This weekend, during Capitol Hill Block Party, more than 100 local and international music acts will fill the Pike/Pine corridor for the 21st edition of one of Seattle's biggest music festivals. On our Capitol Hill Block Party calendar, you can see the complete schedule that's sortable by venue and date, find a printable version of the schedule, and read descriptions about and listen to music from every artist. If that's overwhelming, look no further—below, you'll find just our critics' picks for Saturday, sorted by genre. Plus, to make it even easier for you, we've even made you a Spotify playlist for all of these artists* —find it at the end of the list. For more, check out our critics' picks for Friday and Sunday.

Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile app—available now on the App Store and Google Play.


Jump to: Hiphop/Rap | Pop | Rock | Soul/R&B | Electronic | Jazz/Funk | Metal


HIPHOP/RAP

Cosmos
Seattle sextet Cosmos won 2016’s EMP Sound Off!, a battle-of-the-bands competition among the Northwest’s under-21 demographic. Often, such awards inspire skepticism, but Cosmos exhibit genuine national-class talent. Their sound’s a brash commingling of rap, funk, jazz, and electronic music, capped by vocalist Campana’s Kanye-esque lyrical bravado. No joke: Cosmos have the potential to become the next BADBADNOTGOOD. DAVE SEGAL
(Main Stage, 2:15 pm)

Grynch
If you pay attention—and you will never go wrong doing just that, trust me there—you know Grynch's trademark thoughtful everyman steez, and either you rock with it or you don't. If you do, you'll be glad to hear the 2017 edition. He's still taunting doubters and bragging on his young-vet status in the Six, keeping it West Coast, and being as disarmingly self-deprecating as ever. The smooth '80s grooves and R&B assists that served him so well last time out are even slicker, and he sounds even more at home in the mix—if town-rap ever had an earthy Bobby Caldwell, it's him. And just like Mr. Do for Love, Grynch is just as fucking nostalgic as ever—he's virtually Seattle rap's Kevin Arnold. LARRY MIZELL JR.
(Neumos, 9 pm)

ILLFIGHTYOU
ILLFIGHTYOU is a crew of Tacoma ruffians: knuckle sandwich artist EvergreenOne—formerly of the group City Hall—producer and sometimes MC Khris P, and the sprrrr-ding, full-clip spit of one Ugly Frank. If you enjoy the over-the-top nihilist menace of early Odd Future sprinkled with a little Schoolboy Q-type bang-bang, these are your guys out of the Northwest right now. LARRY MIZELL JR.
(Neumos, 7:45 pm)

Kung Foo Grip
The MCs of Kirkland's Kung Foo Grip—the afro'd Greg Cypher and the dread-shaking Eff Is H—are classic-minded, upper-range-voiced spitters in the vein of prime-time Hiero, but they're no real-rap revivalists. Since their quickly embraced appearance as teens upon the scene, they've been as committed to progression as they have to their incendiary live presentation. Their production has morphed from jazzy loops and boom bap to cloudy trap, their couplets from merely impressive rhymes to naked emotion, they've never once sounded out of their lane, always honed their trajectory, always remained fans first of the area's illest shit—very based. Godspeed, gents—don't let up. LARRY MIZELL JR.
(Barboza, 7:45 pm)

POP

Lord Huron
LA’s Lord Huron have issued two albums of luminous folk pop that feels breezily effortless and expansive, their sweeping anthemic drive imbued with a Springsteenian/War on Drugs-like indie-rock appeal. Instrumentals are marked by cascading, Afrobeat-influenced guitar melodies and lush percussive textures, with an infusion of languid, salt-stained Cali sound qualities on 2015’s Strange Trails, while frontman Ben Schneider’s ethereal lead vocals soar over or intertwine with those of his bandmates to ascend in exquisite multi-voice chorales or stirring calls and cooing harmonies. LEILANI POLK
(Main Stage, 10:30 pm)

Prom Queen
Seattle’s self-styled “doom-wop” purveyors Prom Queen are commanded and steered by Leeni Ramadan, whose vocals have a charming sweetness that shifts to slinky and sly to match the moodiness of her band’s music — a combination of ’60s surf pop and girl group doo-wop treated with noir-ish overtones and dramatic spaghetti western sonic flourishes and textures. Their rendering of Laura Palmer’s Twin Peaks instrumental motif as done in the style of S U R V I V E's Stranger Things theme is a must-hear. Look it up. LEILANI POLK
(Neumos, 4 pm)

Youryoungbody
For fans of the Drive soundtrack and those mourning the breakup of Crystal Castles, Youryoungbody’s EP Betrayer expertly updates those pulsing neon synthesizers and mechanized melancholy you love so much. The duo of Killian Brom and Duh Cripe mine the emotive, rain-swept strains of '80s dance, goth, and synth pop for a familiar though exceedingly well-produced trip down nostalgic avenues. KYLE FLECK
(Barboza, 5:45 pm)

