100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 37: The Little Ships
Please check out Verity Credit Union, our great partner in the 100 Bands in 100 Days local music showcase.
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, get ready for our sixth annual year-end daily local music showcase, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’ll be showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about. For the fourth year in a row, the showcase is once again presented by Verity Credit Union.
Make sure you are checking the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter on a daily basis to stay on top of all the bands featured and be sure to follow Verity and NW_Music_Scene on there. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the spotlight yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s featured act is The Little Ships.
About the band:
Back in February of this year today’s featured band released their follow up to 2016’s epic 9-song collection called Alone Together. Like the first album we became attached to it instantly and it still gets played a lot around here. Check out the song below and you’ll see why we like this band so much.
Our own Ethan Barrons dug into the album and here’s some of what we had to say in our review:
The Little Ships are a musical collective based in Seattle and Shakespeare’s birthplace. While the green light shines steady and clear for collaborative involvement, The Little Ships are a quartet fronted by singer Ty Willman, multi-instrumentalists Kathy Moore and Mike McNamara, with Erin Tate on drums. Their sound pulls from a lyrical folk-pop standard, often polished with brass and moody flourishes.
“March XX” begins Like Shadows with quiet steps. The instrumental piece drifts, settling in the spaces between sounds. “Hungry for the Blues” abandons the experimental unfurl for piano driven melodicism and rhythmic brilliance. Singer Willman sounds prophetically seasoned, wielding words and nuance without over selling. “Pedals in the Meadow” use of static, sustained electric guitars vibrate steps for Willman’s voice to elevate and punctuate, particularly on the infectious chorus.
Still holding thread from his 90’s hard rock output (Green Apple Quick Step), Willman’s previous backdrop solidifies as The Little Ships unfasten. The harrowing guitar notes on “Sky” pummel the loam, while Willman’s aerodynamic voice skirts footprints. This succinctness carries throughout Like Shadows with frequent glints of patience and grace. “Throw It All Away” unpacks this deeper by use of ghostly piano strikes, delicate brass blares, and Willman’s sorrow filled pleading. Trumpeter Bill Jones rounds out the nod to relationship mishaps with a jittery, early morning reprieve.
The remaining half on Like Shadows, fleshes out, often revealing brokenness missed by the gorgeous fluidity The Little Ships play with. The indecipherable conversing on “Rare Birds” cloaks a driving mystique, pulsing along Tate’s clearly defined cadence and Moore’s austere, post-rock guitar sound. Lyrically, “Laundry Room” is a drab kiss on the cheek, however reaches poetic as brass notes begin to ooze forth. The piano led balladry on “Bound to Break” maybe the most telling song collected. Equal parts heart tug and tear, The Little Ships frame their musicality through melancholy and a penchant for lush musical declarations.
Listen:
Find the band at:
Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days are still open to any Pacific Northwest band interested in submitting. If you would like to submit for a chance to be featured in this segment, consult this link for more information on how you can do so.
A huge shoutout to Verity Credit Union for doing so much for the music community and for being such a great partner.
As an added bonus this year, House Of Cannabis will be playing the featured bands in each of their three Washington locations.
