemic pop with an emphasis on the letter A. Each song is a detailed character survey that swings from Apples in Stereo to They Might Be Giants with their own distinct DIY Denton, TX spin. Sidenote: If you'd rather kick it Vashon Island style, you can see Fishboy with Red Pony Clock, iji, and Terrordactyls on Sunday, September 11.

Hometown heroes, BOAT always bring on the fun with their comfy-pop songs. Lucky for us, they keep up a near GBV pace of song-writing. It seems like every other month there's at least one new song added to their live sets and talk of an upcoming album or special edition tape. Who knows what we'll find at this Saturday's merch table.

Headlining the night is Seattle's own Aqueduct, perhaps most beloved for their ability to add a special blend of quirk and coy with a keyboard line and a nod to the finest classic rock rifts.

I've seen all three bands on separate bills and have had a fine time with each outing. Together, Saturday's grouping will be a spectacular showing and well worth the trip (not so far) south.

A mixtape of Imaginary Liz's Best of 2011 {so far)

imaginary liz — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:49:41 +0000

Rather than thinking of it as 2011 being halfway over, I prefer to see it as we're all halfway to my birthday {December 24th if it's not on your calendar already}. To celebrate, and take stock of this year's releases thus far, I've put together a mix of my favorite songs of 2011 {so far}.

This year has brought some predictably great albums from friends such as Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, BOAT, Matt & Kim, Telekinesis, Bright Eyes. I feel like I've been waiting for a fresh batch of songs from Brown Recluse for years. I love every note they play and having a two hearty releases in one year {Panoptic Mirror Maze and Evening Tapestry} makes me overjoyed.

Other bands, like When I Was 12 and Dangerous Ponies, I am thankful for crossing paths with for the first time this year.

And then there are the folks that have left me wanting more more more (I'm looking at you Oregon Bike Trails and Forbidden Friends)! Huge thanks to You Aint No Picasso for bringing Oregon Bike Trails to my attention. OBT fellow, singer/songwriter Zach Yudin, from Santa Monica, Ca., is quite the mysterious dude - only having a cassette tape release earlier this year (hand painted, limited to 50!) and a couple other MP3s swirling around the web.

Forbidden Friends, a side project by Thermals frontman Hutch Harris (with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis on drums and fellow Thermals Kathy Foster and Westin Glass backing him up), is still in the 7" only phase, and needless to say I'm counting down to a full album of FF stuff.

In short, I can't recommend the below songs and full releases enough. To help convince you of their brilliance, I made a virtual mix cd!

The tracklisting of my {hopefully very convincing} mix cd is:

A cute new video from Fishboy that could double as a workout routine

imaginary liz — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:47:13 +0000

I've been remiss in my indie-pop duties. Apologies to all for the delay in recommending the newest Fishboy album, Classic Creeps. It reveals the lives of 10 unknowingly connected fictional characters across 10 wonderful pop songs {listen to it now}.

To mark its release last week {May 10 on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records}, Eric Edward Fishboy produced a cute video for "Alyson Revere," complete with TMBG Ana Ng style dance moves {which I have to link to after the jump because, it's "Ana Ng" and it's still utterly brilliant}.

Combine the both and you've got a great work out!

What other videos have dance moves that we could use as part of a workout routine?

Recommended show: Fishboy returns to Seattle this Friday at the Mars Bar

imaginary keenan — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:16:52 +0000

Lucky us! It's been less than a year since Fishboy's last stop in our fair city, and now, he's back for more! This time, he'll be solo, accompanied by only his fantastic songs and his wit. Lead Fish-dude Eric Michener writes insanely catchy and clever albums, such as 2007's rock opera Albatross: How We Failed To Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll about trying (and failing) to save the state of Texas with the ghost of Buddy Holly (one of my favorite albums of the last decade). It's like if Neutral Milk Hotel wrote fun songs all in the vein of "Holland 1945" instead of heartbreaking ones. You can stream the entire album here.

Rumor has it Fishboy is working on a new album right now. We got a bit of a taste the last time they were in town at Vera, though I've heard most of those songs have been scrapped. Michener always has a way of keeping his fans on their toes, so you never know what to expect, except a great time filled with fantastic songs. Stop into the Mars Bar on Friday to check out someone we can truly call a Three Imaginary Girls favorite. Show starts at 8:30 (Fishboy's on first) and also playing are the Terrordactyls, the Heligoats, and ten speed.

{Fishboy photo by Steve Louie}

Wish I'd Kept A Scrapbook: Tullycraft covers comp

imaginary keenan — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:26:32 +0000

{Tullycraft photo by Steve Louie}

Holy indie pop incredibleness! Do you miss Tullycraft as much as I do? It's only been less than a year since their farewell set at San Francisco Popfest (which still gives me chills just thinking about), but just knowing that there may be another chance to sing along to such glorious pop gems makes me happy. Well, this isn't a new Tullycraft record, but the next best thing: all your favorite (well, at least my favorite) indie pop bands together on one comp covering their favorite Tullycraft songs!

