Music / Nightlife

By Andrew Gospe / Special to The Seattle Times This week of post-Sasquatch! shows features two arena-filling songwriters, a rising star from Denmark and one of Seattle’s most talked-about young bands.

M.I.A. was the big star of the night — even though the National was the nominal headliner.

Bree McKenna of TacocaT, left, Stacy Peck of Pony Time and Julia Shapiro of Chastity Belt. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

Outside a tucked-away studio off Dexter Avenue, writer, musician and organizer Bree McKenna is talking about the hyperactive punk scene on Capitol Hill, where she is a fixture. One of her bands (TacocaT) is making a music video inside. But right now the story is her other band, Childbirth, the trio McKenna created with members of Pony Time and Chastity Belt. Their debut album “It’s a Girl!” came out last week.

Why choose Pony Time and Chastity Belt for a supergroup?

Chastity Belt, at their record-release party at Barboza, August 27, 2013. (Photo by Joseph Sutton-Holcomb)

By Joseph Sutton-Holcomb

I first saw Chastity Belt two years ago, at The Josephine in Ballard. They played a short, semi-sloppy set, opening for Dude York. Both bands have their origins at Whitman College in Walla Walla, so the pairing seemed natural.

It’s funny how much can change in 24 months.

Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne, at Capitol Hill Block Party, 2013 (Lindsey Wasson/The Seattle Times)

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, amidst a blizzard of confetti and smoke effects Sunday night, declared the 16th annual Capitol Hill Block Party “a riot of love,” and the crowd indeed loved him in return. Beginning Friday afternoon and lasting through the weekend, the festival proved yet again to be one of Seattle’s loudest, most sunburned, most crazed parties. (For full photo coverage of the bands, check here. For documentation of Block Party style, check here.)