Our beloved savage indie-poppers The Thermals have had a busy year. Less than a year ago, the trio released its fourth LP (first on Kill Rock Stars) Now We Can See, and between promoting the record and touring the world (five tours in the US, three in Europe, one in China), the threesome has miraculously managed to write and record another album, Personal Life, due September 7th from Kill Rock Stars.

This release marks the third project The Thermals have worked on with Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie), who also mixed the first Thermals LP (More Parts Per Million, 2003) and produced the band’s 2nd LP (Fuckin’ A, 2004). For you analog geeks out there, the album was recorded to 2" tape and mixed to 1/2" tape, and vinyl enthusiasts will be happy to know the vinyl was mastered straight from tape.

The lead-off single from Personal Life, "I Don’t Believe You" will be released by Kill Rock Stars August 10th, 2010, but for now, all we have is a track-listing:

Personal Life Track List

01. I’m Gonna Change Your Life

02. I Don’t Believe You

03. Never Listen To Me

04. Not Like Any Other Feeling

05. Power Lies

06. Only For You

07. Alone, A Fool

08. Your Love Is So Strong

09. A Reflection

10. You Changed My Life

Thermals Tour Dates

July 1 – Calgary, AB @ Distillery – Sled Island Festival

July 2 – Calgary, AB @ Olympic Plaza – Sled Island Festival

July 3 – Calgary, AB @ Republik – Sled Island Festival

July 5 – Chicago, IL @ Jay Pritzker Pavillion – Millenium Park

September 6 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival

September 9 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom – Music Fest NW

-Katrina Nattress

It’s that special time of year, when the sun is shining (for five minute increments between torrential downpours) and our friends at Willamette Week announce the lineup for Portland’s very own music festival, MusicfestNW. The typical structure for the now ten-year-old fest is 17 clubs, four nights, and 160 bands, but this year MFNW is changin’ it up a bit and adding an outdoor venue in the historic Pioneer Courthouse Square.

If this news alone isn’t tantalizing enough for you, just wait until you hear what bands will be headlining the outdoor Pioneer Square Levi’s Stage: The Decemberists on Saturday, September 11, and The National on Sunday, September 12. I know it’s tough, but if you’re around other people right now, please refrain from squeals of ecstasy.

The festival runs from September 9-12 and features bands including Ausin’s Okkervil River, New York’s The Walkmen, and Portland’s own Menomena, The Helio Sequence and The Thermals.

Festival wristbands go on sale June 5, 2010, at two price points:

-$90 for an all-inclusive wristband that gets you into both outdoor shows and the rest of the four-day festival.

-$65 for one of the two outdoors shows (The Decemberists or The National) and the rest of the fest.

Individual tickets for shows at Pioneer Square, Crystal Ballroom, and The Roseland Theater will also be on sale June 5. All ticket information can be found at musicfestnw.com/tickets

 

Full preliminary lineup:

The Decemberists

The National

Okkervil River

Major Lazer

Sleep performing Holy Mountain

Menomena

The Thermals

Wiz Khalifa

Ra Ra Riot

The Walkmen

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

The Helio Sequence

Justin Townes Earle

Baroness

David Bazan

The Tallest Man on Earth

The Gories

No Means No

Man Man

Laura Veirs

Bobby Bare Jr.

Titus Andronicus

Surfer Blood

Akron/Family

Crooked Fingers

Shonen Knife

Japandroids

People Under the Stairs

Cold Cave

Frank Turner

The Builders and the Butchers

Phantogram

Washed Out

Black Prairie

Thee Oh Sees

Abe Vigoda

Big Freedia

MEN

Laser Sword

From Ashes Rise

Devin Phillips

The Suckers

Trash Talk

Scott Kelly

Rocky Votolato

Blue Giant

The Minus 5

Dan Mangan

Jeff the Brotherhood

Marc Olson

Red Fang

The Zeros

Let’s Wrestle

Pierced Arrows

The Bellrays

Weinland

Portland Cello Project

The Magic Kids

DJ Beyonda

Richmond Fontaine

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

Tu Fawning

Death by Stereo

Princeton

Kisses

White Hinterland

BOAT

Damion Suomi

Typhoon

Y La Bamba

 

-Katrina Nattress

…don’t forget to feast your eyes on the newest addition to Sam Adams’ art collection, Isaac Brock and the Seven Deadly Sins – the latest City Hall-commissioned piece by Portland artist Alexander Rokoff.

This is the second in a series of paintings with local musicians for Rokoff. You may recognize his oil work as being featured at such venues as Mississippi Studios (the infamous nude painting in the front room). We’re pretty sure that this Brock oil masterpiece is going to raise more than a few foreign diplomats’ eyebrows.

