The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: TacocaT

Holiday Fun at the Tractor!

David Schmader — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 11:25:00 -0800

(Tractor) "The Rolling Stones" are the group of young Seattle musicians smart enough to do nothing but cover early Rolling Stones songs. (Genius!) Dancer and Prancer are the beloved seasonal band devoted to surf-rock versions of holiday classics. (Delightful!) Tacocat is the band fronted by Stranger music editor Emily Nokes, who has a way with illuminating "this sounds like this" musical comparisons and whose band sounds like a lusty 21st-century reboot of everything you've ever loved about melodic punk rock. (Fun!) And DJ Mike "Teal Trousers" Nipper is the tight-pantsed man-slut with a better record collection than anyone you know. This show will be so fun.

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Time for Another White Hot Friday Night Line Out Giveaway!!!

Anna Minard — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:24:55 -0700

Woohoo! We were not actually kidding last week when we sort of implied that this might be a regular thing, where we go through our purses/desks/shorts pockets on Friday night and find you cool treasures, then ask you a dumb question so you can WIN THE PRIZE!!! Dedicated to you Line Outers who work late at a desk on Friday nights, or who read the blog on the weekend. Go you!

Also, a bit of Housekeeping: Hey there, last week's winner, carnivorous chicken, wanna contact us to pick up your stuff? Just like Santa, we love giving you free stuff, if you sit on our laps and stay on your very best behavior! Those fries aren't gonna eat themselves!

This week's prize package only contains two items, but one of them is HOT HOT HOT enough to put behind a jump, because BOOBZ. You're welcome! The prize package contains:

ONE (1) pack of glue-on fake nails, French Manicure-style. Oooh, classy! Says music editor Emily Nokes, "Those nails have touched Gary Smith's torso." It's true!

and ONE (1) very special, Spanish-language, lesbian edition card game called, appropriately, "¡SEXO!"

Redeem your prize by leaving the answer to this question, which honors our spirit animal Alanis Morissette, in comments (we'll alert the winner here in comments on Monday, when we sober up again):

What fellow '90s icons played guitar and bass on Alanis Morissette's best-karaoke-song-ever hit "You Oughta Know"?

PRIZE PACKAGE PIC...

GILLIAN ANDERSON
WHITE HOT! Win it!

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Tacocat in Cleveland, Ohio

Derek Erdman — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:54:01 -0700

The sun rises everyday on the mistake by the lake. The murky waters of the Cuyahoga River ooze into Lake Erie, the shallowest and most dangerous of the Great Lakes. The waters mix and then Lake Erie vomits legions of dead carp and steelhead onto it's plastic garbage covered shores. It feels like heaven on the street where nobody lives.

Seattle's best (coffee) Tacocat is currently on a brief east coast tour with Philly's best (cheesesteak) Slutever. After stepping off of a plane into the clutches of the rest of the country's balmy weather, Emily could only remark, "...the hot Philly air makes me feel like I just peed my pants in the best possible way."

There's a pizza restaurant in Cleveland called Happy's, the Yelp reviews aren't exactly glowing. Yelp user Daniel B. ends his review, "VERY GHETTO and VERY HORRIBLE!!!! STAY AWAY!!!" Although I'm from Cleveland, I've never heard of the place until Emily Nokes brought it up over text message, "This Greek salad is mostly just fist sized chunks of feta cheese."

emily nokes

It's important to eat healthy on the road. Though expensive, Babybel brand cheese discs are a natural and convenient snack. Leleh Maupin keeps hers from melting by draping them over the air conditioner vent.

lelah maupin

Aside from rust and people in sweat suits, Cleveland has cats. Here's a photo of one from the 71st Door punk house. I remember the area of 71st and Chester being pretty gnarly. After I ask, Emily describes the area as desolate and dark. There was a band called Liquor Store before TacocaT. We both discussed how they'd be hard to look up on the internet. "HELLO CLEVELAND, WE ARE YAHOO GOOGLE!" I just looked them up, it took five seconds to find them.

EMILY NOKES

Further dispatches from the TacocaT twitter account:

"my favorite was the talk dirty to me challenge where they hooked his dick up to a bone-o-meter"
"why was that guy pointing at our van? Now I'm just worried there's a guy with a hook on the roof or something"
"okay laugh it up right now, because the nicknames 'lumpy' and 'tuna foot' expire today."
"I hate to say it, but this Lisa Frank app is the worst. It's really slow and frustrating and I don't know how work it."
"Should I put this Jersey Shore sticker on my bass or what?"

emily nokes

TacocaT traded a CD for admission into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They brushed their teeth in the bathroom. There's currently a Grateful Dead exhibit at the museum, but not much was said about the visit. What does the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame do with all of the CDs they get as admission? I'm working reception at Sub Pop as I type this, and some guy just asked if he could drop off his band's CD in person. I told him that I would take it and that I don't really have any sort of influence. He told me that he was "old school" and wanted to hand it off in person. He should be coming in shortly. He said it was a "million seller."

emily nokes

Members of TacocaT ultimately enjoyed Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore was deemed the "craziest" city so far. After playing at the punk house, TacocaT & Slutever slept in a ~~building that was once a~~ funeral home. The girl hosting them has a Morrissey tattoo on her arm. "Can I ask her questions about Morrissey?" I texted Emily. She replied maybe later, if there was time. Soon they were all asleep after watching Wayne's World 2. The girl least likely to, indeed.

emily nokes

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TacocaT Van Benefit Thursday Night @ Chop Suey

Derek Erdman — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:47:32 -0700

Seattle's beloved TacocaT had a van debacle during their last tour and there's a plan to raise funds to replace it tomorrow night at Chop Suey. TacocaT will be playing along with Summer Lovers, Boat Party and Chastity Belt. The van that the band bought in haste to get them home from the rest of the tour will also be for sale at the event. I spoke to TacocaT drummer, Lelah Maupin, about the event specifics and what their idea touring van would be.

derek erdman

What happened to your van?
The wonderful, beautiful Honda Odyssey? It was destroyed by Firestone.

What did they do?
They gave us an oil change and a day later we had no oil in our engine and it exploded as we were ascending into a blizzard.

And your mother tried to sue them?
My mom and my step-daddy tried to sue Firestone, but they didn't get very far.

derek erdman

What did you guys do to get home?
We scraped together all of our money in the world to buy our rebound angel, as we call it. It got us home safely.

What can a person expect at the benefit show tomorrow night?
Well, they can expect fun, themes, prizes, parties...hold on, I'm getting another call. (I'm put on hold for three minutes) Are you there? I'm back.

In your opinion, what would be the ideal TacocaT touring van?
Ideally, we would have a brand new Honda Odyssey.

What amenities would be included?
We'd like an iPod jack so we don't have to use tape adapters because those break a lot. Plus enough room for all of our bags and equipment in the back. Maybe another seat so we can comfortably carry a friend or boyfriend or a husband or a roadie or anybody who wanted to come with us. Good gas mileage is essential. The new van doesn't have that.

That's not too much to ask.
Air conditioned and heated seats, but I guess we don't really need that. We were robbed of our van. I feel funny having a benefit show because other people need help, but we need help. A van is important!

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TacocaT Tour Van Breaks Down In Durango, CO

Derek Erdman — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:12:13 -0700

Sometimes heeding all of your own advice can still cause a tour to hit a snag. Such is the current case of TacocaT and their broken van.

emily nokes
"Crummy on the Inside"

The band treated their van (nicknamed Hondyssy) to an oil change at a Firestone in Albuquerque, NM (two stars on Yelp!) before heading toward Utah. A gnarly snowstorm forced them to backtrack to Durango, CO. Stopping there for the evening, TacocaT splurged on a Super 8 motel and spent the night watching Summer Heights High. Four hundred approximate miles between the oil change and sleeping two to a bed at the Super 8.

emily nokes
"Repair Shop Mascot"

When the band loaded into the van this morning, prepared for the haul to Provo, something didn't seem quite right. "It smelled like burning," singer Emily Nokes reported. The band then drove 15-20 minutes up a steep hill, when a loud clicking noise began in the engine, which then stopped. TacocaT's main driver, guitar player Eric Randall, then turned the van around and coasted back to a repair shop. The good news is there was a cuddly repair shop cat, the bad news was the van's engine was toast.

