WEDNESDAY 3/25
MALE GAZE, TIARAS, YOUNG HUNTER, LKN
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) Gale Maze, the debut LP from San Francisco-based Male Gaze, is a brooding garage-punk effort. Vocally, it borrows heavily from Ian Curtis, with bellowing monotone grumbles over sharp, psych-pocked soundscapes. The pedigree of the band alone is reason enough to listen up; it features members of such revered NorCal underground groups as the infamously anti-internet crew Mayyors (go ahead, try to look them up), the Mall, and Blasted Canyons. On the strength of their debut, just released on John Dwyer's (Thee Oh Sees) Castle Face Records, the band's spring and summer are stacking up, with plenty of West Coast dates as well as a stop at Treefort Music Festival this week. RYAN J. PRADO
MARILYN MANSON, DEAP VALLY
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Say what you will about Marilyn Manson—you'd probably be right. The modern "shock rock" aesthetic he helped popularize is irrefutably ridiculous; the literary allusions he (allegedly) employs are nothing more than faux-intellectual posturing; and his shows are disproportionately terrifying. That's all eclipsed by the reality that Antichrist Superstar fucking rules even 20 years after its release (from a sonic standpoint alone, it's unbelievable—you could trick me into thinking Quincy Jones co-produced this shit). Manson's cultural relevance undoubtedly plateaued years ago, but he still wrote some great pop songs, which is more than virtually all of his peers can say. Otherwise, tonight's show—which is occurring in the year 2015—might not be sold out. MORGAN TROPER
THE MONA REELS, HOODED HAGS, FEEL YOUNG
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) The Mona Reels have quietly become one of Olympia's longest running musical institutions. What started 15 years ago as the folky side project of Bangs drummer Peter David Connelly has turned into a casual legacy of unshakable pop songwriting. In recent years, the sound has completely moved from its previous folksiness into a style of power-pop that doesn't come around much anymore. Think Teenage Fanclub, the Posies, or the Young Fresh Fellows—feel-good songs about heartbreak and nostalgic longing that make you want to bop around the room. Connelly's often backed by members from some of Olympia's best punk and hardcore bands, and tonight you'll get to see a couple of members of Vexx in a very different context. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
LITTLE WINGS, WITH CHILD, ST. EVEN
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) A few years back, Little Wings—the project of its primary force, Kyle Field—came into a lot of listeners' lives through Feist's documentary named after Field's song, Look at What the Light Did Now. However, by that point Field's music had already been permeating the minds and hearts of a cult listenership for years. The Canadian artist has a type of timeless sound; to simply call it folk would be to lazily throw it in a pigeonhole. Little Wing's music is somewhat soft and sensual, but doesn't lean too hard on any one thing. It's not as much about Field's distinct melodies as his distinct mood, which he evokes in his own performances and in listeners alike. ROBIN BACIOR
TIM BARRY, JENNY OWEN YOUNGS, CORY BRANAN
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) In 2008, Hot Water Music frontman Chuck Ragan set out on the road with a handful of songwriters for the first iteration of a grassroots celebration of acoustic music known as the Revival Tour. Ragan isn't on tonight's bill, but the three songwriters featured here are all Revival alumni looking to carry on the tradition. Criminally undersung singer/songwriter Cory Branan gets the evening started, touring in support of his fantastic 2014 album, The No-Hit Wonder. The album's rollicking title track features contributions from the Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Steve Selvidge, and later on, Branan pairs up with rising country star Caitlin Rose for a duet on the delightfully honky-tonk "All the Rivers in Colorado." Joining Branan tonight is radiant, confessional pop songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs and former Avail frontman Tim Berry, who has been honing his solo career for a decade after moving on from his hardcore roots. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
THURSDAY 3/26
GAYTHEIST, FULL CREATURE, GRAND HEAD
(The Foggy Notion, 3416 N Lombard) See My, What a Busy Week!
OF MONTREAL
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See All-Ages Action!
THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD FERRIES, HUNGRY GHOST
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) The Martha's Vineyard Ferries brings together two gents who helped lay the foundation of indie rock—former Come and Codeine member Chris Brokaw on drums and current Shellac bassist Bob Weston—with a relative newcomer in Elisha Wiesner, founder of the Massachusetts band Kahoots. Though you can pick up elements of each man's past in the seven songs that make up this new outfit's 2013 album Mass. Grave, this goes far beyond a '90s throwback exercise. Wiesner's oft-distorted guitar juts through the mix with wiry precision as Weston buttresses it all with a looseness he isn't often allowed in his other band. ROBERT HAM
CRAFT SPELLS, THE BILINDA BUTCHERS, APPENDIXES
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) More than three years passed between the release of Craft Spells' breakthough debut album, Idle Labor, and the Seattle dream-pop band's proper follow-up, last year's Nausea. Those three years were anything but uneventful for songwriter Justin Vallesteros, who moved a couple of times, battled a major case of writer's block, kicked an addiction to social media, and dedicated a year to learning how to play piano. Overcoming all those obstacles led to a significantly tighter and more mature sound on Nausea. Across its 11 tracks, Craft Spells' gentle pop is pretty and moody and wispy and wonderful, only now it sounds more confident and fully formed. Vallesteros' melodies still spill over with effortless charm—he seems incapable of anything else—but on Nausea, they live inside lush daydreams rather than fleeting just-plain-dreams. These days, Craft Spells' songs float and flutter without floating away forever. BEN SALMON
!!!, HOSANNAS, AUSTIN TRETWOLD
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Though dance-punk's moment in the sun has long since passed, Brooklyn outfit !!! have shown an enviable longevity, releasing their fifth album, Thr!!!er, to considerable acclaim in 2013. While they've maintained some of the sweaty (s)punk of their early releases, Thr!!!er pulls the band ever-onward to full dance-floor destruction with a boatload of over-the-top hooks, wiggidy keyboard lines, and enough low end to make even the spazziest record nerds look snazzy. KYLE FLECK
FRIDAY 3/27
KITTY DAISY AND LEWIS, GEMMA RAY
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!
SETH AVETT AND JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD SING ELLIOTT SMITH
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Read our article on Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield.
ALL-AGES ACTION PRESENTS: OLIGOPOLIST RECORDS SHOWCASE: BONE ROCK, STUDENETS, ITALICS
(328 NE Broadway #114) See All-Ages Action!
PUNCH BROTHERS, GABRIEL KAHANE
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Maybe it's supposed to be under wraps, but this Punch Brothers show is something of a hometown affair, seeing as globally renowned mandolinist Chris Thile is a Rose City resident now—at least part of the time. That, or he just travels great lengths to participate regularly in Portland's competitive table tennis circuit. Whatever the circumstances, having any of Thile's projects grace the stages of our city is a notable thing. Punch Brothers' latest album, The Phosphorescent Blues, weighs in on the pesky phenomenon of tiny screens and human interconnectedness—the ubiquitousness of handheld technology. It's an overarching theme of the album, but it doesn't overpower the band's masterful compositions. Songs like "Julep" foster Thile's gorgeous mandolin in concert with harmony-rich, dreamy jam tunes that transcend Thile's shortcut tag as a bluegrass artist. See for yourself tonight. RJP Also, read our article on Gabriel Kahane.
MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, GUNDRIVER, EARTH TO ASHES
(Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside) Michael Schenker is a guitar god who's primarily godlike in the eyes of hard-rock purists. Schenker, of course, got his start with older brother Rudolph in the Scorpions, including contributions to one of the band's best records, Lovedrive. He's probably best-known for his stint in UFO, most notably the band's killer live LP, Strangers in the Night. You could say the group that bore his name (the Michael Schenker Group) had more than a few fiery rock moments. Schenker is still shredding hard, and his place among the greats is solidified. Seriously though—it's Michael fucking Schenker. If I saw his résumé, I'd hire him in a hot second. MARK LORE [UPDATE: This show has been postponed until May 6 due to visa issues.]
EPROM, AKKA, JAMESZOO, TORUS,
DANNY CORN
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) A sampling of renowned Amsterdam electronic music culture is headed to Portland. Rwina Records, lauded for its experimental aesthetic, hosts a diverse array of producers and styles that work to revamp the culture of dance music. Tonight's show features several artists from the label, traveling thousands of miles to share genre innovations that range from screwed hiphop and bass music to dreamy uptempo ambient styles of epic proportions. Portland-based Rwina artist EPROM is also on the bill, set to spin some of his signature mind-melting sound artistry against the visual backdrop of local alchemists Prism Lab and Adapt Lighting in an audio/visual spectacular that doesn't come around very often. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD
THE VELVET TEEN, SLOW BIRD, HOT VICTORY
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Although the group originally hail from Santa Rosa, the Velvet Teen could be considered honorary citizens of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to being something of a "secret handshake" band among the city's more venerable tastemakers, the group's first record, Out of the Fierce Parade—a staggering, anomalous indie rock album that sounds like Jeff Buckley fronting Braid—was produced by Chris Walla (whose sonic impression is unmistakable) and released by Slowdance Records, a now-defunct indie operated by former Mercury Music Editor Ezra Caraeff. Follow-up opus Elysium saw the group move further away from classicist emo and college-rock fanaticism and toward a more lush, orchestrated sound ("A Captive Audience," borderline Rufus Wainwright sound-alike "Poor Celine"), while 2006's Cum Laude conversely eschewed conventional song structure pretty much entirely, instead opting to showcase the group's technical abilities and suppressed proggy predilections. The group's most recent release, 2010's No Star EP, sees the band returning to the more traditional "rock band" aesthetic of Out of the Fierce Parade without sounding stale or like an amenable "return-to-form." They've still got it, and likely always will. MT
SATURDAY 3/28
METALACHI, BURN THE STAGE
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See My, What a Busy Week!
