Punk-band Botch comes to the end of the road

Rock bands seem to have the life expectancy of salmon: Swim fast, spawn, die.

At least salmon have (relatively) clean living environments, plenty of food and free rent. Even those rockers fortunate enough to make it out of the local pond find it tough swimming out there — long road trips in sweaty, ramshackle vans, playing shows in rank clubs and usually making barely enough to cover the gas money, scrounging for cheap food and a place to sleep ...

So it's not surprising that few bands make it past the third or fourth year. In Seattle, where there are hundreds of bands, only a handful live past year 10 — Pearl Jam and Mudhoney come to mind, not many others.

Botch, a hardcore/punk band that started winning young fans in 1993, won't quite make it to 10. After a farewell show Saturday at the Showbox, Botch is calling it a career after two full-lengths and numerous tours; it's no coincidence that Botch headlined the closing night of the all-ages club RKCNDY in 1999, nor that its own last show is an all-ages concert, as the band has long been committed to playing for young fans — Botch is probably the favorite band of Seattle's young punks, who will miss the band sorely.

"We have just come to the end of our time together and are ending it on a high note," says Botch's Dave Verellen.

Singer Verellen and bass player Brian Cook will go on to play with the band Roy, while guitarist Dave Knudson will focus on Minus the Bear, which has been playing around Seattle quite a bit. Drummer Tim Latona — after all those long road trips — is planning to go to flight school, to learn how to fly the friendly skies.

The Blood Brothers, a band whose career has just been cleared for takeoff, join their hardcore mentors Botch for the all-ages concert at the Showbox (7 p.m., $10). "They're the first hardcore band I ever saw — it was the first time I ever saw someone scream into a microphone. It was mind-blowing," says Jordan Blilie, one of two Blood Brothers singers ("I'm the screamier one").

Blilie and co-vocalist Johnny Whitney, guitarist Cody Votolato, drummer Mark Gajadhar and bass player Morgan Henderson have been playing together for four years, starting while they were still in Eastside high schools. Blilie turned 21 this week, and the Blood Brothers recently released "March on Electric Children," the band's second small-label album — but that isn't the big news about the band.

The Blood Brothers have been in Los Angeles in recent months, working with Ross Robinson — who has produced Korn, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit — on a third Blood Brothers album. This one is scheduled for release early next year on the new major label ARTISTdirect Records (the Blood Brothers have a two-record contract with the company).

Robinson heard about the Blood Brothers, then contacted the band through his manager.

Being produced by the rap-metal guru was a major decision, according to Blilie. "We were all pretty hesitant about (working with Robinson). We had to sort of talk about it and fight about it — he's responsible for some of the worst music you've ever heard. But after meeting him and stuff, I think his heart's in the right place. ... He did the last At the Drive In record, so that's kind of an indication he's through with all the terrible crap he was doing before."

And he says Robinson didn't do anything weird to the band in the studio: "Listening to the new record sounds like pretty typical us, the songs are longer and crazier but it's not like we're rapping on them."

Around town

• Pretty Girls Make Graves, seemingly poised to follow the Blood Brothers to a national contract, had a nice homecoming last weekend after a long club tour. On Saturday night, several score teenagers pressed against the stage at Theatre Off Jackson, the new site of the all-ages Vera Club; the young fans were treated to a tight set, as Pretty Girls tore through its speed-punk repertoire.

After the sweaty show, guitarist Jason Clark caught some fresh air outside the Chinatown International District club. He agreed that the band has tightened up its sound on the road, and said there are plans to record an EP in coming months.

He is still acclimating to Seattle, having moved here from Minneapolis about four years ago with the band Kill Sadie, a promising outfit that broke up when one of its members got married. He also played with Sharks Keep Moving before hooking up with singer Andrea Zollo, drummer Nick DeWitt, guitarist Nathen Johnson and bass player Derek Fudesco (formerly with the Murder City Devils) to form Pretty Girls Make Graves.

The combination of Zollo's tough, feminine voice and the four hard-driving musicians has been a solid one from the beginning, but the band really seems to be blossoming. If you missed PGMG at the Vera Club or the Crocodile, where the band played on Sunday, you can catch them at the Capitol Hill block party in mid-July.

Between now and then, Pretty Girls Make Graves will be touring with — naturally — the Blood Brothers, hitting Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Omaha, Des Moines, Denver and other cities.

Spin magazine just did a nice blurb on PGMG in its "Bands to Watch" section (June edition, Moby on the cover). Clark said it was a nice surprise for a band that has made rapid progress — "things are going at just the right pace."

• If you like your music a little less harsh, the Showbox has a terrific doubleheader tonight, with Albuquerque's the Shins — the indie rock version of Simon & Garfunkel — opening for the fragile rock of Buffalo's blissfully brilliant Mercury Rev (9 p.m., $15 advance).

Indeed, the Showbox is having another one of those weeks where you might want to set up your tent on First Avenue. Oakland's Blackalicious — former underground rappers breaking through with the major-label (MCA) debut "Blazing Arrow" — brings some much-needed beats to hip-hop hungry Seattle on Tuesday (9 p.m., $16.50). Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament jams with David Garza at the Showbox on Thursday (9 p.m., $12 advance).

• Good news/bad news for fans of Kinski, the excellent instrumental rock outfit that has been one of the highlights of the Seattle band scene in recent years. Bad news: David Weeks, the drummer with the deft touch, has left Kinski.

The good news: Weeks has joined up with Dave Keppel and Jim Roth, both from the Delusions (Roth also plays with Built to Spill), and Mike Johnson, formerly with Dinosaur Jr. and a frequent musical partner of Mark Lanegan's. Weeks is calling his new band the Lazy Daves, and the quartet is already recording.

The big question: With all those stellar guitarists, who is playing what?

"I still play drums, but with a lighter touch than I did with Kinski. Dave is singing, playing guitar and doing all of the song writing. Jim has happily placed himself behind the ivories, with his main focus being the Wurlitzer. Mike is more of a utilitarian guy, bouncing between lap steel, guitar and bass."

This promising new act makes its debut on Saturday at the Crocodile (9 p.m., $14), opening for Ugly Casanova.

As for the headliner, Isaac Brock — taking a break from his Modest Mouse "day job" — has played a handful of Ugly Casanova shows over the past year, but this is the official CD release show, with the Ugly Casanova debut just out on Sub Pop.

Tom Scanlon: 206-464-3891 or tscanlon@seattletimes.com.