Within the last hour, the band has shelled out $900 for a white ~~Astro Van~~ Aerostar that they found on Craigslist. What will happen next? Will they make it to Provo? Boise? Missoula? Spokane? Seattle?

emily nokes
Durango's Great White Hope

TacocaT would like to "shout out to all of the rental car places that fucking suck and cost $2,000 for two days."

EDIT: TacocaTs report that the new van is an Aerostar, not an Astro Van as earlier stated.

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Look at this Disgusting Wall of Mucus! (And Other Secrets You Should Know About the Seattle Music Scene)

Megan Seling — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:38:38 -0700

MUSICIANS! Look! This week's paper features the Rock-and-Roll Survival Guide, where we shine a light on some of the grimiest, darkest, and most confusing corners of the music industry.

Want to know how to tour without killing a bandmate? Emily Nokes of Tacocat tells you!

Want to hear about all the shitty jobs you might have to endure in order to eat while trying to make it as a musician? Lars Finberg of the Intelligence shares his stories!

Need some tips for drinking at shows without completely ruining your life or reputation? Kelly O knows all the secrets!

Want to get your music played on the radio? DJs from 107.7 the End and KEXP have some tips for you!

There are also informative interviews with record producer Erik Blood, Grammy winner Ishmael Butler, and the Crocodile's talent buyers Melissa Darby and Hunter Motto.

But that's not all: Bree McKenna invades three local practice spaces and uncovers a Seattle landmark even more disgusting than the infamous Wall of Gum. It's a WALL OF MUCUS:

Timothy Rysdyke

See it all here!

TacocaT Nominated For High Times Doobie Award

Derek Erdman — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:20:00 -0800

Word around town is that "Volcano" by local weedsters TacocaT is in the running for Pot Song of the Year by High Times Magazine. In addition, TacocaT will be opening the High Times Magazine Doobie Awards 2012 SXSW Party in March*. I spoke briefly with an anonymous TacocaT to get the scoop on grass and what it means to the band.

How important is pot to TacocaT as a band?
Fun is important to TacocaT as a band. Pot makes things more fun. So somewhat important.

What is the song "Volcano" about?
About the vaporizer of the same name. We were hoping they'd send us a free one, but it hasn't happened yet. Hint, hint: 334 17th Ave / Apartment A / Seattle WA, 98122

What's the best thing about smoking pot?
Getting high. Everything really IS more fun when you're high, or at least when I'm high. I don't want to speak for you.

What's the best way to smoke pot?
Hmmmm, bong or vaporizer. Or apple.

How much does pot cost?
$20 per 1.6 grams, roughly.

How funny is Cheech and Chong?
Moderately funny.

Is pot the best drug?
I think so. I've never tried heroin though. People seem to love that stuff.

When was the first time you smoked pot?
The day before I graduated from high school.

Where were you? What happened?
It was the "senior sleepover" where all the seniors slept at the school the day before graduation. We walked to the end of the football field and i smoked two puffs. I went back to my van and didn't really feel very high.

Do you like Tom Petty?
No. I LOVE tom petty.

Are you good at rolling joints?
Like a B+.

How do you feel about reggae?
I love old reggae. Except Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Toots and the Maytals are wonderful.

Do you often get into fist fights?
Only once.

What are the best varieties of pot?
Hmm... Alaskan Thunderfuck has the best name and is the best weed.

Does everybody in TacocaT smoke pot?
One member takes fake hits, so its hard to say.

Good luck at the weed contest, TacocaT!

*The High Times website doesn't seem to list TacocaT yet, I'm sure they'll get around to it eventually, mon.

