Live Review: The Grizzled Mighty, Dead Ship Sailing, and Sugar Sugar Sugar

The Grizzled Mighty at The Crocodile (All photos by Ella Ordona)

The Grizzled Mighty took over The Crocodile last night, flooding the audience with the sort of rock and roll that formerly belonged to a different era. However, everyone on this bill made sure to remind the crowd that there is a resurgence of rock happening in our city, and the people on the floor welcomed it with open arms.

Seattle’s The Grizzled Mighty is a band led by Ryan Granger playing guitar and singing with Whitney Petty on Drums. This is a familiar formula (hello, The White Stripes), but The Grizzled Mighty aren’t going to concern themselves with comparisons, they’re too busy making the earth they walk on shiver with anticipation. Watching Petty play drums is sort of like waiting for a storm to hit. She teases – an outburst of pounding, followed by delicate stroking of her cymbals. Then she rattles your heart when she drops her inhibitions and wails away while making it seem like the ceiling might cave.

The Grizzled Mighty, Photo by Ella Ordona

Petty and Granger compliment each other to a profound degree. Granger’s voice rattles and quivers, his singing almost seems hesitant. While his words may linger on the tip of his tongue, his guitar playing knows no such behavior. The urgency in every riff makes it so that each song leads the listener surprised by what will happen next. He’s a strong, passionate guitar player, and he lets his guitar do most of the talking for him – The Grizzled Mighty isn’t lyric heavy. If you like classic rock and roll guitar playing, it’s quite possible you will start to idolize Granger. This band, as a duo, bring so much to a performance on an individual level that when placed together, they are a sight to behold.

Dead Ship Sailing, Photo by Ella Ordona

Dead Ship Sailing is another guy-gal duo from Seattle. Zera Marvel and Graig Markel are both armed with guitars, accompanied by someone slightly off stage backing them up with electronic drum beats. Marvel is the predominant singer of the two, her vocals during the first song were quieter than I would have hoped but as they went through their set she really came through. She looks like Bridget Bardot, a 60s inspired look to match the music this pair makes. Their style of music is sexy without being overt about it; they’re the cool kids on stage – effortless but not arrogant. Markel is lively on stage, wobbling around, playing his guitar and casually lending his vocals to several songs. They’re discreetly sexy, and with their bright white lights flashing rhythmically on and off, listening to their fuzzy rock leaves you wanting more. Their set ended abruptly, featuring their song “Shake My Soul” among others that are found on their website. They’re in the midst of recording, so keep your eyes opened for their shows around town.

Sugar Sugar Sugar, Photo by Ella Ordona

Opener Sugar Sugar Sugar played with such intensity it was next to impossible not to get caught up in their music. Loud doesn’t even begin to describe their volume – this Bellingham threesome lights up that stage in such a way that made me wish (for the first time ever) that I’d brought ear plugs. They each burn with passion for their 60s inspired rock and roll, with no one being boring to watch on stage – sort of like having three leads. Most impressive was the fiery drummer. She shook the stage with her vibrant playing, with the best word to describe her style being fierce, breaking two of her cymbals as she beat the hell out of them. There was a touch of punk to some of their songs, and the influences they pull into their music makes it so that they’re not just another garage band. There’s something glittering about this band, and while they may have gotten a tad monotonous in the middle of their set, their final song was hugely memorable.