Kudos to whoever called in a request for the Specials‘ “Ghost Town” during the WTO fiasco last week, as the cut contains a spectacularly apropos line: “All the clubs have been shut down.” Amen, ska boys. The Gnome got mad as hell when, after sneaking through the sewers rather than try to pass through a line of storm troopers, he found a note on the Crocodile’s door informing patrons of the fate of Wednesday night’s show. “Closed tonite due to circumstances beyond our control. Sorry, Pinback, maybe next time.” The best damn record in the past few months belongs to Pinback, and those poor guys shlepped up here from godawful San Diego only to find panic in the streets of Seattle. Your gnomey correspondent became so distraught that he had to slink back to his lair and soothe his nerves with a compilation from—of all places—Puyallup! Some crazy kids with a weird sense of humor have started Sign Language Records, and they’ve assembled an ace disc of instrumental rock, It Goes Without Saying, packed with local luminaries. We’re talkin’ Ken Stringfellow, Damien Jurado, and members of Red Stars Theory, Death Cab for Cutie, MXPX (whose rollicking and cheeky “Theme Fiasco” surprises as the best track), and Pedro the Lion, all giving their vocal cords a rest and working up some killer jams, dude.
Worst thing about the WTO? Riots? The sudden relevance of Heaven 17‘s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”? Nope. It’s hippies. They were everywhere, even spilling into the Sit & Spin Friday night and blocking the Gnome’s way to the showroom to see his new favorite band, Automata. Favorite, that is, when your diminutive columnist has a yen for some classic, post-Pearl Jam, just-to-the-left-of-Matchbox 20 alternative rock. The Gnome knows not what to say ’bout the “Eugene anarchists,” though he does admire their fashion-forwardness. One local club booker told a Gnome Gnotifier that he recognized many of the errant anarchists from local hardcore shows. Punks! Always gotta be smashin’ stuff. Taking a more constructive path, students at Inglemoor High in Bothell collected thousands of cans for charity and won an area contest to bring ex-Mouseketeer, current teen-pop hotty Christina Aguilera to the hallowed halls of their school this weekend. Congrats! Hey, hey, ho, ho, it’s the WTO hippies who’ve got to go. You betcha!
You can reach the Metro Gnome at metrognome@seattleweekly.com
