Sound Off! is the Pacific Northwest's largest under-age battle of the bands.  The Semi-Finals Round 2 took place at EMP/SFM on Saturday, 2/16, and featured local bands KnowMads, Pat Goodwin, Scribes, and The Nextdoor Neighbors.  If you missed it,

don't worry because CW11's Underground was there.  All the bands put on a great show but it was The Nextdoor Neighbors who won the judges over and came out on top.  They will take the stage and compete at the Sound Off! Finals at EMP/SFM's Sky Church on Saturday, 3/1.

The Nextdoor Neighbors is the electro-folk-hop duo of Kathy Cote and Jessie Hill.  They met a couple of years back while in school at Evergreen State College and within just a few weeks started to craft their wonderfully unique music.  Their sound takes full advantage of Kathy's super groovy beats and Jessie's hauntingly beautiful lyrics and vocals.  I can honestly say that I've never heard anything quite like The Nextdoor Neighbors and I can't seem to stop listening to their Demo CD.  The music draws you in, asks more questions than it answers and leaves you wanting more – which I have no doubt there will be as these two gifted musicians are ambitious in all the right ways.

CW11 's Underground filmed an interview with Kathy and Jessie and then we hung out as they worked through a few of their songs.  Sitting cross-legged on the floor of Jessie's Capitol Hill apartment - keyboards, a micro-Korg, cables and amps scattered about and all of a sudden this amazing sound starts to happen.  It starts with the beat, Kathy adds a melodic flourish, loops it, adds something more and then Jessie starts to sing.  It's not what you'd expect but it's exactly what you wanted.

Stay tuned to www.kstw.com/underground as we bring you an all-new story on next week's Sound Off! semi-final winner.  So far, it's New Faces and The Nextdoor Neighbors in the Finals.  I'm sure glad that I'm not one of the judges!