May 2025 - Rock Oracle

May 30, 2025 Jason Shrum

The Journey with Inclement Weather Department

I met Cam, Joey, Trevor, Brian, Connor and TJ before even knowing that they were a band. I co-owned a small batch brewery in north Seattle, in a neighborhood know as Ballard (don’t let anyone tell you it was Fremont). About 2 blocks up the road, in Fremont, sat an unmarked building, with no windows and no plaque out front even though it was once the home of Reciprocal Records until the early 1990’s. Why is that important? Well, it is where Nirvana, along with producer Jack Endino laid down the band’s first album, Bleach. Other bands like Soundgarden, Death Cab For Cutie, Green River and Tad, among others, would also record here. I didn’t know this at first and I soon realized that I near a pretty special place in music history.

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May 27, 2025 Cretin

Metallica Causes Quake

I had never heard of Metallica, and this, their second album was my first exposure. I scanned through the album in my headphones while another tune played across the airwaves. Probably Deep Purple – they were my “go to” at that time. As a DJ in the 80’s you sampled an album by lifting and placing the needle ten times and hearing the beginning of each song. The first one to catch my attention was “Trapped Under Ice.” Harder than most stuff I listened to, but it was fresh, aggressive, and damn good music. It became my theme song for that show, and eventually was my opening song every Friday night. It seemed the perfect segue from the guitar-laced classic rock played before my shift started.

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May 20, 2025 Jason Shrum

Billy Idol & Joan Jett Still Crushing It

Billy Idol followed about a half hour after Joan and her Blackheart mates finished their set. Idol, now 69, also looked fantastic and I wondered how he would sound. I have been a long-time fan of both musicians since I was about 12 years old. I knew about Runaways and was also listening to Billy’s former band Generation X thanks to the older kids that I knew when I was in middle school. Again, these formations broke-up long before I was listening, but I had catching up to do.

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May 16, 2025 Carson Webb

Fontaines D.C. w/ Jadu Heart @ The NorVa

Diva-Sachys vocals were SO dreamy against the heavier guitar riffs in this song. In ‘Mild to Moderate Pain’ there was a heavier use of drum/beat machine which again, really helped you get lost in this melancholic setting they created as you quite literally feel every beat go through you no thanks to how close we were to the speakers. ‘Metal Violets’ is already one of their faster paced songs without being too in your face but in a live setting you can see it’s one of their favorite songs to play as their energy, especially in the ending breakdown, really amps up. Long story short: these guys are under appreciated and deserve their roses.

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May 10, 2025 Jason Shrum

Spinning The Black Circle Of Life

I was beyond thrilled that I was in the right place at the right time to complete this journey of mine. I still have my Lollapalooza ticket from 1992 and I was sure to get an actual ticket from this show as well (it’s in the mail-hopefully). I write about many shows, as I go to a lot of concerts, but this one rang special. I do not know if I will ever see the band live again, but I got to see them when they were just starting out and now, I have visited them as one of the biggest bands in the world. I am glad we all got to live this long and navigate this floating rock together.

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May 6, 2025 Jason Shrum

There is an Assassinate Attempt Being Made on Public Media

Several years ago, in Seattle I discovered Independent Radio (and yes, I am capitalizing because it’s important), funded by the listeners, and it changed my life for the better. That radio station was KEXP and it became my everything. DJs can play whatever they want, any theme, without algorithms or pay-to-play formats. They are both educational and spin a heavy rotation of local music as well as classic indie gems. I had never heard anything like it before. You might catch Public Enemy, followed by Joni Mitchell and then some small independent artist follows that track. Each radio host did their own thing as well. John Richards was the host that I first caught onto, and his music knowledge floored me. I like to think of myself as having a refined palate of sound logged in my craw, but this dude buried my grasp of music, and I learned so much from him. I am forever indebted. I got to meet him once and as I trembled terribly inside, I think I played it cool.

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May 5, 2025 Cretin

RIP Mike Peters – Love, Hope, Strength Defined

I slipped “68 Guns” onto the turntable, and my musical life changed forever. The song is filled with slick guitars and powerful rhythms, but the key was this long-haired Welshman belting out the killer vocals. Mike Peters was it! Raw, passionate vocals that made the listener take notice, and the lyrics were great. I remember that moment in the dingy WUVT studio, and the power of that music as if it happened yesterday. Mike Peters and The Alarm helped me slip into this new Modern Rock / New Wave world where I soon dug into their peers: REM, The Cure, Pretenders, etc… I stuck with the DJ gig, and it made me a bunch of money, and directly led to me meeting my wife.