Sir Coyler & His Asthmatic Band

A weird wind is blowing from Seattle, funneling down from Capitol Hill through a basement recording studio in the Denny Triangle and back out again, fraying the warm, comfy corners of the city. Isaac Loves You, Especially You bottles the gale, collecting 14 tiny and not-so-tiny explosions of new rock ’n’ roll music made here and now.

A few threads conjoin these songs: Each was recorded in the brightly painted sunken bunker of a studio known as BLDGs. Accessed via the no-man’s-land parking lot behind Re-Bar, BLDGs (say “buildings”) is the incense-scented kingdom and full-service laboratory of Aaron C. Schroeder, a Texas-born musician, producer and audio engineer who radiates a voracious appetite for the act of creating. Complicit with the bands on the compilation, Schroeder’s offering Isaac Loves You as a free download minus any physical collateral, like an inside joke everyone’s expected to figure out because it’s worth it. This means you.

Also, every entry is fucking grand. Not necessarily in scope—intimacy, subtle humor and low-overhead guitar are most prevalent—but in energy, songwriting chops and smarts. Schroeder’s production clears the way, uniformly crisp and professional. Peppy, sticky tunes are hard enough to come by. Executed at this level, by 14 different bands, all recorded over the last 12 months, they add up to a bellwether.

Possibly accidental but certainly prescient, Isaac’s opening number signals the sea change: Changes are coming whether you like it or not. Changes happen for a reason and either you get it or you don’t.

Thank you, Detective Agency, for saying—singing—what everyone’s thinking, and for doing it with racy boy-girl harmonies and sweet guitar. Changes in hierarchy, in album format, in listening habits. Good things. Good song.

A few songs later, Charms dives into “Open Wide” with a cavernous tom drum hit followed by underwater vocals and woozy, Leslie-spun keys. Death Metals expounds on “The Saint and His Works,” at seven-and-a-half minutes the compilation’s longest composition, a droning groove slinking under assertive alpha-male vocals. Contrast that with Childbirth’s clever lesbian sex jab “How Do Girls Even Do It” at one minute twenty-six.

Further garage-rock glory by Killer Ghost, Sir Coyler, Sharkie—bands whose names I’d never heard two weeks ago, whose music I’ve replayed every day since. Guitar-rock balladry by the Torn ACLs. Sky-grabbing synth-pop by Sharkie (“Your face is a braille poem/I trace with my fingers”). Toilet-bound scuzz-punk from the Dumps. With its bouncy tropical pop, Week of Wonders stands alone among grinding rock ’n’ roll; word is they’ve disbanded upon the relocation of a member to New York. Wishbeard, one of my favorite finds of last year, closes with “Strawberry ’69,” playing the elegant line of least resistance through a sinuous math-rock bramble.

Where do these bands come from? How do they exist in an overpriced, over-stimulated city? How is rock ’n’ roll relevant in 2014? Some sort of magic, and Aaron Schroeder’s BLDGs is the conduit. Isaac Loves You corrals a young underground teeming with talent and ideas and determination. It rocks start to finish. It will give you hope.

BLDGs bands will play free shows at Everyday Music on Capitol Hill starting 6 p.m. every Saturday in March. Check bldgsrecording.com. Pictured above Detective Agency inside BLDGs studio. Photo by Aaron Schroeder. - City Arts Magazine

"Kickstart the dancefloor at your next late-night-drunk-in-the-kitchen house party with Sir Coyler’s lovable bad vibes. Taken from the trio’s just-released EP, “Charades” cloaks an elemental backbeat, thrubbing bass, wiry guitar and indecipherable vocals in just enough enticing menace. Ditch the inhaler—these guys are sick." - City Arts Magazine

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Sonic Reducer host Brian Foss.

Brian’s pick for today is “Christmas Asthma Attack” by Sir Coyler & His Asthmatic Band from their 2015 self-released single.

Sir Coyler & His Asthmatic Band – Christmas Asthma Attack (MP3)
Sir Coyler & His Asthmatic Band are a Seattle band Brian Foss likes and respects alot – their 2014 album “Distractions” is way underrated. When he asked them to help with the info KEXP shares about them this is what he got. He still loves the band very much, and thinks the song they shared is pretty damn neato:

SC/AB was a scrappy project from late 2010 to mid-2014, it took a break, and then relaunched in 2015 as provocateurs of surf-punk/slop-boogie/caveman-blues/big-jungle-beat. Chris, Tracie and Skyler head down to San Diego in March to record a bunch of songs at Earthling Studios, perhaps something will get released next year.

Sir Coyler & His Asthmatic Band have two shows coming up soon – on January 1st at Tim’s Tavern and then on January 14th at the Funhouse. Find out about those and more shows to follow on their Facebook page. - KEXP