THURSDAY 8/9
TOYS THAT KILL, SCARED OF CHAKA, BERZERK, PALE
(Pine Street) Alternately billed as "Bands that write songs you want to sing along with, even though you'll never figure out the lyrics." Far against my better judgement, I have always had this secret weak spot for FYP (Toys that Kill's previous incarnation) for their totally snotty, no-respect-for-anything attitude. Unlike a lot of punks' fascination with shock value, FYP made clever, solid songs that rarely went on for too much longer than a minute. Toys that Kill are guaranteed to take that tradition to new heights, but with more catchy hooks and less vile. Scared of Chaka is my favorite band of the fast punk genre because their ability to create approximately 100 songs that basically sound the same, but somehow never get boring. For pure energy, they perform one of the best live punk performances I've ever seen, and can jump higher while playing guitar than Avail, even. JAMES SQUEAKY
"WE AREN'T DEEJAYS" W/ STORM THARP
(Saucebox) For the next few Thursdays, a bunch of Portland indie glamsters will be carting their records to Saucebox and spinning. Future non-DJs include Stephen Malkmus, Neil Gust, and Janet Weiss, who will all surely have radical obscure shit because they tour the world and no doubt spend lots of time in record stores (and, if they don't, what the hell?). Tonight's special guest is local artist Storm Tharp. We are assured that is his birth name. JULIANNE SHEPHERD
SQUAREPUSHER, PLAID, MIRA CALIX
(B Complex) See Music pg 13
FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM, THE FATAL FLYING GUILLOTINES, FEDERATION X
(Satyricon) Fatal Flying Guilloteens single-handedly redeemed my faith in Estrus Records. Merging the chaotic sensibilities of Nation of Ulysses, Monorchid, and Rye Coalition with a distinctly Texan twang, the FFG released the unholy Now Hustle For New Diaboliks last year. Its upstart jangle, amidst rambling cowboy-speak and seizure rhythms, finds some common ground between new noise and garage traditions. Federation X cranks out full-throttle punk rock tinged with metal, much like belated fellow Washington State brethren KARP. Featuring members of Bellingham cult-faves the Teamsters, this power trio screams and wallows with the fury of unknown demons-- and, on their latest seven-inch, Flavor Flav samples. Theirs is a mighty good show, full of testosterone and tumult. GEORGE CHEN
ROSS & THE HELLPETS, BITE SIZE, THE DRAKES
(Blackbird) The name "Ross & the Hellpets" does not refer to a bunch of hot rod rockers. No, the Hellpets are a band of horned stuffed animals, and also a rhythm section with two ladies singing harmonies and "aahs" to Ross' college radio-ready croons. Their new album, Teddy Bears Gone Bad (ouch), is standard-fare guitar pop with keyboards, similar to Tullycraft, except there's nothing inordinately quirky about it. Luckily, there's nothing inordinately offensive about it, either. If you want to spend a Thursday night more involved in your drink than the band, Ross and the Hellpets will offer the distant glow of melody you need. JS
BRIGHT LIGHTS, NORFOLK & WESTERN
(Meow Meow) Bright Lights is just one boy, Frank, who sings the sweetest songs. Norfolk & Western, of course, is our very own distant, lonely-road ensemble, singing somber-sweet lullabies about the light inside you. JS
FRIDAY 8/10
LIFESAVAS, STARCHILE, QUI-VAH
(Berbati's Pan) In a time when hiphop is full of strange, electronically synthesized sounds that pride themselves on being complicated and disjointed, Lifesavas are making hiphop chock full of smooth flow. They're kind of old school in that way, more about rhymes that come so naturally and melodically, rather than sounding forced or strained. It's refreshing. AND it's all local. Support them. KATIA DUNN
JUANITA FAMILY, MOLEHILL
(Blackbird) The Juanita Family is the Last of the Juanitas, old country-style. You might think that would be a stretch for such fucking amazing and heavy rockers (who, by the way, played one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life last week, no exaggeration, complete with a guest appearance by ex-Mercury Birds drummer John Sherman). But Juanita Family's country is rooted in the deep melancholy of Hank #1, and Lana's voice is so scraggy-warm and lilting, you might faint or spill a tear into your Pabst. JS
TRISTEZA, 764-HERO, MAN OF THE YEAR
(Dante's) Fans of Tristeza and 764-HERO will undoubtedly flock to this show. Hopefully, the attending crowd will get their straight, black hair just right and their New Balances laced up in a timely fashion so they can grab their Gap denim jackets, run out to their Dart, and (imagine!) catch the first band, Portland's own Man of the Year. Just the name is funny--try searching for it on the internet for a good laugh. Do the words like "dreamy boys" and "ambient" and "hip" do anything for you? Me neither. But how about "(Dandy) Warhol-esque" or "Brit-rock"? "Power-pop"? "Rawk"? Any of those grab you? KATE MERCIER
THE STROKES, THE NATRONS
