Song of the Day: Weed - Silent Partner

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of 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. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Silent Partner” by Weed from the 2013 album Deserve on Couple Skate Records.

Weed - Silent Partner (MP3)

Apparently, grunge isn't dead. Even in the Northwest, you'll hear kids these days using the term freely and without scorn, like it's not a dirty word or doesn't encapsulate all that went wrong with alternative music in the early 90's. But we have to remember that their grunge isn't our grunge. To them, it's fuzzy and loud and really just a way to describe the buzz-saw scorching that every musician wants to make at some time in their lives. Vancouver band Weed's soon to be released debut LP, Deserve, is full of feedback-laden, thickly layered fuzz -- and thankfully not the stoner drone rock or hippy jam band their name might imply. Even more thankfully, the young musicians have listened to as much My Bloody Valentine as Nirvana, and certainly quite a bit of Dinosaur Jr. to boot. The result isn't a re-hash but rather a fresh look and probably a better understanding of what actually made music of the past cool.

Today's featured song, "Silent Partner", is the perfect example of this potent combo as viewed through a fresh, clear lens (rather than the scarred yellowed cataracts of those of us old enough to think of Mudhoney as a young band). The song's slowed down choruses in particular recall Kevin Shields' sonic warping, but the guitar jams that follow are heavy Mascis and Cobain inspired bliss. It's as if Kurt's professed love for MBV produced a baby that's now old enough to drink... or, in Washington State, legally smoke weed. (Hey, we had to make at least one "weed" joke... at least we didn't say how much you "deserve" "weed"). Actually, you definitely don't deserve this album at all. You gotta find it and buy it when it comes out in September, and see them live whenever you can.

Weed doesn't have any shows currently scheduled, but check the band's website for (sporadic) updates and listen to a few older tunes on their Bandcamp page. For now, here's another song called "Set Me Back" from the forthcoming album: