WEDNESDAY 6/3

PDX POP NOW! RELEASE PARTY: PSYCHOMAGIC, RASHEED JAMAL, ROBIN BACIOR
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

IMAGINE DRAGONS, METRIC, HALSEY
(Moda Center, 1 Center Ct) Imagine Dragons named their second album Smoke + Mirrors, which is either the most self-aware deflating of rock-star pomp since protest singer Phil Ochs ironically wore a gold lamé suit on the cover of 1970's Greatest Hits (which contained all-new material, by the way), or a completely oblivious stab at sounding badass while remaining ignorant of not only the meaning of the album's title, but the hollowness of the content within. (The cute little plus sign points toward the latter.) With the outright abhorrent "Radioactive," Imagine Dragons scored themselves the most downloaded "rock" song ever, and if that fact doesn't send a chill up your spine, you are either 12 or deaf. The Vegas band will wreak upon Portland their garbage-pile of post-Coldplay arena-rock earnestness, farty-dubstep synth patches, and repetitive "whoa-oa-oa" choruses in what's the kickoff for what sounds like a very long, very shouty tour. Somehow they managed to wrangle Metric into this mess. Pray for Metric. NED LANNAMANN

ALL THEM WITCHES, WEEED, LKN
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) All Them Witches' free-form psych stomp sounds kind of like the Allman Brothers gone Dopesmoker. Five-minute-long passages of droning chords feed into heavy-blooze jams. It's no surprise that half of the band's digital releases are live shows—alive and in person seems to be the only way to really experience the full majesty of their ungrateful Dead improvisations. Opening the night is LKN, a hidden Portland gem of jaw-dropping metal-fingers prowess. Her full-band endeavors, sometimes aided by members of the equally powerful Palo Verde, melt faces well enough, but her solo guitar performances defy belief. With just an amp and a guitar, Lauren K. Newman pickpockets the atonal ascendance of free jazz and performs 10-minute-long sacrificial rites that are neither solos nor just riffing. They're truly astounding. MAC POGUE

COSMONAUTS, LA WITCH, JJUUJJUU, CHARTS
(Dante's, 350 W Burnside) Hailing from Burgerlandia, California (AKA Fullerton), Cosmonauts are among the most sonically diverse bands under the vague umbrella of psych. Ranging from jingly power-pop, to aggressively twangy surf-punk, to crunchy garage rock, 2013's Persona Non Grata is a record that actually does Lou Reed justice among the growing crowd of impostors. Mostly this is due to Cosmonauts' interesting tempo changes and raw, live intensity, matched by a matter-of-fact storytelling style in their songwriting. Their fiery-coal guitar riffs bring a distinct fuzzy layer to the rattling percussion and shaky, reverbed yells. Seeing them live is like a musical recreation of a Twin Peaks episode crossed with a 1960s surf movie. Also on the bill is lo-fi punk trio LA Witch, touring on an upcoming debut album that will be released on Los Angeles independent label Lolipop Records. CAMERON CROWELL

THURSDAY 6/4

DEAD MEADOW, DAYDREAM MACHINE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

HOLOCENE TURNS 12: PSYCHEMAGIK, CHANTI DARLING, NATURAL MAGIC, CERISE, SHY GIRLS
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Portland electronic duo Natural Magic's self-titled tape is 40 minutes of warm analog synths over pulsing drum machines, robotic steel drums over Jan Hammer tom rolls. It offers comforting transcendence, a cozy blanket on the dance floor. Pulled from two years of recording, the album's unique tones and meditative qualities have an appeal that could extend beyond gearheads and house DJs to indie kids that jam out to Four Tet. Like all great albums that make new sounds with old equipment, it recalls a time that never existed, a memory you never had, a music scene that was only hinted at. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON

GEPETTO, DAPS, AVIEL, BEN YAMIN, DJ ZONE
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Tonight marks the latest release from emcee/producer Gepetto—government name Brendan Hanna—a Portland native who has been working on his craft for quite some time. A hip-hop class taught by veteran emcee Mic Crenshaw at the private, arts-based high school Northwest Academy led Hanna on a path as a rapper and beat-maker that continues to this day. His latest, a four-song EP called Fireflies, finds Gepetto maturing as an artist with evident influences from Rhymesayers, Def Jux, and Rawkus artists circa the early '00s. His longtime collaborator in the Early Bird Project, Brady "Daps" Merrigan, will open the show, along with producer/songwriter/rapper Aviel. All three acts will be screening music videos before their solo sets, creating an audio/visual treat for your eyes and ears. RYAN FEIGH

NEKA AND KAHLO, RASHEED JAMAL, RIPLEY SNELL, VERBZ
(Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) Historically speaking, Portland's hip-hop scene has unquestioningly been a boys' club, so thank goodness for Neka and Kahlo. The duo drop their new Fridays in May EP tonight, and it's more than a rebuttal to what's preceded them—it's a reinvention, with Neka Perini's chimerical production providing a dreamlike backdrop into which she breathes life with soulful singing. Emcee Mila "Kahlo" Kokich provides the forward momentum, her verses adding a documentary-like vividness to the duo's portraits of Portland life. Tonight's release show is part of KPSU and We Out Here's recurring joint hip-hop showcase, the Thesis. NL

FAXES, FASHION CLUB, DARKWRAITH COVENANT
(Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth) Faxes fall into the same category of gonzo hybrid electronic/experimental noise as Beaches & Canyons-era Black Dice, but to try and make Faxes' music more accessible by listing reference points is a losing game—does knowing that this music sounds like a psych take on the Load Records catalog actually help anyone? Instead, know that you're in for a ride of tripped-out, droning sounds that could be made by two or 22 people (the internet doesn't provide much help with facts here). Faxes are accompanied tonight by Fashion Club, a new pop-punk endeavor that subtracts any whiny faux-sensitive-guy bullshit from the genre, and Darkwraith Covenant, a power-electronics hard dance project that sounds like it should come with a 20-sided die. MP

FRIDAY 6/5

THE CALEB KLAUDER COUNTRY BAND, THE EARNEST LOVERS
(The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42nd) See My, What a Busy Week!

ROCK THE ROSES: GREAT WHITE, SLAUGHTER, VIXEN
(Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 1020 SW Naito) See My, What a Busy Week!

BEST COAST, BULLY
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Tonight, fast-rising rock quartet Bully make their second Portland appearance of 2015. The Nashville band played back in March while touring in support of Jeff the Brotherhood, and tonight they open for California dream-pop band Best Coast. Don't be fooled by the supporting slot: Bully frontwoman Alicia Bognanno and her band are fully capable of leveling sizable venues all on their own. "I Remember," the fantastic lead single off of Bully's upcoming debut, Feels Like, calls to mind another great fuzz-rock anthem of reminiscence, Japandroids' "Younger Us." Where Japandroids frontman Brian King tapped into nostalgic memories of feeling young and invincible on drunken summer nights, Bognanno flays her emotions while wailing personal, bittersweet reflections on a relationship that's ended. The result is a cathartic two-minute blast that will leave your heart and gut shaken and stirred, and your finger reaching for the repeat button. Bognanno produced and engineered the album herself, having once interned for Steve Albini at his renowned Electrical Audio studio. CHIPP TERWILLIGER

KINSKI, WL, SAM COOMES
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Kinski have come a long way from the frenetic krautrock instrumentals that saturated their first few albums. 2013's Cosy Moments was an inferno of fast-paced fuzz that added a newfound sense of melodic heaviness. The band's new album on Kill Rock Stars is called 7 (or 8)—a direct reference to the band's sprawling back catalog—and it's a burrowing infestation of athletic rhythms and rawness that was somewhat diminished during their Sub Pop run in the '00s. Kinski still dip their toes into the instrumental mayhem of albums past, like on album opener "Detroit Trickle Down." But on tracks like "I Fell Like a Fucking Flower," Kinski finds an altogether more rustic kind of spaced-out rock explosion. RYAN J. PRADO

