STG Presents The Lonely Forest and Telekinesis at Showbox at the Market in Seattle on Friday, November 27, 2009.
 

The Lonely Forest:
Establishing themselves in 2006 as a prime young band to watch as winners of the highly coveted EMP Sound Off! Competition, The Lonely Forest, from the small town of Anacortes, WA, have spent the last few years experimenting with a variety of sounds - from pop-rock to piano driven ballads about a fictional character in the future, the band had the press exclaiming they'd "created a new world of their own, an alternate dimension" and are "poised to be one of Seattle's next breakout acts".

The band also developed quite the resume - recording with famed producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Hot Hot Heat), playing to a packed to capacity crowd at the Bumbershoot Festival, recording multiple in-studios at KEXP 90.3 and 107.7 The End, and playing with a long list of esteemed acts including The Velvet Teen, The Thermals, Appleseed Cast, Mates of State, Viva Voce, Karl Blau, Russian Circles, Maritime, Kimya Dawson, Starflyer 59, and Rocky Votolato.

With their newest release, "We Sing The Body Electric!", released on April 21st, 2009 through Burning Building Recordings, the band has abandoned the experimental rhetoric of their previous release(s) and fully embraced their knack for writing unforgettable and realized pop songs. Led by John Van Deusen on guitar, keys, and vocals, Braydn Krueger on drums, Eric Sturgeon on bass, and re-adding Tony Ruland on guitar, The Lonely Forest have crafted what will surely be one of the top NW releases of the year. As Jack Endino stated, "these guys came out of nowhere and blew my mind!"

Telekinesis:
It's such an impossible thing, at this funny little point in history, to not look back: We're recording every little thing with our cameras that make the little noise like cameras used to make; we're measuring our actual selves against our online selves with hopeful resignation; we're rendering and retouching the record of our lives at every turn. If it can be perfect then let's make it so, goes the wisdom of the moment.
To be fair, there's a certain convenience about perfection. It's easy to wear and see and swallow and enjoy, and it leaves the heart light. It's also totally boring. And though occasionally friendly and welcoming, literal perfection in pop music is never, ever awesome.

Which is where Telekinesis comes in. On record, Michael Lerner is the sole member of Telekinesis, more or less. He writes, sings and plays the songs. His love of Japan knows no bounds, though he's never been. He's a fantastic drummer and a fearless singer. And he does not look back willingly.

I mean, you can forcibly crane his head around in a pinch (mortal danger and Seinfeld reruns qualify). But Michael's songs are ridiculously immediate, and he delivers them with blinding velocity. His approach to music isn't unlike those spikes at the rental car place: Backing up deflates the tires, and not in a pleasant way.

It's reflected in Michael's writing, too, this philosophy of ever- forward motion. These are big-hearted songs, written quickly and from the gut. Telekinesis is the geography of dreams; a school year abroad; love letters from Liverpool coffee shops to the Carolina coastline and Tokyo and everywhere in between everywhere; a road trip waiting to happen. And it's absolutely perfect, but not because anyone went back to fix it. It just happened that way.

Chris Walla, January 2009