September 27, 2013

We first heard of this band in 2011 as we were getting ready to head to Seattle for Bumbershoot – I was waiting patiently online to nab tickets to see a special live radio recording with Urge Overkill when the word went out about one last festival radio session, some Seattle band with a semi-precious name. But the tickets were free, I picked up a pair and clicked on the video to see what I’d gotten into.

I was hooked immediately.

Their afternoon session at the Bumbershoot studio was fantastic – hipster soul with bite for a friendly, hand-waving crowd. Still, we wondered how the band would sound on a nightclub stage without that red recording light on.

We finally got to see Pickwick in a club environment two years later, and they ripped the place apart. They’ve finally released a full record and have been touring for the better part of the year, and that night in DC they steamrolled the crowd – the loudest crowd I’ve heard at the Rock and Roll Hotel. I still haven’t heard the band on the radio or spotted a video, but somehow the word’s getting out here on the East coast.

Their newest stuff has more of a speedy edge to it, like they’ve moved from 1968 Detroit to 1975 NYC. They closed the set with a cranked-up cover of Pump It Up, icing the cake.