Tonight marks the return of one-time Seattlite Ollie Byrd to our soggy stage.

Formerly bassist/singer for local indie-proggers Yeek Yak Air Force, Ollie has spent the past couple years in NYC, writing/recording his own songs and assembling a band. His current incarnation is less bombastic than Yeek Yak, exploring a more haunting, mournful indie-rock while managing to avoid sad-bastard territory with well-placed explosions of epic righteousness. Ollie’s an engaging performer who doesn’t take himself too seriously but has ultimate respect for the history of rock-n-roll. Plus he’s got the official endorsement of Gibby from the Butthole Surfers, so you know he’s on to something.

(the MySpace audio player is fucking up right now, but you can hear frustratingly short snippets on the song-purchase interface.)

Also on the bill is Amateur Radio Operator (with old YYAF guitarist Mark Johnson) and Pufferfish who recently lost longtime backbone drummer James V. Smith (he relocated to L.A. to play with Film School) so it will be interesting to see how their hoedown sound might have changed.

SUNSET TAVERN
Pufferfish
Amateur Radio Operator
Ollie Byrd
9pm, $6