Comet shows, island voyages, and the upcoming record

ubik.s been playing in the Pacific Northwest for years now... and we've never visited the islands.  That's getting fixed, proper and soon-- we're heading to Whidbey Island to play Rob's House of Love this Friday with a ton of bands (many of them Beermetal alumni).  This is the spot where we usually post the show listings, but the band list is long enough to overtake the writing, so we'll give you the poster and the link to the show page, just to keep the connective tissue in place.

Friday, September 16th

Rob's House of Love!
...on Whidbey Island
see our shows page for full details

Of course, many Seattlites can't make it out to Whidbey Island... and we get that... so we are also playing next week at The Comet.  This is an odd and exciting show for us, leaning hard on the performance side of the live show, with fun and interesting bands we've never played with before.

This is absolutely one not to miss

Wednesday, September 21st

ubik. @ The Comet Tavern
w/ The Fabulous Downey Brothers,
& Shitty Dudes,
& Airpocalypse

There's more on the ubik. horizon: the new record is at the pressing plant, so everything is happening (yay!) and we're looking forward to getting it out and into the world.  Also, we're heading to Portland soon-- it's been too long, and we're heading south in October.

Stay tuned...

This Saturday!

Phew... this has been some kind of week. We played with the metalheads on monday, with the punks on wednesday, so we're closing out this week with a house party. We're down on Eastlake for this one, and it looks like it'll go sort of late, so it'll be a hell of a bash.

And, hey: we haven't played a house party in a while, and we've always liked playing them.

Saturday, August 13

White Trash House Party
ubik. @ 2820 Eastlake Ave E (map)
w/ Weekender (Oakland),
& Party Tribe Trolls,
& Airpocalypse

Metal Madness, Journeys to Oly, and House Parties

Whoa... that just snuck up on us-- if you're reading this now, get your ass to the 2 Bit pretty quickly, because we're going on tonight. We always, always give more notice than this (and we've been promoting the show on Facebook), but the homepage blog slipped past us.  Sorry about that.

Monday, August 8th

Monday Metal Madness
ubik. @ the 2 Bit Saloon
w/ Blood of Martyrs,
& Panzergod,
& Elks Blood
$5 - 21 and over

Then we're traveling south--  we've never played a show in Olympia before, and this is going to be an incredible exploratory journey for us.  ubik. has been through Oly, we've stopped there for food on other southbound journeys, and we've heard tales of people living in the town... but we've only seen empty streets in downtown Olympia (with the exception of that one guy on the sidewalk who was yelling at the sky).  It's going to be exciting to see a crowd in Olympia... we like playing places we haven't been before.

Wednesday, August 10th

ubik. @ Fou'w'l Farms
        6646 Sexton Dr,
        Olympia WA
w/ Spracta Snut Skallar,
& Crop,
& weekender,
&  Ninjas with Syringes
Music @ 7:00

...and (oh yes, there's more) we're playing an Eastlake house party on Saturday as well-- this is kind of a big week for us.  We'll get you more details on the Saturday thing when we can, so stay tuned.

We're goin' camping!

That's right, it's Beer Metal time once again.  The list of bands is wild and impressive, the Beer Metal Olympics will be off the hook, the scenery's gorgeous, and the summer season is begging you to do something like this.

See you there!

Working through a financial slump

That's pretty cool looking, yes? The painting held in roughly the spot Michelle's head would be is the cover of our new record, A Hideous Triumph of Form and Function, courtesy of Joe Vollan.  The one hitch here is that... well... ubik. doesn't actually have any money to get the thing pressed.  We want to put out the CD, but these things take funds... so... please stand by while we deploy The Button.

We are now deploying The Button.

The Button has been deployed.

The record will come out, no doubt, but if anyone feels like contributing, PayPal will catch whatever you throw ubik.s way.  First we have to press the CD, but we want to publish some vinyl of this one, as well.

Stay tuned, and we'll keep you posted about the release.

Northern U - Overtaking The Ave on Saturday

Oh boy, we've been looking forward to this one-- spirits are up, the sun's out, summer's here... this sounds like the right time to go overtake the Galway.  Though most days are pretty good Galway days, this Saturday has more on offer than just their front porch and cheap beer-- we've got a hell of a show.  Not only is this a great lineup that will rock the glasses off the tables, but we've got bands the play fast and loose with the traditional definitions of what it means to be "a punk band" or "a metal band."  This one is not to be missed.

