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KING ME - 2003

Visqueen’s debut burner. Beginning of widespread atlas usage and cigarette lighter cookware masterclass.

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SUNSET ON DATELAND - 2004

Dateland, Arizona is where the sun split the road. Phil Ek recorded these tracks. We had to rush and he never got to mix it as intended. #regrets?

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Message to garcia - 2009

This record had a long way to go and a short time to get there. Cheetah isn’t the only one missing an eye.

Visqueen was HERE. AND THERE.

Rachel Flotard Ben Hooker Kim Warnick

Ronnie Barnett

Bill Coury Tom Cummings Barrett Jones

Cristina Bautista Barb Hunter

Studio Knobs By: Barrett Jones, Phil Ek, Adam Kasper, Kurt Bloch

Honorary Members: Avel Sosa, Neko Case, Jon Rauhouse, Barrett Martin


"If Visqueen were a major label baby band, modern-rock radio stations would be all over this record like static cling. King Me is royal fun, a high-speed, sugar 'n'steel picnic from start to finish."
DAVID FRICKE, ROLLING STONE

"Truth be told, though, my favorite local bands right now is Visqueen — a female-powered anthem machine that transcends all the categories: gender, genre and region. Do not miss the group's excellent Sunset on Dateland.'"
ANN POWERS

"Visqueen front woman Flotard is the human incarnation of the Energizer Bunny. Nonstop stories pour out of the New Jersey native."
NPR, All Things Considered

"In 2009 Seattle's Visqueen remain a bright planet in the power-pop universe where Cheap Trick are God and Kurt Cobain is Jesus. At the helm: Rachel Flotard - she of the angelic voice, red locks, and ridiculously entertaining stage banter - who'll lead her band through a set of their signature sunny racket and face punching melodocism."
DAVID SCHMAEDER, THE STRANGER

"When Visqueen took the stage before the New Pornographers, they single-handedly pumped up the room full quiet, quasi-hipster Seattle-ites,who couldn't resist bouncing around to the catchy, energetic music. Yes kids, it's that easy, if your band is AWESOME."
MSNBC


"This is unadulterated power pop. Rachels voice is fucking magic. And to top it off, their drummer Ben skates!"
THRASHER MAGAZINE

"4 STARS. Rachel Flotard's strong, clear vocals are the band's secret weapon, a seductive cross between Robin Zander, Robert Pollard, and Kim Deal."
ALL MUSIC GUIDE


"If Courtney Love had focused more on the music and less on the show, she might have been half as good as Visqueen. Led by singer Rachel Flotard, this girl-flavored Seattle band makes absolutely perfect rock-pop-punk: brisk and sparkling-fresh, but with doses of metal-rock that give it substance and reality."
DALLAS MORNING NEWS


"(Sunset On Dateland is) a supercool approach to such rock on their debut album, King Me. The stuff just oozes out of them. Plus, no one else can claim a vocalist like Flotard, whose tough-but-vulnerable turns of phrase raise the adrenaline like your first cup of coffee oryour last cocktail, depending on what hour you choose to indulge in this 27 minutes of pure bliss."
LA WEEKLY

"Visqueen A power-pop trio buoyed by the gleeful union...With sparkling harmonies and towering Les Paul riffs, it's no wonder they've shared bills with everyone from Cheap Trick to Guided By Voices."
SPIN

"A rock n roll triumph."
ARI SHAPIRO, NPR MORNING EDITION

"the fact that their third album, Message To Garcia, can win over cautious and caustic critics makes Flotard's juggling act even more remarkable. Even conservative CNN hails it as one of 2009's top three records."
MICHAEL BIALAS, HUFFINGTON POST

"The band is so fun; it sounds a little like Neko Case and Joan Jett, and there's nothing wrong with that."
STEPHEN THOMPSON, NPR
(naming the album "The Biggest Suprise of the Year")

"It's a warm-hearted, hardworking album, pushed forward at a breakneck power-pop pace by wholloping drums and grinding, giddy guitars, clearly uninterested in wasting any single second of anyone's time."
RACHAEL MADDUX, PASTE

"From the disc's opening blast, "Hand Me Down," to its crashing coda 10 songs later, "Jimmy vs. James," the music is insistent, urgent, thrilling. There are no wasted notes, no flash distractions."
JOE HEIM, WASHINGTON POST

"The crunchy, urgent power-pop of "Hand Me Down" opens the album on a particularly auspicious note, as crunchy guitars and Flotard's incomparable voice simultaneously destroy and mesmerize."
BARBARA MITCHELL, NPR SONG OF THE DAY

"Top three records of the year."
PETER GRUMBINE, LIVE ON CNN

"I listened to this CD last week on a drive through the mountains with my band, and silenced a car full of over-caffeinated men, and perhaps drew a tear or two. Rachel Flotard has written one of the best records that I have heard in a while. Period."
DUFF MCKAGAN, GUNS N' ROSES

"the new release I am most excited about, Visqueen's Message To Garcia."
BROOKLYN VEGAN

"Every song is a single. One of the best records of the year."
JOHN RICHARDS, KEXP

"Rachel Flotard defies all record labels"
SEATTLE WEEKLY

"Big-hearted woman from Seattle makes big-hearted tribute record to dad full of big-hearted power chords and open-throated vocals, catchy hooks and riffs, and poignant lyrics. Impossible not to hear without major obstructions forming in the throat."
EVERETT TRUE

"If it’s possible to top their excellent debut, Visqueen has done just that. The long awaited third album from one of Seattle's best bands shows a ton of growth with even catchier songs and really tight songwriting. Every song is a single. One of the best records of the year."
JOHN RICHARDS, THE MORNING SHOW, KEXP

2003 - ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Imagine '60s London dolly birds Lulu or Petula Clark fronting a power-punk trio of the Ramones school and you get a good sense of where Visqueen is coming from. Seattleite Rachel Flotard, like the aforementioned '60s thrushes, knows the score, but she doesn't waste time keeping score. The compassion of "My House" (she volunteers her home as a place to stay "because you've found a friend in me") and "Last to Know" (in which she professes to be "sorry that you're losing your heart and your dreams") seem genuine and refreshing. The unaffected spunk of Flotard's hook-filled songs are powered by chugging riffs and high-octane support from former Fastbacks bassist Kim Warnick and drummer Ben Hooker. The catchy likes of the slashing "Vaxxine" ("Take the sting out of my heart") and the punny "Omaha" ("You and me are mutual like Omaha") signal the arrival of a band that's smart, tart, and open hearted. --Steven Stolder