*photo by Cary Clarke

As we come to the close of another round of genre polling, this one sees an interesting pair of categories mashing up together in voting. Thinking of indie rock and post-punk in the same light is weird enough, but what isn’t strange is who all of you chose as the winners. We’re pleased to present you with the best in indie rock and post-punk for 2017: Lithics and The Toads.

Lithics are the winners of our overall poll, with much love given to them from our anonymous jurors. They dropped Borrowed Floors last year, along with playing a series of shows throughout the year that made a lasting impression on many of our poll participants. One of their first shows of 2017 will be this Friday with Sad Horse and Blesst Chest at Turn Turn Turn.

The Toads took over the readers’ poll with their fun loving, power pop indie rock without a problem. Theses dudes really know how to write an easily lovable rock song that makes you want to pogo up and down with a huge smile on your face. Always Be Nice, the EP they released in October of last year, is a much needed reminder to spread some love and kindness around. You can check out their lovely live set at Quarterworld on Thursday with Radler.

A more than honorable mention needs to go out to Star Club, who gave The Toads a huge run for their money in the readers’ poll!

	Blowout		3%	10 votes
	Dark/Light		2%	6 votes
	Marcys Band		7%	18 votes
	Lithics		2%	7 votes
	The Century		1%	4 votes
	Star Club		35%	91 votes
	The Toads		45%	115 votes
	Tyrants		1%	4 votes

Last year, goblin pop trio Candace shared a duo of specially covered love songs for the sake of Valentine’s Day. They’ve done it again this year, and even included one of their own original tracks as an extra delight.

While you’re getting ready for your big Valentine’s date or perhaps just chilling at home demuring the date, Candace’s mini playlist is worthy of some proper rotation. Providing their own gazed out bedroom pop versions of "Something’s On My Mind" by Karen Dalton and "Do I get So Shy" by Shoes, along with a newer song of theirs called "Great Basin," their V-Day release is honestly one of the best things about today. Here’s to hoping it becomes an actual tradition.

You can catch Candace playing on Thursday, February 16 for a Lose Yr Mind sponsored show along with Souvenir Driver and Sinless.

Already making plans for your post Valentine’s Day romantic void recovery? If you’re boycotting going out tomorrow to save having romance shoved in your face, consider heading up to Alberta St. Pub on Wednesday where a little bit of folk could sooth your lovelorn soul.

Singer/songwriter Chris Miller pops back up into hearts intermittently as Green Hills Alone, sharing what has been so delightfully described as "California coffee shop acoustic." Moody and not too twangy, Green Hills Alone will bring more of grey folk feel to the night.

In that same vein, Kelly Blair Bauman‘s last release, 2009’s Gomorrah, was cathartic folk if we’ve ever heard it. More personal than his time spent with Cali bands Deathstar and the North Magnetic, Bauman’s solo work intimately shows him coming into his own on his own – a feeling those who are recently single may be discovering about themselves as well.

Ending a brighter, powerpop side of folk, Maurice and the Stiff Sisters will shed a little bit of upbeat light to the night. Despite certain song titles like "Unlucky In Love," the undeniable groovy beat and cheerful use of horns take away any sadness. 

Ash Street Saloon will transform into a djent dungeon tomorrow as some of Portland’s finest in the genre, Vow of Volition and Increate, co-celebrate the releases of their newest albums.

So far, Vow of Volition have shared only one single off their newest, titled Anthelion. "Promise" is somewhat short in length, clocking in at just under two minutes, but it in no way falls short when compared to any of their other epically technical death metal jams. We’ll be hearing the rest of the album tomorrow during the show and if "Promise" is any indication of the rest of Anthelion, then it promises to be another solidly heavy release.

Increate’s full length debut, Void, dropped a few days ago and shares six new tracks showcasing their eight string instrumental assault. The quartet credit ganja, discovering the ideal balance between calculated and improvised solos, and reworking the songs after moving from including vocals to being fully instrumental as part of the process that makes Void so great. 

Sacrifice to Survive, Across Three Hundred Seas and Psyclops will all be joining VoV and Increate in their release show festivities. Doors for this $6, 21+ open at 8pm, so be sure to make it there on time.

