Category Archives: Uncategorized

“King Flyz” is from Seattle Washington. He puts all of his passion into the work and music he makes. You find reflection and his experiences placed perfectly into his lyrics. There has a bunch of sounds and influences in the music. But what I like most about the sound is that it resembles sounds from breaking out artist “TOB Duke”.

During the pandemic he had time to just sit back and focus on creating music, and learning new things. That’s been benefiting him during his music journey.

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“Rolling Stoned” is an awesome song to vibe too. Check out the music video on YouTube now! You will also find his newest release on all streaming platforms.

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“Don’t let anyone discourage you from your dreams , follow your heart.”

King Flyx

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“Day N Night” is a track that showcases true modernization of hip hop music. King Flyz talks about going through life and how he puts his best foot forward. Notable mention to the featured artist on the track named “Young Casper” for adding a very melodic style to his added verse. The song has a sadness to the backing track with the electric blues guitar. The tone and emotion to the lyrics and writing is great. Still has enough of flexing to it though. Talking about money and lifestyle. Check out “Day N Night”

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• Gwen Good – “Horizon” EP
• Notes from the Underground
• Perfect Machine : Buried Blonde
• “Heart Of Stone : Smoking Gun” – Album Review
• Congratulations, I’m Angry

Kibbonafide has got to be one of the most interesting artists to come through my submissions so far. He is a multi threat performer and actor. Currently based out of Burien, Wa and has been well traveled; and through many projects has found himself sturdy roots here in the Pacific North West.

Being in the scene of the Seattle area since 2006, He has been deep in music and writing for over two decades. Joshua aka Kibbonafide is very strategic and moves with intent through his releases and projects. Never in a rush and always well thought out.

In a track titled “It Don’t Change”, you hear the word play and stanza phrasing like in early Eminem albums. Truly effective in the way he is painting a picture with his words to tell a story. A story of how a society we live in may never change. Love the lyrics said here in the song; “I think it’s important to to say , there’s no shame in suffering invisible pain”. Kibbonafide really touches on some deep subjects; there really is no better way to express one’s self other through art.

There is also a lot of talk of racial injustice within America and has punk like ideas of wronged government in this artists’ lyrics. The message is clear for what he stands for. The power to equality and all people. He brings up points and topics of awareness of issues within society. Very cool to see him represent.

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He has also been a stage actor since he was a child and continues to do that regularly. A regular member of comedy troupe Midnight Mystery Players and has two films in post-production as a screen actor. Joshua is represented for film, television and print by ZT Talent in Seattle, WA. And this dude is the emcee for the Evergreen State Fair in Snohomish County.

“I just want to make sure everyone knows that there’s more than one way to lean a successful and fulfilling life. If you’re good with your way, then great but if none of the examples in front of you seem like a workable template then keep looking or it means you need to branch out and create it yourself. Also, you’re not alone.”

Joshua Kibbey A.k.a Kibbonafide

DonnaParty is a two piece that survived the coldest winter. The band originally started out as a 100 piece band as they toured over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Through the cold nights the band needed to ration their food and resources. Marianne and Dylan were the last two surviving. They mentioned they did what they had to do on the mountain to stay alive. Which was to eat the weak to stay alive.

The duo reside in Seattle Wa. They seem to just randomly announce gigs and drop music in a spontaneous and non traditional way. You will literally hear a range from indie alternative sounds all the way to a hellish punk sounds with this band. Marianne has been writing music and performing in bands for over the last decade. Her song writing has been the biggest part of the bands success and releases thus far. Her favorite music artist ps are Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie among other sacred artists. She will probably fight you over it. Dylan has performed in many bands and performed in many states. He really likes JuiceWrld and would fight you over that.

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“Runaway” was released on their Bandcamp and YouTube channel as a single. This song really showcases solid songwriting and instruments that envoys raw emotion.The voice of Marianne is angelic with a pinch of angst. You can hear in the way she sings her words come from a place of truth, laced with a bit of sadness and a bit of romance. An audible chip on the shoulder really. “Runaway” is a love song on the premise of either WE will runaway together or I will. Tons of influence also brought into this song from Dylan. The drums literally have their own composition; starting from rim clicks it allows the room for growth and I can hear how the dynamics build with the drums control. Also please, please, please give this Kaniver remixed version a listen.

“The Comedown” is another fantastic release. This song is about searching for what you can’t find. Inner peace. The lyrics share a story of how it feels to live in life now a days. You hear melancholy cut through Marianne’s vocals; and the marching snare sounds bring a cadence to the track. And when you find the song calming, just when you do the distortion pedals get stomped and you take off like a rocket. “The Comedown” is a second track to a two part song. The band says it will always play “Heroine Doers Anthem” and then the “The Comedown”. It’s fitting right?

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Grab your forks and knives, because DonnaParty will be serving up its listeners a buffet of sounds to devour before years end. Check them out via YouTube and their “Fourth Relief” EP on bandcamp.

From the most northern part of our beloved music scene houses this local band; Checker Bloom. These dudes are some classic rockers bringing some nostalgic sounds back into mainstream ears.

