Freaky People, comin’ to your neighborhood… Freaky People, never up to any good…
I have two songs for your listening pleasure today. They’re thematically linked! First up is “Shape Shifter” by They Might Be Giants:
“Shape Shifter” is from They Might Be Giants’s most-recent full studio album from 2016, Phone Power:
Such a powerful phone.
“Shape Shifter” goes thematically well with another great song, “Mind Readers” by Electric NoNo:
“Mind Readers” is from Electric NoNo’s most-recent full studio album from 2014, The Zoo at Night. That’s way back when they were still calling themselves The Jesus Rehab!
There you have it. Two songs about weirdo freaks in your everyday life. Enjoy!
That’s right: Jared & Dom of Electric NoNo (formerly The Jesus Rehab) and Julia, Dom (the same Dom), & Matt of Julia Massey and the Five Finger Discount were all featured on the CW11/KSTW TV show “Band in Seattle.” Yes, the same “Band in Seattle” that just happens to be my TV Show of the Month right now. Coincidence? You decide!
You can watch the entire episode on the YouTubes. The behind-the-scenes interviews are rather charming. Mostly because my friends are rather charming.
If you’re interested in watching the entire concerts, and not just edited-down versions, you’re in luck there my friends! Here are the complete songs from each of the groups:
And as an added bonus, you can see me in the audience a couple o’ times:
At the big musics show last week in Tacoma (the one at New Frontier Lounge), something very suh-weeeet happened. I was taking photos with my phone as is my habit. I did not have my flash on. However, someone else in the audience did. And by sheer happenstance, the two of us took a photo of Trees and Timber at the exact same moment, so that I took a photo using their flash! It looks so neat!
Trees and Timber: a Flashy Band!
You know what we can do? We can solve the mystery: whose flash did I steal? Let’s take a look at that photo. The lead singer of Trees and Timber is wearing a baseball cap that casts a very distinctive shadow. Let’s line from the tip of the shadow’s brim down to the tip of the real person’s brim, and then continue that line down from there. Let’s also do the same with the back of his head. Since the shadow looms larger than his actual head, the two lines will likely converge (or get near each other) at some point.
That’s right! It’s time to…
TRIANGULATE!
(And just for good measure, the big shadow head on the right seems to belong to the guy standing directly in front of the drummer. So let’s draw a line across them, too). Here’s what we get:
Jumpin’ Jack Flash!
The lines converge on that guy in the lower-left! More specifically, they converge on the flash box of the camera that he is holding in his hands. Hey, waitaminute… I know that guy!
That’s musician, photographer, and all-around awexome guy Gary! I took a photo of him that night too… and it’s a photo of him looking at a photo…
Dutch angle, go!
WHAT IF GARY IS LOOKING AT THE PHOTO WHOSE FLASH I STOLE!? My head asplode.
Anyhoo, as is my nature I also made a couple of animated .GIFs of the bands that evening. Voila!
GIF for Jesus Rehab!
GIF for Fruit Juice!
I didn’t get a good .GIF of Trees and Timber or The Hoot Hoots, but c’est la vie.
…And they’re rolling into my backyard this Friday! That’s right, they’re both gonna perform at the New Frontier Lounge here in Tacoma! Joining them on the bill will be Olympia Band Fruit Juice and Tacoma natives Trees & Timber.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Details:
THE HOOT HOOTS//JESUS REHAB//FRUIT JUICE//TREES & TIMBER @ the FRONTIER!! (Facebook event)
Friday, February 20th 9:00 PM
@ New Frontier Lounge
301 E 25th St, Tacoma, Washington 98421 (map)
21+, $5 Cover
Let’s do this, Tacoma! Invite all your T-town friends and meet me there!
Last Thursday I was invited (thanks, Hoot Hoots!) to go to a live taping of the relatively-unknown TV show called “Band in Seattle.” This show airs Saturday nights on CW11 in the Puget Sound Area, and in each of its 22-minute episodes it showcases one or two local bands. Well, this week they were taping the season-2 episode that would be showcasing two amazing Seattle bands, The Hoot Hoots and The Jesus Rehab!
Understandably it was a pretty badass show with two such amazing, rockin’ groups taking the stage one right after the other. You might have noticed that I do happen to be quite a fan of bothbands. And, as is my way, I made some Animated .GIFs of the evening. Take a look!
Hootie Hoot!
Dance, Jesus Rehab, Dance!
I’m not sure when the episode is actually gonna air, but you’d best believe I’ll let you know. I was standing right up front for both bands’ sets, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a few seconds of screen time here and there! *winku* After all, who wouldn’t want to see this face on TV:
Project: Handsome Runway Man
Honestly, I wasn’t even aware that “Band in Seattle” was a thing until I was invited to it. But it looks like an excellent way to discover some great local talent. Season 2 just premiered on Saturday night featuring none other than another one of my favorite bands, Leeni’s Prom Queen! The episode isn’t available to watch online yet (that I can find), but you can see Prom Queen’s performance here:
Yesterday The Jesus Rehab (aka the best rock band in Seattle right now) released a music video for their song “Sallie” from their 2014 album The Zoo at Night (which I reviewed in-depth here). The song itself is a joyous celebration of death after a life well-lived, and the video is a funny little skit about a sentient phone punctuated with a tiny version of TJR appearing here and there via the magic of low-fi special effects. Seriously, the retro bluescreen effect is charming, as is the jittery stop-motion animation. It captures the playful spirit of the band excellently. Take a look-see:
Now everyone wants to recycle their electronics, right!?
So far the month of November has turned out to be a surprisingly awesome month not just because it contains my daughter’s birthday (and my wife’s as well), but also in one other regard: internet videos. Yes, these last couple of weeks have seen the release (or viralization at least) of a whole bunch of fantastic video content.
Not just the fact that TWO music videos were released for songs that were written for my daughter (1 and 2), or the fact that Tim & Eric have made a commercial for Totino’s Pizza Rolls that is more like an experiment in terror than a commercial. No, even beyond that we have some exceptional gems:
Last Week Tonight’s Home Depot Commercial
In which we learn the true purpose of Home Depot employees (played admirably by Ron Swanson):
Bonus points for including Coach McGuirk himself, H. Jon Benjamin.
Camera in a Weightless Water Orb
Some astronuts on the Internation Space Station grew a rather large orb of water, then decided to stuff a waterproof video camera into it, with some entertaining (and scientific!) results:
Too Many Cooks
And then finally we have the ultimate TV introduction parody… that goes completely off the rails. This is one of the greatest pieces of comedy satire to hit the internets in a long, long while:
Whew! That was quite an experience, wasn’t it? Too Many Cooks originally aired quietly at about 4:00 in the morning on Adult Swim before finding its way online.
AND MORE…
That’d be enough awexomeness right there for a whole month, right? But there’s more on the horizon! GASP!
TableTop Season 3
Later this month will see the return of one of my all-time favorite webseries:
Baman Piderman Season 3
A promo for the third season of Baman Piderman has premiered! HOOWAY!
There’s no indication that the third season is actually gonna premiere in November, but still just getting this preview video is pretty awexome.
New Video from The Jesus Rehab!
No details, but it looks like it’s for the song “Sallie Came Home” from The Zoo At Night based on this one promotional screenshot:
