Up & Coming

THURSDAY 12/18

THE NEW TRUST, HOT VICTORY, THEMES

(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) See review.

CAJUN GEMS, ALL SMILES, INSIDE VOICES

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See review.

DAME DARCY, MAGICK DAGGERS,

LOST LOCKETS

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) Graphic novelist and illustrator Dame Darcy
may be best known for her ongoing comic series Meatcake, though
she’s been making music for as long as she’s been applying pen to
paper. Occasionally, that takes the form of clattering, semi-industrial
soundscapes or her collaborative take on traditional music with the
Black Strap Molasses Family. A traditional sound serves as the starting
point for much of her work—solo and with the group Death by
Doll—as the songs that emerge are mostly unsettling and uncanny:
offbeat laments and askew sea shanties, oft-told stories newly
reimagined, boldly suffused with unexpected traces of obsession and
despair. TOBIAS CARROLL Also see <a href=http://www.portlandmercury.com/events/Event?oid=969928.listing, and
books.

THE HONUS HUFFHINES, METROPOLITAN FARMS, THE WELFARE
STATE

(Twilight Café and Bar, 1420 SE Powell) The Honus Huffhines’
latest 7-inch contains four songs recorded at KPSU in all their lo-fi,
live-to-tape glory, complete with DJ banter and interview snippets
between songs. The record includes a CD copy of the complete six-song
session and a miniature zine with all the lyrics, which is fortuitous
since they are funny and can’t really be deciphered otherwise. It
sounds like the record’s Elvis Costello-meets-Ween tunes were
approximately 14.5 times more enjoyable to play than they are to
actually listen to, but the excitement and exuberance and sheer goddamn
fun of playing rock ‘n’ roll can’t be contained in tiny,
circular grooves. It’s like hearing a group of pimply kids in their
first band, playing just because it’s Friday night, and they’re too
young to buy beer, and they don’t know any girls, and what the hell
else are they gonna do? That the Honus Huffhines are well beyond their
teenage years makes their ability to conjure this merry mood without
irony all the more impressive. NED LANNAMANN

FRIDAY 12/19

LIVE WIRE!: BLUE GIANT, BLIND PILOT

(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) See listing.

COPY, EXPLOSIVO, E*ROCK

(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) See listing

WONDERBALL: STORM LARGE & THE BALLS, LIONS OF BATUCADA,
STEPHANIE SCHNEIDERMAN, CHINA FORBES, KLEVELAND, WILLY VLAUTIN

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See listing

THE DAYS THE NIGHTS, LA COSA NOSTRA , SYSTEM AND
STATION

(Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash) It’s entirely possible that you
missed System and Station’s last album, A Nation of Actors, upon
its release earlier in the year. It’s also possible that you’re still
unfamiliar with the band even though they’ve been part of the Northwest
scene (originally Boise, now Portland) for close to a decade. What’s
not possible, however, is you being able to resist the hook-laden
guitar rock that System and Station lays down; they’re not afraid to be
catchy while they rock, and their expertly honed songs frequently
achieve an unpretentious but inspiring grandeur. In no uncertain terms,
System and Station deserves to catch the ear of the same mainstream
audience that listens to Modest Mouse, or Death Cab, or Built to Spill;
in many ways, the band’s skyscape anthems—with their fuzzy
guitars and arching melodies—are perfectly engineered to be heard
from the sloping field of the annual Sasquatch Festival. Music comes in
so many different flavors that it’s sometimes easy to forget how good
the basics are, so listen to A Nation of Actors and stop
worrying about the flavor of the month. Better yet, check out the show
tonight. NL

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE MINT
CHICKS

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) I’m not the only one who spent
more time than is probably necessary fawning over the seminal pop-punk
of Seattle oddities the Presidents of the United States of America in
the mid-’90s. At least I hope I’m not. It’s true that most ardent
musicologists have relegated the band to the category of extinct dodo
birds, of the elusive giant squid surfacing for a quick show (a one-hit
wonder, as it were) only to dip down and hide again in its murky
underworld. After going on hiatus in 1998 to pursue other avenues of
songcraft, the band reformed with original members in 2000, releasing
Freaked Out and Small, then briefly splintered again when
original guit-bassist and vocalist Dave Dederer left the band. Now the
band is actively touring again and has released two more albums on
their own indie label, seeming to have resurfaced now for good. That’s
more than I can say for that fucking giant squid. RYAN J. PRADO