(Roseland) I've barely even heard The Strokes, and yet I'm already sick of them. According to hip magazines, they're dangerous, fashionable young men from NYC who are going to save our souls from corporate rock by being scruffily pretty and loud. Wait, I thought that was Jonathan Fire*Eater? The Strokes certainly aren't J F*E, coz when you hear a J F*E record, it's like being scalped with an acid-soaked hatchet (it's that clear a cut), and when you hear a Strokes record, it sounds like you're inside a dead cow. These boys have a lot to prove; bring it on! JAMIE S. RICH
SATURDAY 8/11
STEVIE NICKS
(Rose Garden) Yes, she rules. We had a big office debate whether to make a joke here, but Stevie has retained a lot of dignity throughout her travails, so for the sake of respect, let us only say she is a wonderful singer and an admirable lady. However, if Mick Fleetwood ever dares to come to Portland, we will make plentiful folly of such humorous topics as cocaine, straws, and rectal openings. JS
REMAINS OF THE DAY, FREE VERSE, WORMWOOD
(Meow Meow) You know those really fucking annoying billboards around town, advertising some corporate radio station that brags you'll hear U2 and Dave Matthews on their station EVERY DAY? And you know how Converse shoes got bought out and a bunch of production was moved to Asia, and so Converse's fair business cred is completely fucking gone? And that every time I go into a chain music store (purely in broken-string emergencies, mind you), the clerk is condescending and asks me how long I've been playing, and gets all surprised when I give him the answer. Okay, this stuff pisses me off. It makes it so I want to listen to hardcore ALL DAY, EVERYDAY. It makes it so this show is exactly what I need to release aggression, and also bond with like-minded others. I will watch Free Verse's Machell sing and play drums at the same time in a balls-out fashion. I will sway to the gut-rendering, brooding hardcore of Wormwood--it's rad, the vocals kind of remind me of Orchid. And I will temporarily forget that there are corporations that pay radio stations to play the most mediocre shit in the whole world, but when I remember again, I'll be strong enough to do something about it. JS
BUJU BANTON
(Crystal Ballroom) I thought I hated Dancehall after limited initial exposures in the form of MTV-approved DJs, like Shabba Ranks, and Dancehall-inspired hiphop artists, like Shinehead and KRS-One. It took a trip to Central America to realize that, for the kids down there, Dancehall IS hiphop; the style, the rebelliousness, the violence, the guns, the love. Listening to Buju Banton at the I-and-I on Caye Caulker made me realize just how much digitally conceived beauty I had been missing out on. However, when I got a chance to see him in Portland, I learned that he was now peddling plodding roots-reggae. Buju's transformation from a controversial Dancehall artist to a reggae spiritualist just proves that it's better to offend the fuck out of people and bring the noise (see: Eminem) than to be some deep, religious, boring-ass motherfucker. STEPHEN STRAUSBAUGH
ALPHABET DRESS: NUDGE, 31 KNOTS, PROJECT PERFECT, AVENUE OF THE STRONGEST
(Oak Street Building, 425 SE Oak, 5 pm) I went to last month's Alphabet Dress, and it was the bomb. I bought art for $3, hung with my friends in someone's yard, heard some good bands, and didn't die from heat exhaustion as I have many times in bars. This month, it's on a rooftop (how romantic), there are five artists instead of one, and four bands: electroriffic Nudge, Avenue of the Strongest, vibratory noise band Project Perfect, and P-Town rockers 31 Knots (check if they're glowing, now that they're signed to the Copper Press spinoff label, 54-40' or Fight!). KS
QUASI, J. HELL, BIG DADDY MEATSTRAW, THE MAROONS, PINEHURST KIDS, MR. GENEROSITY, PAN TOURISMOS, MAN OF THE YEAR, BETTY ALREADY, JEREMY WILSON
(Hawthorne Bridge, noon) It's Aimfest time! This is the ninth version of the free grassroots music fest. The general consensus seems to be of excitement, although I've heard three separate people infer that Big Daddy Meatstraw's reunion is a sure sign of the apocalypse. Other than that, this is a grand tradition in Portland music history. JS
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION BBQ: ETHER'S VOID, ALAN JONES SEXTET, SEAN CROGHAN, LUTHER RUSSELL, JOE DAVIS, TONI LAND, STEPHEN ASHBROOK
(Music Millennium) A free, day-long gig, in which Music Millennium wigs out and gives everybody grillers and the promo stuff (posters, CDs, maybe panties with P. Diddy's face silkscreened on the ass) they've been stockpiling for the past year. JS
THE MIXTRESS, LISA NELSON, MENA
(Ohm) One of the most annoying things about the DJ scene is that it's so male-centered. I mean, it's unnatural. The world is composed of 50 percent women, and when they aren't getting recognized, you get suspicious. So, what does scratching sound when the ladies do it? Who knows, you could be glimpsing the future at this all-girl DJ night. KD
CARISSA'S WIERD, THE RUM DIARY, THE PRIDS, KILL ME TOMORROW
