100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 59: Red Heart Alarm

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Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, hello and welcome back to our third annual year-end daily countdown, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’re showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about, presented by Verity Credit Union. Follow the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter to stay on top of all the bands featured and make sure to follow Verity on Twitter as well. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician that perhaps you haven’t been turned onto yet, and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the sun yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s musical offering is Seattle band called Red Heart Alarm.  

Red Heart Alarm
Photo credit David Estep/Estepworks

Red Heart Alarm is a Seattle band that drifts easily back and forth between genres ranging from a modern country sound to alternative bands like Live all the way to a sort of grunge sound. The moves are subtle though and they sneak up on you. One minute you think you are listening to alt country and then you hear a melodic groove that is reminiscent of the softer side of the early 90s Seattle sound. The fact that Jack Endino had his ear on the last release is not lost on the music. The production and instrumentation is top shelf stuff.

Red Heart Alarm is a roots rock Alt Country Americana band hailing from Seattle, WA. Their sound marries their native city’s Grunge legacy with the melodic twang of classic Americana/Roots music. The result of this Seattle Rock-Country experimentation are their two albums: White Elephants, released in 2010, and Hammer Anvil Stirrup, released in 2014.

Hammer Anvil Stirrup by Red Heart Alarm, is an unexpected and warm hit to the soul. This latest album, produced by Jack Endino at Soundhouse Studios, secures the band’s signature sound as a pleasant return to Rock at its roots, blended to a vibe of pre-80s, no-gimmick Country flavor.

Red Heart Alarm’s warm tone opens room in your ears for the over-driven solos and beautiful harmonies of dual front men Corey Allred and Jared Monschein. With heavy themes of love, loss, addiction and moving on, perfectly complemented by catchy hooks, witty double meanings and cheery, thoughtful melodies, this album will make you smile about your own heartbreak and feel hopefully anxious to get your heart broken all over again.

While Allred and Monschein are the primary songwriters, they rely on band’s collaborative process to bring each song to fruition. Ranging from the intimate-yet-sweeping “Greendust” to the repeated regret of “Receipt,” to the conflicted, smirking loneliness of “Winter,“ to the sweetly honest songwriting in “Autumn,” the album represents the culmination of years of writing and performing in the Pacific Northwest.

No matter how you decide to label the band, it’s pretty clear they can handle whatever genre they decide to tackle. Give them a listen!

(You can check out Red Heart Alarm on Facebook and you can listen to them at Bandcamp and/or stream the EP below) 


Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days are still open to any Pacific Northwest band interested in submission. If you would like to have your band submitted for a chance to be featured in this segment, consult this link for more information on how you can do so.

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