Hello and welcome back to our coverage of Seattle’s Bumbershoot music and arts festival. If you missed Day 1, check it out here! And without further ado…

Kithkin

The four lost boys of Kithkin appear to have washed up randomly on the same island and began banging on things.  Mistakenly announced as the “Canadian Youth Tribe,” the quartet of forest creatures announced the start of Day 2 with a motherfucking crash.  A thunderous, name-making performance by these guys has been long overdue, and they picked a great moment to follow through, opening the second day of Bumbershoot with a sun-drenched offering to an uncharacteristically packed TuneIn stage.  With an ebb-and-flow set list that crashed like waves, Spirit Treader, Tin Woodsman, Shredder and Bigfoot Wallace held court with frenetic energy that culminated in the Ritual of the Masked Barber, costing shredder a few precious locks of his hair.  With a new full-length record locked and loaded and the multitude desperate for more, you can definitely bet that Kithkin’s reign of forestry is far from over.

Ramona 
Falls

I love Ramona Falls.  Brent Knopf’s startlingly honest lyrics have the direct line to my soul, and they’re incredible live performers.  With trademark tantalizing lyrics and a powerful heartbeat groove, the Portland 4-piece made less of a statement and more of an imprint. I hadn’t heard them since they’d added a female vocalist/violinist in Lauren Jacobsen, and I, as if it matters at all, definitely approve.  A pointed counterpoint to Knopf’s gentle vocals, and it adds another level of emotional complexity to the woven tapestry they create.  Make no mistake, emotional does not mean slow, and it does not mean sad.  Ramona falls whispers sweetly in your ear, then sonically kicks you in the teeth with an authority only percussionist Jerry Joiner and Brandon Laws. I love a drummer who comes out from behind the kit, and Joiner does so often, providing a barely-contained energy that yields the mischievous devil to Knopf’s angel.  I highly recommend you see them, and can tell you with all confidence that Intuit is a very well-crafted album, and should be on anyone’s must listen list.

Tegan and Sara 

I was definitely curious to see where Tegan and Sara had gone in the past few years.  Originally they existed as a super-indie duo so I thought it’d be interesting to see them now as full-fledged veteran rock stars.  It was definitely more of a production than I was used to, with lyrics and images flashed across the back screens and a legit light show, but it seemed all a bit thin to me.  They had put down the “power-acoustic duo” component and replaced it with electronic beats, vocal effects and several other bits of production that screamed POP MUSIC.  True, there were some songs on which that level of back-house production helped their sound, but I was a bit sad to see “Tegan and Sara the pop act.” Despite my own wants and desires Tegan and Sara received a very warm welcome from the Seattle faithful and all around provided a fun, relaxed, and well-performed show that just wasn’t my jam.

Fidlar

FIDLAR (Fuck It Dog Life’s A Risk) sounds like a beat up truck doing 1000 mph into a big pile of cocaine.  Its powerful frenetic no apologies rock and fucking roll and it’s just what the world needs. These guys perpetuated unrelenting badassery in a reeling “rockabilly Blink 182 meets Queens of the Stone Age and then huffed a bunch of paint” style.  It’s scathing surf rock at its very core, and with song titles such as “Cheap Beer” (“I drink cheap beer, so what, fuck you),  “No Ass,” and “Wake Bake Skate,” these guys embody the LA dirtbag lifestyle with an aplomb I find mesmerizing.  I’ve never been able to hear the heat in a band so clearly as when these guys play.  You can feel it coming off the LA concrete and ruining your Chucks, you can see the trash in the water at the surf spot, and taste the sour beer in the crash pad.  I love FIDLAR, and I have little doubt that they will stay hidden much longer.

Fun

I had to dip in and see Fun for a bit.  Quite honestly, after hearing the Jimmy Kimmel “Chicken Cover” of Some Nights, I really haven’t been able to hear anything else when I hear them.  I entered Key and was instantly taken by the amount of energy coming from the stage.  Say that Fun is predictable, say they’re formulaic and a flash in the pan, but don’t you dare say they’re not great live performers, or I’ll take umbrage and shit.  Visa vie my review of Mumford at Sasquatch, this definitely is not my kind of music, but I can appreciate the skill that it requires to perform at this level, and I certainly can’t take that away from them.  I can tell that I probably won’t see them again if given the option, but it’s not because they don’t work when they’re on stage or because they suck.  It’s just that I don’t like them, and I don’t think that I ever will.  It’s sad really, but I’m a freaking conundrum, so there you go.

