With their sexual thematics and heavy odes to all ’em lecherous kids out there, it seems like California bred noise rock band Lunge may be gambling on a winning combination. The Kids Just Wanna Get Wet? Sure they do, don’t we all, so why not rave on about it loud and louder?
Now established in Portland, the trio specialise in an aggressive, deliciously explicit blend of punk rock and grunge influences, kicked up a notch right onto the edge of hardcore if only to keep your lustful granny out of the pit. Pure noise interacts with short, slow paced interludes, giving you two seconds to breathe only to dive straight back into the screaming, distorted aesthetics of the band’s sound. It’s quick and effective like a punch in the face, and to be fair, isn’t that what most punk purists and amateurs of heavier things are gagging for today? Get messy with them in July, and in the meantime, here’s right below a treat for your next-door neighbour! – Tracy Mamoun
The featured shot may belie what I am about to say, but flying through fast shredding guitar riffs and screeching solos like four horsemen on amphets’, Portland’s Bubble Cats sure know how to shake it up in their outbursts of soulful garage punk. The distorted vocals, resembling in dramatic intensity Pixies’ Black Francis’ screams of despair, build upon a racing rhythm section a shambolic, and most electrifying style a la Reatards. It’s alive, sounds like teenage fire, and if anything is certainly worth a trip down to the club to bang your head and break a sweat. Check out our listings on the right for more information on their upcoming gigs, as they’ll be performing five shows in Portland over summer, kicking off at The Wilshire Tavern next Saturday! – Tracy Mamoun
It’s a treat to the ears and soothing to the soul. Jackson Hole based Americana band Screen Door Porch delightfully combined the softer acoustics of Western America with the force of their Southern country vibe into a magnetic, energy-fuelled dialogue between lead vocals Aaron Davies and Seadar Rose.
Through a series of contemporary variations on the themes most rooted in American music, Davies’ deep, ever so slightly husky tone marries Rose’s sultry bluesy nonchalance in colourful conversation. Sometimes they’ll oscillate between one and the other, but often they’ll let the ongoing back-and-forth turn into heartwarming harmony, revealing the true power of the fronting duet.
Their eponymous debut EP already received great critical acclaim, and their latest full-length sonic treat “The Fate & The Fruit”, released in May, is as we speak working its way up the US Roots-Rock charts as the whole band begins a summer tour of their state of Wyoming, with over twenty dates and a slight detour via Montana early in August. Sample the album on the website join them at Music In The Hole festival on the 4th of July to celebrate Independence in the finest of American tradition! – Tracy Mamoun
None too knocked down by the departure early in 2011 of their longtime third mousqueteer Brent Knopf, Portland based indie rockers Menomena are as we speak getting geared up to tour the US this fall to promote their upcoming album, "Moms", out on the 18th of September.
As Knopf ventured off into a solo project, multi-instrumentalists Justin Harris and Danny Seim took on with brio the challenge of pursuing the adventure as a duet, exploring further the depth of their sonic realm in this most anticipated fifth record. With over a decade’s experience, the band have developed a particular style mostly relying on a contemporary recording process : originally programmed by ex-member Knopf, the band employs a Digital Loop Recorder to paste, in turns, sections of acoustic or electronic improvisation onto a rhythmic basis. Today, holding onto this signature method despite the band’s new dynamics, the remaining members shared the composition of the album with all due democracy, each of them accountable for five of the ten tracks .
To their experimental pop recipe and instrumental versatility, Harris and Seim added a twist of soulful introspection, inviting the audience to an intimate universe and offering them a glimpse into the intrinsic and most personal dynamics of creation. A teaser of the album to come is available on the band’s website for those eager to sneak a peek into their latest project! – Tracy Mamoun
Portland has had a long and fabled romance with the increasingly borderless genre of folk and in many ways it’s this love affair that is intrisically responsible for that rising intedeminance. Whether it’s the classic Americana of outfits like the Watertower Bucket Boys; or the macabre energy of the Builders and the Butchers; or the subtle introspection of Holcombe Waller — the folk scene in this city has, for better or worse, perpetuated a blanket term for a wide array of contemporary acoustic music. Nominally speaking, you might have already suspected Strangled Darlings sound leans towards the Builders and the Butchers more afflicted end of the spectrum. Self-described as literary doom pop, the duo of George Veech and Jessica Anderly juxatpose boisterous instrumentation with exacting sociopolitical lyricism in ways that fashionably blur the lines of blues and bluegrass, which are typically adjacent to folk. The result is something that recalls the days when Tom Waits spent less time on movie sets and more time on the back fourty. The new video for "Snake and the Girl" certainly confirms the group’s darker tendencies with writhing bathtub scenes and shamanistic beach rituals. There also may or may not be a giant snake.
