WEDNESDAY 11/11

BEACH SLANG, LITHUANIA, WORRIERS, BEACH PARTY
(Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) Read our article on Beach Slang.

TIBURONES, DEATH SONGS, CLARKE AND THE HIMSELFS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Tiburones.

ICE QUEENS, COUCHES, COMA SERFS
(The Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont) Bay Area indie-rock trio Couches are self-proclaimed "real lazy," channeling a slackerish, post-grunge, mid- to late-1990s Modest Mouse/Built to Spill Northwest vibe. Guitarist Dave Mitchell sounds like a more-bummed-out Doug Martsch over bouncy, tightly composed indie-rock riffs on Couches' aptly titled EP Slackin' Since the 80s. Fortunately, these are the types of songs that casually lodge themselves in your brain, full of hummable melodies and big, swirling fuzz tones. BRITTNIE FULLER

SHELLSHAG, GOLDEN HOUR, HAVANIA WHAAL, MALL CASTE
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Shellshag are an exceptional force to witness live. A solid DIY mainstay for nearly two decades, the two-piece/couple have been exuding pure punk-rock energy into every corner of whatever basement, small bar, or illegal venue they perform in. The rowdy grunge-pop guitarist John Shell shreds while Jen Shag plays standing drums covered in auxiliary percussion bells sewn to her belt and ankles. In between the couple is their customized, Y-shaped Shellshag microphone stand, into which they both take turns singing. They're truly a rock 'n' roll treasure that stands out in a sea of flash-in-the-pan, blog-hyped bands and boring copycats. BREE MCKENNA

THURSDAY 11/12

MICACHU AND THE SHAPES, AAN
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

RICHARD THOMPSON
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark) Surely guitarist/songwriter extraordinaire Richard Thompson already fulfilled all possible demands of the fickle music gods with the marvelous, genre-defining music he played as a member of English folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention in the late 1960s. And surely those gods had their swollen bellies made even fuller by the handful of terrific albums he made with former wife Linda Thompson in the '70s and early '80s. But Thompson has not been content to sit on his laurels, instead churning out excellent new work like clockwork and proving nearly nightly that he's one of the best live performers in the business. What possible obligations could he have left to these tyrannical deities? Why does Thompson still do what he does, recording great new work like this year's Jeff Tweedy-produced Still and riding through town every few months to perform for us ungrateful mortals? Wait a minute... I think I just realized something. Richard Thompson isn't serving the gods. Richard Thompson is a god. NED LANNAMANN

THE GOOD LIFE, BIG HARP, JACKSON BOONE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) For their fifth studio album (and first in eight years) Saddle Creek Records stalwarts the Good Life barely resemble the band responsible for the subdued folk-pop of 2007's Help Wanted Nights. That release was meant to accompany a film written by band maestro Tim Kasher (also of Cursive), but sounded fairly close to their 2004 classic Album of the Year. The band's new LP, Everybody's Coming Down, instead travels far and wide from peppy, guitar-forward rockers to trippy psychedelia and back again, anchored by Kasher's introspective observations. The Good Life's bassist, Stefanie Drootin-Senseney, and her husband, Chris Senseney, took a similarly wayward approach with their band Big Harp—also on the bill—abandoning the more subdued tunes of their past with a cornucopia of experimental pop and quirky rock. The new one, Waveless, was released a mere month after it was actually recorded via Majestic Litter, the Portland-based tape label of Good Life guitarist Ryan Fox. RYAN J. PRADO

APPENDIXES, NAKED HOUR, HASTE, TWO MOONS
(Anarres Infoshop, 7101 N Lombard) True to form, Anarres Infoshop's community-minded intentions extend to its booking. For example: tonight's show, featuring dream pop acts Appendixes, Two Moons, Haste, and Naked Hour. Appendixes infuses earthly indie guitars with a tripped-out Cocteau Twins-like sense of space, wrapping Beth Ann Dear's voice in blankets of reverb and synthesizer. Two Moons is the arresting bedroom-pop project of Aaron Liu. Liu's nighttime jams, like a hazed-out Air or My Bloody Valentine played on everything but a guitar, take the form of a raucous garage act in live form. Add in the minimal melodies of Haste and the recently reconfigured Naked Hour, and this night is something of a summit of the alternative pop underground in Portland today. MAC POGUE