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment Cheese Pizza!

Travis Ritter — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:29:00 -0700

What's that I smell? Maybe some burning cheese, a beer-soaked leather jacket, and... Jell-O? Either I left my oven on, or PizzaFest2011 is just one day away. And here you're asking, "What the fuck is PizzaFest?" Well, Bucko, it's kind of like OktoberFest, OzzFest, and OnionFest, just with awesome bands, awesome pizza, and shitty beer. PizzaFest is where you'll find pot-bellied joysey bullies Personal and the Pizzas, over-the-counter diner darlings Shannon and the Clams, slack charmer King Tuff, the not-so-whatever Slutever, and 18 other bands shredding their raddest songs inside the legendary Uptown dive, The Funhouse. These bands, who come from near (Tit Pig, TacocaT, Stickers, Witch Gardens) and far (Los Angeles, Texas, New Jersey, Vermont), also come from death. Recently reunited surf-n-turf munchers Coconut Coolouts will support Personal and the Pizzas for the third year in a row on Saturday, the final night of the three-day long fest, immediately after the pizza eating contest. Additionally, the decomposing toxic basement punk of The Trashies has been resuscitated from a sweet, moldy air these age-old buddies have long inhaled together, and they'll be celebrating the release of their latest CD/LP, Space Jam, as well as kicking off a tour with Shannon & the Clams on Friday.

All 22 bands have been lured by the promise of pizza, booze, and other additional toppings that may come at an extra cost. Challenges have been made (a poll conducted shows that 38% voted for me to win, while only 32% of you voted for last year's champion, Owen Straw, to win). Derek Erdman's pizza art will be displayed. Big Mario's will sell hot, fresh slices. Someone, somewhere on the Funhouse property, will puke (quite possibly me). And you, the garage/punk rock music lover/purveyor of limited edition singles and silkscreened t-shirts, should treat yourself to a slice of something you know you love, a slice of something you haven't heard, a slice of pepperoni, and two slices of cheese. PizzaFest offers plenty of pies to take a bite from.

Day One (cheap date night - $6 cover) comes outta the oven at 8pm tomorrow with TacocaT, Pudding Pops, Tit Pig, Stickers, Apollos, Manic Attracts, and Slutever. Three-day passes are still available from brownpapertickets.com for $25.

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Caperin': Dianetics 2, Back In The Habit

Derek Erdman — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:58:06 -0700

CPRN' SXSW 2011 WRAP UP: I've never been to a "South By" as "sweet" as this one. Having a respite from Drizzleville is such a welcome thing in the dismal month of March. Alas, the Lone Star State offered up mountains of anti-grunge in the shape of solar rayz, tube dresses, breakfast tacos, tacos, BBQ, and a bunch of music showcases presented by clothing companies. Honestly, the whole week was a welcome blur. I can assure you though, when I was watching Thee Oh Sees for the 15th time playing in the back seat of a 1984 Toyota Tercel to me and 437 other people, that's a memory that will be forever etched on my brain-frame. Well, that and when Travis Ritter and I snorted urine off of a person (gender?) who was passed out (dead?) in front of the Arby's on South Congress where Moby was working the counter selling Big Beef 'n Cheddars—geez, I can hardly even contain myself to type the words. I would include a bunch of pictures but they would just be pictures of other people taking pictures with their phones, so I'll go ahead and skip it.

Teenagers must be destroyed.

MUCH MORE AFTER THE JUMP, NATCH. (Unless you are hot-linked, then there is no jump, but you don't care about anything.)

"Knut is a problem bear who has become addicted to human beings," Peter Arras said.

Did you hear the absolutely terrible KNEWS? Knut the polar bear died last Saturday. Even though German zooligist Peter Arras described Knut as, "a psychopath that will never mate," people all over the world were in agony with grief. Do you know who else might be a psychopath who should never mate? Kevin Federline!

PopoZão! PopoZão! PopoZão! PopoZão! PopoZão!

