Ryan J. Prado

Mary Kang When Khruangbin released their 2015 debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You, the Houston trio was still relatively unknown. The record’s groovy instrumentals reframe Thai psych jams and surf pop, reveling in a globally inspired paradigm of lush 1970s cool. With their sophomore record, Con Todo El Mundo (released in January via Dead Oceans), […]

Courtesy of the artist If you’re a local music fan, you’ve probably witnessed Elly Swope performing with some of Portland’s best bands: Genders, Sunbathe, Loveboys, Kelli Schaefer, Deathlist, and her own solo project, Focus! Focus! But this year Swope ditched that moniker and began to allow the magic of her vulnerable, skewed pop songs to […]

ALEXANDRA SAVIOR Sun 7/29 Doug Fir ELIOT LEE HAZEL Forget the fact that Alexandra Savior was tipped by Courtney Love as the next big thing while she was still in high school, or that she’s got a collaborative relationship with Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. The proof of the Portland singer/songwriter’s creative cool is […]

Lance Bangs Floating Room’s sophomore album False Baptism is an uber-confessional crusher that neither singer/guitarist Maya Stoner nor her multi-instrumentalist bandmate/boyfriend Kyle Bates was in a rush to release, though it’s been finished for about a year. Stoner wrote Floating Room’s 2016 debut, Sunless, in the aftermath of an abusive relationship. That album’s self-described “gray […]

The Portland band’s sophomore album navigates the crags of emotional trauma.

Since their inception, Lithics seemed destined to transcend the promise of their previous bands. Counting members of yesteryear punk powerhouses like Psychic Feline, Nucular Aminals, and We Quit among their ranks, the Portland four-piece’s evolution has been relatively quick, culminating in their 2016 debut Borrowed Floors, one tape, and an EP of “audio ephemera” that […]

MARY KANG When Khruangbin released their 2015 debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You, the Houston trio was still relatively unknown. The record’s groovy instrumentals reframe Thai psych jams and surf pop, reveling in a globally inspired paradigm of lush 1970s cool. With their sophomore record, Con Todo El Mundo (released in January via Dead Oceans), […]

The Houston trio’s new album Con Todo El Mundo goes global.

Since releasing their 2016 LP New Futures, Candace (formerly known as Is/Is) has been hard at work on a follow-up, New Ruins. Listening to the Minneapolis-born, Portland-based trio’s latest nine-track offering, it doesn’t take long to figure out which direction Sarah Nienaber (guitar/bass/vocals), Sarah Rose (guitar/bass/vocals), and Mara Appel DesLauriers (drums/vocals) are taking their acid-washed […]