BLOWOUT, HOLY TENTACLES, SAID GONER
(Habesha, 801 NE Broadway) Said Goner is the relatively nascent solo vehicle from Adam Ciresi, bassist and principal architect behind Portland screamo fixtures Carrion Spring. Ciresi's self-titled debut under the moniker is a mixture of lackadaisical, Mark Linkous-esque plaints ("Unframe," "Yo Soy Capitan") and grungy full-band numbers (the macabre "These Bloody Days," which brings to mind Kitchen Tape-era Weezer—you know, when Rivers Cuomo was more Frank Black than Brian Wilson). Although Said Goner is a solo venture in the truest sense of the term—Ciresi played every instrument on the album, in addition to recording and mixing the entire thing on his own—live, he's rounded out by brother Corey Ciresi and Dan Silver of Lee Corey Oswald on drums and lead guitar, respectively, and bassist Jeremy Hernandez, formerly of potentially forgotten-about local magnates 40 Hundred Thousand Locked Up Guns. MORGAN TROPER

SEINABO SEY, JAMES DAVIS
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) The music of rising Swedish star Seinabo Sey puts me in a bind, critically. Do I dig her grandiose pop gestures on their own terms, or simply because she offers an alternative to the Ariana Grandes and Rihannas clogging up our native airwaves? Do I forgive her occasionally clunky lyrics, given that English is her second language? Does it bother me that she so nakedly lusts after stardom, and by all accounts has the looks and vocal chops to get it? As far as I can gather, she's got one single on a par with Grande's best ("Younger") and the ambition and songwriting partners to top it sometime soon. But I'm torn. Between the wholly predictable club remixes, the arty but weightless music videos, and now a world tour without so much as a proper album out, her whole career feels a bit pre-fab, you know? Am I too cynical or not cynical enough? KYLE FLECK

SOUVENIR DRIVER, BED, CAT HOCH
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Cat Hoch has built an impressive résumé for herself within Portland's flourishing psychedelic-rock scene. Most recently, she's been keeping the beat while drumming with local dream-pop outfit Appendixes and lending guitar and vocals to Eternal Tapestry's live shows. Given her background, it isn't surprising that Hoch's upcoming debut EP is one of the year's most anticipated local releases, nor is it a shock that the first single, "Look What You Found," jump starts the second disc of this year's PDX Pop Now! compilation. The track, engineered by Unknown Mortal Orchestra drummer Riley Geare, is a dreamy slab of psych-pop that grooves and swells under Hoch's soaring voice and ends leaving you wanting more. Joining Hoch tonight are the atmospheric bliss-pop quartet Souvenir Driver, and fellow PPN! compilation contributors Bed, whose outstanding 2014 single "Wayward" is still stuck on repeat on my stereo and in my head. CT

SATURDAY 6/6

DOLLY PARTON HOOT NIGHT
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) See My, What a Busy Week!

SCHOOL OF ROCK PLAY R&B ROYALTY
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER, JACK AND ELIZA
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) There's still a bit of confusion surrounding the Walkmen's hiatus, but with no resurrection in rumored sight, frontman Hamilton Leithauser has moved forward with his solo endeavors, starting with his debut release last year, Black Hours. While there are distinct aural connections between the two projects, Leithauser's solo songs are slightly more straightforward; fewer sharp-edged guitar quips and instrumental breakdowns, more clean-cut pop focus on vocal hooks and controlled placement of instrumental flare-ups. Good or bad, Leithauser still has some strong vocal chops, which remain a highlight of both projects. Opening the night will be Jack and Eliza with their time-warp '60s beach-babe rock. Get ready to boogie board (minus the board). ROBIN BACIOR