The wonderful folks who are putting the comp together put up an experiment of sorts on the site Kickstarter (a great website for getting funding for projects!) to see if they could raise a little scratch to make this cover compilation huge; to spread the love of Tullycraft to the masses! Only if they raise their amount will you be charged. Think of it like a pre-order: by paying in advance, you get tons of awesome benefits!

Full band list after the jump.

Athens Popfest 2010 first lineup announcement!

imaginary keenan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:23:22 +0000

{Robert Schneider from the Apples In Stereo from Athens Popfest 2008}

We here at TIG have been crushing out over Athens Popfest for years. I've been every year since 2006 and Liz went in 2005 and 2007. It's pretty much always the best week of the year, fusing together amazing indie pop, delicious food (seriously, Athens has the best!), and wonderful community. I look forward to the lineup announcement all year long, and the wonderful popfest folks have given us just a taste of what's to come, featuring some of my current favorite bands and lots of TIG favorites (and as always, some newbies I'm so excited to hear)!

listmania continues: keenan's top 20 favorite albums of the decade

imaginary keenan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:27:46 +0000

{Long Winters photo by Trickshot Photography}

Because I'm some kind of masochist and a total nerd, I've been slaving over this list, keeping it brief (harder than you'd think!) at my favorite 20 albums of the decade without duplicating a band (even harder). Side note: I've probably forgotten something I really, really love, so let's just call this how I feel right this minute. These are the albums I know every note and breath of by heart and I love as complete albums with all of my soul. These are albums that in my humble opinion have no skipable track and are works of beauty in their entirety. I'd also like to point out that these are my favorite albums, as I tend to shy away from calling them "the best", as really, it's just my opinion, and who am I to tell you that you're wrong for not liking these records? (Though, if you catch me in a potentially altered state, I may completely negate that and call any number of these THE GREATEST of all time and call you wrong to your face if you disagree.) I digress. Here they are!

imaginary liz's favorite albums of the last decade

imaginary liz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

Monday morning check-in: Ramona Falls, Harvey Danger, or...

imaginary liz — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:14:15 +0000

This past weekend was one of great small shows around town - and a couple big ones like the Goodbye Mr. Harvey Danger shows on Friday/Saturday and the Ramona Falls/BOAT/Y La Bamba show at the Croc on Friday night.

The highlight of my weekend was the Fishboy show at the Vera Project last night. Those Denton boys bring it every time. I have no idea why they aren't hugely famous. Each show is full of jumps, cowbell banging, a trumpet part here and there... and their songs are impeccably catchy. If you want to see them before they head home, Fishboy has a show in Olympia on Tuesday at the Nightfinger Complex with Sundance Kids.

What did you do? What was your highlight?

Do you have any recommendations for this week leading up to Bumbershoot?

Recommended show:Fishboy, Filkoe, and M. Bison at the Vera Project this Sunday night

imaginary liz — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:21:09 +0000

Denton, Texas foursome Fishboy are wrapping up a huge US tour in support of their new album, Nom. Before they head back to "All Hail West Texas," they are stopping by the Vera Project this Sunday night for an all ages show.

For those of you not on my Best of 2007 mix tape mailing list, one of my favorite albums of 2007 was Fishboy's Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll. It's packed with wicked guitar hooks, lyrical punch, and is ready made for a brilliant indie-pop musical. Fishboy must agree that you should hear it right away too because they posted the album online so you can hear a stream of it anytime (now's good for you, right?).

Brand new Fishboy coming out this Summer

imaginary keenan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:15:57 +0000

Well, it's about time, and I was delighted as the official news landed in my inbox this afternoon! Denton, TX's Fishboy officially have a brand new EP coming out August 18th!

The songs off the new EP, Nom, were originally written for 2007's brilliant Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll (a 2007 of both me and imaginary Liz), but were scrapped as plot lines changed or to fit the flow of the album. And, instead of having the band toil in the studio, Mr. Fishboy himself Eric Michener had some Denton superstars dubbed "the Om Nom Noms" record all the songs.

When the DIY video revolution met indie-pop

imaginary liz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:18:40 +0000

I love folks when great music taste and extra time futz around with iMovie. Thank you fanella55! You did a great job putting one of my favorite Fishboy songs ("Proper Name Spelling Bee") to digital video.

I recently saw someone do this sort of thing with a Tullycraft song; OldFlat24 set "The Punks Are Writing Love Songs" to scenes from High School Musical and it's rad! Sure, this is the first I've seen of HSM, but it looks pretty Degrassi cool when edited to three minutes).

Have you seen any more examples of this? Please link / post away. Could this be the downfall of MTV? Or an underground rebirth of the early days of 120 Minutes splendor?

Photo Essay: BOAT w/ Tullycraft and Fishboy at the Sunset

Steve Louie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:01:53 +0000

12 Jul 2008

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It was predicted to be a sweaty night of indie pop goodness at the Sunset and this it was.