Today is Kevin Federline's birthday. I'm really excited for the day when the children of the generation that K-Fed invented are all growed up and working in banks, etc. I'll be old then, and I'll go in to make a deposit or withdrawal and they'll most likely respond, "Fuck you, old man! Have a nice day!" Then they will punch me in the face and that would actually be a polite greeting because things in the future are going to be terrible, believe me.

Born Judith Darlene Hampton on March 16, 1946.

Speaking of not making sense, have you ever seen J.Z. Knight channel Ramtha? In 1977, a 35,000-year-old man appeared to a woman in a trailer park (no offense intended, I'm a classist myself) and told her that he could "help her over the ditch" (!) and now appears on a regular basis through this woman who has been married six times. Being married six times is a really good thing; it means you're trying! J.Z. Knight lives in a 12,800-square-foot French chateau-style home in Yelm, WA.

THANK GOD FOR The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations

A few weeks ago, Lacey & Ruben & I were watching the Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart and I think we all very much enjoyed it. I've never really listened to this band, save for the song "Heavy Metal Drummer," which seems pretty good. Last week, Susan Rae Miller Tweedy wrote to tell me that she liked my drawings and asked if I would contribute a T-shirt design to an upcoming benefit for the blind. Before I could answer, I received an email from a high school girlfriend whom I was an absolute asshole to. I somehow remembered that she was a Wilco fan, so I designed a T-shirt of a pile of 1972 Volkswagen Beetles and was offered tickets to the benefit show, which I then presented to said ex-girlfriend! I am telling you this story to tell you that it is possible to undo a horrible wrong from your past with some effort. Don't be a jerk, that's for jerks!

Not Yellow / Yellow.

Last week I gave away a bunch of Caperin' buttons for free to people who would sign a contact stating that they would never again eat at Smarty Pants Sandwich Shack. I received well over 40 replies (a triumph!), but I'd like to take this time to apologize to Smarty Pants Sandwich Shack for being so mean. What I said about them was absolutely inappropriate and uncalled for, and if there were such things as olive branches in Georgetown, I'd have the roller-derbying girlfriend of a tattoo artist hoist me on her shoulders to yank one down to offer it to them.*

Where the sidewalk ends in South Park.

Having an affair? Affairs are gross!

I have been spending most of my time lately in a basement making paintings of Steve Pool, Julie Francavilla & crocodiles. I've also been listening to a lot of Stryper, and what a coincidence today is Stryper drummer Robert Sweet's birthday! Birthdays are the best and so is Robert Sweet, who did not play drums on Stryper's newest record, Murder by Pride. HOLY FUCK, "MURDER BY PRIDE"—WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

Here's a man who loves fruit roll ups.

Honestly though (no joke) the whole point of this Caperin' was to introduce you to Dianetics 2: Back in the Habit. If you have a spare 7 minutes, listen to it RIGHT HERE. It makes so much sense to me.

Richard Warren Sears + Alvah Curtis Roebuck = $aving$.

*J/K, April Fool's Day in 12 days.

That's Entertainment.

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A Friendly Last-Minute Reminder From TacocaT

Jason Baxter — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:08:17 -0700

Just got a mass text...Eric from TacocaT says tonight's set at Pony will be the "last TacocaT show for while." Drummer Lelah Maupin is, in keeping with a disturbing local trend, headed to New York.

Surely this band deserves a good hometown send-off, don't you think? And hey, Taco Tuesday is, like, right around the corner, literally.

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2/3rds of a Show Review: TacocaT, Best Coast, Vivian Girls at the High Dive

Jason Baxter — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:24:05 -0800

I went in to last night’s grrl-powered gig at the High Dive expecting two-thirds of a good show. That’s exactly what I ended up getting. I actually bailed, as per my own recommendation in the Up & Coming section, on the Vivian Girls’ set, even though I had designs on sitting through it. It’s not that I find their music particularly bilious or anything—I’m just not a fan of their sound, and, for reasons I’ll get into later, I opted to ditch the congested High Dive crowd early.

