THURSDAY 5/31

DEER OR THE DOE, RADIATION CITY, POINT JUNCTURE WA
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Deer or the Doe.

HAWKEYE, SOUVENIR DRIVER, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
(Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) Souvenir Driver inhabits a sonic world of dreamlike disconnect, one that apparently doesn't leave a lot of time for actual dreaming. Just six months after releasing Joy, a quietly gorgeous debut album, they're back with a slim gem of an EP. In addition to not being lazy, nobody can accuse Souvenir Driver of selling themselves short: The EP takes its title from Jeanne Moreau, the greatest living French actress, an ethereal beauty as much as she is an avant-garde pioneer. On Jeanne Moreau, Souvenir Driver have cracked the hushed introspection of Joy, at times clanging straight into old-fashioned shoegaze. The best song, "Slide," is dark and noisy, with chiming guitars and undampened, though still unintelligible, vocals. The question is: Are these the band's favorite four songs that didn't fit the dreampop of Joy? Or will they continue to sharpen this newfound edge? REBECCA WILSON

DARK TIME SUNSHINE, REVA DEVITO, ROANE NAMUH, XPERIENCE, IAME
(Ted's, 231 SW Ankeny) Dark Time Sunshine features Seattle's Onry Ozzborn spitting surreal bars over soundscapes provided by Chicago producer Zavala to create self-described "snob rap." The duo's 2010 debut full-length Vessel featured a wide variety of guests, including Portland's own soulful chanteuse Reva DeVito and independent hiphop legend Aesop Rock. DeVito has since become a powerhouse solo act of her own, most recently releasing the excellent genre-bending collection Cloudshine with local producer Roane Namuh. DTS will return to town this summer on a bill with Aesop Rock to promote their upcoming release ANX, but tonight is a chance to catch them in a much more intimate and, let's face it, more budget-friendly setting. Portland emcee IAMe works with many crews (Sandpeople, Oldominion, McJameson) as well as doing his solo thing and doing it well. He's also celebrating his birthday tonight, which is reason enough to arrive early. RYAN FEIGH

FRIDAY 6/1

Y LA BAMBA, BLACK PRAIRIE, AND AND AND, LOST LANDER
(Rose Festival, Waterfront Park) See My, What a Busy Week!

STONEBURNER, DEAD BY DAWN, SQUALORA, BURIALS
(Plan B, 1305 SE 8th) Seventh Rule Records has done it again. They've nabbed Stoneburner, another sonically devastating Portland band, and they've just released the band's new record, Sickness Will Pass. Sickness is a planet-destroying Death Star of an album that contains doom for doom fans of all tastes. For those who seek thunderous, down-tuned, sludgey crawls, they've got that. Stomping, bang-able, fuzzy grooves with sweet solos—check. The occasional ambient, spacey interlude that breaks up the girth and provides cool-down periods before the next pummeling—bingo. It seems that Stoneburner has discovered a perfect formula for doom that's not too boring, yet multifaceted without sounding like musical ADHD. ARIS WALES

TIM BARRY, KEVIN SECONDS, JULIE KARR, MATT DANGER
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) There's a moment on Tim Barry's newest album, 40 Miler, that is the perfect example of why I love Tim Barry. In the title track, he sings: "I can't stand songs about writing songs/And albums over 40 minutes long/And broke-up bands on their third reunion tour/Damn, Beau, we both should've quit at age 24." He delivers the last line, addressing his old Avail bandmate Beau Beau, with a laugh. While so many bands are trying to hold on to the past for what feels like nothing more than an attempt to fill their empty bank accounts, Barry is okay with the fact that he's broke (as he often sings). He's happy writing simple but genuine folk songs about where he's been and the people he knows, without forcing something that isn't there (and possibly looking ridiculous in the process) in order to make a buck. MEGAN SELING

BROOKE PARROTT, JENNIE WAYNE
(Alberta Street Public House, 1036 NE Alberta) A prerequisite for singing backup in Loch Lomond is having a set of pipes that can keep pace with those of Ritchie Young. The average pop singer can't do this, but then, not much about Brooke Parrott is average. For one thing, she majored in piano at Berklee College of Music and wrote her 2008 debut, Another City, in a disused pub in London. Buried, her new EP, continues to explore the dislocation—emotional, geographical—that Another City began. Parrott's songs are poignant and heartfelt, but never overblown, thanks mostly to her vocal restraint. Melancholy torch songs may well be the best medium for Parrott's sweeping classical piano, but take heed: If you're feeling blue, each of the six songs on Buried will ensure that you stay that way. RW

