Green Magnet School Finally Makes It To The Northwest

It’s kind of hard to believe that Boston band Green Magnet School was signed for a few years to Seattle label Sub Pop and never once set foot in the Pacific Northwest.

“This is our first time,” said guitarist/vocalist Tim Shea from a stop in Arizona last week. Green Magnet School plays the Big Dipper on Sunday.

You’d think the band would have made Seattle a regular stop.

“You’d think,” he agreed.

Now as the band’s relationship with the label has ended, Green Magnet School will lay down its assault in its Northwest debut.

Green Magnet School, whose evolving hard-hitting sound, fueled by dissonance, noise, thrash, postpunk and even industrial, spent about three years on Sub Pop. For the label, the band yielded a phenomenal debut album called “Blood Music” and a split EP with electronic noise wizard Six Finger Satellite.

Its releases were all well-received and highly touted, so much so that Green Magnet School seemed destined for the big time. Then, quite suddenly, Sub Pop forgot about its sonically abusive treasure.

“Sub Pop signed all these bands all at the same time and they just kind of lost track of who they had signed,” recounted Shea. “Then, they lost interest in some of the bands they had signed.”

For example, when the band delivered a finished EP called “Revisionist,” the label decided against releasing the recording because it was “too out there.”

Another band that was considered “too out there” by Sub Pop’s standards was the noise trio Rein Sanction.

The Brighton, Mass., independent label Sonic Bubblegum ended up putting out “Revisionist.” The same label released Green Magnet School’s blistering long-player “Illuminatus” last spring.

Although the band misses the distribution machinery Sub Pop had, Shea and his band seem content with Sonic Bubblegum.

Spokane’s Crudlers, which features members of Velvet Pelvis, Guitarded and Nice World, opens.

Music starts at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $4.

Elsewhere in the night

Downtown restaurant Fugazzi, 1 N. Post, has resumed live music Thursday nights. Guitarist Nathan J. VandeVeer will perform Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. through December.

VandeVeer delivers mainly classical music. But he works other styles, such as the blues, ragtime and folk, into his music.

Reservations are recommended. Call 624-1133.

Seattle rock band 50 Paces will sandblast the walls of Outback Jack’s with its raw, bruising music tonight.

The two-year-old band has made the road its home since its inception. Constant gigging has resulted in one of the most solid and tight sounds around.

50 Paces recently recorded its debut CD. At the helm was producer Mike Bosely.

The album, currently untitled, will be out in a couple of months.

Music starts at 9:30 p.m.