76 acts. five bands-to-watch winners. eight stages. two nights.

may 31 & june 1.

supplement to The inlander how we picked the bands et me say this much: If you’re not excited about Spokane’s local music scene right Lnow, then prepare to be changed as you flip PSYCHIC RITES through the next 20 pages. For the past four years, we’ve assembled a committee of people who are deeply invested Psychic Rites makes it easy to enjoy the terror in local music to search for the most interesting bands in the area. We cram in a room, geek out By Jordan Satterfield about the bands we love, fight about the ones we don’t, take a break for a month, reconvene, fight more and, in the end, pick the five Bands t’s close to midnight on Mother’s Day, and sons and Initially I refuse to go up, but Siemens isn’t having to Watch featured in this section. You can read daughters are descending into a cold, dark wine cel- it. “You have to go up,” he tells me with a matter-of-fact about them here, and see them all this year at Ilar in Moscow, Idaho. As they squeeze inside, packed charm that is hard to say no to. “The branches will catch Volume, our two-day music festival. tighter than the tobacco in their cigarettes, their excite- you if you fall,” he attempts to reassure me. And though we picked five artists from ment is the most palpable thing in the room. The sweaty Despite getting sick at the thought of the climb, I very different genres this year, there’s some- odor in the humid air is coming in a close second. eventually say yes, and it’s because of one comment thing similar about them all: They’re all very Every one of them is here to see Moscow’s own that Siemens makes off-hand: “You have to face your serious about what they do. They’re not sugar- Psychic Rites, an electronic three-piece that makes fears.” coating their art for anyone. They’re dark and gloom its business and dance its product. The impatient We never discussed it, but Psychic Rites seems honest. Bold. They’re all risky — bands you’re chatter dies down as the band signals that they’re ready like a project that is aimed at doing just that. Clearly, not going to ever hear on the radio. They’re and fills what little of the room is left with a deep, omi- the three dudes who make the music are neither as thinkers and artists — not crowd-pleasers. nous synthesizer hum. deranged nor abusive as the music they make. Psychic Maybe that’s because the world isn’t this Psychic Rites is the fourth and decid- Rites feels like an outlet for emotions that happy-go-lucky place right now. And this the edly darkest band to play tonight, but it’s are not easily understood and thoughts music of real people living, loving and surviving also the first band to get people moving. Psychic Rites plays that we struggle to convey. It’s a glimpse Members Mike Siemens, Dave Miller and into one small corner of the mind that is in that world today. Volume on Fri, May — LEAH SOTTILE, Inlander music editor Andy Schmidt craft moody, cacophonous much blacker than the rest. dance music that goes heavy on the glit- 31, at 9:45 pm at Or maybe it’s just a kick-ass electronic ter. But it’s angsty. It’s shrieking. And it’s the Blue Spark • band. That’s more likely the case, at least infectious. 15 S. Howard • 21+ according to 60 people in an unventilated Just eight hours earlier, keyboardist cellar, dancing like they’re on drugs that Giving Back and songwriter Siemens sits on the floor are still illegal in Idaho. This year, The Inlander also wanted to use of his apartment, playing an old, circuit- “We’re all audiophiles,” Siemens tells Volume as a way to support the good works bent keyboard. me, “but not in the way that we love the pristine quality of a local nonprofit and selected Habitat for “Whenever anybody asks us what we sound like,” of audio. We’re more in love with the idea of audio.” Humanity-Spokane, says Siemens, “I usually just say ‘neon doom disco.’” Psychic Rites have no trouble exhibiting this fe- which will receive a It’s a heavy-handed tag, but nothing about Siemens is tishism of sound, both on record and on stage. They’re portion of the festi- remotely contrived. The spirit and the atmosphere of dynamic, they’re calculated, but best of all they’re con- val’s proceeds. Since Psychic Rites, dark as they may be, seem totally pres- trolled. No noise goes out of place and nothing gets 1987, Habitat for Humanity-Spokane has served ent in him. lost in the mix, which is something that not even many more than 630 families through new con- Not an hour later, I’m looking up at the bottom of internationally recognized acts can boast. struction, empowerment and other housing Siemens’ shoes as we ascend a large tree in his back- Even still, there is a mystery and danger that comes solutions. The organization is an ecumenical yard. Up at the top, roughly 75 feet in the air, is a landing with making electronic music that no amount of control Christian ministry that brings the community that he has built — one that is surprisingly sturdy, given can overcome. But Psychic Rites doesn’t seem inter- together to build safe, healthy affordable hous- its haphazard placement. ested in overcoming it. They use it. ing for people in need. To learn more about In fact, many of the sounds and instruments they Habitat for Humanity-Spokane, or to donate to play were even designed by the band members them- the cause, visit habitat-spokane.org. selves. As we stand in Siemens’ workshop (aka the guest bedroom in his apartment), he shows me things he’s designed and others that he’s currently working on. “This one is a step sequencer that I designed,” he ian miles...... 4 says humbly as he shows me a large plastic strip, cov- ered in switches. I pretend to know how it works so he’ll hooves...... 6 keep talking about it. lilac linguistics...... 8 Later, we sit at the top of his tree and he makes me sit in the “infinity chair,” undoubtedly the most cosmi- volume map...... 10 cally named broken lawn chair strapped to a tree branch ever. It sits a few feet away from the trunk, held up by 66beat...... 12 climbing ropes. It’s terrifying, yes, but something about Sounds like letting go of the actual tree itself and feeling completely volume band guide...... 15 Your worst nightmares suspended by nature makes me enjoy the terror. hitting the dance floor I enjoy the terror, just like a damp room full of sweaty concertgoers will enjoy it later that night. n 2 INLANDER volume 2013 chad ramsey photo spokane falls spokane falls party trolley boots bakery Watch for the & lounge Spokane Party N Trolley, and hop main on for a free ride between shows.

