WEDNESDAY 8/3

BLOWOUT, WALTER ETC., ALI MUHAREB, RILED
(Black Water Bar, 835 NE Broadway) Portland’s best pop-punk band is Blowout, and tonight celebrates the release of their debut full-length. Despite its title, No Beer, No Dad greets sadness with fountains of Rainier and the company of buddies. Blowout captures the two-toned feeling of wrenching existential despair and unbridled exuberance, a combination that sounds fantastic. CIARA DOLAN Also, Read our story on Blowout

WHITNEY, MICHAEL RAULT
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Read our story on Whitney.

KITE, VIBRISSAE, DJ STRAYLIGHT
(The Lovecraft, 421 SE Grand) Tonight local up-and-comers Vibrissae will celebrate the re-release of their debut, Somewhere Away. The electronic shoegaze trio stands out with restlessly seductive execution and an arresting sound—sweet, celestial vocals float above an introspective cache of melodic invocations. Swedish electro-pop duo Kite’s Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg make epic soundscapes: Driving beats layer under Stenemo’s soul-searching vocals, creating a wall of sound that manages to stay both uplifting and intimate. They’re touring in support of their sixth release, out now on Progress Productions. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD

THURSDAY 8/4

PICKATHON: CHANTI DARLING, IBEYI, KEVIN MORBY, LINDI ORTEGA, & MORE
(Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen, Happy Valley) It’s Pickathon time! The Portland area’s loveliest and funnest music fest returns in all its sunny glory with a JAM-PACKED lineup for 2016. Soak in the laidback vibes with headliners like Jeff Tweedy and Beach House, check out indie-rock faves like a reunited Wolf People and the evergreen Yo La Tengo, and get freaky with metalers Vhöl and local R&B sensation Chanti Darling. NED LANNAMANN. Also, read our story on Pickathon.

DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, SUNBATHE, YAQUINA BAY
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Maggie May Morris has a catchy-as-hell name to go along with her natural ability to write a catchy-as-hell song. While you may be familiar with Morris from her position at the helm of Genders, you might not be aware that her solo efforts are as just as mesmerizing. With her current project, Sunbathe, Morris reminds us that catchy doesn’t always have to be equal to sunny or saccharine. She’s got the distinct ability to write a song so devastating you’ll flop to the floor while listening, but also so warm and familiar that you’ll find yourself attempting to hum along even before you’ve finished indulging in it for the first time. JENNA FLETCHER

FRIDAY 8/5

CLUB NITTY GRITTY: DJ ACTION SLACKS, DJ YOUNG METHUSELAH
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) If you're looking for a dance night that sets the evening on fire, check out Club Nitty Gritty, hosted by the always down for a good time DJ Action Slacks (Shannon Wiberg). Expect righteous choices in down-home dirty soul—the kind with raw sax and voices that wail, scratch, and have plenty of grime. You know, the kind you miss from Portland’s days of yore. (And tonight is a benefit for Freeform Portland radio 90.3 FM!) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

PICKATHON: WOLF PARADE, TY SEGALL AND THE MUGGERS, CASS MCCOMBS, LA LUZ, YO LA TENGO, & MORE
(Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen, Happy Valley) See Thursday's listing.

LISA PRANK, COCKEYE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) With just a Roland MC-505 drum machine, warm power chords, and infinitely catchy ’90s East Bay punk vocal hooks, Lisa Prank is Ramones-loving power-pop stripped down to its barest form. Following the cult-level success of her EP Crush on the World, Prank—AKA Seattle musician Robin Edwards—released Adult Teen, her full-length debut under the moniker, on Father/Daughter Records in June. Edwards sings about the immediate boiling-over joy of a new relationship, dancing to avoid emotions, and power-pop’s ultimate trope: unrequited love. Sometimes you want a sad a song, and sometimes you want something bubbly to dance to—with Lisa Prank, you can have it all. CAMERON CROWELL

GRAN RITMOS: NICOLA CRUZ, NATURAL MAGIC, 2TABS
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Nicola Cruz is a producer, musician, and DJ who makes music born out of a deep respect for indigenous South American mysticism and a strong background in house music. Born in France and based in Quito, Ecuador, he draws inspiration from the landscapes, cultures, and rhythms in the heart of the Andes. His self-recorded and self-produced EP Prender El Alma came out in 2015 on ZZK Records, home of like-minded artists Chancha Via Circuito and El Búho, a fitting imprint for his experimentations in indigenous instrumentation and deep house meditations on cosmology. Portland’s irreverent purveyors of outsider-Balearic-psychedelic frequencies Natural Magic open alongside 2Tabs, the new project from Gran Ritmos’ own Coast2c and Michael Bruce. DANIELA SERNA

