Photo Credit: Christopher Nelson

According to all the local press in Seattle, the Blakes are soon to be the next Northwestern band to break into the big leagues and based on their Bumbershoot set on Monday, there does seem to be some merit to these claims. The trio is a brash, energetic blast of simple, dirty rock & roll, equal parts the Strokes and a downscale Urge Overkill, an impression somewhat buttressed by the group dressing up in vests for their big gig on the Sound Transit stage. Even when they get a little spacey or veer into the tight, neo-new wave disco that brought Modest Mouse success, there’s no doubt that the Blakes are a party band, the kind that will make a crack about Woodstock and bad pills just because they’re playing a festival. If they don’t quite have the star power that would propel them to the top of the charts — the dude at stage right bedecked in gigantic sunglasses and doing nothing more than playing a tambourine seemed more like a traditional rock star than any of the trio — they nevertheless on sheer raw musical terms have the stuff to break into the big leagues and after hearing them tear it up live, it’s hard not to want to hear a full album of theirs.