This four piece garage rock band is going to sweep their city with this new banger of a single. The group has taken over city of Bellingham show by show since around December of 2021. Checker Bloom’s music invites all who are grappling with the phases of change; the existentialism of realizing you’re stuck, the excitement and fear of a change in progress, and existence in change’s full bloom, or whatever it may be. They have been also getting regular radio play as well, the proof is in the pudding.

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“Page Me” is officially out now. I had a chance to listen early. They leaked to me their newest single. The song has their classic indie rock tendencies and sound; however with a surfer rock twist. I almost get a trance like vibe as this songs really comes in and out of its progressions. All to an abrupt halt. Leaving me as a listener caught hanging on to that empty space right before the bands kicks it right back into gear. This single is a debut release and I would expect a lot more great thing on the way.

Vocally I am reminded of a rock band from a big band stand in the late 50s. The words sang can serenade the listeners ears and the strings and rhythm section abuse it. The guitar notes in the background flutter like feathers. And the tones used bring out the rock sounds we love.

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Come out and celebrate Checker Bloom at their show tonight Friday July 15th, it’s at the legendary Wild Buffalo in Bellingham, Wa with their friends CLAN and Sweet N’ Juicy.

Come on up! The top of this house is an amazing place with warm music and company. Up in the Attic has newly found its roots in Tacoma, Wa and is welcoming you up to the attic.

It started as a conversation between Abby and Alex about starting a legit fake band. And that legit fake band in fact turned into a legit real band. This real band is now known as Up In The Attic. I think it is amazing to hear this story it really goes to show if you can dream it, you can live it. I am pretty sure that’s what everyone is TALKING about.

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The more I listen, the more I become impressed. This group does really well at providing for its listeners and following with content. “Talking” is a ten minute through three tracks EP. And they make it count that is certain. Offering a mastered Indie sound. They have a bunch of videos on YouTube , so check out of their live sets and BTS.

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Taking influence from many different artists, their style is a mixing pot of Joni Mitchel, Phoebe Bridgers, and The Indigo Girls. In the titled song “Talking”, you hear these influences ooze through. Love the DIY nature of how it was recorded; Up In The Attic recorded independently with help from a friend. There is a simple shaker layered in this song and it reminds me of the recording “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith. Not at all the genre but how well that shaker was utilized.

“Gone Away” is a track that carries a huge weight of emotion. The vocals of this song are filled with melancholy. You are surrounded by it; and it is unavoidable. The guitar strums along with a folk agenda, allowing the whole song to open up to share the story.

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Buried Blonde is native to the Pacific Northwest and had been working on this project since pre pandemic. Working through Covid restrictions to place, and placing together a rhythm section. Now they are off to the races. Shows and music releases have been the diet for this Blonde as of lately. Lauren mentioned she started writing songs off the project even as early as 2016. She knew she wanted to build a band around the sounds she had created.

This project is a product of Seattleites. Recorded by your favorite engineers, Jesse Field AKA “LateTakes” and Dylan Foster at the legendary Robert Lang Studio.

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“What Now” is smothered with soul and angst. I hear a lot of influence from bands like REM and the artist Mazzy Star.

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From the band!!!!

A fun gig memory was our first show on Whidbey island, where 3 of us live. We played at the Machine Shop, the local arcade. The EP wasn’t even out yet but we’d been playing around Seattle once a month to get our feet wet. The Machine Shop was packed full with our friends from all of our different worlds and then some. I had fired our drummer Jeff the week before for not taking things seriously and this was going to be his last show. But he blew the roof off the place. He’d spent the entire week getting it together and brought his A game and it all came together on stage. He was hired right back on the spot. That show was a blast.

“Message to the people! – creativity is our superpower. Right now it’s more important than ever to create, no matter the medium. Tune out all distractions and tap into that source.”

Buried blonde

Click into their smash hit “What Now” official music video.

From the emerald city is where the group Bad With Birds has its nesting place. The band has sounds that check boxes from blues metal to grunge rock. Also, this four piece group released the “Bad With Birds” Self Titled EP in August 2021 and had been taking the scene over a show at a time.

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In the “Bad With Birds” EP you will want to be fair warned. Head banging is inevitable and it will feel amazing. The song “Inhabited” has the most chunky and chugging guitar riffs throughout the verses; and when that subsides you get smacked in the face by a psychedelic grunge breakdown. The way this song is recorded is stellar. You can literally hear the sticks slicing through air to hit the drums. It’s amazing.

This four piece simply shreds. Peppered throughout the whole project you find an abundance of guitar solos and fierce licks. One of my favorite instruments in this project would be the vocals. The vocals roar on top of the already erupted sounds from the rest of the band. A 7 track EP that packs the hit of a full length. Fully matured blues influenced music. With a grit of grunge. I can see why the city loves this group, This Seattle based group has a ton of energy in this most recent release.

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In the song, “The Ballad for Bobi” you hear influences from bands like Alice In Chains or even Primus. I like the bluesy funk bass lines and it’s heavy ass rhythms and breakdowns. This would be the song of all songs to mosh to that’s for certain.