(Blackbird) It's something of a homecoming for San Diego's pop examiners, Kill Me Tomorrow. The former Portlanders, Zack and Kate Wentz (or "The Winces" as they lovingly refer to themselves), churned out catchy memorials to love on the rocks, scotch on the rocks, and all points in between for years before heading South for some much-earned sun. What one of the more viable West Coast scenes has done for our fair friends is incited them to take up electronics to pop and squeak alongside memorable guitar-bass runs for the finish line. And where their knack for twisting and tickling sounds ends, their signature "whine-with-us" vocals pat us on the back like old pals, rather like the private little anthems we've always sung to ourselves. The Rum Diary mine the middle ground between driving and walking, and their guitars take up reckless swerves on slippery songs and then pick their way like collecting shells. ARTURO DIAZ
A FROLIC BY THE SEA CABARET AND SIDESHOW
(Dante's) This will be lovely like mermaids and Lewis Carroll. Featuring Kitten on the Keys playing piano music, Kitty Diggins (Portland's own reigning heiress of burlesque), and Dame Darcy, who illustrated the cover of the Mercury this week and also does some of the most wonderful comics in the whole universe (Meatcake). If you wear antique swimwear, you get three bucks knocked off the cover; I would also recommend putting ringlets in your hair, regardless of your gender or fashion sensibilities. JS
SUNDAY 8/12
THE UNSEEN, LOWER CLASS BRATS, THE RIFFS, THE REDUCERS, DIAMOND DOGS
(Meow Meow) There's something endearing and oddly magical to the fact that the first thing you find on The Unseen's website is a message of enthusiastic encouragement for "punx" to bring snacks to the show for them (and goes on to an extensive list of what snacks the band enjoys). Having not yet witnessed a show this "punk" at the Meow Meow before, I'm definitely curious to see Lower Class Brats (whose lead singer is named "Bones") and The Unseen tear up the tiny stage, with anthemic choruses and evocating shouts of "oi oi oi" from an era gone before any of the members of these bands were even born. SQUEAKY
MONDAY 8/13
MERLE HAGGARD
(Crystal) This is the show to attend if you don't like country. This is the show to attend if your knowledge of country is limited to Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. This is the show to attend if you like American music. That's because, no hyperbole, Merle Haggard is American music personified. Country, jazz, blues, folk--it's all there and it's played with skill and unwavering honesty. If you're only familiar with his hits ("Mama Tried," "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," "Okie from Muskogee"), don't worry, you'll probably get most of them. And if you're lucky, he might do a set of Bob Wills songs, playing the fiddle with enthusiasm that belies his 64 years. Regardless, it'll be one of the best concerts of the year, and possibly your life. This is the show to attend. MURRAY CIZON
WEDNESDAY 8/15
90 DAY MEN, THE STANDARD, GLACIER PARK
(Blackbird) Yup, I love bands from Chicago. Fuckin' love 'em (when they're not boring). It's cause so many of them really know how to rock, without sacrificing songwriting/ intelligence factor. Also, vocals buttered with a slight bit of ennui sound so sexy when they're backed up by guitars that cut and scrape unpredictably. Case in point: 90 Day Men. They are toughass motherfuckers from Chicago who play rock for the self-educated--smart music for those of us who dropped out of college. What makes it special is the inherent darkness in their distortion. It implies desire, and distortion and desire are a very dangerous pairing. Danger in music is good. Wahoo! JS
ZENI GEVA, HEAVY JOHNSON TRIO, KK KNOLL
(Satyricon) Scientists recently discovered that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating rather than slowing down. Who cares? For 15 years, Zeni Geva has been making amazing, heavy-ass, noisy psychedelic rock with an added inexplicable (dare I say Japanese?) quality--and what's really more important? When casting your vote, keep in mind that Zeni Geva released an album titled Skull Fuck Live. The Heavy Johnson Trio (HJ3) have returned and may have confused some of you with their new rhythmic approach, but I guarantee--if you truly listen, you'll begin to understand what is going on, and will be dumbfounded by how incredible it really is. KK Null is the man behind Zeni Geva, so I imagine he'll be pretty great, too. KAREN GREEN
GOING TO SEATTLE?
Fri 8/10: The Pinkos, Mea Culpa, August Spies (Gibson's);
Sat 8/11: Blackalicious, Lifesavas (EMP)
Sun 8/12: Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot, Enuff Z'Nuff (Snoqualmie Amphitheater)
Tues 8/14: Merle Haggard (Showbox)
Wed 8/15: Erykah Badu (Pier 62/62)
For more info, visit www.thestranger.com
New Releases Aug 14: 404 Soldierz, Baby S, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez*, Most Precious Blood, New Order*, Original Brothers & Sisters of Love, Pere Ubu*, Rollins Band, Strawberry Smell, Strike Anywhere*, System of a Down, Thievery Corporation, Timbaland & Magoo*, Velvet Crush
*= we like