One of our largest polls yet has set so many great bands (and many of them, friends with one another) against each other in a fun battle to figure out the best in punk and garage for the 2017 year. After tallying up the votes, we’ve got your top two picks from the readers’ poll and the overall (jurors’ and readers’) poll, so let’s say a big congrats to:

Mr. Wrong

At barely a year or so old, the fierce power that comes from Mr. Wrong is undeniable. They scored the highest in our anonymous juror poll and if you’ve ever heard or seen them dish out their riot grrrl redux flavor then it all makes total sense. So far, we’ve only got their Distraction demo to enjoy along with their live sets, but hopefully we’ll be seeing more from this collection of lovelies soon.

Wave Action

Second in line for our jurors’ picks is Wave Action, whose relentless devotion to taking the stage has quickly garnered them much attention. If anything, they could go down in Portland’s 2016 yearbook as "Band that Played the Most Shows," but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, since they’ve got their hazy surf down pat. 

On drugs

With probably one of the best, straight to the point band names in town currently, On drugs embody what just about all of us Portlanders are all about – chillin’ out, partaking in a substance or two, and listening to good music. They’re gearing up to release their debut full length and from what we and the rest of you have seen of them, it’s no wonder their weed rock was the top choice amongst our readers.

G*U*N

Everything about G*U*N, from their wild stage presence to their unapologetic in your face-ness, make them the perfect poster children for the modern hardcore punk movement. It might be hard to make out exactly what is conveyed through their savage screams, but what is known is how good their approach to the genre is.

Those these four took over our charts, much acknowledgement needs to be given to all of our participants!

	Dim Wit		7%	82 votes
	Macho Boys		6%	69 votes
	G*U*N		19%	208 votes
	EBT BBQ		5%	53 votes
	Kulululu		10%	109 votes
	Mr. Wrong		3%	36 votes
	Melt		3%	36 votes
	San Lorenzo		0%	6 votes
	Rambush		8%	94 votes
	On drugs		27%	288 votes
	The Goobs		4%	42 votes
	Wave Action		2%	26 votes

It’s been 11 years since the world lost J Dilla, but his contributions to hip hop have long stayed with the masses. Detroit’s James Dewitt Yancey (or sometimes, Jay Dee) not only produced some of the finest beats around for artists like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, but his prolific lyricism as a solo artist and founding member of Slum Village and his all around endearing outlook on life made him one of the most revered hip hop legends of all time. We celebrate him every year with a Dilla Tribute night and 2017 will be no different.

DJ Ronin Roc from Ante Up will be playing some of best in Dilla’s extensive studio and posthumous discography, along with local legned Rev Shines of Lifesavas, Supper Set and XRAY.fm and Portland’s veteran vinyl master DJ Kez. And as always, free doughnuts from Voodoo and a custom Dilla Dawg photo booth will there for all to enjoy. Come enjoy a $5 get down with Dilla everything at Dig A Pony on Tuesday, February 6.

 We’re steadily trudging through our polls for the bands all of you loyal participants in the Portland scene considered the best in music from last year. We tackled the electronic and experimental poll with this last round and we’re happy to announce our top winners (though you ALL our in our books!). Congrats to…

Gold Casio for winning the overall poll (which is our local jurors’ votes + the readers’ poll votes) and Abronia for winning our readers’ poll!

Likely the only psychedelic-electronic-disco act around, Gold Casio have been favorites in the local dance scene for a while now to those "in the know." But now, with more singles and shows under their belt, the band’s incredibly rhythmic and somewhat flirty musical nature has made its way into the hearts of those outside of the usual dance club dwellers, proving that all that really glitters is Gold…Casio.

Ambiently soft yet broodingly heavy, Abronia have expanded their lineup to match their beautifully atmospheric and expansive sound. Perfect for moments of mental reflection but easy to enjoy in damn near every other scenario, Abronia’s dominanation of the experimental side of the poll makes total sense, and we can’t wait to hear new releases from them.

Take a peek at our other poll placers and be sure to show them some love as well!

	Amenta Abioto		13%	96 votes
	dolphin midwives		16%	118 votes
	Gold Casio		29%	204 votes
	Abronia		18%	132 votes
	Don Gero		6%	44 votes
	James Curry IV		15%	106 votes

Some of your favorite local tracks may be from Anthony Schatz, but you would never know it. He’s been recording under the guise of anonymity for years, with some of his albums secretly reaching heights of critical acclaim and maximum enjoyment, including from popular musicians like Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold. While those in the scene may know his face from the house shows he’s thrown, everyone else will soon know that face due to his upcoming new album, due out on February 3rd.

Under the moniker PWRHAUS (or sometimes, Tonality Star), Schatz’s tender concoction of ethereal dreampop, retro Motown soul and indie, topped with a witty cheekiness, is undeniably catchy. 