riverside club 412 mootsy’s nyne

sprague will red room call

blue spark ost mon r oe lincoln p r d howa stevens washington be r na d b r owne division 1st food trucks interplayers Keep an eye out for Jamaican Jerk Pan, The Scoop and Tacos El Sol. 2nd carr’s corner 3rd i-90

TICKET INFO Beginning on May 31, two-day wrist- fourth floor of the Hutton Building at Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1. bands will not be for sale. However, 9 S. Washington St. You need a wristband to see Volume single day passes will be on sale for Note: Your wristband will get you shows. Here’s how you get one: $15 a piece. WRISTBAND SALES into Volume shows. However, not all RIGHT NOW To get a wristband, either pre- & WILL CALL shows are all-ages. Please be ready pay online at Inlander.com/Volume Wristbands purchased online can be to show your ID. Two-day wristbands cost $17, and or, starting Friday, May 24, pick picked up in the Hutton Building (9 single day wristbands cost $10. one up at the Inlander office on the S. Washington St.) from 4-8 pm on Visit Volume.Inlander.com for details. Blue Spark Blue Spark 15 S. Howard St. 15 S. Howard St. presenting sponsor: All shows are 21+ All shows are 21+

8:00 Strange Mana 9:00 William Ingrid 8:45 Encino Band 10:00 Marshall McLean Band 9:45 Psychic Rites 11:00 The Hoot Hoots 10:50 Bandit Train Midnight Dead Hipster Dance Party 11:55 Locke Boots Bakery & Lounge Boots Bakery & Lounge 24 W. Main Ave. support also provided by: 24 W. Main Ave. All shows are all-ages All shows are all-ages 6:00 The Holy Broke 7:00 John K 7:00 Javier Ryan 7:50 Tyler Aker 8:00 Team Growl 8:40 Ian L. Miles 9:00 The Strangers 9:50 Eternal Summers 10:00 My Pinky Has a Name , J UNE 1