The EP we have here is on the 11/10 on the “Richter Scale”. Definitely a must listen to and add to your playlist. July 14th they will be taking the High Dive stage in Seattle, Wa with bands Yeti Set Go and Tennis Pro. See you at the show.

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Since 2017 the band BatBox has been creating its way into the Seattle and Tacoma music scene. They have been known as “your mothers favorite band” and offer music that speaks upon everything from politics, relationships , to taking your own stand as a person. BatBox has its first studio record titled “Punching In” (2021). So we will be officially punching in on an album review, and I will talk about the must listen to tracks off their debut record.

The band has sounds like Arctic Monkeys, Goldfinger, or even a Panic! at the Disco (that was more punk then synth). I hope that makes sense.

“Punching In” was recorded flawlessly. The recording quality is impressive and brings each song to life. I love this record because you will hear a jazzy trumpet solo followed by punk breakdown. Marching snare cadences turned to the loose high hat rock breakdown. The album has range. From the structures of the songs, each one is unique. To the variety of genre put in; It’s hard to label and pin this bat to a specific box.

In the song “If I Could Stand”, you hear bouncing between sweet ballad rock to a more super progressive rock. My head shook aggressively side to side. My hair followed. I like how the song seems to be about a past relationship, that’s how I could relate. The fanfare vocals speak to holding your own and being your own man. The instruments take you for a ride as you hold onto every note until it’s last. From the progressive guitar strums, to the single plucked and fading out notes at the end.

BatBox will be playing next Saturday, July 9 at the High Dive in Seattle,Wa. They take the stage with Mr. Dinkles, Terra Nobody, and Stage Antics!

I did! I swear, they are right here. Yeah just a bit to the left. No, your other left. Yes! Right there. This is the band Yeti Set Go. And here is “Where The Cool Kids Are” EP.

Yeti Set Go is from the greatest music city in the world; the cloudy and overcast city of Seattle. This trio has been making a ton of big waves that its listeners have been coasting on since April of 2022. Off the most recent release, “Where The Cool Kids Are”, the group offers a surf-rock and psychedelic sound. I swear, there is a bit of pop-punk as well, but I digress. Throughout the EP, you will find glittering and light-toned guitar. The pedals used are topnotch, also providing a ton of dynamic to the music. This band is a must listen to, if you haven’t already.

I normally don’t pick any favorite song off an EP. I believe all songs are great and some hit different than others. However, with that said, I will say my favorite song off of the “Where The Cool Kids Are” EP would definitely be “Favorite”. It has some beautiful lyrics that will probably be stuck in my head for eternity.

When Celeste Flock sings, “I saw you roll your eyes at me, it’s time for me to spill the tea, Regina George only got so far. I do my work cuz’ I’m no snitch. Even when you act like a total bitch.” I started progressing the volume to a louder level. Which I am glad to do so because that’s when the song starts going from surfy to psychedelic. I almost thought I was listening to a San Francisco psychedelic band from the 1960s. Extensive sounds from Paul Abner (drums) and Tom Sloan (bass), really almost combat the surfing rock, in a great way. The trio here made a smash hit for sure.

Another notable mention is the track “Nancy’s Gonna Steal Your Man”, this song has wailing bass lines and it builds into such a progressive composition. Listen for the whisper at the end.

Yeti Set Go is stacked up with shows the next few months. You can find the next one Thursday, July 14th at The High Dive in Seattle, WA. I hope to see all of you Music Maniacs there!

I just had to scrape my jaw off the ground, pardon myself as I put myself back together. Hadn’t heard anything with sounds like this since early Zeppelin or something out of the classic rock era. I want to say it’s the way it was recorded. You hear the breath, and fuzz, suspension of the notes. All light and bright as if it was recorded on 3 inch analog tape, and shit, maybe it was.

I was tossed an EP from Arthur Starr my new boss at Queen Pacific, this packaged disc landed on my lap track list up and I was told I would be a “track three kind of guy”.

“Heart Of Stone”. That is what was titled as track three. Kind of a badass name I thought to myself. And slowly I cranked the volume up. The song itself starts with a couple bangs. Within moments I caught myself bobbing my head as it really has a natural blues rock element to. After nearly a minute into the song the echos of Jo Krassin vocals come to fruition. Now the song was in full gear, or that’s what I thought. Multiple grooves and verses carry you, like most songs I know. However three and a half minutes in the song took off like a rocket ship. Dylan Miller loosens the high hat and takes the level up with the matching intensity of the squealing Wah Wah pedal. And just like that the panic of the song subsides to an eclectic psychedelic outro.

I would say being this was the first ever Johnny Hoffman and the Residents song I have a privilege to listen to. The song hit. Multiple times I caught myself thinking of Zeppelin or Floyd. And thinking how cool to hear a band do it themselves. Truly refreshing to see how music from our current and past can influence a group or artist.

I can’t be certain which song Queen Pacific will want to release on July 1st. But I will be certain to say after listening to all of the EP it will not disappoint.