The newest single to come off the release, "Heartbeat," is a lo-fi reworking of a traditional love song as far as the ear can make out of the slightly droned out but definite head-bobbing beat. You can experience this track live along with the rest of the album, at his visual album release on the 8th at Holocene. Secrets, the solo project of Aaron Chapman from Nurses, and Schaus will also be a part of the soulfully dreamy fun. Take a peek at "Heartbeat" below.

If you were anything like most of the mid-2000’s Myspace crowd, it’s incredibly likely you got down with all those Punk Goes… compilations. There was Punk Goes Acoustic and Punk Goes Crunk (which was of course as hilariously good as it sounds), but Punk Goes Pop definitely gave them both a run for their money. The best of the scene tried their hand at covering songs from the top of the pop charts, but since the last volume of it came out in 2014, we haven’t gotten the same pop punk fulfillment.

Thank you, Icarus The Owl, and your cover of Vanessa Carlton‘s "A Thousand Miles" for filling that void.

Premiering via Alternative Press a little over a week ago, Icarus The Owl’s cover of this piano playing staple features the classic technical drumming and mastered guitar playing we usually see from the band, along with some three part harmonies that really bring the cover to life.

On taking on the song, the band says: "This song is timeless to us and we’ve always jokingly played the main riff while sound checking on stage. We decided it was time to do a proper cover. Also the scene in White Chicks."

That movie, yes. All of it, yes. Give it a listen below.

In conjunction with this weekend’s Sabertooth Music Fest, Showdeer and Al’s Den are hosting Laura Palmer’s DEATH PARADE as their residency for the next six days. Though it technically started last night, many special guests will be joining in on the dark psych folk fun, led by the beautiful swoon of Laura Hopkins.

Jetlag from their recent UK tour won’t stop this trio from giving it all they’ve got for the rest of the week, with local favorites like Nathan Baumgartner of And And And, Dim Wit, Sweeping Exits, Cat Hoch, and Bryson Cone aiding in the excitement. 

See the flyer above for a breakdown of each night’s LPDP pairings. Each night is free, 21+ and starts at 7pm so if you’re gearing up to head out for the night, stop by Al’s Den and see them tonight with Haley Heynderickx.

From shredding in Mississippi metal bands as a teen to a West Coast move resulting in a new sound, Matthew Fountain has taken the familial jazzy influence of his upbringing and turned it into the artsy folk pop us Portlanders get to experience today.

With anywhere from three to eight of his musician friends joining him live as part of the Whereabouts, Matthew Fountain’s tunes lyrically reflect the familiar struggle we all have with reflecting on self-identity, social interactions, the future, love and other strong forces we experience. Some of these themes can be heard on his newest track, "Written on Your Wall," that came out just over a week ago.

Through moody chamber folk and a somewhat theatrical production, "Written on Your Wall" touches on the all too common human tendency of hearing what we want to out of conversations and other people’s words. Its syncopated arrangements and interesting key changes keep the listener attentive while engaging in its relatable storyline. Give it a listen below

Last year was a pretty good year in local music. We’ve seen many faces tackle few genres, battling it out for the top spot in all our rotation of shows we attend, merch we buy and band pages we like. Of all the Portlander crusaders in Indie Pop, Reptaliens won the yearly reader’s poll for the category, but there are a handful of other bands that caught the eye of our jurors and voters. 

At the top of that list is Little Star (pictured), the Good Cheer Records band that pulls the best from 90’s college radio indie and emo, giving a modern spin to the classics of sad pop. Spawned from the ashes of a romanticized detriment, as are some of the best contributions to music ever, Little Star’s small but estimable discography models moments of tender affection and soft aggression sonically and lyrically as a well rounded product to share with the masses. 

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Next up we’ve got Mini Blinds, whose angelic twee pop quickly made them a favorite. Just in their first year of existence, their debut release Air Signs captures an innocence many long to hold on to.

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Newer to the Portland scene, synthpop duo My Body hauled their danceable beats across the country from New York to share their creations with us. We couldn’t be more happy about it, or their Seven Wives EP, released yesterday.

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With one of the best guitarists in the city right now, Two Moons is an enigma of sorts. Their albums reflect a temperate delivery, but their live shows are a brute force to be reckoned with. They’ll surprise you in all sorts of ways, but all of them pleasantly.

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We’ve can’t forget to show some love to our Honorable Mentions Small Million, Plastic Cactus and Point Juncture, Wa as well!