EXCRUCIATOR, HEADLESS PEZ, GLADIUS, BLOOD OF KINGS
(Mt. Tabor Theater, 4811 SE Hawthorne) If you're like most, seeing a band's name on a flyer accompanied by a pentagram made of dicks might make you think twice about catching their live show. However, if that band's name is Headless Pez, do yourself a favor and ignore those instincts. When HP takes a stage, expect to see men in spandex, bondage, chaps, over-sized penises, exaggerated pubic hair, mustaches curled over maniacal smiles, and many other refinements. It all seems quite silly, until they start playing. Then you get squealing screams, lightning-fast solos, and notes that bend until guitar necks snap, literally. In fact, Headless Pez's thrash is so fast and powerful, and their obsession with the male sex organ is so great, they may have invented a new metal subgenre: Phallic Power Thrash! AW

SATURDAY 6/2

JD McPHERSON, SARAH GWEN
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!

EMILY WELLS, 1939 ENSEMBLE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Emily Wells.

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS, IS TROPICAL, TYLER TASTEMAKER
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Read our article on Crystal Fighters.

LAKE, GENDERS, JASON TRAEGER
(Backspace, 115 NW 5th) If you've seen the cartoon Adventure Time, you've heard LAKE without even necessarily realizing it—their wonderful song "Christmas Island," which is sort of like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" stripped of its tacit pessimism, accompanies the show's closing credits. But the semi-deep cut "Heaven" off of LAKE's LP Oh, the Places We'll Go is one of the best pop jams of the '00s, "indie" or otherwise. It's one of those magical songs where every musical component coalesces perfectly to form two minutes and 40 seconds of effortless aural bliss. And while that record, and "Heaven" in particular, without a doubt represent LAKE's artistic apex (so far), their two subsequent albums—the vaguely conceptual "Let's Build a Roof" and last year's "Giving and Receiving"—contain plenty of gems, too. LAKE are at once sophisticated and innocent, a simultaneity that pretty much sums up that whole indie pop thing. MORGAN TROPER

ILLMACULATE
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Known for his powerful punchy lyrics, Illmaculate (of Portland rap supergroup Sandpeople) is a talented rhymesmith who can not only lay it down a capella but also drive a beat home. After building his name and honing his skills as a battle emcee, the World Rap Champion (he held the actual title) has hooked up with some of the Northwest's finest producers (Sapient, G_Force, Trox, DJ FlipFlop) and added some guest vocals by J-Rome and even Tech N9ne to create his latest album. After hyping this album for the last two years—even before The Green Tape was conceptualized—Ill has finally given it to us, and all the hype paid off, because it bangs. Tonight's album release party, put off until tonight, acts as more of a celebration of a successful album. ROCHELLE HUNTER

SUNDAY 6/3

REGGIE WATTS, RON FUNCHES, ANDY WOOD
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) As a Brooklyn-based solo act, Reggie Watts is a comedian who has innovated stand-up through the use of beatboxing, loops, and raps that feel consistently spontaneous, even if they aren't. The reason this works so well is that Watts is first and foremost a musician, the frontman of Seattle's venerable Maktub. Watts relies on his profound instinct for crowd control, as well as comic timing—you know, that thing that used to be a necessity for live comedy—and impersonations as diverse as Thom Yorke and a Miami retiree. The surprise of seeing Reggie Watts for the first time is one of life's great joys, so I'll advise against checking out his new album titled, amazingly, A Live at Central Park, until after the show. RW Also see My, What a Busy Week!

WATER AND BODIES, GLASSBONES, THE AUTONOMICS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Glassbones aren't doing anything that hasn't been done before, but as evidenced on the Portland quartet's debut EP There's Still Time Left, they're doing it very nicely. With taut guitars, rolling drums, and nice-guy vocals sung with a tinge of kerosene burn, the band spins out a slightly woolly version of post-grunge radio rock. Glassbones probably have a few more steps to take before they definitively make their imprint on the world at large, but all the elements are here: solid melodies, a command of dynamics, and a lack of conceit that allows the listener to accept the songs at face value. One can sense Glassbones is capable of venturing in a few different directions—jagged dance rock, or whiskey-tinged country rock, for instance—and it's this balance that keeps There's Still Time Left an intriguing listen. NED LANNAMANN

