Seaweed Returns To Tacoma Home Turf

----------------------------------------------------------- Seaweed, Flop, Sage, My Name, Temple Theater, 47 St. Helens St. 8 p.m. Tickets $7.50, 272-2042. -----------------------------------------------------------

-- TACOMA Seaweed wears its brattiness on its sleeve like playground dirt.

The five boys, as Sub Pop calls them, in the band average just about drinking age. They stick to rapid-fire four-on-the-four punk, whip the kids in the crowd to a pulpy frenzy and throw temper tantrums rather than concerts. And people love it: Seaweed has gone from Tacoma, across the country and to Europe and have been gushed upon by everyone from Rolling Stone to England's Melody Maker to The Washington Post.

Seaweed headlines a sort of "hometown heroes" concert tomorrow night at the Temple Theater with Tacoma's Sage and My Name, as well as Seattle's Flop.

Seaweed came together last fall, when singer Aaron Stauffer and guitarist Clint Werner vowed to form a band that would last more than a couple of practices. They hooked up with Neal and eventually grabbed bassist John Atkins and drummer Bob Bulgrien, both formerly of Alphabet Swill (responsible for one of the all-time greatest b-sides, "Barbie's Dream Townhouse").

The songwriting process pretty much mirrors the band's live shows, Neal said. "It's kind of like we get together and say `Well, we've got to write songs.' After that it's kind of like a real big argument. A brawl."

After a couple of singles on the Leopard Gecko and K labels and a tour of the East Coast, the band signed with Sub Pop. "We didn't trust them at first," Neal said, "but decided `What the hell, they're close enough so that we can intimidate them if they give us any (problems). But they treat us real well." Sub Pop has so far released the EP "Despised" and LP "Weak."

That Sub Pop connection came in handy when last winter's Ultra Lame Fest at the Paramount rolled around. Seaweed played fourth in the five-band lineup, just before Mudhoney. With 3,000 spectators, it was their biggest show.

"It was really cool. . . they had free beer," Neal said. "I felt like I was invading it or something, just because I'd never played a show there. It was kind of like, `I'm not supposed to be up here.' "

Flop, which rose from the ashes of former "next big thing" Pure Joy, has finally fulfilled its promise. The album ". . . And The Fall Of The Mopsqueezer" is easily one of the best local albums of the year and has gotten deserved national accolades. The four-piece plays amazing punky pop that only hints at how cute they are live.

Sage has to be the most Canadian-sounding band in the area, with a combination of Rush-style art-rock and quirky asides drawing from jazz and Middle Eastern melodies. They've become a solid club favorite in Seattle over the past year, and bassist Greg Sage has been honored with the four-single set "Eight Songs For Greg Sage," with his work covered by such bands as Dharma Bums, Poison Idea and the ubiquitous Nirvana.

My Name, a Tacoma band by way of Bainbridge Island has been around for years and has built up a devoted following with wild displays of chop-happy jazzcore. They've been relatively quiet for quite some time, but recently signed to C/Z for the album "Megacrush."