There is a certain psychedelic thread running throughout The Purrs sound, surrounded by layers of post-punk, '90s Britpop, humid surf-rock, and other strands of outsider elements bleeding in from the fringes. After over a decade of consistently strong work, the band now find themselves perched on a perilous edge with little left to prove. The Purrs don't want you to know exactly how long they've been around. Let's just say that the core members, Jima (bass & lead vocals) and Jason (guitar) have been creating music together in Seattle under this moniker long enough to legally order a whiskey straight up from any bar in Canada. Liz (guitar) signed on nearly a decade ago, and Dusty (drums) has been in the ranks about 3 years. The band has recorded five full length albums, a couple eps, and released several singles under numerous independent labels. Their latest full length, Destroy the Sun (Produced by Johnny Sangster) may just be their strongest work yet. The opening title track succinctly captures what the Purrs do best: mixing slash-and-burn guitars with hooky melodies and an awestruck sense of wonder. “In An Unknown Field” is a surprising stew of early U2 and Suede, while “Here For So Long” plays like a long-lost Rolling Stones ballad. “A Lifetime Of Wrong Turns” chugs along with an undercurrent of upbeat self-deprecation, and “What Ever Happened To Billy Boy” closes the album with a wistful ode to a lost friendship. With Destroy the Sun, the Purrs offer a compelling reminder that they really ought to be on any discerning music fan's radar.

By distorting hard boiled film and classic instrumental music through a dark, overcast lens, Diminished Men refocus their influences into something entirely unique. Their jagged, hard-charging approach evokes images of slit jugulars and accelerated heart rates, all the while swathing you in a blissful claustrophobia. Drawing elements of Link Wray, Morricone's dissonant horror scores, gritty noir and Joe Meek's sickly productions, as well as the provocative imagery of filmmakers like Wim Wenders and Jean-Pierre Melville, synthesizing them into something truly organic and original.

Seattle’s VibraGun mixes the hard-driving shimmer of early 90's british alternative with hips and swagger that would make Marc Bolan proud then slingshots the whole payload heavenward in a blast of cosmic rocketfire. Following the weird noise pop of their first EP, their 2014 eponymous full-length was engineered and produced by Evan Foster (Boss Martians, Dirty Sidewalks). The songs are rife with massive riffing, narcotic lyrics and midnight-drive adrenaline in songs such as “Send Me to Dream,” and was ranked by Huffington Post UK in their top 20 albums of the year.