ROCK

The Life and Times
For the past several weeks, I’ve been haunted by a drumbeat. It just popped into my head one day, and I couldn’t figure out where it came from. I kept trying to describe it to people, sure that it was so distinctive that it must be from a vaguely popular song, maybe one by Radiohead. It has a hyperactive kick-drum-snare-high-hat interplay, juxtaposed with a minimalist guitar melody. Well, it turns out it’s from “Day Eleven” by the Life and Times. In many ways, it makes sense that I never suspected this relatively unknown Chicago band of being the originator of this incredibly tight beat. It owes much to ’90s alt-rock band Failure (and Ken Andrews’s whole space-rock aesthetic)—the sound of a giant melting sun. But damn, that beat. KATHLEEN RICHARDS
(Vera Stage, 5 pm)

Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom (aka Sterling Calliér) makes ramshackle, bedroom-fi rock that ricochets around your dome with the immediacy of early Guided by Voices, early White Fence, and R. Stevie Moore. Calliér is an eccentric musician with an excess of energy and off-kilter songwriting chops, and I expect very good things from him this year, with a concomitant rise in his profile. DAVE SEGAL
(Cha Cha, 3:45 pm)

Whitney
Whitney is the high-quality collab between guitarist/keysman Max Kakacek (of the late Smith Westerns) and drummer Julien Ehrlich (formerly of Unknown Mortal Orchestra). Together, they produce a mix of psychedelic pop and dreamy-leisurely indie rock that sounds sunnily vintage and occasionally forlorn, and has a gentle, unassuming yet hypnotic quality. Ehrlich sings lead, his delicate, sweet, high-pitched delivery bolstered by light brass swells and finely picked guitar melodies in the 2016 debut LP, Light Upon the Lake. LEILANI POLK
(Main Stage, 6 pm)

SOUL/R&B

Lizzo
Get your self-care on with some smart, body-positive, feminist rap by Lizzo! There’s no way not to feel good as Lizzo throws down her witty repartee with total charisma, clever pop-culture references, and a unique flow. Her latest EP, Coconut Oil, shows off her diva-level voice with a mix of gospel, hiphop, and even EDM. AMBER CORTES
(Main Stage, 7:30 pm)

ELECTRONIC

Manatee Commune
Manatee Commune is gaining momentum as a producer of pleasant, chillworthy electronic songcraft with crossover potential. The Bellingham multi-instrumentalist has a sweet touch with melodies and a keen ear for vocalists—Moorea Masa, Marina Price, and Flint Eastwood—who complement his dewy, pastel tonal bouquets and delicate rhythmic origami. Manatee Commune’s self-titled album on Bastard Jazz explores the lushly beauteous, almost symphonic territory of fellow Washingtonians Odesza, but on a more intimate scale. Overall, the production is too well-scrubbed and cute for my taste, but there’s no denying the meticulous craftsmanship of it. This young man’s going to go far. DAVE SEGAL
(Main Stage, 4:45 pm)

Phantoms
LA electronic duo Phantoms look like nice, attractive young men, playing their sets in suits, using glow-in-the-dark drumsticks, releasing their music on the Universal Music subsidiary, Casablanca/Republic. As evidenced by their buoyant EP, Broken Halo, Phantoms are going to be festival fixtures, because festivalgoers love their sort of hooky, smooth, vocal-centric dance fare. DAVE SEGAL
(Main Stage, 3:30 pm)

Zoolab
Zoolab (Seattle producer Terence Ankeny) is part of Seattle's recent wave of young producers working in the hazy realm where hiphop entwines with nightbus, that vaporous, downcast strain of bass music birthed from Burial's fertile imagination. Zoolab's music makes you nod your head while befogging it with gray clouds of synth, although ebullient rays sometimes shoot through the mist. DAVE SEGAL
(Vera Stage, 7:15 pm)

JAZZ/FUNK

Bad Luck
Bad Luck's music bears down on you like a cyclone of fire, recalling the more out-there excursions of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Peter Brötzmann. Chris Icasiano's drumming harnesses shocking power and does strange things to your perception of time and space. He can also get oblongly funky when the urge hits. Saxophonist Neil Welch is a dynamo of galvanic spluttering, ecstatic shrieks, and placid drones. The future of jazz? Perhaps! DAVE SEGAL
(Neumos, 5:15 pm)

METAL

Heiress
A heavy band with a heavy pedigree (led by singer John Pettibone of Undertow and Himsa), Heiress gather strains of metal and hardcore, combine them with a nod to the Stoogey melodic murk that runs thick through the veins of Seattle rock, and bind it all together with urgency and artistry that feels new and explosively powerful. Even if you think you’re not into this kind of sound, these guys are commanding in ways most bands can’t even dream of. SEAN NELSON
(Cha Cha, 9:45 pm)

*These artists are not on Spotify: ILLFIGHTYOU, Kung Foo Grip, Master Bedroom, and Bad Luck. Click their names for other music clips.