Katie Kate

New York native and Seattle resident Katie Kate gave a hell of a show.  I still don’t really know how I felt about it, exactly, though.  Over spacey, open beats, Kate wove tapestries with a rapid fire delivery that dripped with a blatant sass that I found immediately endearing.  There exists music to which it’s impossible not to move, and Katie Kate’s is in that category.  I feel like it would reach full scale in an indoor venue where the lights and other effects can provide the experience that this music deserves.  Katie Kate’s lyrics aren’t overwhelmingly dense or inaccessible, in fact they’re pretty basic, but they’re delivered with sincerity, and it’s clear that they have an intense connection to the performer.  I was torn away by a press-related obligation, but I loved what I saw.

The Grizzled Mighty

Fresh off a series of interviews, it was time to dive back in.  Having missed the Comettes (!), I ran down to the Plaza stage to catch the end of the Grizzled Might set.  The power of the Seattle twosome was palpable before I could see the stage.  When I finally got into the middle of the crowd and had a chance to dig into the Seattle duo, I was blown away. Rarely do I see a duo that hemorrhages energy.  I’ve literally never seen someone hit a drum head as hard as former Deerhunter guitarist Whitney Petty.  Her snare was like a rifle shot.  It was unbelievable. Guitarist Ryan Granger is no slouch either, with a blistering sound that filled any and all gaps left by the ferocity of the drums.  The two seemed to be competing to see which of them would break first.  Eventually the song itself broke first and offered a reprieve for the unbridled awesome that was happening on the Plaza stage last night.

The Zombies

I had a strict “if they suck on the first song, I’m out” policy in place when I got to the Starbucks stage to see the Zombies.  Famous for 60s era tracks such as “Time of the Season,” The Zombies have been an institution for a very, very long time.  The time showed on the performers, specifically the two remaining original Zombies, vocalist Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent.  Blunstone’s vocals are still very solid, but overall it fell a bit flat for me, like when you rediscover a toy you loved as a kid and it’s only really fun for a split second before you realize it’s not that great anymore.  You still retain the nostalgic love for the thing, but it just can’t retain it’s former glory in your eyes.  The Zombies for me are like that.  Definitely fun to watch and incredible talents, but too far departed from the glory.  I went off to find something a little more my speed.

Beats Antique

Aren’t really my speed either, but I had done some good research listening, and I wanted to see how their sound manifested live.  I was basically just really impressed.  The Beats Antique modus operandi is taking very very old instruments (think stuff from the baroque era, Turkish guitars, etc) and folding them into an improbable partnership.  In theory, it basically sounds like someone got a hold of a bag of weed and an old ACID sample disc, but in reality it’s intellectual and complex.  I’m basically just super impressed.  Instead of just adding some interesting instrumental samples, the instruments themselves are featured prominently.  Instead of an afterthought, they seem to be crucial to the song itself.  Additionally, the drums aren’t as overproduced as I expected.  Make no mistake, there was a multitude of effects and modulations used, but they folded nicely into the more organic sound that I really liked.

Death Cab

The first time I heard Death Cab for Cutie I was working at a strip club in Denver, and I remember thinking that they were good, but not great, and that they’d probably arc out and disappear. It’s been 8 years since then and I still haven’t really given them a fair shot. With all this in mind I decided to sit down and really give explore their music to see if I could understand why their fans are so dedicated.  Blinding white lights came up to a roaring Key Arena as the band took the stage and when they began I was immediately impressed. Somehow unaware that they were playing their first full-length, Transatlantacism, it seemed to the best possible way to enjoy a first real taste of the PNW natives. By the second track, “Lightness,” I was entranced.  I still can’t tell you I’m a Death Cab fan, but I can certainly understand why they’re so beloved. Frontman and primary songwriter Ben Gibbard is energetic, a barely contained powder keg of emotions. Transatlanticism itself is an opus; an exploration of the intricacies of an imperfect relationship.  Gibbard’s lyrics are expansive, and his arrangements tell a tale of heartbreak, resentment, and loneliness, using language the tears open the soul and lays bare the heart for all it’s flaws.  The lyrics are honest in a way that you don’t see often, and that’s when I got it:  When Ben Gibbard sings about feelings it isn’t fake.  It’s real exploration of events that left an indelible impression.  These types of experiences are universal, much like the accolades for Death Cab For Cutie, and I can certainly tell you they’re very well deserved.

Matt/Kim

After leaving Death Cab, I was about ready to call it, but I had to check out Matt & Kim.  Having interviewed them a few years ago, I feel some sort of unexplainable attachment to the power-pop duo from NY, and I felt somehow obligated to watch at least part of their set.  In a word, Matt and Kim are Enthusiastic.  Not just enthusiastic, but hug-you-so-hard-you-fart enthusiastic.  They play directly to the crowd, and they’re so damn likeable that all 8000 of us ate it up completely.  For an hour last night under the Space Needle, Matt & Kim could do no wrong.  They’ve never disappointed me, and I’m betting they won’t let you down either.

The bones and eardrums hurt, but it’s back out tomorrow for a packed day (for Day 3, click here)!  Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for more content and inside news from Bumbershoot 2013