AT THE SPINE , SOLYONI, DONERAIL, GREENLADIES

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) Led by songwriter Michael Toschi, At the
Spine are a band fond of expanding their sound. Their recent
Vita encompasses everything from blissed-out jangle-pop
(“Primrose Hill”) to driving, dense psychedelia (“Transylvania”).
Vita‘s lyrics were written during a period when Toschi was
residing in Europe, and there’s a politically charged anger to them,
whether examining the legacy of the Spanish Civil War, juxtaposing
music-business stereotypes with black bloc anarchists, or contemplating
an expatriate’s isolation. It all works surprisingly well; the lyrics
and Toschi’s vocal delivery add an urgency to music that’s notable for
its restraint, and manage to sound intense without ever crossing a line
into caricature. TC

THE VIRGINS, HOCKEY

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Who the fuck are the Virgins? Well,
they’re an “indie rock” band whose self-titled debut album is out on a
major label (Warner/Atlantic). They’re from New York City. They met at
a Ryan McGinley photo shoot, and they look like the kind of guys who
would meet at a photo shoot. Their putative breakout song is a lazy
’80s white-boy funk number called “Rich Girls,” which makes VHS or Beta
sound like wild sonic originators and makes the Strokes read like high
poetry. Said song is featured on an episode of the TV show Gossip
Girl. They have another song called “She’s Expensive.” Bitches and
money—amirite, fellas?! These guys are tools. Local band Hockey
(also major label, Capitol) strike a similar though considerably less
loathsome intersection between preening fashion-plate rock and pale
funk. ERIC GRANDY

SATURDAY 12/20

BLACK ‘N’ BLUE, KLEVELAND

(Dante’s, 1 SW 3rd) See listing.

WONDERBALL: STORM LARGE & THE BALLS, MIC CRENSHAW, THOMAS
LAUDERDALE, JENNIFER BATTEN, DARCELLE

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See listing.

THE UPSIDEDOWN, THE HUGS , DEEPEST DARKEST

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The Upsidedown polish their
groove-oriented, post-dance rock by layering a tripped-out, redundant
garage glob into the mix. Which is to say that though the six-piece
collective deftly melds the fancies of two camps of sound that are
often at odds, favoring one over the other was probably a stroke of
pure brilliance. The jam quotient inherent in most of the tracks from
their latest album, Human Destination, curbs an otherwise
all-out synthed-up space-folk stomp to nearly masterful effect,
balancing shoe- and star-gazing with equal aplomb. RJP

GUIDANCE COUNSELOR, ATOLE , MEGA*CHURCH, WHITE
FANG

(The Hush, 14 NW 3rd) With a fresh EP, Life Is Glass, under
their belts, the jittery electronic Guidance Counselor duo is gearing
up for their initial castoff into the scary world of touring. But
before they hit the highways next month, the band is raising some
cash—sure to be blown on novelty belt buckles at the first Flying
J truck stop they come across—with tonight’s performance.
Guidance Counselor’s stuttering pop numbers give the air of looming
disaster—as if these enjoyable little songs are teetering on the
cusp of being swept away in a violent wave of crunchy
electronics—and are the ideal fit for the cozy Hush showspace,
which, when sweltering with a dance floor full of underage patrons,
feels like the cooler younger brother to their downstairs neighbor
Tube. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

CONOLEY OSPOVOT, solenoid,

PIPEDREAMS, TREVOR VICHAS

(Pi-Rem, 440 NW Glisan) I can think of two good reasons to check out
the Conoley Ospovat show tonight. First, he lives in Tokyo, so this is
a rare chance to see him perform his idiosyncratic dance music live in
Portland. His influences are mostly rooted in the ’80s new wave scene,
and while a lot of that comes across in his production, his sound has a
modern touch. Chopped-up vocal samples are looped over the tightest
groove basslines, and a combination of underlying persistent 4/4 beats
and meticulous high-end details keep the music driving toward a playful
yet thoughtful end. Another factor that makes this show worthwhile:
Local electronic music envoy and master of synthesized funk Solenoid
will share the stage with Ospovat. AVA HEGEDUS

THE NICE BOYS, THE SODA POP KIDS,

THE EEGOS, THE MEAN JEANS, LAST TRAIN

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) As an upstanding citizen—one who
rarely parties, thinks that beer is for sipping, and glue is
definitely not for sniffing—I can’t necessarily explain
why I adore the Mean Jeans so much. Their dose of lowbrow, bratty punk
comes short and sweet, skirting the sacred ground once stomped upon by
Chuck Taylors in the earliest days of the Ramones. Freshly signed to
the Dirtnap label, and with the ridiculously catchy Stoned 2 the
Bone 7-inch currently on store shelves, their goofy party anthems
are hardly anything new, but they are absolutely perfect—proof
that even if it hurts the morning after, there’s no excuse to miss a
killer party. And tonight will be a killer fucking party. EAC