Brock was on hand for Wednesday’s unveiling along with members of the media, and Rokoff. Mayor Adams stopped in to meet Brock and take in the monstrosity, which features a "Patches"-like clown haphazardly lounging on a book shelf carrying a bloody knife, and a wild boar, among other salacious tidbits.

"We have the best art in the city in our office," said Adams. "[Having this here] is a way to talk about Portland in not so obvious ways."

"This is a pleasure for me," responded Brock. "I voted for you."

 

 

– Ryan J. Prado

 

I don’t know about everyone else, but the indecisive pitchiness of these cloudy skies is beginning to make The Deli Portland angry. When you leave home to run your various what have yous, do you don the rainslick? The long-sleeve? Muscle-Ts and flip-flops? The answer varies depending on the hour, and besides, man – fuck it. The only time it really comes into play is when there’s live local music outdoors involved, but with the ambivalence of Mother Nature’s wrath ever-present, the point ought not to be overlooked that June could prove to be a messy, moist month.

Leave it to Whole Foods on Laurelhurst to spit in the eye of the Doppler mega-system, when they begin the second of their summer-long weekly concert series, featuring awesome food, rad local (and not-so-local) music and hyper-instant street cred. Yesterday’s kick-off event featured Beers, Brats and Portland wunderstuds Archeology. The Deli Portland was off getting its ass kicked at ping pong handily by legendary queercore punk rocker Kaia Wilson of Team Dresch and The Butchies to make it to this first installment, but we’re certain we’ll be at most if not all of the remaining weekly shindigs.

Check out the lineup below, and pack that rainslick just in case, huh?

Sat 5th June: The Denouement plays at 4pm (earlier than other bands)

Sat 12th June: Hungry Holler plays at 5pm

Sat 19th June: The Royal We plays at 5pm

Sat 26th June: Lone Madrone plays at 5pm

Sat 3rd July: TBC

Sat 10th July: The Ocean Floor plays at 5pm

Sat 17th July: On the Stairs plays at 5pm

Sat 24th July: Leonard Mynx plays at 5pm

Sat 31st July: Super XX Man plays at 5pm

Sat 7th Aug: Hutson plays at 5pm

Sat 14th Aug: Christine Havrilla plays at 5pm

Sat 21st Aug: Matthew Lindley and Troubadour Deluxe plays at 5pm

Sat 28th Aug:TBC

[Editor’s Note: Portland bands! Notice those "TBC" dates? Why not contact Whole Foods at 503-232-6601, or even better, contact Whole Foods Marketing and Community Relations Specialist (i.e. booker) at helen.lee@wholefoods.com and hop on the bill? JUST A THOUGHT.]

– Ryan J. Prado

 

Thanks to Becca Sonnenberg for the amazing poster!

–  Ryan J. Prado

Metal bands make the best music videos, period. ’80s metal had hot rocker chicks licking the hoods of their cars; the ’90s were all about epic battles and a fight against everything mainstream. But my favorite is the twisted, fucked up videos that get made for the death metal bands of the 21st century.

A death metal music video is basically a five-minute horror film. If you watch the video and you don’t see blood, a hot psychotic chick, or some taboo subject being reenacted, then the director really hasn’t done his/her job. Portland death metal band Those Who Lie Beneath want their music and videos to scare the shit out of people, and when interviewed for Noisecreep, the band even went so far as to say, “What we are trying to do is to be not only as brutal as we can, but as evil. I want people to be like, ‘This band, these guys are amazing, they’re fucking shredding. They’re brutal, they’re evil, they’re dark,’ because we are.”

Those Who Lie Beneath’s new video for their song "Awaken" – from their debut Rise Records release An Awakening – might not scream evil, but it is most definitely a piece of dark, bitter chocolate that looks sweet but leaves a nasty bad taste in your mouth. Check it out below:

I love the abandoned shack location for the video with the light streaming through the cracks of the walls onto only the band members’ faces and instruments. Of course, the video wouldn’t be complete without a pretty psychotic girl – in this case, a girl who starts out very much like Alice in her Wonderland, sitting in front of a teapot looking innocent. She quickly turns into a cheshire cat-grinning she-devil who desperately needs an exorcism, a toothbrush, and a bath. It’s entertaining to say the least. 

Just think: If the video is this good, what might these guys have up their sleave for their live shows? Hmmm, perhaps sacrificing a gerbil or defacing a picture of Justin Bieber? We can only hope.

You can catch Those Who Lie Beneath live at Satyricon this Thirsday, May 27th with Phoenix’s Knights of the Abyss, San Diego’s Burning the Masses, along with And Hell Followed With. Show starts early at 6 p.m. With this kind of lineup, it’s sure to be an epic show. And someone is guaranteed to puke.

