Throw Me the Statue
"Throw Me the Statue started as Scott Reitherman's solo project, but has since grown into a five-piece band boasting four-part harmonies, melodica, and glockenspiel on top of the regular combo of guitars and drums. Their bright sound has hints of Of Montreal, the Microphones, and the Promise Ring, and they're fast becoming known for energetic live shows where band members play musical chairs—each taking a turn at various instruments throughout the set." (Eric Grandy, The Stranger)

The Pica Beats
"The Pica Beats accent their sweet, twee songs with prerecorded percussion and live sitar." (Eric Grandy, The Stranger)

"Their tight compositions of Neutral Milk Hotel–inspired orchestras are sure to make you feel warm, even if they cater slightly to a more melancholy state." (Megan Seling, The Stranger)

Common Market
"For Common Market, RA Scion's lyrical delivery hangs and shuffles with an even, clean, and weaving pentameter. The beats and raps pontificate on and navigate through a hedge maze of political, religious, and philosophical pleadings. Listening to enough Common Market could make you do something like vote or study or read the paper or do good." (Trent Moorman, The Stranger)

Cancer Rising
"Featuring DJ TilesOne and MCs Judas and Gatsby, the veteran crew spans the spectrum of NW styles but keeps it cohesive. A little angry, a little goofy, hard-rocking, deep-funking—Cancer Rising has one foot in the scene's roots and the other somewhere totally original." (Jonathan Zwickel, The Stranger)

The Saturday Knights
"The Saturday Knights aren't just any kinda hip hop act; they're a party band that specializes in hip hop, among other things. Combining banging drum samples and big, loud riffs with garage rock trashiness and the old-school desire to slam dunk the hooks, the group is loose enough to get laughs and slick enough to slide between genres." (Jennifer Maerz, The Stranger)

Truckasauras
"Truckasauras craft compelling yet playful techno tracks armed with an arsenal of electronic noisemakers—vintage Roland drum machines, synthesizers, a first-generation Game Boy. The band's sense of humor comes through during the live set when they perform in front of projections of classic WWF matches and monster-truck rallies." (Eric Grandy, The Stranger)

Sleepy Eyes of Death
"Sleepy Eyes of Death are as much a visual experience as they are an aural one. At live shows, carefully placed spotlights fade in and out of glowing red, blue, and yellow, while two smoke machines fill the room. The music shifts from intense and chaotic to fluid and melodic—live drumming and guitar pound through electronic atmospheres created by vintage analog synths and rare vocoded vocals." (Eric Grandy, The Stranger)

Past Lives
"Past Lives excise the pomp and bombast of late period Blood Brothers to reveal a lithe, rhythmically slithering postpunk animal." (Eric Grandy, The Stranger)

Pleasureboaters
"Though it might be indefinable, their sound is certainly succinct. The songs feel too well composed to be experimental and too in the moment to be at all planned. Some carry a dance-heavy backbeat while others swing more loosely, and they almost all have a moment of climax that reaches brain-blowing proportions. Claudon's bratty vocals bring the familiar bite of Mclusky, but their rhythms are more chaotic than the defunct Welsh band—the music is heavier and faster with a celebratory vibe that just begs to be performed in front of a live audience." (Megan Seling, The Stranger)