DR. HELICOPTER, SKY PARADE, MERE MORTALS, THE PINK
SNOWFLAKES

(East End, 203 SE Grand) If it weren’t for one of the longest stage
setup rituals of all time, I might have been less abrasive with my
approach toward the Pink Snowflakes’ set at East End earlier this fall.
But what they didn’t excite with their lumbering light show spectacle
and psychedelic onstage trickery, they quickly made up for with a
sticky web of washed-out garage-glam. When they’re not absorbing every
corner of their mash-up with heavy reverb, the band transforms into
experimental noise study, employing twitchy pinches of feedback and
roiling guitar squalls to drive home their anomalous existence in local
rock. Lengthy stage setup or not, the Pink Snowflakes are worth the
wait. RJP

THE BUG NASTIES , THE HEADLINERS ,

THE FAST TAKERS , TROGLODYTES

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) My friend once brilliantly described Thee
Headliners as a garage band who should have performed at the Lobo
Lounge—the fictional small-town dive bar from the hit ’90s sitcom
Roseanne. Imagine Thee Headliners’ star rising amid a sea of
blow-dried bangs, handlebar mustaches, plenty of flannel, and only two
types of domestic beer in brown bottles. However, from a musical
standpoint, such an association between Roseanne‘s theme song
and Thee Headliners has probably been heavily influenced by member
Hamburger Chubs’ unruly use of a harmonica. Meanwhile, Holly Morgan and
Jeremy Terry sound like a whiskey bar waltz between Johnny Cash and
June Carter as they double-fist their vice of heartache while crooning
lines like: “You gotta be shit-faced/When you tell me you love me.” EM
BROWNLOWE

SUNDAY 12/21

THE FLIGHT AND THE FALL: ROOT BEER AND FRENCH FRY,
SMALL FIRES

(Valentine’s, 232 SW Ankeny) See listing.

YOYODYNE, KILLED BY BEARS, THE ENVELOPE PEASANT

(Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington) You might remember the jaunty
tunes of Portland band Dearest, Crown as they plied their craft with
fiddles, mandolins, and other string-a-ma-jigs. But that band broke up
in 2005 and songwriter Sean Harrasser relocated to Chico. Since then,
Dearest, Crown-er Ryan Martin has taken the reins for Killed by Bears,
which puts down the genteel instruments in favor of plugged-in power
pop goodness. Sure, a couple of twangs and plucks rear their heads
every now and then, but you’re more likely to hear the blissed-out,
head-nodding wave of Teenage Fanclub, or the spiky garage jangle of
early Old 97s in their fine, airtight pop songs. What’s more, this bill
reunites them with Harrasser, whose project the Envelope Peasant has a
similar pop mentality, but mines its inspiration from about a 100 years
ago. NL

TOYS IN THE HOOD: TRAGEDY 503, COOL NUTZ

(Roseland Grill, 8 NW 6th) The throne bearer of local hiphop, Cool
Nutz has a new album on deck—The Miracle, set to fall from
the heavens next month—and is now prepared to give back to those
who need it the most: wack emcees… No, actually those in greater
need: underprivileged kids, since tonight’s show is free if you show up
with an unwrapped toy. So, hiphop heads—or juggalos and
juggalettes, if you prefer co-headliners Tragedy 503—considering
how many horrible things you have done over the past 12 months, heading
to the Roseland with toy in hand is the very least you can do. EAC

MONDAY 12/22

DEATH TO MING!!!, CAUGHT IN MOTION

(White Eagle, 836 N Russell) The original impetus of Death to
Ming!!! was to write and record a song or two every night, and then
heap them all—currently numbering 50 and counting—online
for all to hear. Recently the duo of Liam Flanagan and Nick Closson
have opened the doors to outside contributors, including former Swords
Project member Joey Ficken, but new blood hasn’t ceased their assembly
line mentality. Death to Ming’s enjoyable material falls apart before
ever receiving time to properly form; like the best of the Robert
Pollard songbook, theirs is a haphazard collection of partial ideas,
few of which are ever actually completed. EAC

TUESDAY 12/23

NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE

(Tony Starlight’s Supper Club, 3728 NE Sandy) See listing.

BROKEN ARROW (NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE), MATT BONEY &
STAMPEDE

(White Eagle, 836 N Russell) See listing.

BRITTAIN ASHFORD, LOVE MENU , DAVID KYLE AND THE
INVISIBLES