JOE PUG, FIELD REPORT, VIKESH KAPOOR
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Thankfully, the days when record executives zealously proclaimed every curly-headed young man with an acoustic guitar a "New Dylan" are over, but if we still need someone to fill that role, there might be no more deserving candidate than Joe Pug. After two full-length studio albums and two EPs, Pug had established himself as a first-rate—if not wholly original—songwriter, but the pressures of being constantly on the road took an emotional and physical toll. He wasn't writing new songs, he was drinking heavily, and he was no longer connecting with his music. After a soul-searching sabbatical near the end of 2013, he returned in 2014 to the studio and recorded Windfall, his third full-length and maybe his most grown-up album yet. Less folky than earlier albums, Windfall is Pug at his most honest and vulnerable, shedding the palpable Dylan influence and finally beginning to find his own voice. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
QUANTIC, DJ VADIM
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Quantic, the dapper British DJ Will Holland, has been redefining what it means to be a DJ since 2001. His first two albums, The 5th Exotic and Apricot Morning, include samples of Holland and his sisters playing various instruments, as well as vocal parts from soul singer Alice Russell. In 2003, Quantic expanded into the Quantic Soul Orchestra, where shit got fancy. Holland took tailor-made samples from Latin jazz and Afrobeat funk bands, which he then spun and looped into a fusion of electronic and Afro-Cuban funk. This jived so well that he moved to Colombia in 2007, where he set up a studio called Sonido del Valle and produced his 2007 album, Tropidélico. Quantic crosses so many genres and implements so many modern ways to create music that he transcends electronic music and produces something far more dynamic. ROSE FINN
G. GREEN, WIMPS, LANDLINES, BRICKS
(Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth) Log Out, Tune Up, Drop Dead, the most recent effort from Portland's Landlines, is an album that keeps you on your toes. Its seven songs nod to different eras of garage rock, power-pop, and post-punk without ever holding too tight to any of them. Each track brings to mind its own set of unlikely comparisons—Lou Reed meets Superchunk, Elvis Costello meets Silkworm, Tom Petty meets the Clean. They're smart and playful, and beg to be listened to again and again. Tonight Landlines shares a bill with Seattle party punkers Wimps and Sacramento's G. Green.
Expect fun times. JJA
FATHER MURPHY, GABRIEL SALOMAN, SLEEPING WITH THE EARTH, B.S. WRIGHT
(Beacon Sound, 3636 N Mississippi) Some of the most satisfyingly bleak sounds of the past few years have been produced by an Italian band called Father Murphy. The outfit caters to the musical whims of leader Federico Zanatta, and bleed with pounding drum machines, overdriven vocal and guitar melodies, and, as heard on "Long May We Continue" (from the 2015 full-length Croce), a tapestry of cymbal sounds that range from rattling hi-hats to explosive gong blasts. Tonight's show also welcomes Gabriel Saloman back home. The former Yellow Swan has decamped to Canada where he is recording his own dark musics—including last year's stunning Movement Building Vol. 1, which moved from placid guitar drones into almost terrifying polyrhythms and jagged stabs of pure noise. RH
MOON DUO, DEATH SONGS, BLESST CHEST
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) There are gazillions of bands who've copped the sonic repetition of Can and the Velvet Underground's druggy "Sister Ray" without bringing any mind-altering substance of their own to the table. Moon Duo—now a Portland duo—have managed to not only skirt their influences, but also avoid mimicking themselves on their new record, Shadow of the Sun. All the benchmarks are still there—droning guitars and synths, motorik beats that go on for daze—but Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada add a few interesting guitar and keyboard touches on songs like "Animal" and the Middle Eastern-influenced "Sleepwalker." Live, Moon Duo is one long trip, which can be experienced tonight at the band's record-release show. ML
SUNDAY 3/29
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, DOUBLEPLUSGOOD
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!