KACEY MUSGRAVES, CHARLIE WORSHAM
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Kacey Musgraves comes in many ways from the same country tradition that gave us Loretta Lynn—self-made female country singers who write their own songs and often have a non-mainstream feminist bent to their lyrics. Musgraves gets a lot of credit for her “progressive” songs, but, while they might’ve been progressive in 1966, in 2016 they seem just quaint. You’re cool with marijuana? You don’t say! You’re okay with girls kissing girls? That’s, like, so brave! Her 2013 major-label debut, the Grammy-winning Same Trailer Different Park, introduced the young country-pop singer (emphasis on pop) with an ear for catchy hooks and clever turns-of-phrase. Her follow-up, last year’s Pageant Material, by-and-large follows the same formula—rocking the boat, but trying not to get wet. Even while asserting self-confidence and empowerment in a male-dominated industry, she remains frustratingly polite. Musgraves has already proven she can write a catchy tune; here’s hoping she soon takes the kid gloves off. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY

WAVVES, STEEP LEANS, PARTYBABY
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) San Diego four-piece Wavves sounds exactly how a California band named after ocean swells should sound: full of fuzzy, shimmery indie surf-rock. But their lyrical content is often darker than those labels connote, as frontman Nathan Williams tackles subjects like self-loathing and addiction with a tired, anxious, sardonic tongue. 2015’s V was inspired by a breakup and worsening bad habits, but took the tone a little too far—Williams’ self-pitying lyrics seem intended to alienate rather than commiserate. But Wavves’ musicianship and talent endures, with hooks that’ll satisfy when you’re feeling real wry and fuck-it-all. FIONA GABRIELLE WOODMAN

DROWSE, SABONIS, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, LUBEC
(High Water Mark, 6800 NE MLK) What started out as Sloths guitarist Kyle Bates’ unassuming bedroom-recording project has evolved into one of Portland’s best and most dynamic heavy bands. Bates’ first official release under the Drowse moniker was last year’s Soon Asleep, a collection of harrowing and washed-out elegies that came with a 40-page, hand-illustrated memoir chronicling the musician’s struggles with mental illness. New EP Memory Bed sees Bates delving deeper into more traditional singer/songwriter territory, a shift best exemplified by the delicate, quintessentially Pacific Northwestern sonics of “Break” and “Memory.” Bates is rounded out live by some of the best Portland musicians of the last several years, including Sloths bandmate Alec van Stavern, Pardee Shorts’ Kevin Gwozdz, ambient artist Taylor Malsey, and former GrandFather guitarist Parker Johnson. MORGAN TROPER

SATURDAY 8/6

PICKATHON: DAN DEACON, PROTOMARTYR, JEFF TWEEDY, FRUIT BATS, ALVVAYS, & MORE
(Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen, Happy Valley) See Thursday's listing.

OMNI, ALTO!
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) If you dig the sound of an electric guitar slicing through a prickly pop-rock song, Omni is your new favorite band. No joke. The Atlanta trio’s debut full-length Deluxe—released in July on Trouble in Mind Records—is a compact collection of catchy post-punk songs with sharp corners and stony attitude. Drummer Billy Mitchell pushes Omni along like a laser-guided rhythm robot. Philip Frobos’ basslines snap like a rubber band stretched to its limit, and his dead-eyed vocals ably straddle a line between memorable and amelodic. Each member is a vital part of Omni’s admixture. But it’s Frankie Broyles’ guitar—sharp, jangling, rubbery, and weird—that puts Deluxe into a higher sonic tax bracket. His sound should be bronzed and inducted into the Post-Punk Hall of Fame. Joining Omni on tonight’s bill are globally-inspired experimental locals Alto!, whose excellent LP3 also came out on Trouble in Mind earlier this year. BEN SALMON

SUNDAY 8/7

PICKATHON: THEE OH SEES, BEACH HOUSE, YEMEN BLUES, THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN, MAC DeMARCO, & MORE
(Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen, Happy Valley) See Thursday's listing.

MONDAY 8/8

JULIEN BAKER, LUCY DACUS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our story on Lucy Dacus.

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV AND THE GHOST ORCHESTRA, LANGHORNE SLIM
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) The vivid aural realm of Gregory Alan Isakov is given a boost on his new record, Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony. As the title implies, Isakov is joined by the talented presence of an entire symphony to bring even more epicness to his dense catalog. Reinterpretations of Isakov compositions such as “Big Black Car,” “Amsterdam,” and “If I Go, I’m Goin’” are weighted with lush instrumental swells and affecting crescendos, which are tempered by Isakov’s endearing drawl. It’s the kind of record you ought to take with you on a long trip with no particular destination in mind. Isakov’s nomadic tendencies are strengthened exponentially here, lifting his already-beautiful songwriting to new heights. For this tour, he’s assembled the Ghost Orchestra, a collection of handpicked horn and string players from Colorado. This stop at the Crystal comes on the heels of a string of high-profile symphonic performances, which included a special date at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. RYAN J. PRADO

TUESDAY 8/9

LIL YACHTY
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Lil Yachty works as his own living, breathing style board. He moves through this world wearing red head-to-toe—his signature red braids have acted as both a point of contention and a source of star power—and rapping in an auto-tuned high pitch against fresh beats that sample Finding Nemo and Super Mario. Yachty’s sound is easy to identify, but it’s his mainline connection to youth culture (he clocks in at a cool 18 years old) and his “existence as style and art” mentality that makes him so appealing to both audiences and those in the industry (Kanye, Migos, and Young Thug are all fans). I’m not sure what Yachty’s shelf life is, but he’s doing things so fun and different right now it might not even matter. EMMA BURKE