Mikki's Top 10 for Total Fest

Mikki Lunda's Top 10-ish bands she's most excited to see at Total Fest XIII:

(in particular order)

1. Greco- Fri. 8pm, Palace
I hear from a reliable source that he wears a full-body-tiger-print-cat-suit, when he plays live.  And he's a bigger shameless self promoter than I am. All of his songs are about how rad he is.
[Editor's Note: You can listen to a couple of his tracks here at the Total Fest band camp.]

2. Obnox- Thurs. 9:15, ZACC
Dane Hansen (Bad Naked) told me "you can't miss this set."

3. Shannon & the Clams- Thur. 10:45pm, ZACC
I love this band's live energy. I've seen them bunches of times and they still made my top 3, that's saying something.

4. Underground Railroad to Candyland- Fri. 9:45pm, Palace
Last month I played with these guys in Pomona, CA. They are a party on stage, super fun to watch and are super tight. (multiple drummers)

5. j sherri- Sat. 12pm, Big Dipper
I'm just going to come right out and say it. These hotties have been my favorite local band for the last 2 years. I'm stoked to see them in the HOT HOT summer sun while licking a melty ice cream.

6. Woolen Men- Thur. 8pm, ZACC
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

7. Toupee- Sat. 8pm, Badlander
My pop idol, Richard Album, was in town last week and he said "in Chicago, anyone with our musical integrity will have this band on their list of favorites". I trust that.

8. Dreamsalon- Fri. 10pm, Palace
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

9. Kitten Forever, Sat. 10:15pm, Badlander
This band does it right. How they figured out how to transition instruments like that, is a straight up miracle.

10. Wimps- Sat. 9:15pm, Badlander
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

11. Dear Rabbit- Sat. 12:35pm, Big Dipper
Love his stage persona, he has a great booming voice and I'm impressed by people who can play 2 instruments at once. (Accordion/ trumpet)

12. Chemical Lawns- Fri. 8pm, Badlander
Another of my FAV locals.

Wowie, I can't wait to see all these amazing bands and more!
See you all there!
- Mikki "internet" Lunda

Check out Kate's Top 10 for Total Fest over at Missoula Punk News and Tom "T. Money" Helgerson's Top 10 over at Weird Missoula.

PANCAKES. PANCAKES. PANCAKES.

I've been a fan of Mikki "internet" Lunda's bands since the shreeks and hammering on sheet metal of Knot Knocked Up about... 8 or 9 years ago. Few bands have driven people from a room like Knot Knocked Up. They made Teenage Jesus seem like a pretty band in lots of ways. Since then, Mikki's had (at least) Fag Rag, Needlecraft and now this group called Pancakes.

If you listen to that set of bands, it's noticeable how much much prettier and melodic her tunes have gotten over time. And that's not to say the music's become commercial, it's just that in the scheme of things, you wouldn't really have picked Mikki from Knot Knocked Up to be in Pancakes. Which is what it is, you know, but I just kind of like that fact.

Part of what's nice about Mikki's approach to making art is that she takes it on the road regularly, and gets the importance of playing for people outside of Missoula. But likewise she's rooted here, has friends and family and works at a good place, and as far as we know, she doesn't have the urge to move away from Missoula, with its perennial young person swap meet vibe and all the rest of our town's bummer aspects. Uh, yeah. But what's the do with Pancakes? Well, it's pretty rooted in 80s technology and that kind of generic 808 drum machine + keyboards deal permeates their jamz. Their absolute hit is called Mutual Ex-Boyfriend. It's a fucking gem of a tune and were they an LA band it might easily have done some time on KROQ, bro.