The Blakes by Nick Simonsen

Playing with a dirty, swaggering psychedelic pop in the vein of The Stooges, The Rolling Stones, and the Kinks, The Blakes demand a presence with their vintage rock 'n' roll sound and wardrobe. Their sound, while not entirely original, is certainly infectious, and if you live in the Seattle area and listen to KEXP, you've probably gone through a workday with one of their songs stuck on mental repeat.
The band is fronted by the brothers Garnet and Snow Keim. The two have been recording together for most of their lives.

"We used to make tapes ever since I can remember. We'd create these little stories and do the voices and add sounds with a second tape player. Just like silly stuff that kids do," Garnet said in an interview last summer.

The siblings have come a long ways since recoding their playtime onto a cassette tape. Somewhere along their travels (which have included prolonged stops in Maine, Alaska, British Columbia, Los Angeles and Seattle) they recruited the smart and talented drummer Bob Husak, and formed a band which they named after the English poet William Blake.

The Blakes have a growing buzz surrounding them right now. Last year, the band caught the attention of KEXP DJ John (in the morning) Richards, who became a part of their management. Last spring they signed with local label Light in the Attic, which released a Blakes EP in last August, and is re-releasing the bands self-titled full length album (which the band previously released themselves).

The band worked hard to get to where they are now. They independently released three full length albums and two EPs before signing with LITA. Touring extensively they’ve become integral in the Seattle scene.

The new album begins with the songs "Two Times," and "Don't Bother Me," both of which have gotten heavy rotation on KEXP since they were first released some time ago.

"Magoo" is a fast, sweaty hard-rocker with a silly chorus. It's one of two songs which weren't included on the self-released version of the album.

"Modern Man" is a fun stripped down number with a Strokes sounding riff and nicely paired and layered vocal harmonies from the brothers Keim.

"Commit" is the one song on the album which features bassist Snow Keim on lead vocals, which adds an overall depth to the record.

"Run," the other new on the disc, features a choppy guitar riff layered over a swaying keyboard line and is complimented with a Beatlesque vocal harmonies.

Bob Husak's Drumming stands out in the song "Don't Want that Now," which builds from a pared down verse section to a sonic onslaught of a chorus.

"Lintwalk" is slower and more saccharine than the other songs on this record, but like the rest of the album, it's thoughtfully put together and very catchy. The spastic drumming on this track is so tight it sounds like it comes from a machine.

"Vampire," as you might guess from the title, is the darkest sounding song on the disc. The soft pounding baseline is reminiscent of early recordings by The Cure.

"Lie Next to Me" is a sexy straightforward rocker with a Kinks sounding vocal melody. The guitars are crunchy in tone and swaggering in composition.

The disc closes with "Streets" a heavily layered song with a pounding drum and tambourine beat that meshes in perfection with the bouncing baseline. This, along with the opening track, might be the one most likely to inspire dancing from the listener.

I like this album, but I'd rather watch the band perform live. The one gripe I have is with the lyrics, which come out clear and discernable on the album. This matters because many of the lines strike me as cliché or just not very well thought-out, and it takes something away from the music, which itself is amazingly sensible.