31 , MAY Carr’s Corner Carr’s Corner 230 S. Washington St. 230 S. Washington St. All shows are 21+ All shows are 21+

8:30 Concrete Grip 8:00 Losing Skin 9:30 Xingaia 9:00 FAUS 10:30 Odyssey 10:00 Hooves 11:30 Witch Mountain 11:10 Great Falls

Club 412 Club 412 412 W. Sprague Ave. (Sprint stage) 412 W. Sprague Ave. (Sprint stage) Shows are all-ages until 9 pm Shows are all-ages until 9 pm

6:10 Emma Hill 6:30 Cedar & Boyer 7:20 Cami Bradley 7:20 Cathedral Pearls 8:10 Campfire OK 8:20 The Finns 9:40 Bias 9:50 Sick Kids XOXO 11:00 Terrible Buttons 11:10 Nude Pop F RIDAY interplayers interplayers 174 S Howard 174 S Howard All shows are all-ages All shows are all-ages a portion of proceeds benefit: 7:00 Garlands 6:30 The Catholic Guilt 8:00 Duck Duck Suckerpunch ATURDAY 7:30 Rice Queen 9:00 Stickers 8:30 BBBBandits 10:10 Pony Time 9:30 King Elephant

11:30 Myth Ship S 10:30 66beat

Mootsy’s Mootsy’s 406 W. Sprague Ave. 406 W. Sprague Ave. All shows are 21+ All shows are 21+ connect 9:00 Blackwater Prophet 8:30 Bullets or Balloons 10:00 Space Movies 9:30 Shahs #Volume509 11:00 Haunted Horses 10:30 Normal Babies Midnight Summer in Siberia 11:30 Mirror Mirror Get the Mobile Schedule

Nyne Nyne 232 W. Sprague Ave. (Global stage) 232 W. Sprague Ave. (Global stage) All shows are 21+ All shows are 21+

7:30 Jacob Jones 8:30 Skin Flowers 8:30 Folkinception 9:30 The Static Tones 9:30 Wolves in the Woods 10:50 The Camaros 10:30 Hey! is for Horses Midnight The Makers 11:30 The Lonesome Billies Red Room Lounge Red Room Lounge 521 W. Sprague Ave. (Thomas Hammer stage) 521 W. Sprague Ave. (Thomas Hammer stage) All shows are 21+ All shows are 21+ 9:00 The Lion Oh My 7:00 Brothers ov Midnite 10:00 Diamond Speedboat 8:10 Jaeda + Half Zodiac 11:00 Belt of Vapor 9:00 Phil in the Blank Midnight Kinski 9:25 p.WRECKS 9:50 IMperfect Cody 10:15 Lilac Linguistics 11:00 Freetime Synthetic 11:30 BLVCK CEILING 11:55 Bruxa So Much to See... personalized volume lineups for every taste

