So if you're anything like me, you're just about done hemmorhaging from missing the Frightened Rabbit / We Were Promised Jetpacks Show -- and yes, it's deemed deserving of a capital 'S' -- over a year ago at Neumos. All Scots, all rage, and more big-guitar sad-bastard than you could possibly shake a stick (or several sticks, for that matter) at.

Well, the lovely folks at Neumo's have decided to give us ample chance to make up for missed opportunity. The first knock came when We Were Promised Jetpacks played with the Lonely Forest recently, ripping our eardrums out in the loveliest of ways a few months ago, and the second is coming this Sunday when Frightened Rabbit takes the stage with Maps and Atlases.

We could insert a gush here about how de-lovely the band is, or how much the new album they're touring behind -- The Winter of Mixed Drinks -- is nothing short of sweet perfection and a near-flawless follow-up to The Midnight Organ Fight, or how much we'd like to throw a party to thank whomever managed to wrangle poor Scott Hutchison's heart so perfectly -- but instead, we'll just let you soak up some of the goodness for yourself:

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at Neumos

Starfucker brought the heat to Neumos with a set that could make even the most waifish of concert goers sweat bullets. Fans literally jumped and danced for twelve straight songs (plus an encore that included a drop in from Champagne Champagne and one awesome kid who crowd surfed like a champ). Copy, the opener, also killed with delightfully heavy beats overlayed with intricate keytar (can the keytar even be intricate?!). And Truckasauras filled the middle with interesting noise and a hype man that wouldn't quit (I just kinda wished he would). Starfucker is continuing up and down the west coast, but I guarantee they will be back for some summer jams. Check 'em when you can.

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at Neumos

I really like Hospice, The Antlers' first album as a trio. If you even remotely enjoyed the album, then I certainly hope you were able to make it to the sold out show last week at Neumos. It seemed like no one knew that this was an all-ages show since everyone arrived at 9PM, just in time to hear the first half of Phantogram's set from 10th Ave. Thankfully I was able to make it in to grab some shots of both stellar sets.

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Seattle soul-rock noir band Head Like A Kite has a new album called Dreams Suspend Night out at iTunes starting this week, but CDs will be in stores on May 18. Hyperactive and smoldering full-screen cinema bomp including guests from Boom Bip to members of  The Long Winters, Smoosh to Swervedriver, and Tilson, ex-The Saturday Knights. The latter also stars in their new video for new single "We're Always On The Wrong Side Of Sunrise":

The official HLAK CD release party is on Friday, May 21 at Neumos, with DAEDELUS and Thee Emergency, and DJ Terry Radshaw spinning between live music performances. For Head Like A Kite's set, expect Tilson, P. Smoov, members of Animals at Night and Zera Marvel, among others!

And we'd like to give you a pair of tickets to join us at the album release show!  To enter, email tig @ threeimaginarygirls.com sometime before 9am on Tuesday, May 18 with the subject "HeadLikeATicket".

 

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at Neumos

When Yeasayer finally took the stage at Neumos last Tuesday night, it was after anticipation had been building for several weeks. The show was sold out weeks in advance and on Twitter, Neumos said their guestlist was completely full. One person went so far as to offer to bake a cake in exchange for a ticket (an offer I would have gladly taken them up on had I known I had an extra ticket earlier than the same morning of the show). In short, a lot of people wanted to go to this show and they would have likely sold out a much larger club.

It’s not enough, though, to say that people wanted to see Yeasayer as we’ve seen the hype machine get way out of hand in a lot of cases. Yeasayer, though, lived up to the expectations of their show Tuesday night.

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{King Khan and the Shrines play at Neumos on Tuesday, April 13 with The Fresh and Onlys and Unnatural Helpers; 21+, $15 adv.}

When James Brown passed away a few Christmases ago, the title of “Hardest Working Man in Showbiz” had to have been passed to someone, if at all. For my money, the obvious choice would be the Montreal-born musician Arish Khan, better known as King Khan.

Khan has been one of the most prolific musicians over the past several years, constantly touring and working and recording with his projects King Khan and the Shrines and King Khan and BBQ Show, most notably. The rock band King Khan and BBQ Show is a collaboration with Mark Sultan, a musician from Montreal who has worked with Khan since their days in a mid-to-late 1990s band called The Spaceshits. There’s also Almighty Defenders, who released an album last fall on Vice Records, which was a gospel-inspired project between Khan, Sultan and Atlanta punk band The Black Lips, who found rock asylum at Khan’s Berlin home after an ill-advised tour of India where the band fled after learning the world’s largest democracy probably didn’t appreciate The Sex Pistols a generation before and still weren’t ready for their music. Khan is also planning on working with Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA’s next album, when he can find the time.

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at Neumos

If you haven't heard of Colonies, you will soon. Their show at Neumos on Thursday night was most definitely an indicator that they will be blowing up in the not so distant future. Thursday's showcase of lovely local indie pop-rock bands consisted of: Lemolo, The Mopes, Conservative Dad and, of course, Colonies. Every band that night blew me away and, if you're looking to support your local music scene (which I assume you are), you should definitely take a few minutes out of your day and give a listen to all of these bands. Let your ears be happy, they deserve it.

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at Neumos

For years I have followed Ted Leo's music. I was fanatic for a while, even. Then it came to the point where one of his songs would pop up on my iPod and it would be a pleasant reminder of why I love him so. Friday night was that reminder times a million and then some. Oddly enough, it was my first time seeing him. Neumos started out a bit empty, but upbeat local band, The Sea Navy, came out and got everyone dancing as more people filtered in. The Hive Dwellers (fronted by K Records head Calvin Johnson) followed up The Sea Navy with a set that defied the laws of most Neumos shows by not using one microphone or any fancy lighting. I can do no justice in describing what happened, you really had to be there. I'll just mention that there was a lot of hip-gyrating. A lot of it.

Soon enough, Neumos was jam-packed with die-hard indie rock fans, buzzing excitedly about their love of Ted Leo. It seems he has quite a cult following and it's really not hard to see why. Ted Leo is a great indie-rock god to believe in, a force to be reckoned with, really (but likely the nicest force you will ever encounter). I will definitely be seeing him any time he is back in the area because, I don't know about you, but I really like to get my face rocked off. ...Also, covering Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" is one of the keys to my heart.

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Music from The Big Pink was the 1968 album from The Band. Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell know this, as their band's website is musicfromthebigpink.com. Yet, The Big Pink, circa 2010 bears little resemblence to The Band of 1968, and sounds more like what might happen if My Bloody Valentine reveled in the mid-90s Blur/Oasis/Pulp Britpop scene, rather than precede it.

The Big Pink are a London-based, shoegaze duo who are playing (I believe) their first show in Seattle Friday night at Neumos. Their debut album is modestly called A Brief History of Love and it was released on 4AD last September. That's what Wikipedia will tell you about The Big Pink but what you really need to know is that the LA Times called what they (and tourmates A Place to Bury Strangers) do "kicking the bejesus out of your reverb unit."

{The Big Pink plays Neumos Friday, March 12 with A Place to Bury Strangers, io echo and Grave Babies; $15 adv, 21+.}

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at Neumos

The sold out Stranger / Three Imaginary Girls SXSW Sendoff Show at Neumo's on Friday was amazing. Here are some photos featuring our local loves: Fences, Mash Hall, Hey Marseilles and Visqueen.

See more after the jump!

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