THURSDAY 2/10

SEBADOH, QUASI

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See My, What a Busy Week!

LES JUPES, BOMBS INTO YOU

(The Knife Shop at Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) Had the kind Mounties of Canadian postal delivery (De partout... jusqu'à vous) failed at their noble task, I would have missed out on the wonderfulness that is Les Jupes. The Winnipeg band's debut Modern Myths was a random addition to my mail pile, but it wasted little time separating itself from the pack (unlike you, Gnomeo and Juliet soundtrack). Singer Michael Petkau Falk is a man in possession of a baritone so striking that it'll leave you quivering in your boots—think Nick Cave—and the band's ambitious arrangements only heighten their singer's bold delivery. There are element of traditional folk and moody rock and roll throughout Modern Myths, yet all of it is mercilessly submerged by the weight of Falk's dour voice. Les Jupes isn't likely to pass this way again anytime soon, so make sure you find yourself front and center for this show. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

LOADED FOR BEAR, CHRISTIAN BURGHARDT, PAINTED GREY, JOHN THAYER BAND

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Looks like Thursday night is double release night inside the wooden Doug Fir concert cave. Painted Grey's days of hovering beneath your radar—and off the FM airwaves—should abruptly come to an end with the release of their debut long-player, Away with Words. The Portland quartet lists Coldplay, the Killers, Kings of Leon, and DCFC as influences, but you needed look much further than the first one. A sparklingly pristine exercise in perfected pop, Away with Words can charm the khakis off any Chris Martin supporter with its delicate harmonies and anthemic song structure. It veers toward the pedestrian in later tracks like "Head on Her Sleeve" and "Right Now," but for an initial recording, Painted Grey should be proud. Also releasing an album tonight is local singer/songwriter Christian Burghardt. Since he never sent us a copy of the record, we can't accurately comment on what it sounds like. Our guess: satanic black metal. EAC

FRIDAY 2/11

BUCK AND BOUNCE: BEYONDADOUBT, BRICE NICE

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

AGESANDAGES, BILLYGOAT, ARCH CAPE

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article about AgesandAges.

DANAVA, NETHER REGIONS, LORD DYING, WIZARD RIFLE

(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) While Nether Regions' name might send the immature mind into giggle fits, the intelligent listener will find Portland's gargantuan riff peddlers to offer a whole lot more than crotches and underpants. The quartet takes pride in the fact that their lyrical inspirations are based in reality. Sadly you won't find any battling warriors, fire-breathing dragons, or magical wizards in these songs—just the frightening horrors of man. Into the Breach, the band's first full-length, is nine tracks of thick, ultra-heavy rock with major High on Fire leanings. However, unlike the aforementioned group, Nether Regions sport a pair of guitar players, affording them much more room to explore harmonies and textures. Kyle Bates, the band's 17-year-old ax-slinger—more proof that we are all old and washed up—provides a lofty, psychedelic tinge to the band's otherwise immovable wall of fuzz. ARIS WALES

BUSDRIVER, DARK TIME SUNSHINE, RAFAEL VIGILANTICS, CLOUDY OCTOBER, ABADAWN AND THE KILL PARTY

(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) Los Angeles' Busdriver is a one-of-a-kind rap eccentric. Blessed with a mercurial, radio-voiceover delivery, absurdist humor, and a predilection for polysyllabic verbiage, he can be exhausting and confusing to listen to. But at his best ("Avantcore," with its ingenious sample of Can's "Turtles Have Short Legs," most of Roadkill Overcoat and The Weather), Busdriver presents flurries of lyrical gems over quirky production that'll have you simultaneously nodding and shaking your head. Dark Time Sunshine—Seattle emcee Cape Cowen (AKA Onry Ozzborn) and Chicago producer Zavala—create hiphop that embraces the paradox of their name. Cape Cowen drops downcast declarations over Zavala's cautiously optimistic soundscapes and blunted funk rhythms. A rough-hewn ambiguity rules Dark Time Sunshine's intriguing kingdom of sound. DAVE SEGAL

SATURDAY 2/12

CHROMEO, MNDR, THE SUZAN

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!

QUIET LIFE, THE MOONDOGGIES, DENVER, WIDOWER

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article about Quiet Life.