THE INDIE ROCKER’S GUIDE TO VOLUME Friday, May 31 7:20 Cami Bradley (Club 412) 7:50 Tyler Aker (Boots) 8:10 Campfire OK (Club 412) Space Movies Hey! is for Horses Brothers Ov Midnite 9:50 Eternal Summers (Boots) 11:00 Terrible Buttons (Club 412) friday, may 31 produce is big and bold and as danceable as it ences with their matching country-western but- Saturday, June 1 MERLYN’S, continued... is rockable. Haunted Horses appeals equally to ton-downs, outlaw personas and unapologetic 6:00 The Holy Broke (Boots) headbangers and electronic music freaks. honky-tonk music. Lead singer “Uncle” Billy Mc- 6:30 Cedar & Boyer (Club 412) PONY TIME | Garage rock | 10:10 pm Cune is anachronism, with vocals as throaty and 7:00 Javier Ryan (Boots) There are a lot of things you could say about SUMMER IN SIBERIA | Dance rock | Midnight heartfelt as Johnny Cash and as ironic as Jona- 7:20 Cathedral Pearls (Club 412) Pony Time that wouldn’t be quite on target: that If you have a thing for synthesizers and dancing than Richman. The band performs a mixture of 8:20 The Finns (Club 412) their genius lies in the way they evoke a bygone your butt off (or both), then you’ll want to catch songs both capable of starting a whiskey-fed 10:00 Marshall McLean Band (Blue Spark) 1960s garage rock sound. You could compare local band Summer in Siberia’s always-enter- bar fight or a square dance. Either way, their 11:10 Nude Pop (Club 412) them to that other male-female two-piece that taining set at Volume. It’s booty-shaking rock show at Volume will be a damn good time. no rock duo will ever escape comparison to that never fails to try new things and continues again: the White Stripes. You could say those THE DANCE-ALL-NIGHT to keep Spokanites on the dance floor. RED ROOM LOUNGE things — but you’d be dramatically overselling GUIDE TO VOLUME 521 W. Sprague Ave., all shows are 21+ Pony Time. In fact, even Stacy Peck, Pony Time’s Friday, May 31 NYNE drummer, doesn’t make an effort to class up 7:00 Brothers Ov Midnite (hip-hop/electronic, Red Room) 232 W. Sprague Ave., all shows are 21+ BROTHERS OV MIDNITE | DJ Cult | 7 pm the band’s backstory in an interview with The In a dance-club landscape that features Top 40 9:45 Psychic Rites (electronic, Blue Spark) Inlander. “We’re just a couple of grown adults JACOB JONES | Folk-punk | 7:30 pm hits in heavy rotation, one local DJ duo sticks 11:30 BLVCK CEILING (electronic, Red Room) playing punk rock music.” Simple — and, like When Jacob Jones isn’t chasing down leads out like a witch’s nose. As Brothers Ov Midnite, 11:55 Bruxa (hip-hop/electronic, Red Room) / Locke (DJ, Blue Spark) their music, totally awesome. for the pages of The Inlander‘s news section, Justin East and Dan Cuccia (aka Dan Ocean, aka Midnight Summer in Siberia (dance rock, Mootsy’s) he’s serving his heart on a platter to audiences. BLVCK CEILING) piece together throbbing, fune- MYTH SHIP | Rock | 11:30 pm Sometimes as Radio Cavalier, but performing at real jams from deep within the damp recesses of Saturday, June 1 If you’re drinking a beer when local rock outfit Volume as a solo act, Jones furiously strums a Internet music blogs and their aging record col- 9:00 The Strangers (experimental rock, Boots) Myth Ship starts playing, you’ll probably stop guitar and sings folk-punk ballads about hard lections. Their selections turn the usual DJ role 9:50 Sick Kids XOXO (dance rock, Club 412) and forget about it. And you’ll stop chatting too: drinking, hard work and hard living. It’s music on its head — no, you probably won’t know the 10:50 The Camaros (rock, Nyne) the band has a way of captivating people, de- that you’d expect to come out of an Irish pub songs, and no, you might not be able to dance Midnight Dead Hipster Dance Party (party, Blue Spark) livering a complicated form of indie rock that’s town like Boston, but these are tunes forged in to them. They trade the club party atmosphere a little bit Built to Spill, a little bit Minutemen… the heart of the Northwest. for