Strangled Darlings just released their latest full-length, Red Yellow & Blue, on May 15th. You can catch the release show and pick up your own copy at Secret Society Ballroom this Saturday, May 19th.
"Party math" rockers Yeah Great Fine have a released a heady new video for their track "Rise With the Sun". You can find the track on the band’s 2011 self-released EP, Circadian. You may remember YGF won our Best of 2011 Open Submission contest earlier this year. This oddball animation, created by Wil Magness, implies things will simply keep getting better and better in 2012.
Walter Mitty and his Makeshift Orchestra is most definitely a punk band, even though they only use acoustic instruments. When you’re at a basement show and the band consists of an acoustic guitarist with a kazoo and a drummer with a set made of a plastic Budweiser keg, a cowbell, and a tambourine, you wouldn’t expect broken windows and sweat drenched floors. But that’s just the kind of reaction Walter Mitty’s rowdy anthems induce. Decibels and distortion is replaced with clarity and catchiness, creating something that sounds like a more intimate version of Gaslight Anthem or the Thermals.
Overwhelmed and Underdressed is the third release from this young Portland-via-San Luis Obispo duo, and it’s the band’s mellowest album yet, but the disc is still swelling the with short track times, simple hooks and sing-a-long potential of any great punk album. The lyricism is so straightforward that it should be sappy, but there is such a clear sincerity to the delivery that it makes each track more like a late night conversation with an old confidant. There’s nothing too abstract about lines like “I’ve been from private school polos to sweet jail of Canada,” or “All my friends say this cartoon’s life expired. Some of them ran off chasing corporate grins, and some of them left me for oxycontin,” but these confessions are balanced out with a sense of humor about the spontaneity and absurdity of youth. The confusion felt by those who fall somewhere in the middle of the yuppie-punk continuum is mirrored in Walter Mitty’s music: a sentiment which often manages to be both melancholic and joyous.
You pick up Overwhelmed and Underdressed (and the previous two releases) over on Bandcamp.
Mean Jeans is looking to take their pot smoking, boozed-up, denim-clad pizza party shenanigans into space with the release of their latest full length effort On Mars. To launch their record into the infinite void that is the internet, the trio put together a video for the single "Anybody Out There" with buddy-director Brett Roberts. Featuring a homemade spacecraft set and accompanying costumes, the video is equal parts Mystery Science Theatre and the kvetchy mid-century cult flicks that very show satirizes. It’s entirely the kind of fun-fueled Bill and Ted punk irreverence we’ve come to expect from these devil-may-care rockers. A sign that bodes well for die-hard fans, but done with enough tongue-in-cheek style that even those with a stiff upper lip are sure to crack a smile. The full album drops April 17th via Dirtnap records, but if you really want to "celebrate" the new record with the band, then we suggest you hold out till the album release show on 4/20 at Eagles Lodge.
March Madness just ended and all of you bracketologists out there are probably pretty sad you’ll have to until next year to get your bracketology on, but don’t fret! Back for a second year by popular demand, in a move that is sure to establish itself as a Portland institution – it’s Rigsketball! If you’re late to the game, Rigsketball is halfcourt, 3v3 basketball played on a regulation hoop attached to the back of a van, just about anywhere the cops won’t bust the party. However, when played in a bracket-style tournament with 32 of Portland’s most ballin’ bands and a couple of well-coordinated city permits in the 2012 calendar year: it becomes Rigsketball 2k12! – a summer tradition monstrosity that threatens the safety of every man, woman and child in a 50-foot radius, all the while promoting physical exercise, good attitudes and teamwork! Not to mention connecting 32 seemingly disparate bands and their fans in friendly opposition while providing all parties involved the chance to see each group do something new and exciting outside the studio or venue. If you like sweat, beer, bands, jams, vans, basketball and the possibility of some extremely minor bloodshed – then you’ll love Rigsketball 2k12!