UFOMAMMUT, USNEA, CHURCH
(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) Italian trio Ufomammut sound like a psilocybin-dream convergence of Monster Magnet's post-Hawkwind interstellar brutality and Electric Wizard's monstrous, molasses-y metal. For my money, Ufomammut make some of the most satisfying heavy music in the world right now. (The fact that Vice gave their indomitable new album, Ecate, the vomit face only confirms that Ufomammut are on the righteous path.) At their best, their music sounds like a methodical series of explosions that conjure feelings of apocalyptic doom, which they make seem like the most harrowing acid trip you'll ever experience. What separates Ufomammut from heavy metal's swarming masses is that they know how to generate compelling suspense by easing back and allowing chasms of solar wind and sonar bleeps to emerge—before, of course, they're engulfed again in tsunamis of molten rock that make Black Sabbath sound like the 1910 Fruitgum Company. For Ufomammut, it's all about the mighty riff that relentlessly drills downward. DAVE SEGAL

SUNDAY 6/7

THE DOMESTICS, GRAND LAKE ISLANDS, BEACH FIRE
(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS, THE WEATHER STATION
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) Read our article on the Weather Station.

THE WARLOCKS, HOLLOW SIDEWALKS, CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) The Warlocks recently signed to a new record label and, on their website, vowed to hit the studio later this year to work on a new album. Presumably, it will sound like the Warlocks. After all, this is a band that has been capably mining the same formula for a decade and a half: dark, dour psychedelic rock that unfolds at an ambling pace and drones more than most. Imagine the Jesus and Mary Chain's sullen heart pumping in time with the Velvet Underground's unhurried pulse and you're in the right corner of the record shop—the corner where they've set up the display of cool sunglasses for sale. The Warlocks' history is not without a few bumps in the road, but principal creative force Bobby Hecksher has persevered, and the band brings its unsettling sound to Bunk Bar tonight. BEN SALMON

DEICIDE, ENTOMBED A.D., HATE ETERNAL, BLACK CROWN INITIATE, LORNA SHORE, SVART CROWN
(Panic Room, 3100 NE Sandy) With 1990's Left Hand Path, Entombed deployed the buzzsaw guitar sound that would come to define Swedish death metal for decades. Wolverine Blues, the band's third in a trio of classic albums, is the reference point for every music critic who's ever written the phrase "death 'n' roll." Technically, that band doesn't exist anymore. But last year after some legal wrangling over who owns the band name, original vocalist L.G. Petrov and a lineup of latter-day Entombed members released Back to the Front under the name Entombed A.D. That album wasn't anything to get excited about, but the chance to hear some Entombed "covers" is. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN

WREKMEISTER HARMONIES, DANIEL MENCHE, BRUMES
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) If you're in a hurry to categorize Wrekmeister Harmonies, the Chicago musical collective led by J.R. Robinson, I suppose black metal would be a safe enough bet. Both of the albums released under this project's name on Thrill Jockey—2013's You've Always Meant So Much to Me and 2014's Then It All Came Down—feature the markings of the genre, with forays into growling vocals and gushing, distorted guitar chords. Surrounding those moments, though, are some of the loveliest ambient and post-rock sounds you're likely to hear, using haunted vocals, a string ensemble, and the gentle purr of a double bass to lull you into quietude before the overdriven assault blasts you to attention. ROBERT HAM

MONDAY 6/8

SUFJAN STEVENS, HELADO NEGRO
(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway) See My, What a Busy Week!, and read our article on Sufjan Stevens.

DROWSE, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, SANCHO, TROUBLED BY INSECTS
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Read our article on Drowse.

