It is no secret that I like Rock Music… I was one of those kids wearing old lumber jack shirts in the early 90’s listening to Grunge. Growing up Seattle was as much of a pilgrimage to me as Mecca is to so many others.
Off course I liked the more popular Seattle grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice and Chains. Who remembers the movie Singles shot in Seattle 15 years ago! I also followed lesser known Seattle Grunge bands such-as Mudhoney, TAD, Screaming Trees, Green River, Mother Love Bone and the Melvins.
It was a bonus that when I started working for Microsoft I got to visit Seattle and see some of the legendary things that I learnt about on TV and in magazines growing up.
So that brings us to Sub Pop the legendary record label that launched the career of a lot of these bands. Last time I was in Seattle I tried paying Sub Pop a visit finding only a button on an intercom to an apartment and a not so happy person at the other end asking if I had an appointment to come in! They must get that all the time.
So that is the point of all this?
Well after grunge passed I ignored the Seattle music scene for years… I ignored bands like the Presidents of the United States of America as a passing fad.
It wasn’t Seattle that brought me back it was instead a fresh new sub pop sound. After seeing the Shins (ironically from Albuquerque, New Mexico Microsoft’s original home turf) play two sold out shows at the Kings Arms in Auckland on the 17th & 18th Feb 2005 during o’week I was sold.
And this week after just over three years since their last they have a new album out (3 months after it was first leaked on the web).
I was interested to read the Wired article…
When the Shoot Hits the Fans
The concept: the fans pull out their camera phones they shoot the video for Phantom Limb and then submit them to current tv and their shots become the video.
Very cool… taking the everyone is a producer message to launch the bands profile and generate a huge online buzz.
So what is the album I’m looking forward to next? We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank! I can only imagine what Modest Mouse will be like with Johnny Marr in the band. I saw him with Neil Finn at the seven worlds collide concert at the St James in late 2000 and I was pretty impressed with his performance that night!