Recommended by The Stranger & KEXP.

Join the Facebook Event Page for more details!

Fri. May 24th – The Crocodile @ 8PM
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!
w/ Tomten, Prism Tats, & Ozarks
2200 2nd Ave Seattle, WA 98121
$10 adv; $12 dos – 21+
http://www.thecrocodile.com/event/244153-west-seattle/

The following review “The West – In Low Light” by Sean Jewell appeared in The Stranger on Mon. Apr. 22nd.

*****

The West’s In Low Light opens with “It was Disco and it’s Over,” a song that’s built on a signature Peter Hook high-toned bass riff, complete with lead singer and guitarist Anthony Darnell doing his best Ian Curtis impression. During the song they play a Joy Division-esque eulogy to the death of disco resolving only to move ahead, like it’s the early ’80s and they’re back in Manchester.

Their EP moves on down the timeline of pop just so, synthesizing the rest of the ’80s in their own way. Their brand of nouveau-disco follows lead bass lines all the way down to club maximalist. The West slides into step somewhere between the saccharine sweet Roxette and the angrily romantic the Whip—their steely synths make them a freakishly dance-y band to have evolved in this region of the country, a notoriously dance-less, shoegaze-y Sodom of people who love to fuck with music but not be seen loving it in public. That may be the reason they’ve been noticed by blogeratti in Sweden, and France, and then over at KEXP before they got to me, but it may also be just because their sound (despite having been perfected decades ago) is so period unique.

When In Low Light starts to hit its stride—right after their awkwardly rock-pop single you may have heard on the 90.3 called “Slightest Touch”—Darnell is shouting out negatives on “You Won’t,” and sharing the microphone with synth player Adrienne Clark, who is allowed to go it alone late in the album on just one song “Call Me A Liar,” but provides an interesting relief when she does. Darnell, Clark, and bass player Jon Swihart encapsulate so much of the 80s they’re hard to not appreciate, and by the end of the album they’ve gone full swing from New Order to INXS, and Darnell is in a full on Michael Hutchence wail.

Heads will bob and hips will roll at their live shows, especially at the point when the set reaches their best song “Hustler.” With an absolutely evil bass line, vibrato guitar ringing in the back, roiling snare, and Darnell hollering at the hot thing next to him on the dance floor, I don’t care what era or city you’re from you’ll have to be dead or just plain dumb to not want to dance to In Low Light.

Check them at one of several upcoming dates: Bellingham (for the Electronic Arts Festival) on April 26th, the High Dive on Sat April 27th, in Tacoma at New Frontier Lounge May 3rd, and headlining the Crocodile on Fri May 24th with Tomten, Prism Tats, and Ozarks.

*****

In Low Light is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon! Only $10.

Bandcamp iTunes Amazon

Design by Shawn Diaz.

1. Daughter – Smother
2. Junip -… Line of Fire
3. Heavenly Beat – Faithless
4. Beach Fossils – Careless
5. The Comettes – Deserts
6. The Valley – Rad Dungeons
7. Peace – The Perp Walk
8. BRONCHO – Try Me Out Sometime
9. Police Teeth – Chicago One Point Five
10. The West – Don’t Make a Sound
11. Widowspeak – The Dark Age
12. How To Dress Well – Cold Nites

THE WEST – BEWITCHING DISCO DANCE ROCK
by Guillaume Barrot

Let’s dive into underground music with The West’s excellent first a…lbum, In Low Light, which could appease even the biggest music snobs among you.

Hipsters lacking any sort of musical open mindedness need not apply. The West has nothing to do with a certain chillwave à la Toro Y Moi or with the electro dream pop of M83. Seattle. City of music snobs par excellence but a forgotten cemetary. Oh sure, we remember Hendrix, Cobain, et al… Bastion of the indie label Sup Pop Records, the godforsaken center of Washington State counts not only for a large music scene that endures regardless of past local drama, but also enjoys some unquestionably good bands. This is the case for The West, whose sound mixes energetic indie rock with dance rock synths ready to make you wear out your sneakers on the dance floor of an underground club. Adrienne, Anthony, Reed, Bob, and Jon even say so themselves: “I see you standing on the dance floor next to me…” Proof that their human desire to incite movement shines through…

Imagine the child of The Smiths and The Whip…or the reverse. The West is above all a band that unleashes indie rock riffs over ultra-80′s synthetic melodies, driven by possessed dance rhythms. It Was Disco And It’s Over clearly reminds us of Joy Division’s work and of Morrissey. A sort of testimony for a new wave that is becoming more and more commonplace at the forefront of today’s music scene. Don’t Make A Sound grooves in ways that should be illegal and implores your presence on the dance floor, among the young women shaking their sparkling hair, which isn’t without reminding us of a certain French cosmetic company’s commercials, and the presence of the bass on Another Story takes a certain perverse pleasure in giving you brain trauma with its enchanting powers urging you to bang your head, in the same way that You Won’t absorbs all of your energy. The quintet is not to be outdone on You’re In Control, which shows its luscious bottom end, and we then jump around through the rest of the album.

One more band to watch closely. Proof that the Brits don’t make up the entirety of the independent music scene, far from it in fact…

Bandcamp     iTunes     Amazon

Design by Shawn Diaz.

Speechless. Seriously, last night was OFF. THE. CHAIN. The crowd was moving from the very first note and we could have stayed with you all night long.

Big thanks to the Satori Group for hosting such a wild night of schmoozing, snogging, and strutting. And, of course, Eagle Teeth got everyone in the mood…thanks for being there.

Have a happy New Year. Here’s to 2013!

(Photo via Adam Standley)

The Satori Group Presents:
Smash Bash New Year’s Eve Party
The West & Eagle Teeth
815 Seattle Blvd S
Seattle, WA 98134
$10 in advance; $15 at the door; 21+
Tickets: http://satorinye2012.bpt.me/

If you didn’t catch the show, no worries. We have plenty of opportunities to move and groove together in the future. Our next show is at the Satori Group’s New Year’s Eve Party followed by a show at The Crocodile on Sat. Jan. 26th. More details soon!

Photo by Jeremy W. Johnson.