Comet Tavern
922 E. Pike St., Seattle

Mark Heimer of No-Fi Soul Rebellion is a predator. His eyes stalk the audience behind lens-less glasses, meticulously selecting his next unsuspecting victim. What will be his weapon of choice? A sweat soaked cheek? His groin? Perhaps he’ll just unleash the full furry of his near six foot self.

When No-Fi’s set began at the Comet, August 5th, a crowd greater than or equal to the one inside began forming outside the windows trying to catch a glimpse of the madness happening behind the glass. Not to be misleading- No-Fi isn’t a traveling freak show. There aren’t accordion-toting dwarves or flame performers hanging from the rafters. However, the thrill and intrigue of a circus are there. No-Fi is just a damn good live show.

In the often too-cool climate of Seattle’s music scene, No-Fi is a breath of fresh air. No-Fi is comprised of a Mark, his wife Andrea, and a guitar that doubles as an mp3 player. They make up in showmanship what they lack in band members. In the first three minutes, Mark was standing on the half-wall that separates the show-goers from the unsuspecting passers-by seated at the bar just trying to get a drink. But just being on the other half of the divider didn’t mean you were safe. Mark can smell the fear of new audience members. Don’t know the songs? Mark will come hold your forehead together with his and belt the chorus of what is to be your latest favorite song. Too afraid to dance? That’s Mark’s cue to bring his sweet moves to you. Or next to you. Or over you. Or on you.

Judging from the Comet’s response, we were willing if not totally prepared. Before launching into “Too Mean” from their Veritable Rainbow of Songs EP, Mark said, “I want you to raise your hand if you’re a jerk. Come on people, this is Seattle! Seattle if full of jerks!” I was surprised to see a couple people initially raise their hands, but beyond shocked when more than half the audience had their hands in the air when he called out Seattlelites for being jerky.

No-Fi tried to personify their belief that “playfulness and sincerity can co-exist!” Regardless of what happened in the last 40 minutes or maybe because of it- being told to own up to character flaws or having a stranger violate acceptable standards of personal space- we all walked away feeling good about ourselves, each other, and especially about the two people who guided this journey.

This weekend promises a whole lot of great music.

Friday
The pick for tonight is Awesome along with Captain Bogg & Salty, Miss Mamie Lavona: the Exotic Mullata and her White Boy Band Sunset Tavern. Awesome may be a bit too Broadway for the cool kids, but they are truly Awesome. They always seem to be working on adventurous new compositions, but maybe they’ll play some golden oldies from their CD Deleware tonight.

Alternatively, you can catch the always entertaining Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands (they lay awfully nicely, too) opening for Johnny Dowd down the street at the Tractor.

Otherwise, why not head to the Funhouse (don’t know any of the bands, but one of them is called Jesus Fucking Christ, which is kind of funny), Comet or SSMA? All venues good for serving up quality music you might not know about.

Saturday
The pick for tonight is the Headphones/Panda & Angel and S show at the Crocodile. What a great bill! well, I know nothing about the Headphones, but the other two are just fine.

Another plug got the Sunset – Boat is having their CD release. Also playing are The Salteens, Tullycraft and Voxy. I really like Boat. Not only do they put out some of the most interesting eclectic music in town, they’re swell folks to boot.

My friend Nate tells me that No-Fi Soul Rebellion is an incredible band to see live, and they’re playing at the Comet, which should be quite a treat.

Sunday
What a great Sunday for music. Not only is Kelly Clarkson gracing the stages of White River Amphitheatre, but local favorites the Riffbrokers are appearing at one of the Funhouse’s lovely matinee (4 PM) shows. What could be better than some great rock, cold beer and basketball on a Sunday afternoon?

Later that evening is your chance to catch the non-stop rock of Touchdown Eagle at Chop Suey. Word on the street is that shiny new recordings will be available at the show (and nowhere else!).

After all that you should take a deep breath, drink a cup of tea and go to sleep. You deserve it.

The Old Haunts capture the disconnected spirit of post-urban unincorporated sprawl with a mix of cascading guitars, fuzzed out bass and urgent vocals. The Olympia band is often labeled swamp-rock, but I hear something more at home a few miles off I-5 in Nowhere-Northwest. The band navigates through unusual, not-for-radio song structures as guitarist/vocalist Craig Extine looks out at the world from distance, prodding and judging the those around him, hashing out a confused past, dreaming of victories and violence. Yet he’s always a few steps from actually jumping into the fray, and one gets the feeling that, in the endm, the songs themselves are action enough for him.

The song “Wasted Day” falls in the middle of the album and contains the most compelling elements of whole the recording. It starts with Extine’s almost delicate plucked guitar echoing out on its own, with the Scott Seckington’s bass and Curtis James’ drums joining in soon after, determinedly urging the song along. The remainder of the first half of the song explores the fairly philosophical territory of the singer’s desire to live in the world of night and dream, the tension between dream and wakefulness, what matters and what exists – “there is nothing that I could see that I can’t already see in my sleep … the haze is worse than the curse of clarity.” Mid way through the song, the verbal exploration ends and, after a pause, the band starts in on a beautiful instrumental section. It’s as if frustrated with trying to use words to explain himself, Extine lets the instruments do the work. A piano joins in to round out the meditation.

It’s refreshing to hear music that aspires to be important but is so lacking in pretense. While the songs are full of internal ruminations, they are not sentimental or self indulgent. The guitar playing is remarkable – despite being reminiscent of other players and styles (Television meets Link Wray comes to mind), it is truly original. Where the guitar carves out sharp, thin lines, the bass uses a broad messy brush to set down rhythmic frameworks and distorted counter melodies. The drums drive the songs’ dynamics and stick to spare beats.

During my first listen, despite being attracted to the overall sound, I thought the album a bit one-dimensional – the instrumentation, aside from the occasional piano overdub, is consistent, and the palette of guitar, bass and vocal stylings is relatively limited. Song forms are generally all of a piece and there are none of those catchy choruses repeating the song title that make distinguishing songs so easy. The more I listened, the more the individual songs came into focus and the depth of the record became apparent. These are songs to live with for a while, that decide to get to know you as much as you decide to understand them. This recording captures a band exactly as it is hitting its stride – I look forward to seeing them perform these songs, though I have a hunch how it will sound.

The Old Haunts play at the Comet Tavern, Saturday, July 22.