On the cover: When rock was young, the Sonics made magnificent noise and looked every bit the part of a dangerous yet well-groomed group, too. Pictured are original band members (left to right) Jerry Roslie, Rob Lind, Larry Parypa and Andy Parypa with Bob Bennett in the tree.

Photograph by Jini Dellaccio, courtesy Etiquette Records Archive.

Here (Again) Are the Sonics

by Charles R. Cross

Of the all-time great garage bands, only the most original or loudest or best are still worth talking about. The Sonics were all three. The Beatles and Springsteen and Sound Garden loved ‘em, on the evidence of just a few albums made before the Tacoma-bred punk progenitors split up in ’67. They’re coming back, as brutal as ever, if a bit battered by the vicissitudes of time. A City Arts exclusive: In the studio with the Sonics, including a rare sighting of legendary lead screamer Jerry Roslie.

A Hero’s Journey

by Tom Llewellyn

Chris Sharp paints the signs of the times. Many of them on the outside of local businesses. Really. He’s a great sign painter. As well as a respected fine art painter. Which comes first? We asked him and bring you his enigmatic answer. Maybe you’ve seen him cycling — his passion — around town, “an artist engaged in a heroic struggle,” as he self-identifies. He’s staying alive, an ironic guy with an MFA struggling to keep body and soul together in the Medium-Sized City. ooks great and is likely to stand the tests of traffic and time.

Curator's Eye

Mary Mann, painter
Selected by Melissa Moffett and Terri Placentia

A Season of Want

A local curator selects an artist whose work they think more people should see.
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