– Deanna Uutela

 

The quest for the utter domination of the globe is as inadmirable as it is impossible. Britches can only be so big, and to outgrow them with the humpty-dumpty girth of your aspirations hearkens to the uppermost eschelons of both fuckery and an obvious ignorance to the exponential heaping of broken waist belts into our landfills thereafter.

But slow, steady lunging is way okay in our book, and we want more people to check out not only our blog site, but the litany of amazing Portland underground bands we write about from time to time. With this in mind – and with help from our other favorite local blog, The Days of Lore – the Deli Portland is presenting an evening of radical folk, psych-rock and fuzzy synth pop to The Woods on Wednesday, June 9th! Consider it our first small step. Giant leaps are for buttholes.

Radiant acid-rockers Wax Fingers will kick things off, followed by current Deli Portland artist of the month, mbilly. Rounding out the evening will be the plunky, synth-rock of newcomer Jen Moon. We’re beyond excited to have such a rad cross-section of bands for our first foray into Deli-sponsored events, and we’d be even more stoked to see you come out and rock with us.

With any luck, this will be a monthly showcase, so stay tuned for future updates! And don’t forget! Wednesday, June 9th! 21 and over, doors at 8, show at 9. $7.

We appreciate your patronage, and let us know who you’d like to see at our next showcase by commenting below!

– Ryan J. Prado

 

 

It’s been a long three years since our boys in Menomena released Friend & Foe, but our wait is over…well, it’ll be over July 27th. This date marks the release of the trio’s newest musical creation on Barsuk, Mines.

The image above is the new record’s front-and-back cover art, and like all other Menomena album art, it is more than meets the eye. I am the Fun Blame Monster came equipped with a flipbook and Friend & Foe with an intricate die-cut puzzle; this one is a stereograph. The front and back images appear to look identical but are actually slightly different stereographic photos that are visible as a single three-dimensional image if the viewer crosses his/her eyes just right (you know, like the “Oh look, it’s a sailboat!” Magic Eye optical illusions). Unfortunately, I’ve never been good at those and more than likely will forever see this artwork in its primitive, two-dimensional form, but at least the broken siren is nice to look at!

Along with announcing the album art, the threesome was kind enough to share the record’s first single, “FIVE ROOMS,” (no, the caps lock was not a typo, check out the tracklisting below) with its fans. The dark, minor-chord (and, of course, saxophone) laden track can be all yours if you go to Menomena’s site and supply the band with your email address.

 

Here’s what drummer/vocalist Danny Seim posted on the band’s website about the single:

Here are five little facts about "Five Little Rooms"

1. It’s the ninth track on our new album

2. It started out as one song a few years ago and ended up an entirely different song a few months ago

3. It prominently features the words "prostitute", "children", "hung", "bridegroom", "suburban" and "mcdonalds" (we’re edgy now, haven’t you heard?)

4. It was the last song to be chosen for the new record, which, in our perverted world, somehow makes it the most appropriate choice for the first single

5. It’s either the best or the worst song we’ve ever written; you decide!

Our friendly label folks wanted me to rewrite the following info in a more personal way, but I’m having a hard time outdoing their informative enthusiasm. I’ll just cut and paste instead:

"Get a download of "Five Little Rooms" now! In a few weeks, you’ll get exclusive information on the upcoming Mines pre-order including a limited-edition double 7-inch with non-album tracks, exclusive t-shirts, screen-printed posters and more!"

Thank you for caring.

love,
Danny / Menomena

 

Mines Tracklisting:

1.QUEEN BLACK ACID


2.TAOS


3.KILLEMALL


4.DIRTY CARTOONS


5.TITHE


6.BOTE


7.LUNCHMEAT


8.OH PRETTY BOY, YOU’RE SUCH A BIG BOY


9.FIVE LITTLE ROOMS


10.SLEEPING BEAUTY


11.INTIL

 

-Katrina Nattress

Nice Nice will be swooping in for a free show tomorrow night at Holocene! Supporting acts such as the joyful drone provided by Asss will be a welcome addition, paired along with the tribal glitch and percussion of duo Romancing and spatial psychedelic mindfucks Golden Retriever. For the rug-cutters, DJ New Moon Poncho, and DJ Tropical Depression (Claudia Meza from Explode Into Colors!) will hold down the segues and faders.

Nice Nice is touring in support of their recently released album Extra Wow, which came out on Warp Records just last month to a variety of strong reviews. Check out the psychedelic swirls of their video for their official single from the album "Everything Falling Apart" below: 

 

Show starts at 8:30 p.m. and, again, is completely FREE.

– Joel Sommer

Typhoon has been getting its fair share of (deserved) publicity lately. With ranking #2 in Willamette Week‘s Best New Band of 2010 poll, winning our Band of the Month poll earlier this year and having its newest album (first in three years) Hunger and Thirst featured on our site for quite some time now, it’s safe to say that 2010 is Typhoon’s year.