RON SEXSMITH, ALICE PHOEBE LOU, CHRIS MARGOLIN
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) The trudging, downtrodden ballads of Ron Sexsmith have their ideal time and place: a cloud-drowsy weekend morning right as the first cup of coffee's kicking in, for instance. This isn't to suggest, however, that the Canadian singer/songwriter's entire oeuvre is a kind of "lifestyle" accouterment, a swatch of audio wallpaper to go along with the carefully chosen earthenware and window treatments that decorate one's dream condo. Once in a while, Sexsmith latches onto something godly, like the careful, delicately ripe "If Only Avenue" from 2013's Forever Endeavour. A perfectly realized hybrid of the twin towers of 1972 Neil-dom (Young's Harvest and Diamond's Moods), the song's a gorgeous slice of sorrow, given a vintage-pop shoeshine and some expertly tasteful orchestral accompaniment. Meanwhile, Sexsmith's just-released album, Carousel One, is a relatively upbeat affair—he's even smiling, slightly, on the cover. NL

CROWBAR, BATTLECROSS, LORD DYING, PROVEN, DISENCHANTER
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) As progenitors of the sludge-metal paradigm, longtime New Orleans crew Crowbar have shown few signs of slowing down. Despite a pretty extensive turnstile of members since the band's inception in 1991, Crowbar's primary lynchpin, Kirk Windstein, as well as their personal and sonic affiliations with Southern metal stalwarts like Pantera, Down, and Superjoint Ritual (so, basically, Phil Anselmo) has cemented their status as a precursor to the onslaught of doom and down-tuned metal oozing its way out of the nation's basements. The band's been touring in support of their 2014 LP, Symmetry in Black, and they brought Portland's own Lord Dying with them for this most recent run. Watch them all beat the shit out of their gear in dropped tuning. RJP

HALESTORM, RIVAL SONS, ROYAL THUNDER
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Halestorm is a Pennsylvania band that's currently making the transition from the fringes of hard rock into the mainstream; the group's new album Into the Wild Life recently debuted at number five on Billboard's album chart, far outselling any of its previous efforts (no small feat in 2015). And while Halestorm is, um... not good... it's easy to envision the best act on this bill, Royal Thunder, following a similar path. The Atlanta-based band's sound revolves around the burly guitar work of Josh Weaver and frontwoman Mlny Parsonz's skyscraping vocals. Together they blend psychedelic metal, alt-rock, and heavy blues in a way that feels totally natural and seamless. Royal Thunder's new album Crooked Doors is big, brash, honest, and well crafted, and it's one of the better heavy releases of 2015 so far. It's also further proof that, with the right breaks, Parsonz is a star waiting to happen. BS

TUESDAY 6/9

SEBASTIAN BACH, APPETITE FOR DECEPTION
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Read our interview with Sebastian Bach.

JONATHAN RICHMAN
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Four and a half decades into his music career, Jonathan Richman still comes across as a sparkly-eyed kid inside a world-wise storyteller. His playful songs, full of whimsy and nostalgia, take on an emotional depth when performed live with a whole-hearted sincerity that doesn't fully come across on his recordings. After all these years, Richman still seems genuinely grateful that people come out to watch him do what he loves to do, and he never takes for granted the significance of people gathering together in a room. His charm is irresistible, his candidness perpetually refreshing. Richman's newest songs—recently released on a pair of 7-inches—are his best in years, evidence that he will most likely never lose the youthful exuberance that's defined his work since the early '70s. JJA Also see My, What a Busy Week!

AMEN DUNES, RYLEY WALKER, XANDER DUELL
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Here's what happens when I listen to Amen Dunes' "I Know Myself": I'm leading with one shoulder through a stone-still crowd, bodies slouched with tilted heads held up by their own transfixed gaze. I'm moving through the room's lazy heat, toward a voice that feels like it's arching over everyone's heads. The song is reaching its height, with featherweight percussion lightly lifting the cyclical guitar strumming, and Damon McMahon's voice is becoming so aerial and potent it seems like the dust illuminated by stage lights. It's not some sonic explosion, but it's expansive, that essence people go to shows to breathe in. I've never seen Amen Dunes live before, but something McMahon's doing is so palpable that I'm already there. RB Also, read our article on Ryley Walker.