a bizarre, almost frightening one. ROCK N’ ROLL GUIDE TO VOLUME a little bit of a lot of things, actually. The band Friday, May 31 makes a sound that paves its own path in the FOLKINCEPTION | Folk | 8:30 pm JAEDA + HALF ZODIAC | Hip-hop | 8:10 pm 8:00 Duck Duck Suckerpunch (Merlyn’s) well-trod world of rock and roll. Perhaps a night of music, to you, is not about There’s more than one reason why Jaeda 8:40 Ian L. Miles (Boots) headbanging or screaming, but about finding Glasgow kills on the mic: she’s bringing a mes- 8:45 Encino Band (Blue Spark) MOOTSY’S a partner to twirl around the dance floor with sage that few other rappers out there can say 10:30 Hey! is for Horses (Nyne) 406 W. Sprague Ave., all shows are 21+ — and you’d want to be hearing local act Folk- with a straight face. Jaeda is 100 percent posi- 11:30 Myth Ship (Merlyn’s) / Witch Mountain (classic metal, Carr’s) inception as you do it. The six-piece Americana tive, putting out a vibe that reaches the hearts BLACKWATER PROPHET | Psych-rock | 9 pm roots-rock band harmonizes, serenades and of both the most hardened hip-hop fans and the Their Facebook page reads like a rock and roll plays with a passion unmatched by many other hippies in the crowd. Jaeda, since becoming one Saturday, June 1 manifesto. Blackwater Prophet’s biography bands. of The Inlander’s Bands to Watch in 2010, has 8:00 Team Growl (Boots) states: “We live in Spokane Washington, we’re toured with giants like Abstract Rude. She’ll per- 8:30 BBBBandits (Merlyn’s) / Bullets or Balloons (Mootsy’s) / trying to get out, we have no money… still play- WOLVES IN THE WOODS form at Volume with the full band, Half Zodiac. Skin Flowers (Nyne) ing music.” The trio plays heavy music in the Dark bluegrass | 9:30 pm 9:00 The Lion Oh My (Red Room) same sense that Black Sabbath wasn’t a metal Don’t say you don’t like bluegrass. Because if PHIL IN THE BLANK | Hip-hop | 9 pm 9:30 The Static Tones (Nyne) band, but a rock band that played heavy mu- you say that, it means you clearly haven’t heard Phil in the Blank has called himself “artistically 10:00 Diamond Speedboat (Red Room) sic. Blackwater Prophet’s songs transition from Wolves in the Woods, a Spokane outfit with a schizophrenic,” and it’s kind of a good way to 11:00 Belt of Vapor (Red Room) droney to melodic and rollicking before explod- giant sound and dark, growling vocals. The band describe the Spokane/Seattle rapper. He makes Midnight Kinski (Red Room) / The Makers (Nyne) ing into a deep, spine-tingling groove. All of this makes music that you could imagine playing in a hip-hop for every kind of hip-hop fan: he can is accompanied — and at times held together — coal miner’s tavern, drawing the smudge-faced slow it down, speed it up, get you thinking and THE HEAR-SOMETHING-NEW by bluesy vocals. men away from their barstools to dance with put you on the dance floor. If you like your rap GUIDE TO VOLUME the ladies. served with a hefty portion of IQ, check out Phil Friday, May 31 SPACE MOVIES | Psych-rock | 10 pm in the Blank’s set at Volume. 7:00 Garlands (shoegaze, Merlyn’s) We’ve seen many a jaw drop at a Space Mov- HEY! IS FOR HORSES | Rock | 10:30 pm 8:00 Strange Mana (experimental rock, Blue Spark) ies show. That’s probably because the local When John Blakesley isn’t busy booking some P.WRECKS | Hip-hop | 9:25 pm 9:40 Bias (psych-pop, Club 412) two-piece puts out a sound that feels as if there of Spokane’s best shows and populating the In a hip-hop crowd, you might miss Paul Richter 10:00 Space Movies (experimental rock, Mootsy’s) should be five people, not just two, making it. lineup at Elkfest each year, he’s the guy singing — a skinny bespectacled kid in a giant sweat- Aaron Hansen and Alex Moe have tightened 10:50 Bandit Train (videogame rock, Blue Spark) his face off in local rock band Hey! is for Horses. shirt, hood up. But onstage, as p.Wrecks, he what they do as a band, making a thick, viscous 11:00 Haunted Horses (dark rock, Mootsy’s) The longtime local outfit