"I think it's just a natural thing that's developed," he says. "When we play it's a lot more guitar-y and a lot louder—the kind of Sonic Youth/Pavement side of things comes forward more—so I think that's what people associate us with at this point. Which is fine, those are both great bands."
Witmann, who shares lead vocal duties with Maxim, is tall, gangly, and wears thick, black-rimmed glasses. Physically, he's the poster child for the genre of music he's chosen to play. He sings with the laconic drawl of Lou Reed, and comes off as friendly and endearing onstage. "Sarah," which Maxim says is about an old lady she once met ("It was not a good experience"), is the highlight of the set—the bass thuds, the chorus hypnotically chants in circles, and although the song is already rolling along steadily, the best part comes when Maxim starts screaming her lines like a possessed child.
Legendary Oaks.
Fly Moon Royalty.
Details
MEET THE BANDS:
- Doctor and the Bird
- Ole Tinder
- Posse
- Three Ninjas
- Motopony
- Legendary Oaks
- Fly Moon Royalty
- Solvents
WHERE TO SEE THE TUESDAY-NIGHT CLASS:
Skylark Cafe & Club, 3803 Delridge Way S.W., 935-2111, skylarkcafe.com
April 5 Call Me Morning, the Local Strangers, Katrina Charles. 8 p.m. free.
April 12 Roy, Ben Fisher. 8 p.m.
May 3 Scarlet Season. 9 p.m.
May 10 Brendan Jackson, This Ambition. 9 p.m.
May 31 Alice Evans, Tai Shan. 9 p.m.
High Dive, 513 N. 36th St., 632-0212, highdiveseattle.com
April 5 Dust & Bourbon, Stephen Nielsen, The Americana Band. 8 p.m. $5.
April 12 Perfect Weather, John Brodeur, Stereo Upstairs. 8 p.m. $6
April 19 Den U Ma, Kevin Long. 8 p.m. $5.
April 26 Gashcat, Elephant Apple, Engine. 8 p.m. $7.
May 3 Statewide Emergency, Autonomous. 8 p.m. $6.
Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853, myspace.com/thecomettavern
April 5 Zebra Mirrors, Brad Loomis & The Resonance, Guthrie Scarr, Quinton Kakaley. 9 p.m. $6.
April 12 Syas, The Shrine, The Bad Apple Blues Band, Lena Lou. 9 p.m. $6.
April 19 The Shallows, Love Songs From the Hated, Thankless Dogs. 9 p.m. $5.
April 26 Pangea, Haunting the Disconnect, White City Graves. 9 p.m. $5.
May 3 Eddie & The Hotrods, Prima Donna, the First Times. 9 p.m. $12.
Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880, sunsettavern.com
April 5 Fox and the Law, Tommy and the High Pilots, Keaton Collective. 9:30 p.m. $6.
April 12 Pert Near Sandstone, Spare Rib and the Bluegrass Sauce. 9:30 p.m. $7.
April 19 Maserati, Sleepy Eyes of Death. 9:30 p.m. $10.
For more listings for Tuesday—and every other night of the week—see seattleweekly.com.music.Related Content
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Posse closes with a cover of Belle & Sebastian's "Me and the Major"; this version is, of course, weightier and tougher than the light, lilting speed of the original, emblematic of a certain substantial and captivating strength that Posse brings to the stage. The band is charming and rocks heavily.
As for the future, the band recently put down five songs at Captain Trips Ballsington's High Command studios in Olympia, where, Heliotis says, they plan to return to do some more work on forthcoming 7-inches—and maybe an album—to bring on tour and sate the demands of their incipient fanbase.
"None of us are really expecting anything of it," Heliotis says humbly, while not ignoring their recent audiences. "It's nice that it seems like a few people have noticed. I've definitely played in bands where you play for years and no one picks up on it."
ethompson@seattleweekly.com
Posse plays the Funhouse on Sunday, April 3.
*****
THREE NINJAS
Skylark Cafe
Tuesday We Saw Them: March 8
By Mike Seely
Every night is Tuesday night at the Skylark Cafe. It's located on one of the city's most utilitarian strips, in Delridge, near a steel mill, Harbor Island, and the West Seattle Bridge. There's rarely a proper headliner—lineups consist of mostly local up-and-comers—and the cover is never more than $5, if there's a cover at all.
The Skylark is not the sort of place one would expect to find a rip-roaring Fat Tuesday party, but the club, with vintage portraits of Buicks adorning its walls, is throwing one nonetheless. There are beaded necklaces for all to wear, and Hurricanes and Sazeracs are on special at the bar. Yet the crowd—respectable, but hardly as robust as you'd find on Bourbon Street, or even in Pioneer Square—seems intent on throwing down Pabst and tater tots. That's more the Skylark's speed anyway.
The first act of the night is a transplanted Louisianan "nerd rapper" named Three Ninjas (Jason Brunet). He is a rotund, ponytailed, bearded man who looks as though he shares DNA with John Popper and Tad Doyle. He is joined onstage by a hype man who looks like James Mercer of the Shins, and a DJ who just looks like a guy. They're all wearing masks, although it's clear they're doing this in commemoration of Mardi Gras and not as an adjunct of the insufferable trend sweeping indie rock at the moment.
In keeping with Three Ninjas' overt obsession with sex, the first track's main riff is "My dick is kind of big." Later, the line "Have a fucking baby," repeated over and over, forms the chorus of another song.
"Tonight there's a positive message: It's OK for the ladies to masturbate," the MC tells the crowd between songs, cementing the trio's status as the anti-Macklemore.
Late in their set, the trio breaks character and covers Jewel's "Foolish Games." It is sung earnestly, as though at a karaoke bar. But as he seems to do with every song, the DJ lays down an infectious jazz-house backbeat. He's surprisingly clever for an outfit that takes itself so unseriously.
Three Ninjas can best be described as Public Enemy meets Tenacious D meets Gray, with lyrics by Bushwick Bill. They're nothing if not original. Whether they'll be the next Mad Rad remains to be seen, but they'd doubtless be well-received at Comicon.
mseely@seattleweekly.com
Three Ninjas play The Josephine on Saturday, April 2.
*****
MOTOPONY
Neumos
Tuesday We Saw Them: March 8
By Julia Mullen Gordon
There's something Daniel Blue wants the city to know: "Tell them I hate folk." He says this wryly, and makes a pun that likens "folkers" to a similar-sounding word while drawing his band's logo on the wall of Neumos' green room.
"[Folk] has the potential to bring people together, and I see it doing the opposite," he says. "That's the problem with a really hip, in-the-know scene. We put chains on art in order to belong."
Without the rumbling keyboards and beefed-up rhythm section that give his band Motopony its bluesy swagger, Blue's songs would be reduced to him strumming a three-stringed acoustic guitar. Buddy Ross, a Seattle producer with a genial personality and a Paul Bunyan beard, first teamed with Blue in 2009 to record the band's self-released, self-titled debut. Ross' love of golden-age soul bleeds through to Motopony's floor-stomping jams, and Blue's formidable, at times spastic, vocals are the perfect accompaniment.
