Camp Revival

The Barry. (Image courtesy of Andrew Nedimyer)

My best friend Barry and I have gotten into some sticky situations. Real sticky. And no matter how sticky things get, Barry somehow keeps his cool while I go bonkers.

The stint that Barry and I spent working in a coal mine was a very dark time for me. The working conditions of the colliery destroyed me. Hours in complete darkness breathing toxic materials pushed me to depression and insomnia. I lost track of what day and time it was. I started collecting random pieces of garbage and storing them beneath my bed. My fish died because I didn’t clean his bowl.

Meanwhile, Barry flourished in the mines. He won a lobster dinner for producing so much coal and his chipper “go get ‘em” attitude. He also volunteered at the local rec center teaching senior citizens how to play basketball. He won the lottery, and donated the winnings to some animal-helping organization. In efforts to cheer me up, he would bring an extra pack of fruit snacks to share with me. It only made my demeanor the worse. I couldn’t fathom how he could tolerate the hours we spent in what to me was a tomb.

It wasn’t until just recently that I discovered that the entire time we were in the mine, Barry had been listnening to the song “The Walls Are Coming Down” by Fanfarlo on his headphones. Bright, rich, and ornate. Uplifting choruses crescendo over swooping strings and horns. Maybe what it would be like if you could eat a whole apple pie without any guilt. Sweet.

‘The Walls Are Coming Down’

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That Barry, he knows what he is doing.

A definition from the Miriam-Webster Dictionary tells us that potluck is a communal meal to which people bring food to share.  Where I brought delicious Olympia Beer and hoped for some food for thought in return.  I realized it was my lucky night when I sat down to eat with my buddy Christian.  Christian runs Propensity Design Lab and his work is seen in most neighborhoods around the Seattle area.  Above and beyond his work in design, he is an exemplary musician and I thought this would be the perfect time for a Mouth Breathers post. We talked about what was going on with the Seattle hip hop scene and the future of his mysterious band Dead Witch. He then told me about The War on Drugs. When I went home to listen, body and mind were finally full.

The War on Drugs bring all and more to the table. Their music is lush sonic waves and energetic emotion spilling over onto the kids table. They are the bread basket that is always full and the wine that sticks to the edge of the glass, making imprints on the mind. They are the record spinning during the after meal coffee that sticks on your breath. They are the reason we hate and love mouth breathers.

The War on Drugs – Taking the Farm

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(Photo of Dave with his daughter Hazel)

Dave is a friend that I spend more time with than anyone else in my life. We are co-workers at a social marketing firm downtown and sit directly across from each other in an office of two. Awkward right? On the contrary, as Dave has taken it upon himself to soothe the awkward silence with the smooth sounds of Steely Dan,The Doobie Brothers, and sometimes when we are feeling crazy, a little Peter Cetera. Based off of this pacified playlist you may be shocked to learn that Dave used to be a fairly large player in the Northwest music scene. Dave founded the indie promotions company Nice Promo. If you worked in college music between 2003-2006 you may remember being called by Dave. He was the college promoter–with the great library of musicians– who wasn’t an asshole. One artist in particular that Dave worked and turned me onto is Luke Temple.

Luke Temple is now in the band Here We Go Magic (Secretly Canadian / Western Vinyl), but got his start in 2005 when he submitted a four song self-titled EP as a demo to Seattle’s Mill Pond Records. As Dave worked Luke’s first record he was able to share a couple tracks from the original demo EP with me to post to the blog. The last song is not one of the demo tracks. It is one of my favorite songs from Luke’s current band Here We Go Magic.

Bird

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In The End

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Radiation Blues

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Tunnel Vision

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Aaron has one of the most refined and discerning tastes in music of anyone I know. A tremendous musician himself, he knows his licks and knows when a song ticks. But his musical aptitude isn’t the only reason why I asked him to recommend a tune that have been doing it for him. It is because Aaron and I both enjoy being cynical. And when talking music during a dull lecture class full of Juicy Couture wearing co-eds, the potential for cynicism is endless.

So I asked Aaron for a tune, and he immediately dove into his backpack to produce his iPod. No hesitation. He offered “Close Chorus” by A Sunny Day In Glasgow, without any attached disclaimer. No modest “It’s pretty good,” or “You might not like it, but…” This was it. This was the jam.

I thought he was going to let me have a listen, but instead he queued it up for himself. Thus, I had to wait until later that night to hear the jarring chord progressions in “Close Chorus” that intrigued Aaron. Thanks buddy. Thanks for leaving me to listen to the discussion of approaches to analyzing cultural industries and whispers of scandalous Facebook photos.

Close Chorus

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Josie’s favorite word about music is: stank. I will tell him about a band and he will ask me if it stanky. He is my friend and manager at Caffe Fiore, but our favorite past time is sharing music that we think the other would like. Most recently he couldn’t get enough of The Drums. He had me listen and I felt the same way. They don’t have the stank he is usually looking for, but there something earnest in their music that brought him joy. The Drums were pure magic in anticipation of the upcoming summer.

The Drums are Jonathan Pierce who brought Adam Kessler along from Elkland and added his best friend Jacob Graham plus drummer Connor Hanwick. As the winter drags on the drums are the light at the end of the tunnel. Their music is a vision of a bright and beautiful summer. We will all be wearing shorts at the beach and roller-skating down the boardwalk.

Don’t Be A Jerk

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Down By The Water

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When I first met Ty, he seemed more like a ghost that would appear sporadically around the neighborhood with funny quips about what was going on his life. He has moved between Phoenix (where he originally hails from), Oakland, Bellingham, and of course now Ballard in Seattle. All the time documenting what he has experienced at his blogCMRTYZ, which also serves as an exhibition for the clothing he produces with friend and designer Carlos Ruiz.

Yet for all the times we shared cigarettes and shared chats over coffee, I never really got to know him. In fact I still don’t really know him, but it seems his image has become more of a constant force in our quaint Seattle neighborhood. He spent time working at the local boutique Blackbird and now can be found shredding tees and selling vintage at 20 Twenty. He insists that I listen to King Tuff and I think he is right.

When I listen to King Tuff, I get the idea that behind every simple rock song comes a complex mind. King Tuff’s songs are at first catchy pop, then psychedelic rock, and then moving to somewhere in between. Kyle from KT has changed focus with his new band (now on the Sub Pop roster) Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday is so new that their songs are still being recorded, but be sure to come back to Camp Revival as soon as their material has… well… materialized.

Here is “Lazerbeam” and “Sun Medallion” from their record Was Dead. Out on The Colonel Records.

“Laserbeam”

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“Sun Medallion”

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