is grounded in Blakes- delivers something completely unexpected: rap psychedelic rock sound that is unlike anything ley’s man-with-the-blues lyrics, which the band that sounds like beat poetry, words that sound you’ve heard before. uses to drive in and out of straight-ahead rock like science fiction, ideas that are apocalyptic. Saturday, June 1 songs and heart-aching ballads. It’s honest and He quotes Philip K. Dick. He preaches individu- 9:00 William Ingrid (videogame rock, Blue Spark) HAUNTED HORSES | Post-goth | 11 pm heartfelt, and a big winner with local music fans. ality. He wags a finger and reminds us of karma. 9:30 Shahs (experimental rock, Mootsy’s) Seattle’s grunge days are behind it, and right If you like hip-hop that’s good for your brain, be 10:00 Hooves (psych-metal, Carr’s) / My Pinky Has a Name now bands like Haunted Horses are overtaking THE LONESOME BILLIES there for p.Wrecks’ set. (synth rock, Boots) the rainy city en masse with a deep, dark, post- Honky-tonk rock | 11:30 pm 11:00 The Hoot Hoots (psych-pop, Blue Spark) n goth sound. This band is just a duo — guitars Three longtime friends from Hazel Dell, Wash. IMPERFECT CODY | Hip-hop | 9:50 pm and pounding drums — but the sound they (they mostly play Portland) are slaying audi- IMperfect Cody has been rockin’ the mic since 16 INLANDER volume 2013 Blvck Ceiling The Hoot Hoots My Pinky Has A Name Great Falls Sick Kids XOXO elementary. No, seriously, he says that in shakes floors with its dark witchstep European dance club. We’re pretty sure with the unearthly, childlike vocals of CLUB 412 one of his songs. And though we didn’t sound. It’s strange and super-sexy — the these Montanans are about to turn this Hannah Reader and the ferocious drums 412 W. Sprague Ave., know him back when we were kids, we kind of music that can convert an entire town on its head. of Bobby Hattenburg. The result is off- shows are all-ages until 9 pm think it’s probably true considering the room and have everyone on the dance kilter time signatures, campy hooks and lyrical dexterity and talent he shows on floor before the end of the first song. BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE a sound and cohesion unlike anything CEDAR & BOYER | Folk | 6:30 pm his tracks. The up-and-coming Spokane/ 24 W. Main Ave., all shows are all-ages else in Spokane. Go to Volume. See for Sandpoint’s Cedar & Boyer make music Seattle rapper joins other local, big- yourself. for rainy Sundays and country drives. It’s brained hip-hop artists on the stage at SATURDAY, JUNE 1 THE HOLY BROKE | Acoustic | 6 pm easy folk-pop — the kind of music that is Volume. Kent Ueland, the lead singer in popular CARR’S CORNER impossible not to like. The band has per- Spokane band Terrible Buttons, strikes BLUE SPARK 230 S. Washington St., all shows are 21+ formed with Terrible Buttons, Bart Bud- LILAC LINGUISTICS | Hip-hop | 10:15 pm out on his own here, trying his hand at wig and a host of other indie acts. The five young men of Lilac Linguistics 15 S. Howard St., all shows are 21+ playing tunes without his massive band LOSING SKIN | Hardcore | 8 pm deliver high-IQ hip-hop over throbbing, right there beside him. Given his family Losing Skin projects the blackest, darkest CATHEDRAL PEARLS ribcage-shaking bass and between sam- WILLIAM INGRID connections (his brother, Dane Ueland, is sounds it can muster — songs of burning Videogame rock | 9 pm Indie folk | 7:20 pm ples of Richard Nixon speeches and old a popular singer-songwriter who used to bones, tombstone cities, faces smashing Comprised of two married couples (Caleb silver-screen dramas. And for kids from There’s something charming and nos- live here) we think this could be a prom- into concrete and fluorescent light bulbs talgic about bands that make music and Karli Ingersoll, Max and Carrie Har- Spokane, they do it with a swagger and ising direction for him. being affixed to the insides of eyelids. It’s nishfeger), all of whom are also awesome strut that’s not seen often