AT THE GATES, CONVERGE, PALLBEARER, VALLENFYRE, HAIL THE ARCHITECT
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) The annual Decibel magazine tour rolls through town again, and this time the metal mag's annual coast-to-coast jaunt features a pretty eclectic mix. Headlining are At the Gates, hot off the heels of At War with Reality, the band's first album in 19 years and the follow-up to the high-water mark of Swedish death metal, Slaughter of the Soul. Converge are responsible for legions of Hot Topic metalcore bands, but don't hold that against them. Pallbearer plays melodic doom metal, while Vallenfyre champions old-school death metal, featuring guitarist and vocalist Greg Mackintosh of goth-metal icons Paradise Lost. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN
COOL GHOULS, MOPE GROOVES,
DOGHEART
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) ICYMI, as the kids say, psychedelic garage-pop-rock—heavy with reverb and oh-so-'60s—is kind of a thing right now, thanks to Ty Segall and Burger Records and lots of other folks, too. Cool Ghouls are not the best-known band doing said thing, but they're on the rise, and they deserve to be. The San Francisco quartet's 2014 album A Swirling Fire Burning Through the Rye is a wonderful document of the West Coast's modern garage movement, flush with woozy jangle and chill vibes. What Cool Ghouls do better than most, though, is pile on glorious Byrds-ian harmonies and then give them space to shine. The lo-fi aesthetic is fine, but too many of these bands let their melodies get lost in the muck. Wall-to-wall, A Swirling Fire is proof Cool Ghouls have a quiver full of great tunes and they want you to actually hear 'em. BS
J.S. BACH'S ST. JOHN PASSION: PORTLAND BAROQUE ORCHESTRA, TRINITY CHOIR, NILS NEUBERT
(Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th) German-born Nils Neubert is one of the many fine singers populating the smaller theaters of the world, his stirring, lucid tenor having been used to great effect in performances for the Opera Company of Brooklyn, Geneva Light Opera, and Pocket Opera New York. So while his profile isn’t as big as it could be, he’s certainly keeping busy. This year, his concentration has been on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, mainly as featured soloist for a season-long look at the composer’s work at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Manhattan. And when he visits our own Trinity Episcopal Church this spring, Neubert will continue to explore Bach’s work, singing the role of Evangelist in Portland Baroque Orchestra’s performance of St. John Passion, a beautiful narrative taken from the Gospel of John. RH
MONDAY 3/30
ELEL, BRYAN JOHN APPLEBY
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!
J.S. BACH'S ST. JOHN PASSION: PORTLAND BAROQUE ORCHESTRA, TRINITY CHOIR, NILS NEUBERT
(Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th) See Sunday's preview.
FUTUREBIRDS, JACKSON BOONE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) This might be the perfect solution to shake the dreariness right out of your Monday. Riding their new release (Baba Yaga) Georgia peaches Futurebirds come through Portland with their blend of Southern rock-rooted, ambient-overtoned, catchy jams. And before you blow that off as yet another buzz-band replica, read this: Futurebirds make songs poppy enough to feel familiar, and pedal-effected enough to feel like something from beyond. They're interesting and good. To sweeten the deal, Portland's own genre-bending, aurally illuminating Jackson Boone will be playing, possibly even with a multimedia element that involves paint pouring. Take that, Monday. RB
TUESDAY 3/31
PETE ROCK, SLUM VILLAGE, HANIF, DJ WELS, TOPE
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) See My, What a Busy Week!
CHERRY GLAZERR, SUMMER CANNIBALS, SUNFLOWER BEAN, THE BUTTERTONES, UNDERPASS
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Read our article on Cherry Glazerr.
JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD, BULLY
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) A pair of Nashville-based bands are making their way up the West Coast after SXSW, and they're stopping off at Bunk Bar for an evening of party-rock before making their way back to the Music City. You might be familiar with Jeff the Brotherhood, the duo of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, who have been bashing away on drums and guitar since they were high school students back in 2001. The band of brothers has recently expanded to a quartet, and given how well the pair were able to rip through their guitar-pop-meets-stoner-metal jams with a minimalist setup, it'll be interesting to see how they utilize the extra fire-power this time around. Jeff's tourmates Bully aren't a household name yet, but it's only a matter of time before the fuzzed-out four-piece tears their way into your heart behind the raspy yelps of frontwoman Alicia Bognanno. CT
FUTURE DEATH, BOYFRNDZ, U SCO
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Austin's Future Death reside in the kind of spastic, experimental, math-rock realm that bands like Tera Melos have been exploring for the last decade. So vast are the rhythmic possibilities, the time changes, the confluence of disparate influences, though, that Future Death have no problem taking those spectrum-spanning tenets and making them all their own. Their 2013 self-titled debut is just such a porridge of punk-tinged noise and bizarrely constructed outsider spazz, and the band's current tour ought to file down any rigid ends to a smooth sheen by the time they hit their stop at the Know. Be ready for anything, you guys. RJP
