FRI AUGUST 11

Chastity Belt w/Strange Ranger, Never Young; Star Theater, 13 NW 6th

This bill’s like a north-to-south primer on West Coast indie rock. Headliners Chastity Belt are bringing home the gold for Washington State this year with their brand-new record I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, released in June on Hardly Art. It’s the Seattle four-piece’s most earnest and heartfelt collection of songs to date. Our hometown heroes Strange Ranger (FKA Sioux Falls) are one of my all-time favorite Portland bands. Their 2016 debut, Rot Forever, is more than 70 minutes of sprawling, ’90s-inspired rock. Now they’re getting ready to release a follow-up, Daymoon, which is out this October on East Coast label Tiny Machines. Representing California is Oakland’s Never Young, who artfully distort pop music and play the result with full-throttle energy. This West Coast trifecta is not to be missed.

Riled w/Cotton Ships, Young Elvis; Anarres Infoshop, 7101 N Lombard

Every so often, it’s important to attend a show where you have no idea what to expect. But to give you a slight nudge in the right direction, this Friday night, head to Anarres Infoshop in St. Johns for a sweet show. Los Angeles’ Cotton Ships are a slice of mathy, post-indie rock goodness. Joining them are Portland’s new kids on the block, Young Elvis. They don’t have any recorded material yet, but the band’s made up of some Portland greats, featuring members of Robot Boy, Naked Hour, Clovver, and Radler. Then there’s Riled, whose pure garage rock will feed your Pacific Northwest soul.

TUES AUGUST 15

The Buttertones w/Psychomagic, the Goobs; Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside

Regardless of how overdone, overplayed, and cliché it’s become, surf rock will always have a place in the West Coast music landscape. Los Angeles group the Buttertones’ new record, Gravedigging, plays more like the soundtrack for an action-packed ’60s teen surf film than an indie rock album made in 2017. It’s got everything—the slow dance song, the beach hangout song, the being-chased-by-the-school-principal-after-partaking-in-unruly-antics song. Though they certainly capture that seaside sound, Gravedigging’s got a healthy dose of creepy punk vibes. Richard Araiza’s theatrical vocals call to mind artists like the B-52’s, the Cramps, and the Clash, while wavy guitar riffs stay true to the surf genre and pair flawlessly with wild saxophone parts.