The Moondoggies, Banditos, The Jackalope Saints
Recommended
Washington’s Moondoggies really didn’t work hard enough on their name, which makes them sound like some cheesy Grateful Dead cover band that’d probably have an indefinite Thursday night residency at Calamity Jane’s on 26 up near Mt. Hood. Plus—dogs on the moon? That’s just nuts. Despite all of this, the Moondoggies are fantastic, one of the best Pacific Northwest mountain-country bands around. This month the band’s celebrating its 10th anniversary by re-releasing its 2008 full-length debut, Don’t Be a Stranger—13 tracks of ghostly fingerpicking and echoing harmonies that exemplify the haunted beauty of a misty winter in the Cascades, especially on tracks like “Ain’t No Lord” and “The Undertaker.” But they’re also experts at capturing boot-stomping bouts of twangy joy on tracks like “Long Time Coming.” Don’t Be a Stranger is great, but don’t forget to revisit their latest full-length, 2014’s Adios, I’m a Ghost—“Red Eye” is one of my personal favorites, particularly the moments when frontman Kevin Murphy sighs, “She’s up and gone/Up to Washington” between the hissing squeals of hot-poker guitar riffs. CIARA DOLAN