around these that could have been the soundtrack to as metal as it is hardcore, and is some of a classic videogame. But Portland’s Wil- musicians, the band makes adorable, parts. Lilac Linguistics is the overarching JAVIER RYAN | Acoustic | 7 pm the most indisputably brutal, serious and sing-songy, dance-floor-friendly indie- umbrella title for their collective: they liam Ingrid takes that to the next level, Missoula singer/songwriter Javier Ryan unapologetic music that Spokane’s scene overlaying plinky videogame music with pop. And they’re at the forefront — with make music as Meddling, Infinite Penz makes easy, cooled-off tunes about be- has ever heard. The band continues to be their music and commitment to the local and the Village Quartet, among other genuine, folksy female vocals. It’s unlike ing a vagrant and trying to find direction, a favorite around Northwest hardcore cir- anything else you’ve heard before. scene — of making Spokane awesome, names. If you’re looking for rising talent watching for the sun to rise and keeping cles, and was one of The Inlander’s Bands with their hopefully-soon-to-open all- in the Spokane scene, look no further an eye to the stars. His delivery is laconic to Watch in 2012. ages music venue, The Bartlett. than Lilac Linguistics. MARSHALL MCLEAN BAND and laid-back — a welcome addition to Indie folk | 10 pm our lineup of talented one-man bands. FAUS | Hardcore | 9 pm THE FINNS | Indie rock | 8:20 pm FREETIME SYNTHETIC | Hip-hop | 11 pm Whatever local songwriter Marshall FAUS once described themselves to McLean touches seems to turn to rock There’s a new-wave, post-punk-like qual- Better known to crowds as Freetime Syn- TEAM GROWL | Acoustic rock | 8 pm The Inlander as the sound of a bunch ity to The Finns. If you close your eyes thetic, local MC Jason Corcoran has been gold. The singer/songwriter has found Team Growl is the name singer-songwrit- of kids having seizures. We can’t argue success alone with just him and his gui- and perk your ears just right, crooning making hip-hop relevant in Spokane er Matthew Winters uses when he plays with that. FAUS makes a beautiful kind reminiscent of Robert Smith (The Cure) for the past 15 years, throwing hip-hop tar. He’s ushered local indie band Horse with a band. Winters has become much of controlled chaos. Hardcore, but with Thieves to big tours and a spot as an and Morrissey (The Smiths) will tear a shows when there weren’t any, rapping loved in the local scene over the past de- odd time signatures. Tight, but with a hole right through your miserable little when few others were, encouraging oth- Inlander Band to Watch. And in his lat- cade for his raw, from-the-gut songs and lot of room for improvisation. Always est project — a collaboration with Jamie heart. Intentional or not, the three-piece er rappers to keep trying. As the founder performances to match — reasons why ear-piercingly loud. They were one of our outfit that formed in 2010 in Spokane has of local hip-hop collective Bad Penman- Frost (Silver Treason, The Makers) and he was one of The Inlander’s Bands to 2010 Bands to Watch. Caleb Ingersoll (Cathedral Pearls) — a proclivity not only for the eclectic, but ship, he’s assembled a scene of serious, Watch in 2010. the dark and the dramatic. thinking-man’s rappers that is unique to we’re thinking McLean has struck it rich HOOVES | Psychedelic | 10 pm again. the Northwest. And on his own, Freetime THE STRANGERS Hooves, a Spokane ambient doom/ SICK KIDS XOXO | Dance pop | 9:50 pm makes some of the most unforgettable Experimental rock | 9 pm psych/rock/metal band, recently doubled THE HOOT HOOTS | Dance party | 11 pm Electronic pop has never sounded so hip-hop you hear. The first thing you hear when you go in size, adding synth/samples and bass to sweet. This quintet combines lackadaisi- Seattle band The Hoot Hoots have prob- to a Strangers show isn’t the sick bass the previous guitar and drums instru- ably been called weirdos. And if you hold cal