COVER YOUR HEARTS ETHOS BENEFIT: DREW GROW AND THE PASTORS' WIVES, CHRIS ROBLEY, TANGO ALPHA TANGO, CHARMPARTICLES, & MORE

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Local singer/songwriter Drew Grow was in a nasty car wreck on January 11. Considering the severity of the accident and that he had to undergo multiple surgeries, it seems reasonable to think he'd take a few months off. Nope. Instead, he's returning to the stage just a few short weeks afterward for the Cover Your Hearts benefit show, with proceeds going to the Ethos Music Center. Grow (seated for this show) will be joined by backing band the Pastors' Wives to play a selection your favorite '80s cheeseball covers—as will the rest of the bill's solid lineup, including Charmparticles, who founded the annual soft-rock covers night, now in its fourth year. If you've got a hankering for a little charity to go along with your power ballads, you know where you need to be. NED LANNAMANN

ASTRONAUTALIS, TXE, DEVONWHO

(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) This fishwrap rag of ours has bestowed so much glowing press upon Seattle emcee Astronautalis that you'd think we're on his payroll (not true, I totally saved up to buy my platinum grill by mowing lawns on the weekend). If you're at all curious why we've been riding Andy Bothwell's jock since the mid-'00s then don't miss tonight's show, where Astronautalis will surely put his limber wordplay and freestyling skills on full display. Tardiness shall not be tolerated, since openers TxE (Tope, Epp, and G_Force) are the dream team of Portland hiphop and a glimpse at its vibrant future. EAC

SOFT METALS, ANCIENT HEAT, MIRACLES CLUB, PURPLE N GREEN

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) The dance floor is primed for Miracles Club—the house music/DJ tag-team featuring Portland's siren of cool, Honey Owens, alongside Rafael Fauria—and it's ready to get painted with the soles of your feet. Their two hot-to-trot 12-inch EPs, including their latest, A New Love, on boutique now-sound imprint Mexican Summer, are easy and sleazy, with Owens' ecstasy-induced vocals wrapped around proto-house beats that come from the Paradise Garage of the future. In fact, it was nice to see this vision realized in the video to "Church Song" where a colorful clash of creative minds, hipster goofballs, day-glo nightstalkers, and sexy fun seekers came together for what could described as an beautifully freaky Art Fag Soul Train (there was even a goat!). If Holocene doesn't look like that at any point tonight (sans the hoofed animals), be it during the Miracles Club DJ set, Soft Metals synth-and-sync swagger, Adam Forkner's new cosmic R&B project Purple N Green, or Ancient Heat's baby-making disco, then Portland isn't ready for an alien abduction of your heart, body, and soul. TRAVIS RITTER

ERIC JOHNSON, ANDY CABIC, RICHARD SWIFT

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) Although it's not until August, this year's Pickathon festival is steadily picking up steam; check out End Hits, the Mercury's music blog, on Monday, February 14 for the announcement of this year's lineup. (It's really good, that's all we'll say for now.) In the meantime, you can catch the last of Pickathon's off-season Benefest shows tonight at the Woods, with sets from Fruit Bats' Eric Johnson, Vetiver's Andy Cabic, and solo artist and producer Richard Swift, whose Cottage Grove, Oregon, studio was the site of superb recordings by Damien Jurado and the Mynabirds. It's an impressive triple bill with proceeds going to Buckman Elementary, and it should be well worth seeing Johnson and Cabic perform solo sets without their usual backing bands—leaving, incidentally, plenty of room for special guests to make their way onstage, which they undoubtedly will. NL

SUNDAY 2/13

NICOLE ATKINS, COTTON JONES, THE ASCETIC JUNKIES

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article about Cotton Jones.

ROCK & ROLL PROM: THE MONARQUES, DIRTY MITTENS, ROCKY AND THE PROMS

(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) Ladies, start smoothing out your taffeta party dresses and gents, get that bowtie tied, for it's time again to enter the balloon archway and attend the second annual Rock & Roll Prom. Prepare to sway and swoon along with Monarques, Dirty Mittens, and Rocky and the Proms as they transform Rontoms into a dusty high school gymnasium with their best renditions of classic '50s and '60s love songs, and gently encourage you to cross that imaginary line between the boys' and girls' sides. There will also be a photo booth where all the awkward poses of yesteryear can be properly utilized and good lord, somebody better spike the punch! How else will you ever muster up the courage to claim your partner once you hear those first, heartbreaking notes of "You Send Me"? RAQUEL NASSER Also see My, What a Busy Week!