THE HUGS, LITTLE OWL
(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) Danny Delegato has been keeping his psychedelic cruise ship the Hugs afloat since 2007. In 2012, a new version of the Hugs is readying a new LP called Dirty Gems (due out in late June), which carries on the tradition of making psych-pop with a smack of bubblegum. The first single, "Reykjavik," is a sunny nod to the Icelandic capital. It also shows the Hugs leaving their ramshackle past behind them and veering toward more polished terrain. Delegato and bandmate Patrick Wilcox split songwriting duties, and it sounds like they've got merry band of airtight musicians fleshing out those ideas. Then again, new songs like "Racy Girl" and "Give Me Your Drink" are sure to keep the Hugs from taking themselves too seriously. MARK LORE

CHICKENFOOT
(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway) The funniest thing about Chickenfoot—and there are a number of hilarious (and enraging) things about Chickenfoot—is that the band formed long after virtually everyone stopped caring about the members' respective origins (Van Halen, Chili Peppers, and so on). They're sort of like the 21st-century equivalent of Damn Yankees: a "supergroup" consisting of four out-of-touch former rock stars whose irrelevant brand of cock rock is as pallid as their sexual performances and deteriorating bodies. It's an obvious moneymaking machination that nobody in their right mind should support. Their latest album, Chickenfoot III—actually their second, a joke that pays homage to that ultimate unnecessary supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys—is horrible and its existence is unfortunate. MT

MONDAY 6/4

DESTROYER, SANDRO PERRI
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Kaputt, Dan Bejar's latest Destroyer release, is another silky-smooth batch of indie pop that carries on in the tradition of Steely Dan's intricate white-boy jazz. It's Bejar's attention to detail that has always made his recordings so interesting—not to mention his uncanny ability for ably communicating simple sentiments, and making them stick. Kaputt also continues in the tradition of Destroyer's shape-shifting body of work—Bejar's willingness to toy with new sounds, while still making them sound distinctively Destroyer-y. The opening title track turns out to be the record's centerpiece, a delicate flower of a song with slightly sinister lyrical underpinnings. Of course, even that is open to interpretation. ML Also see My, What a Busy Week!

TUESDAY 6/5

MICHAEL THE BLIND, RACHEL TAYLOR BROWN
(White Eagle, 836 N Russell) Read our article on Michael the Blind.

WEDNESDAY 6/6

HOLOCENE'S NINTH ANNIVERSARY: AU, PURE BATHING CULTURE, STAY CALM, HOUNDSTOOTH, STRANGE BABES DJs, SEX LIFE DJs
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

PHEASANT, TIGER HOUSE, CHARTS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) The new Charts EP was recorded in a single afternoon at the band's practice space, and it sounds like it. That's not a slight, though; the four songs on Tease are charmingly ramshackle, and if the drums are muffled and the guitars sound like something that would give Pat Metheny nightmares, it only adds to the scruffy DIY charm. Charts have put together some quick, spontaneous pop tunes that sound like they sprouted up overnight, like toadstools, with a brilliant pop-tune kernel tucked away inside each one. Tiger House also have a four-song EP that's being released tonight: Acid Banshee // Camel Party—which the band is making available on cassette and at Bandcamp—certainly has a more polished sound than Charts, but it's no less immediate. Tiger House's tumbling love songs are filled with tight turns and fun little detours, and as casual-seeming as each of the EP's songs kick off, Tiger House can't help but inject a grandly soaring sense of yearning into each one. NL

AND AND AND, JONATHAN MAGDALENO, DEATH SONGS
(Common Grounds, 4321 SE Hawthorne) For whatever reason, Bim Ditson (drummer of And And And) has the drive to go hard on ridiculous projects. See: Rigsketball, a Portland-band mobile basketball tournament that takes place on the back of the band's van; And And And's Underbelly Bender tour that had the band on staycation at Portland dive bars; strapping cameras to cats, or at least pretending to; and making graphs in Apple Paintbrush that document social observations. What's gone from a few online "graph" posts published on blogs and media outlets is, with help from Mercury freelancer Matt Stangel, now here in real life. Ditson's recreating his graphs into actual, tangible pieces of art hung on the wall of a SE Hawthorne coffee shop. But it wouldn't be a proper Portland event unless there was music, right? Luckily the Back Stage Theater, located in the back room of Common Grounds, is in on this, too. There will be intimate, stripped-down performances by Death Songs, Nathan Baumgartner and Ryan Wiggans of And And And, and Jonathan Magdaleno of Support Force. Way to make something kind of funny and dumb into something that actually totally rules. Again. RH