*photo by Dusty Henry

SassyBlack is everything. The songstress and producer is well-educated and classically trained with roots in jazz and soul, though she is in no way confined to them elementally. Formally of the Seattle group THEEsatisfaction and having worked closely with experimental hip-hop duo Shabazz Palaces and traveled the world, SassyBlack (whose real name is Catherine Harris-White) has no shortage of experience to contribute to the psychedelic electronic r&b she makes.

Her voice smooth like soulfully funky butter, it’s reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu and J*Davey with a Herbie Hancock twist to her production, adding a modern and intellectual spin to her performances. SassyBlack grew up with a family devoted to music, their time spent together having dance parties and playing music history trivia. She still engages her love for pop culture and music history, having recorded three volumes so far of her Pop (& R&B) Treasury cover EPs. 

Whether it’s an original track or a tribute to a deep cut, everything SassyBlack touches is gold, and worthy of numerous replays.

It’s been nearly a decade since dreamo (that’s dream-pop and emo, in case you were wondering) act Special Explosion erupted onto the scene, and we couldn’t be more happy to have them after all these years. They take out the whininess typically associated with emo music. Instead, they keep all of that emotion and channel it through tender indie rock with lucid atmospheres and textures.

Even during a time when the world around them, in a musical and real life sense, was unreliable and confusing, Special Explosion maintained their collective head, supported by their four pairs of shoulders. With many releases behind them, their late 2017 album To Infinity can be considered debut, as far as full-length records are concerned. It provides 10 tracks worth of their adept instrumentation, recalling earlier days of Death Cab for Cutie and Sufjan Stevens but always sounding like their own.

They’re the kind of band you see and fall in love with, over and over again, and that’s part of what makes them so special.

If you couldn’t already tell by their name, Mobilities is a band about free movement; fluidity in their instrumentation, production and genre influences is part of what makes Mobilities such an enjoyable and dynamic group. Their self-titled EP was one of the first tastes of their particular flavor they shared with the world, but their debut full-length Time Hasn’t Swallowed Us Yet goes even further to showcase their spirited musicianship.

Most of the songs on Time Hasn’t Swallowed Us Yet were written by lead vocalist/guitarist Eric McCauley and bassist/vox Brett Sparrey (though each member had a hand in writing their own parts) and recorded over about a five month span at Toadhouse Studios. Musically, you can hear the influence bands like Queens of the Stone Age, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and local phenoms Portugal. The Man have had on them, blurring lines between what’s considered alternative, experimental rock, indie, garage and punk. But, Mobiliities takes their songs in their own direction lyrically and sonically. The album is thematically based on social issues, touching on political and philosophical issues as well. It’s a journey from start to finish, and one that is worth taking with the band.

Catch Mobilities, along with Eugene’s Childspeak and The Von Howlers, for the Time Hasn’t Swallowed Us Yet album release show 2.24 at Kelly’s Olympian. Dive into the album in its entirety below. You won’t be disappointed.

Burger Records is more than just the SoCal-based label dominated by scruffy ruffians shotgunning beers all the time. A first glance at not only their extensive roster but the typical scene flooding their festivals and gatherings would appear to make that the truest statement about the label. But it isn’t. For the last four years the label has specifically curated an event catering to the promotion of bands, groups and solo artists where one or all of the members are non-male identifying. That event is called Burger-A-Go-Go, and it’s awesome.

Now, using "female-fronted" or any iteration of the sort as a selling point for anything is pretty played out and low-key offensive, but in this case, it works within the context. Femmes haven’t been well celebrated in the realm of music or anything else throughout history nearly enough as they should, but for the next two nights, Burger is doing a little bit to quell that in Portland.

Sentimental garage-pop act Patsy’s Rats will be holding it down on the local front and sharing the stage with a grip of punk, garage and dream pop acts, like The Coathangers, Death Valley Girls, Summer Twins, and much delight from Dengue Fever, who dish out psych-pop with a Cambodian Rock flair, among others. 

Tickets for Burger-A-Go-Go will run you anywhere from $20-$35, but it’s well worth it to see a bunch of acts that aren’t what the music industry considers the "standard."