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Portland Mercury

Karaoke Party Night! $127.50 bid now!

This is a past event.

Staff Pick Up & Coming
Blue Skies for Black Hearts, The Satin Chaps, Midnight Callers

When: Sat., April 23, 9 p.m. 2011
Price: $8-10

Tonight's not just the release show for Blue Skies for Black Hearts' latest album, Embracing the Modern Age; it's also the premiere of their half-hour movie of the same name. Judging by the trailer, it's a madcap romp in the style of a Monkees episode, and it's bound to feature many of the terrific songs from the record, a triumph of British beat, pre-glam, and power pop. This is Blue Skies' fifth full-length in less than a decade, and virtually every song sounds like a forgotten hit from bygone days, with all of its pop puzzle pieces snapping together tightly—immaculate arrangements with just the right amount of scuzz, conjuring up memories of the Exploding Hearts (whose 2003 classic Guitar Romantic was co-produced by Blue Skies frontman Pat Kearns). Tunes from Embracing such as "Majoring in the Arts" and "Sitting on the Edge" are catchy, perfect dazzlers, proof that however they may turn out to be as filmmakers, Blue Skies for Black Hearts are at the top of the heap musically. NED LANNAMANN