On the upside, TacocaT and Best Coast killed it. While admittedly my glomming onto the TacocaT party train is something that’s been long overdue, I was nonetheless spellbound by their set. Their hook-heavy brat-pop formula, with its tubular guitars and insular lyrics, makes for one of the most charming riffs on spunky cascadia I’ve ever heard. It’s hard not to beam at the mere thought of a band with such relatable touchstones (cats, junk TV, palindromes) and lyrics that sound cherry-picked from a messenger bag full of witty localisms. Their set was fast n’ fun, with some new material sandwiched in amongst their established crowd-pleasers. They opened with “Leotard,” and followed it up with one of the aforementioned new tracks, a song about a cat named Oscar who lives in retirement home and can predict the deaths of the people living there (this adorable guy). They played “Baby Tooth” from their split 7” with Ghost Mice, “Reptile,” “Luxury Living,” and “Volcano.” When they tore through “Kevin Costner,” I couldn’t help but wish they’d found enough wiggle room in the verses for some kind of variation on this hilarious Waterworld-related tweet from band member Eric Randall: "you know what I think? I think he has a fish dick and that's why he won't fuck anyone.”

Best Coast took awhile setting up. Guitarist Bob Bruno puzzled the crowd for a bit with some janky attempts at tuning a guitar, then walked offstage and reappeared with a bass. Beth Cosentino, Best Coast’s sole songwriter and signature vocalist, reluctantly informed the audience that Bruno’s baritone guitar had been stolen (!) the night before in Vancouver. And last night was their final stop on tour. Cue the crowd’s sympathetic awwws. Their set ended up being totally solid anyway, despite Bruno having to wing his contributions on bass. Best Coast, like TacocaT, played it safe with their opening track, using poppy standout “When I’m With You,” to buoy their spectators into attentive adulation. To keep things lively (or maybe to compensate for the lack of guitar solos), they performed a laudable take on Lesley Gore’s “That’s The Way Boys Are.” Sometimes it’s a gamble when a band covers something to which their sound is so clearly indebted, but Best Coast pulled it off with style to spare. Their set also included party hats, guest vocals from Kickball Katy, and some rando dudes on tambourine. Like I said, lively.

Seattle ultimately got a pretty idiosyncratic Best Coast set, but all of the inherent promise of the Best Coast sound, which likely spread like gospel over the course of their tour, was on full display. It’s a testament to Cosentino that despite the ubiquity of her broad-stroke musical influences (vestigial traces of which can be heard in everything from The Raveonettes’ mainstream genre-mining, to swampier revivalists like Vivian Girls), she manages to wholly own her sound. Maybe it has something to do with her involvement in more left-field endeavors like Pochahaunted, or her initial teenage rejection of major label contract bait.

More after the jump, including the grisly details on how my night ended.

After Best Coast warpped, I stepped outside with a friend. Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone came storming towards me. To put it mildly, she was not very pleased about my write-up for the night’s show. She called me an asshole and told me to “fuck off.” I’ll admit I might have gone overboard in actively recommending people pass on Vivian Girls’ set. Should I have been so douchey about my distaste for their brand of lo-fi pop? Probably not, but I paid for it with a verbal punk rock bitch-slap.

The thing about Vivian Girls is that they’re an incredibly divisive band (Pitchfork’s review of their sophomore record Everything Goes Wrong opened by saying “there's almost no gray area when it comes to Vivian Girls—people either love or hate this band”), and I happen to be among those who are underwhelmed by the VG output. In the grand scheme of Stranger music crit, I’m in the minority on this position; Michaelangelo Matos praised Everything Goes Wrong while acknowledging their halo of controversy, Grandy has dug on Vivian Girls’ “laconic vocal harmonies” and “bright brash melodies,” and Ari Spool instantly took to the band. But judging by the comments sections of VG-related Stranger content, they’re still causing schisms in the music nerd community. To continue to be so hotly debated, the Brooklyn trio must be doing something right. Whatever that mystery “something” is continues to elude me.

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