Saturday, July 9

ubik. @ The Galway Arms
w/ 7 Year Old Blind Girl
& Burning of I
& Numb
$5 - Show at 9:00

Out of Town (and back)

We're travelling north, which is something we don't do all that often, so if there's any ubik.people up in Everett, we'll be visiting you this sunday-- it's Josh Stallsworth's (DWIght Powers) birthday, and we're heading up to celebrate... it'll be a bash.

Sunday, June 19

ubik. @ Tony V's Garage
w/ 7 Year Old Blind Girl
& Cake n' Bowls
& Gutter Gourmet

And, if you're not Everett-bound, we're back in Seattle almost immediately, setting up at The Funhouse on Tuesday.

Tuesday, June 21

ubik. @ The Funhouse
w/ Obol
& Terror Eyes (TX)
& Moya

Back from break

Heading home from practice at Chophouse last week, after trying to figure out how we were going to re-emerge in June (and not quite sure how it was going to go,) someone was yelling from the practice space's top floor windows-- Slave Traitor nearly-literally dropped a gig in our lap.  Suddenly, our comeback show was set. Yay!

Thursday, June 2
ubik. @ The Highline
w/ Slave Traitor
& SinDios
& Evangelist
Show at 9:00

Down time is anything but

I know, I know... no ubik.shows booked.  With the upcoming release of the new record, A Hideous Triumph of Form and Function, we're feeling ambitious: it's time to dig in, keep to ourselves for a bit, and write some new songs.

This always takes work and time.  ubik.songs can veer towards the complex (not always, but it's been known to happen) and it takes time to work out all the changes and get these weird little contraptions assembled, living, and moving under their own power.

...and, hey-- so far so good.  We've been working, writing, jamming, and figuring our some new songs.  The consensus was two months, so we'll be taking April and May for this under-the-hood band stuff and pop back up in the world in June.

See you then.

Making Sundays Worthwhile

Sunday has been scientifically proven to be the most couch-bound day of the week... well, ubik. doesn't believe in couches (of the four of us, only Joel owns one, and it recently tried to kill him,) and we're joining an excursion to make Awesomeness happen this Sunday. Head to the Josephine-- there's tons of fun to be had, we're joining Same Sex Dictator and Carrion Cathartid, and this is the 2nd (I think... does tour kickoff count?) stop on  Yellowthief's tour.

Sunday, March 27

ubik. @ The Josephine
w/ Same Sex Dictator
& Yellow Thief
& Carrion Cathartid
Show at 7:00

This Friday: St Patty's Recovery Show

St. Patrick's day is on Thursday, so we're playing the after-party: The Galway Arms is a default destination for this holiday, and when you're finally shaking off the previous night's revelry, we're setting up for an insane show in the newly remodeled pub (new sound system too!  woo!)  It's a Friday, you'll be recovered and well enough to be out when the show kicks off at 9:00 (and this one really starts at 9:00), and it's going to be one hell of a show.

Seriously-- we've got a weird one for you.  We're used to being the strangest band in any line-up, but this show features saxophones, a baritone guitar, and lots of guys in dresses.  Ponder that for a second...

okay.  We'll see you there.

Friday, March 18

ubik. @ The Galway Arms
w/ Mountainss
& The Mother's Anger
& Prawnyxx

Free show on Thursday

The Eastlake Zoo Tavern occasionally puts on free Thursday shows-- we've been meaning to do one of these for a while, and ubik.s finally on a Zoo Tavern bill.  These shows are notoriously awesome, we have a good lineup for the night, and it's been a while since we did a free one, so this is a can't-miss.  Free shows are cool like that: you always get more out of them than what you put in.

Thursday, February 24
Zoo Tavern
w/ Throne of Bone
& Future Kill
Free - 8:00

Summoning Flames

It looks like ubik.s in need of a new bass cabinet... because (has this ever happened to you?) our Ampeg 8x10 actually burst into flames.  We were playing a show on Christmas, and, as Joel plugged in and checked his sound for the set, we went through the classic stages of Speaker 'Splody:

• Um, what's that smell?
• Did you guys turn on a fog machine?
• Hey-- it's coming from your speakers!
• Holy shit!  Fire!

Then we hauled a box the size of a refrigerator outside, removed  the speaker, and pulled out hunks of flaming insulation.