"Starting Over (Bad Habits)," the first single off Hunger and Thirst, is just as soaring and full as the band itself. Kyle Morton’s shaky voice floats over dueling drums, twangy guitar riffs, bouts of horns and a chorale created by his bandmates.

The video, directed by Matthew Ross, depicts members of the band going about their actual day to day lives (horn player Tyler Ferrin works at Potato Champion and drummer Pieter Hilton runs a coffee cart called Gorilla Boy Coffee) and performing on stage, only to get sucked into a black hole caused by a Large Hadron Collider, which is a humongous atom-smashing machine that is believed to create a tiny black hole on Earth. Just check out the article the character in the beginning of the video is reading; it all makes sense!

Typhoon – Starting Over (bad habits) from Matthew Ross on Vimeo.

If you’ve yet to see the orchestral performance that is Typhoon’s live show, you’ve got a chance May 23. The thirteen+ piece plays at Holocene with Frog Eyes and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band. Show starts at 8:30 pm. $8.

-Katrina Nattress

We know they’re not exactly a Portland band – far from it. Queens, NYC to be precise about the thing. BUT, Freelance Whales will be descending, smooth indie-pop bombast in tow, to Doug Fir this Sunday, May 16th with Shout Out Louds and The Franks. And since you loyal Deli Portland readers have been so good to us, we wanna return the favor.

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to the show, and all you have to do is be the first to comment to this post with your favorite type of whale. Easy, right? We like to make things easy.

Runner-up will receive a signed copy of Freelance Whales brand new album Weathervanes, and second runner-up will receive a handy-dandy Freelance Whales tote bag!

Check out this new Darby Cicci (of the Antlers) remix of Freelance Whales’ "Killer Whales" here, and check out the band’s new video for "Generator 2nd Floor" below.

Freelance Whales – Generator 2nd Floor

Freelance Whales | MySpace Music Videos

If you don’t win the tickets, try not to blubber (COULD NOT help it). The show is only $12 in advance, $14 day of show. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9. Now get to commenting!

– Ryan J. Prado

After raising $5,454 at its Make It Pop! fundraiser, PDX Pop Now! is keeping the benefits coming. With the unveiling of this year’s two-disc compilation, the organization also announced its corresponding CD release benefit show, which will be held June 3rd at Holocene. Cover for the show is $10 and includes a copy of the 2010 compilation, and the venue made special arrangements with the OLCC to make this event ALL AGES!

We’ll keep you posted with the lineup for the show, but for now, check out the track listing for the 2010 PDX Pop Now! compilation:

Disc 1

1) The Basics – Tope & Epp ft. Illmaculate

2) No Nostalgia – AgesandAges**

3) Oooh Kill Ooooh – Nucular Aminals

4) Tange Rine – Deelay Ceelay**

5) City Morgue – Kelli Schaefer

6) Five Little Rooms – Menomena**

7) El Ranchero Tejano – paper/upper/cuts**

8) The Letters – Light for Fire**

9) The Upheaval on Titan – JonnyX & the Groadies

10) Never Again – Fruition

11) My Hip Hop Is Breathing – Beyoung, Empire, Lost Poet, Mr. Flea

12) Starting Over (Bad Habits) – Typhoon 1

3) bodyblood – the angry orts**

14) Bombast – Trio Subtonic

15) Let This Body Go – Death Songs

16) Steve Don’t Party No More – Mean Jeans

17) Flatlands – Mike Coykendall

18) Bad Buzz – The Mint Chicks

19) Wet & Dripping – Aan

20) Patient Heart – Sean Flinn & the Royal We

Disc 2

1) Mercenary Days – Hockey

2) Boxcar Children – ioa

3) Dalvik Tide – Ocean Age

4) Hoop & Wire – Boy Eats Drum Machine

5) Tramm – Breakfast Mountain**

6) Sleep, Child – Nick Jaina

7) Marianne – Strength**

8) Only A Quality Lime for Eric Gruber – Andrew Oliver Sextet

9) Look My Way – Blitzen Trapper**

10) Don’t Look Down on Me – MY-G

11) Pythia Misunderstood – Transient

12) Battling Giants – Brainstorm

13) Too Many Days Gone – Dharma Bums**

14) Wide-Eyed, Legless – Laura Veirs

15) Midcentury Motion – Talkdemonic**

16) Pulling Weeds – The Great Mundane**

17) Juniper – Y La Bamba**

18) Peacock Dreams – Peacock Dreams

19) See Waves – Nice Nice

20) Giant Stairs – A Weather

 

**Previously Unreleased Tracks

 

-Katrina Nattress