Fishboy opened the evening right on time around 10PM. You have to give it up for Fishboy who flew in from Denton, TX to play this show. This was their only west coast date and its kind of out of the way with their current tour stops.

Adam "Sweatpants" - going all out with the tambourine, horns and keys. He even had this massive green pencil to hit the tambourine with. Where do I buy one of those?

Fact: Fishboy's album Albatross: How We Failed To Save The Lone Star State With The Power Of Rock And Roll is listed as one of the best albums of TIG in 2007. After hearing their songs from their earlier acoustic performance at the Fremont Troll and hearing the full band play - yes I can agree their album would be nothing short of pure, no hassles sing-a-long fun.

The long awaited set by Tullycraft - a band I have heard of in twee circles frequently but have never had the pleasure of seeing live. The dedicated crowd at the front, already sweaty from the Fishboy set went full out grooving to this infectious brand of twee pop.

"Wild Bikini", "Rumbling With the Gang Debs", "Georgette Plays a Goth" and "The Punks are Writing Love Songs". These are but a handful of the songs that I know of. The Beach Boys have their summer classics. Well, let me tell you - I'm sure these songs will definitely be some of Seattle's summer classics.

BOAT - they are all about Baseball, Bubblegum and the Chicago Public Schools. They didn't play "Elephant Ears" but I think we can forgive them. We know who you are.

What a better way to move the party onto the stage - introducing homemade red plastic cup shakers - an exclusive Boat party favour.

"Last Cans of Paint" such a short two minute song - they could easily play it twice and no one would ever blink an eye.

Oh yeah, this was a tour kick off as Boat would leave right after the show to California for a week full of dates before coming back home at the end of month and then go on a summer east coast tour for the month of August. Go Boat!

(more photos of Boat w/ Tullycraft and Fishboy)

A sweaty night of indie-pop songs about taqueria girls, vampires, baseball, bubblegum and Chicago public schools.

Fishboy at the Fremont Troll

Steve Louie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:31:27 +0000

12 Jul 2008

2667429952_a71fac561c.jpg

Eric Michener of Fishboy plays a free acoustic set at the Fremont Troll in Seattle. He was supposed to playing with D.Crane of BOAT as well but D.Crane cancelled. Cristina Bautista aka and friends filled in - tap dancing and all - kind of how i would imagined Tilly and Wall would do if they did an acoustic set but a more in a wholesome simple way.

While most of the crowd sat and stood further back while Connecticut Four was playing, Eric was more upfront and stood closer to the crowd. He asked the crowd to sit on top of the troll and he would play facing them. No one budged but he told people to feel free to take pictures of him and walk around the troll while playing. He was joined by his trumpet and percussion player Adam "Sweatpants" who at point jumped off the troll onto the dusty ground.

Eric played to the delight of fans, passerbys, tourists, kids and parents in the neighbourhood. His last song "Proper Name Spelling Bee" was requested by a young kid in the crowd. This song capped it all. Great audience participation in this one as there's a part of the song where everyone yells out:

Up with your hands!

and a part of the chorus where you yell each letter of the name of the song

P-R-O-P-E-R-N-A-M-E-S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G-B-E-E
P-R-O-P-E-R-N-A-M-E-S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G-B-E-E

Fishboy would later play that night at the Sunset Tavern. He FLEW in from Denton, TX just to play this special show - with Boat and Tullycraft.

(more photos from Steve Louie)

Spelling Sing-a-longs at the Fremont Troll

When you're done with everything else on Saturday night, meet me in Ballard

imaginary liz — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:41:55 +0000

All the hubbub about the Subpop 20th Birthday celebration almost made me forget that this Saturday one of my favorite bands is going to be in town this Saturday night at the Sunset Tavern!

Twee boys gone wild

imaginary liz — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:04:37 +0000

This video was posted on Tullycraft's blog yesterday and it cracked me up so much (after the Brownie Troop Leader in me calmed down over the obvious danger of the whole situation) I had to share with you.

What I wouldn't do to be in Athens at 9:10p on Wednesday, August 13th

imaginary liz — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:46:39 +0000

The Athens PopFest schedule has been announced and boy oh boy is this year's a doozy.

Take that, Maxim! Erik {listens to and} reviews Fishboy, Food for Animals, Monade, Skeletons with Flesh on Them, and many more

Erik Gonzalez — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:44:44 +0000

I really really really need to clear off a bunch of albums off my desk, and considering I don't work for Maxim and can't just make up my reviews, I've sat down, poured myself some nice, strong (Dunkin' Donuts) coffee and decided to get down to business.

Best of 2007: imaginary Liz's picks

imaginary liz — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:03:21 +0000

Narrowing down my favorites for this year was HARD! I’m sure I’ll find even more 2007 releases I adore in 2008... but here’s what has been in obsessively high rotation this year.

Note: I still battle with how I can rank EPs versus full albums, or collections of previously unreleased material… but using my current logrhythm, here’s what it came out to today...