synthesizers with catchy guitar hooks BLVCK CEILING | Dark dance | 11:30 pm lines, rad guitar riffs, dope keyboards or mental duo. The result is a heavier — and and two solid lead vocalists — one male, It’s been a hell of a couple of years since them up against the broad spectrum of insane drums. It’s the loud screaming of at times creepier — reverberating sound. indie rock, they are a little kooky. Like one female — to create a sound that feels The Inlander named BLVCK CEILING “Bones!” from the young crowd. Sound- As a two-piece, Hooves was loud enough like a caffeine high. The band has become (pronounced Black Ceiling, the musical Black Moth Super Rainbow or The Rent- ing like a modernized version of the to massage your outer extremities. As a als, The Hoot Hoots are led by the power darlings of Missoula’s music scene and moniker of local beatmaster Dan Ocean) Zombies, the boys have been providing foursome, the music actually rattles your show-stoppers at events like the Treefort one of our Bands to Watch. Since then, of their synthesizers, using them to shoot the under-21 pack with decent shows for internal organs. Samples from the Steven their pop songs careening off into outer Music Fest in Boise, Idaho. They are sure Ocean’s music career has exploded, a couple of years now, gathering them- King movie “Misery” on songs like “Spi- to draw a dance-happy crowd at Volume. garnering him fans around the world, a space. Hoot Hoots songs aren’t just up- selves a loyal cult following and a grand der Bites” add to the darkness and psy- beat, irresistible dance-party starters manager in Nashville and street cred with amount of customs and inside jokes. Au- chological weight of this music. NUDE POP | Art rock | 11:10 pm some of the dark electronic industry’s — they’re complete mood alterers that dience members scream along to songs shoot rainbows and cupcakes and kittens We’re starting to think part of Nude Pop’s biggest artists. Ocean continues to make (“Learning and Nostalgia,” in particular), GREAT FALLS MO is to be completely totally shocking at creepy, dark dance tracks on a nearly and sunbeams into your black little heart. dance around uncontrollably, and des- Experimental hardcore | 11:10 pm The band also wears hooded rainbow all times. Out of nowhere, the Whitworth constant basis, putting the work ethic of perately await the next chance to expe- Great Falls makes a sound that’s serious: University-bred band swept Seattle’s most other artists to complete shame. cloaks when they perform. I mean, how rience The Strangers in all of their glory. this is not a band to f—k around with. The can you not love these people? EMP Sound Off! without barely playing a Seattle trio, comprised of heavy music show in Spokane. And now they’re on a BRUXA | Warehouse hip-hop | 11:55 pm MY PINKY HAS A NAME vets Demian Johnston (nineironspitfire, long tour with massive indie band El Ten The music that Portland’s Bruxa (pro- DEAD HIPSTER DANCE PARTY Experimental rock | 10 pm Kiss It Goodbye), Shane Mehling (Playing Dance party | Midnight Eleven. So we’re thinking next (after Vol- nounced BROO-cha) is making is a new My Pinky Has a Name explores the musi- Enemy) and Phil Petrocelli (Jesu), dives ume, of course) they’ll be on Letterman sound for most of Spokane’s ears — un- Since 2008, Dead Hipster has been turn- cal extremities of fluttering music boxes, into the darkest, most experimental wa- ing Missoula, Mont. into a tiny version of or something, and everyone in Spokane less you’re a devout BLVCK CEILING lis- a jack-in-the-box and a big-top circus. ters of hardcore, noise and ambient rock. will be like “I know those guys!” tener. A little bit goth, a little bit ware- Ibiza. Seriously — photos from the week- The experimental two-piece from Spo- It’s goddamn beautiful, if you’re into that house rave, a little bit hip-hop, Bruxa ly DJ dance party look like snapshots of a kane combines keys and a synthesizer sort of thing. ...continued on next page volume 2013 INLANDER 17