Joe Ehrbar

Chris Smither

The Magic Circle Mime Co. will accompany the Spokane Symphony on Sunday. Herb Barrett Management photo

For years, Boner Records owner Tom Flynn, who also plays bass, has released albums for some of the most sonically abrasive and deliciously demented bands the underground has to offer. The list includes the Melvins, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Fearless Iranians from Hell, Warlock Pinchers and many others.

Jazz and blues singer Lindell Reason plays Hobart's Lounge on Sunday. As you might expect from a musician in this genre, Reason injects much of his own musical personality and spontaneity into standards. Reason also plays keyboards, A typical Reason repertoire includes such classics as B.B. King's "The Thrill's Gone," "Georgia," "Straight, No Chaser" and "God Bless the Child."

The Seattle music scene saw an unforgettable year in 1991. It was the year Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam rocketed grunge into the mainstream. It was also the year four Emerald City garage punks - singer Doug White, guitarist James Burdyshaw, bassist Mark Ferkingstad and drummer Erik Hildahl - formed the Sinister Six. The band plays Mother's Pub on Saturday.

'I can see why bands always want to go back," said Makers manager Vic Mostly, speaking of the band's recent tour of Europe. "The audiences over there are uncommonly psychotic and very appreciative," Mostly continued. "Playing three encores a night was not unusual."

There'll be an all-ages punk rock extravaganza at the Manito Masonic Temple Saturday at 7 p.m. The bill is made up entirely of Spokane bands, including: Guitarded: A power-pop configuration featuring former Young Brians and Big Feeling members.

So you think the Northwest's music talent has already been exhausted? Think again. The Pleasure Elite, which plays Mother's Pub Saturday, is yet another Seattle band emerging from the underground to begin its industrial-fueled, metal-fortified, thrash-induced rampage on mainstream music.

Just over five years ago, Lazy Susan vocalist Kim Virant wasn't singing for any band. In fact, she wasn't even a singer. "This was a late-blooming venture for me," said the Seattle singer in a phone interview this week. "When I discovered it, it all made sense."

Recently, East San Francisco Bay bands Green Day, Rancid, Samiam, Jawbreaker and face to face have been bombarded with criticism from their hometown punk and anti-corporate rock magazine MAXIMUMROCKNROLL for signing to major labels, selling out, making their videos accessible to MTV and going against everything they once stood for and what punk rock stands for in the name of fame and fortune. The argument is: Punk is not punk when its owned by a corporation. Fortunately for the fragile scene, there's a band, Schlong, which won't succumb to the contracttoting parasites of corporate rock.

Linda Waterfall

Seattle's much-touted a cappella quartet, the Trenchcoats, plays a free concert tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Opera House as part of the Northwest Music Educators National Conference. The Trenchcoats croon a cappella music in the style of the Bobs, Bobbie McFerrin and the Nylons.

Outback Jack's, the downtown hot spot for live music that closed last April, has been reopened by original owner Don Goligoski. This is good news for the local music community. The new Outback Jack's, after undergoing some remodeling, can now hold up to 500 people, meaning the club can function as a major concert venue.

That a band attempts to be different or unique by dreaming up a definition of its sound is usually the first sign the group's music is nothing more than pretentious and recycled mediocrity - like a metal band calling itself a "cranky, progressive blues band." Higher Ground, a four-piece Portland band which plays the Big Dipper on Saturday, came up with its own definition, calling itself an "acoustic-fired backwoods rock" band.

In 1993, Spokane band Funk Buffalo was on the verge of becoming a huge band in this city. That summer, the band released its debut album, which sold well locally, and landed opening slots for some prominent shows like Inflatable Soule at the Off Ramp in Seattle and Hammerbox at Gatsby's and Hamilton Recreation Center in Spokane.

One of the chances you take starting a band is that no matter how hard you work, how well you play on stage or how many fine recordings you release, it doesn't mean people are going to listen. Spokane's Ball of Destruction, which plays Mother's Pub on Saturday, doesn't have it that bad, but the band has endured its fair share of struggles. And then some. The 2-year-old, underrated, guitar pop band still isn't a big draw on the local scene. Typically, the band fills the middle slot on a bill.

It took five years, but the local rock band Limbo Ladds has produced its debut album. Now the power trio begins the daunting process of promoting the self-titled disc, beginning with a gig Wednesday night at the Big Dipper. The album was recorded and produced a year ago by singer/ guitarist Don Larson's father and uncle - Don Larson Sr. (leader of the band the Cynics) and Chris Larson.

During the holidays, I attended a wedding in Alaska. The bride had planned the whole event while attending the Bridal Festival in Spokane last year. That probably sounds like an advertisement, but it's a true story.

It's difficult to survive as a reggae band in this country, much less in the Pacific Northwest, especially since the genre has never been a commercial success. Even when Bob Marley was alive, reggae wasn't a big hit on these shores. Because of this, Bellingham's Jumbalassy has struggled over the years, striving to gain wider recognition in the U.S.