Confetti Teeth by the Grizzled Mighty

Seattle three-piece the Grizzled Mighty belongs in the same section of your record collection as the Stooges, Mudhoney, maybe Queens of the Stone Age. Loud, scuzzy fun. The guitars churn out big riffs. You’ll be forgiven if you can’t discern a word of lyrics. No matter. Blast Confetti Teeth at a socially distanced barbecue while drinking Rainier tallboys from that beer hat–mask you’ve surely rigged.  

 Stay Evil by Black Ends

Yes, you can hear traces of Seattle's grunge legacy in local trio Black Ends—vocals delivered in a low mumble, guitars hot and dissonant—they’re just smarter and more sophisticated about it than most. On this EP wobbly post-punk elbows in, as does something like the Meat Puppets’ psychedelic folk punk.

 Man from the Future by the Polyrhythmics

To speak of the Polyrhythmics’ sixth album, you must deploy verbs. On Man from the Future, the local outfit struts, shambles, shimmies, shakes. Does the band break new sonic ground? Not exactly. This is instrumental funk—touched with psych and prog—to get you grinning and moving. 

 Grey by Perry Porter and OldMilk

Tacoma’s Perry Porter, a rapper and visual artist, approaches a verse with loose grace, his voice swinging the words until he’s on the verge of singing. Here he partners with Seattle producer OldMilk and brings in a host of local collaborators, like Romaro Franceswa and Fox Desmond. The result is a little trap, a little art rap, veering from shaking dance floor–ready tracks to classical guitar interludes and collagist impulses. 

 2 Real by Parisalexa

A couple years ago, Parisalexa had Seattle’s music community paying sudden attention after a string of festival performances and a pair of startlingly good EPs. Her debut full-length album, 2 Real, delivers on that auspicious start by showcasing what grabbed attention in the first place: a lustrous, ranging voice and the ability to fuse decades of influences (Whitney Houston, Destiny’s Child) into R&B that feels of this moment.