Last year’s bracket was constituted by Typhoon, Starfucker, And And And, Radiation City, Rock n Roll Soldiers, Jared Mees and the Grown Children, Archers, Aan, SKELETRON, Sean Flinn and the Royal We, TxE, Laura Gibson, Support Force, Animal Eyes, Charts, The Woolen Men, The Blast Majesty, Dirty Mittens, Monarques, My Autumn’s Done Come, Youthbitch, Rocky & The Proms, SUPER MONSTER, The No Tomorrow Boys, Surfs Drugs, Hello Electric, Rabid Wombat, Lee Cory Oswald, Otis Heat, Ugly Flowers, Mannequinhead, and The Taxi Boys.
Rigsketball 2k12 registration will open April 15th (filing taxes optional.) The first 32 eligible bands to register will be a part of this year’s tournament and it is sure to fill up quickly after last year’s buzz. Actual competition begins July 26th and goes through August 9th. If you’re in a band, be sure to save the registration date. If you’re an adoring fan, be sure to donate. The Deli will see everybody out on the court. Wherever that is.
Alialujah Choir is a new project from Weinland’s Adam Shearer, Alia Farah and M.Ward/Norfolk & Western’s Adam Selzer. Alialujah doesn’t stray heavily from the successful stylings of its members’ other aforementioned projects, but that isn’t to say the combination is uninspired. The group’s debut record finds the trio deftly pulling together smooth vocal harmonies, lush traditional instrumentation and emotionally driven lyricism into a sound that is accessible, yet evocative. Fans of the Swell Season, Horse Feathers, Ramona Falls, Iron and Wine, etc. will feel pleasantly at home. Fittingly, be sure to watch the outfit’s brand new video for "A House, A Home" featuring the Portland Cello Project.
Synth pop favorites Adventures! with Might and local pop outfit Pocketknife embarked on a friendly challenge last fall: to cover each other’s favorite songs and release a glorious 7" together. Long time fans knew the results were obviously going to be fun, but this release is downright awesome.
The 7" has been released in a limited quantity of 200 through Marlin Gonda of Pocketknife’s vinyl-only label Vinyl Richie Records. The vinyl features one original song from each of the bands and one cover from each of the bands. Track listing is below and check out more info on the vinyl and the label here!
1. Pocketknife – Bats In The Belfry 04:17
2.Adventures! With Might – Teen Machine
3.Pocketknife – You Think Too Much (Adventures! With Might Cover)
4. Adventures! With Might – Should I Kiss The Viper’s Fang? (Pocketknife Cover)
While spring is officially upon us, it doesn’t mean the rain has stopped or the mercury is rising in Portland. Sun Angle is a much needed shot of Vitamin-D to our collective pineal glands. broadcasting photons of posi-energy and other undetectable waves of vibe-age through psychedelic solar flares of improvisation and cosmic songwriting. The band, consisting of three distinctly PDX experimental rock veterans, is an ever-amorphous kind of rock and roll trio. Like a ray of light, Sun Angle’s sound consists of many varying wavelengths, each spectrum a different contribution from the talents of its members. Like all good things, Sun Angle defies genrefication.
Each song on the eponymous debut EP is precisely crafted around Charlie Salas-Humara’s spastic vocal displays, which serve as intergalactic communiques from space to an earth bound listener. Papi Fimbres’ (O Bruxo) drum kit locks into a consistent percussion orbit, anchored in its rotation by Marius Libman’s (Copy) rhythmic bass. Most songs on the record exude a tropical smoothie of self-professed progressive-fusion-cumbia-psychedelia, but tunes such as “Two Triangles Inside of a Circle…” are more akin to the jazz-centric stylings of bands like the Blues Project, made famous on the Monterrey Pop stage in the summer of love. The incorporation of flute on the last two songs of the EP is a telling escalation in Sun Angle’s nuanced, yet simple approach to progressive songwriting. While improvisationally cosmic in nature, Sun Angle’s accessible song structure will surely enlighten a larger audience to the power of solar music fusion.