What's strange about this is the Ampeg 8x10 is one of the most common bass cabinets in the world: these things are everywhere.  They're heavy as hell, but they practically live forever-- these suckers get passed from bassist to bassist and sold and resold so often it's a wonder Ampeg still makes them.  You'd think the world would be at the Cabinet Saturation Point by now.

Since none of ubik.s amps are super-powerful (no crazy 1000 Watt, circuit-blowing, speaker melting monsters), our ability to make speaker cabinets into incendiary devices is probably based on spooky supernatural powers. 

ubik.s going to Burning Man

Reportedly, there's a dearth of live music at Burning Man... so ubik.s working on fixing the problem. We're assembling a camp of bands and like-minded revelers to caravan down to the desert with us in August, because the gospel of variety needs to be spread, and it seems like the Burners are in desperate need of a camp that  bumps something other than dub-step.

A meeting for this illustrious project will be held at The Highline on Saturday, February 12th, at 2:00PM, so you can grab some lunch and a drink.  We'll all hunker down and work out the whos, hows, whys, and wherefores of the caravan and the camp: we need bands to come and friends to participate, so come on down-- this one's going to be an adventure.

At the Comet on Thursday, Feb 3

We're rolling on over to The Comet next Thursday, because (let's face it) February needs a little help in the fun department.  We're firing up the sounds with Ahyahuasca Travellers, Serial Hawk, and Noise-a-Tron... a multi-faceted show, with a lot of different colors on the palette.

Thursday, February 3

ubik. at The Comet
w/ Ahyahuasca Travellers
& Serial Hawk
& Noise-a-Tron
Show at 9:00 - $6.00

First listen

We've been talking about it for a while, and yes: there is a new album in the works.  We're done mixing, ready to move forward, but here's a glimpse of one song from the upcoming A Hideous Triumph of Form and Function:

Play eltit gnos

 

We've got to ship the album off the the mastering engineer now... but there it is-- proof that we do have songs recorded and ready to go.  Hooray for the new album!

Christmas Show!

Not to blow your minds, but... Christmas is boring!  Even if you've got family in town (and Seattle is a city full of expatriates), most Christmas festivities are done by 4:00, presents are open, there's wrapping paper on the floor, food's been eaten, and there's nothing left to do for the rest of the day: everything's closed.  Even the 24-hour grocery stores are closed on Christmas.

Well, we're fighting the good fight-- there's actually something going on this Christmas.

Saturday, December 25
802 NW 49th
Seattle WA
ubik.
7 Year Old Blind Girl
Numb
6:00-9:00

Yup, music starts and ends earlier than normal because it's a house party, and neighbors tend to get cranky when really loud things happen late into Christmas night.

Sunday: Music and Movies at the Highline

For all the Seattlites that didn't get to see the show with ubik. and Absence of Light down in Portland, we have good news for you: we're bringing Absence of Light up here.

Sunday is movie night at the Highline, the awesome vegan restaurant on Broadway, so we're bringing bands for sound and silent films for visuals. This one's on the books for Sunday, December 12th. We've had some last minute shake-ups, and we're going to bring in another band to cover a cancellation, but for right now, we have Absence of Light, ubik., and The Bell Witch (which features members of Lethe).

We'll keep you posted when we finalize the line-up, but you should definitely come to the Highline on the 12th.

Big weekend between Seattle and Portland

ubik.s taking a weekend-- we're back at the Galway on Friday night (with Order of the Gash up from Portland), and then we're going down to Portland on Saturday... so, a large Seattle/Portland exchange this week.  This is pretty excellent, especially since we don't get out of town as much as we should.

Friday, December 3
ubik. @ The Galway Arms
w/ Order of the Gash
& Barefoot Barnacle
& Guns of Barisal
9:00pm - 21+

Saturday, December 4
ubik. @ Pocket Sandwich

5245 NE 15th Ave
Portland, OR

w/ Absence of Light
& Fugue
& Honduran
House Party - donations at the door

Halloween (sort of)

Halloween's on a Sunday, so we're easing the party up a day (anyone want to argue the superiority of sundays over saturdays?  anyone?  Motion passed) and playing our Halloween show on Saturday night.  We're playing at the Galway in the University District, there's a great line-up, and we think we've got our costumes sussed...

Saturday, October 30th
ubik. @ The Galway Arms
Halloween Bash
w/ Squalora
& Barefoot Barnacle
& Salo
9:00pm - 21+