THE RADIO DEPT., YOUNG PRISMS

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The stylistic traits that San Francisco-based foursome Young Prisms have adopted on their just-released full-length Friends for Now are merely subtle variations of everything Deerhunter have done over the last three years. Young Prisms' atmospheric rock is pretty, for sure, cast in hazy, dreamy layers of fog and darkness, with meandering vocals coated in reverb, rendering the lyrics indecipherable. But their music lacks a signature sound. There are no rigid dynamics to these even-keeled shoegaze songs. There is nothing on which to really focus your attention, with little instrumental tension and minimal buildup. Which is a shame, because their music is actually quite pleasant. It just seems better for background ambiance than for attentive listening. Or maybe I just need to get more stoned. TRAVIS RITTER

DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN, RAISE THE BRIDGES, EDDIE VALIANT

(Mt. Tabor Theater, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Del the Funky Homosapien is a Bay Area emcee who dropped his debut album at the age of 18, in large part due to his cousin Ice Cube acting as executive producer. Though family connections may have helped Del get started, he soon parted ways with Cube, electing instead to work with Oakland crew Hieroglyphics. In doing so he helped pioneer an underground hiphop aesthetic that remains strong to this day. Despite global attention—due to collaborations with Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and Damon Albarn—Del has continued to eschew major labels on subsequent solo releases. In fact, his last three full-lengths have bypassed the label system all together, being available via download on his Bandcamp site. On the most recent single, "Don't Stop Rappin'" Del boasts, "I make records even if you don't buy 'em. Go figure, that's just who I am." RYAN FEIGH

SWEATER WEATHER: DJ RAD, DJ CO-MAG

(Yes and No, 20 NW 3rd) Unless you are the type of soulless creature that weeps at Zales advertisements and associates love with obligatory heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, you probably hate Valentine's Day. And you rightfully should. In lieu of sulking in the barrage of commercialized love that awaits you tomorrow, come get emo—and I mean really emo—at Sweater Weather, Portland's first DJ night dedicated solely to the much-maligned genre of heart-on-sleeve emotional purging. DJs Rad and Co-Mag will mine the depths of emo's respectable past (this is a Dashboard Confessional-free zone), including long-forgotten cuts from the likes of Embrace and Braid. Rites of Spring said it best: "And if I started crying, would you start crying?" Why yes, yes I would. EAC

MONDAY 2/14

HELLO ELECTRIC, WAMPIRE, HOUSEFIRE

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) There's no better time than an all-ages Valentine's dance party to release a record like Hello Electric's Skychief. The album—sadly not named for Robert "The Chief" Parish's hook shot—was recorded by John Gourley from Portugal. The Man, and the two bands share an artistic kinship of freewheeling rock numbers unafraid to push and pull in any given direction. The towering rock songs of Skychief are capped by the confident delivery of frontman Kirk Ohnstad, whose charismatic cadence transfers seamlessly to the recorded product. Joining them will be Housefire and the swoon-worthy boys of Wampire, who might be the first local band to be pelted in a wave of panties that could make Tom Jones envious. EAC

TUESDAY 2/15

KE$HA

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!

MURDER BY DEATH, THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS, DAMION SUOMI AND THE MINOR PROPHETS

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Read our article about the Builders and the Butchers.

SMITH WESTERNS, UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The first Smith Westerns album was a gleeful lo-fi mess, a glam rock record that was more gutter than glitter, and an immediately enjoyable one. With their second album Dye it Blonde, the Chicago band (who are barely out of high school) have grown into a sound that's smoother, sweeter, and bigger than one could have ever imagined—they're still aping the vibe of early '70s British records with a willful and welcome feyness, but they do so while revealing a broader curve of rock 'n' roll history. Smith Westerns are a little reminiscent of San Francisco's Girls, who similarly drew together a coherent picture of rock's past, but did so with an explosively self-destructive bromide. The music of Smith Westerns, especially on Dye it Blonde, sounds much happier and healthier, like it was built to last. You can expect that it will. NL

WEDNESDAY 2/16

NIGHTCLUBBING: AUSTRA, ONUINU, LINGER AND QUIET

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

NIGHT SURGEON, SEARCH PARTY, DROPA, A GENTLEMAN'S PICNIC

(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) There's a song in Repo! The Genetic Opera called "Night Surgeon." I don't know if that's where the Portland synth-pop band Night Surgeon got its name, but fortunately the duo—expanded to a trio for live shows—doesn't sound anything like the overwrought fake-goth showtunes from that weirdly enduring cult musical. Instead, Night Surgeon pours dancey electropop songs over Kraftwerk synths, resurrecting the party-ready sound of early '00s-era bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves and VHS or Beta. The synthesized palettes cultivated by Night Surgeon on their debut album Day for Night are impressive, even if the songs sometimes sound a little shameless in their glossy commerciality. Still, it's a hell of a lot better than anything from Repo!, particularly when lead singer Patrick Replogle's tenor reaches Sting-like highs. NL