CHRIS STAPLETON, THE WALCOTTS
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) You have to feel great for a guy like Chris Stapleton. The Kentucky native spent the past several years in Nashville writing big hits for much bigger names, including Adele, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait. That's a cool way to make a living in the music business, but it doesn't quite stack up to Stapleton's past week. On November 4, Stapleton won three times at the 2015 Country Music Awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year for his outstanding debut solo album, Traveller. And his performance with Justin Timberlake that night was unquestionably the high point of the broadcast and a huge hit on social media. Stapleton's big night shot Traveller to the top of the Billboard 200, where it had previously peaked at #14 in May. He'll continue a killer eight-night run with a sold-out show at the Wonder Ballroom—probably the last time he'll ever play a Portland room that small. BEN SALMON

THE CULT, PRIMAL SCREAM
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Scottish band Primal Scream's long, chameleonic career has sure had its share of highs and lows, but mostly the former. Led by dedicated student of rock 'n' roll Bobby Gillespie, the Scream excel when they stop trying to ape rebel-rock totems like the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols. They're at their best when fusing dub and other dance-club elements to psychedelic rock: see 1997's Vanishing Point, 2000's XTRMNTR, and, of course, their consensus peak, 1991's classic Screamadelica, which contains the most radical 13th Floor Elevators cover ever. Primal Scream's early flowery '60s-psych-pop phase was delightful, too, and they still sound vital on their latest album, 2013's David Holmes-produced More Light. It consists mainly of pretty, mellow psychedelia (with no shortage of hard, funky beats), and it sounds better than the work of most bands who've been around more than three decades. DAVE SEGAL

HATE ETERNAL, MISERY INDEX, BEYOND CREATION, RIVERS OF NIHIL, DOMINUS NOX
(Dante's, 350 W Burnside) You know exactly what you're getting with a new Hate Eternal album. Vocalist and guitarist Erik Rutan played, for a time, in death metal pioneers Morbid Angel, and with his own Hate Eternal outfit, he's kept alive the brutal heaviness and deft technicality of mid-period Morbid. Nowadays Rutan is an in-demand death metal producer, and new album Infernus showcases the sort of heavy-but-still-definable riffs that have made Rutan a mainstay in death metal circles. That influence also extends to tourmates Misery Index and Rivers of Nihil, whose serpentine riffs definitely borrow a thing or two from Hate Eternal. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN

FRIDAY 11/13

THE MENZINGERS, MEWITHOUTYOU, PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH, RESTORATIONS
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See All-Ages Action!

DANCE GAVIN DANCE, SLAVES, A LOT LIKE BIRDS, DAYSHELL, STRAWBERRY GIRLS
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) See All-Ages Action!

JOANNA GRUESOME, TONY MOLINA, KING OF CATS
(Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) Joanna Gruesome's name is inspired by avant-garde harp whisperer Joanna Newsom, though sonically the Welsh punk group is about as similar as an evil doppelgänger. Their sophomore 21-minute LP, Peanut Butter, released in May, sounds like Sour Patch Kids kicking down the door of your apartment and trashing the place—they put a moldy sponge under your pillow and melted your toothbrush on the stove, then baked you a cherry pie and gave you a foot massage. Joanna Gruesome manages to be both sour and sweet, and they vacillate between the two like an adolescent moodswing. In June, lead singer Alanna McArdle left the band and was replaced by Kate Stonestreet (of Pennycress) and Roxy Brennan (of Two White Cranes and Grubs), so it'll be interesting to see how the dramatic lineup change affects their live show. CIARA DOLAN Also see All-Ages Action!

SLEEPTALKER, OLD JUNIOR, JOHN SUTHERLAND
(Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth) The elusive Old Junior makes a rare appearance tonight, crawling down from whatever moss-covered, ivy-strewn ruin its elegant, superlative heavy rock hides out in. But the trio of guitarist Johnny Magnifico, bassist Cory Decaire, and drummer Ben Muha—descended from another majestically great Portland band, Old Growth—won't just arrive tonight with their amps turned all the way up. No, they come bearing Plastic Castles, a five-song EP that continues Old Junior's chain of wonderful, anthemic releases and excellent rock songs delivered by growling guitars and pounding drums. This is one of the finest bands around town—which is saying a lot—so let's cherish the chance to see them before they disappear for the rest of the winter. NL

THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE, FOXING, TTNG, BRIGHTSIDE
(Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) You might have guessed by the name that there is nothing small about The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. The nine-member Connecticut band's 53-minute maximalist emo album Harmlessness came out in September as a shared release between Epitaph and Broken World Media (guitarist/vocalist Derrick Shanholtzer-Dvorak's no-contract record label). And it's inspired waves of controversy, with music critic Ian Cohen taking to Noisey to write how emo has been ostracized as a genre (basically a 1,400-word subtweet directed at his day job at Pitchfork, who actually gave the record a 7.9 and a glowing review by Evan Rytlewski). This is all without mentioning the album's sound, which is highlighted by bleak, post-apocalyptic buildups that finish in explosions of vitality. Not bad for a side project from Tyler Bussey of Portland band Snow Roller. (Bussey is one of TWIABP's army of nine.) CAMERON CROWELL

THE YAWPERS, NIK TURNER'S HAWKWIND, HEDERSLEBEN
(Dante's, 350 W Burnside) So Hawkwind. You may have heard the name, but have you heard the music? I bet that you've heard stories, exaggerated by years of bad rock criticism since the band's heyday in the early '70s. Some of them are even true: The band did tour with an exotic dancer. And, yes, guitarist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister did quit the band and steal all of their amps to form Motörhead. But have you heard the music? Because it's pretty damn good. Simultaneously the most bass-driven and psychedelic of the original wave of space-rock bands, Hawkwind are the secret godfathers of Fuzz and DIIV and other hip pedal-board bands the internet loves so much right now. JOSEPH SCHAFER

WIDOWSPEAK, QUILT
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Quilt plays the type of wandering, expansive pop that more and more seems to embody the musical mood of the 2010s: hazy pop to wind down to. The Boston quartet's upcoming LP, Plaza (due in February), is a textured menagerie of interwoven melodies, ballads, and tripped-out grooves that recall the Cardigans if they had read more Terrence McKenna. Plaza's first single "Eliot St." expands those sonic tenets by incorporating moody strings and a more chamber-folk terrain. The result is very impressive, and the perennially overlooked band could be poised for a big breakout on the strength of their new efforts. RJP

TOPS, PURO INSTINCT, IS/IS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Hot on the heels of their wonderful 2014 album, Picture You Staring, Montreal's TOPS have two new songs that expand their charming, chipper sound. Both "Anything" and "Hollow Sound of the Morning Chimes" are cool-cat, low-key slinks perfect for after-hours nightclubs, with the band taking the stage clutching bottles of red wine as heady plumes of weed smoke waft from the green room. This new sound was suggested by the chill, AM-radio grooves on Picture You Staring, but let's hope TOPS haven't left behind the danceable effervescence that characterized such beauts as "Way to Be Loved" and the basically perfect "Change of Heart," which sounds like a twee version of Madonna-circa-her-debut-album in the best possible way. NL

SATURDAY 11/14

DOG MOUNTAIN, AMOS VAL, CHUNG ANTIQUE, SABONIS
(Mother Foucault's Bookshop, 523 SE Morrison) See All-Ages Action!

PALE ANGELS, WIMPS, HURRY UP, HONEY BUCKET
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Seattle lo-fi punk trio Wimps make angular yet catchy slacker-rock songs that take a hard look at some of life's more mundane aspects, and then filter them through energetic, fast-paced song structures. Just take a listen to "Old Guy," a song off the band's brand-new Kill Rock Stars-issued sophomore LP, Suitcase, which tells the tale of an aging punk who shows up at a party of twentysomethings, who mistake the older guest for a landlord or someone's parent. Wimps singer/guitarist Rachel Ratner, a web developer by day, also created the Seattle Band Map, a handy and massive resource that charts bands and their shared member connections within the Seattle music sphere. A similar map of tonight's show would be equally immense, considering the combined experience Wimps have within the Seattle scene, then adding in Portland post-hardcore supergroup Hurry Up and the transatlantic fuzz-rock band Pale Angels. CHIPP TERWILLIGER

STURGILL SIMPSON, BILLY WAYNE DAVIS
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) In recent years a few artists have worked to get country music back to respectability. There's still a long way to go, of course, as a lot of what passes for country these days is shitty AOR with fiddles and tight jeans. Sturgill Simpson is one of the guys steering things in the right direction, with several publications referring to him as "country's savior" (that's a lot to put on one man). Last year's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is a nod back to what made artists like Buck Owens and Waylon Jennings so good—stripped-down instrumentation, storytelling, and a voice that will melt you. Simpson has also managed to move the genre forward, taking a few unconventional turns along the way while also reaching ears outside of Nashville. Essentially, Sturgill Simpson is how country should sound in the year 2015—it's high time everyone else catches up. MARK LORE

YELLOWCARD, NEW FOUND GLORY, TIGERS JAW
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Picture this: It's 2007, it's 105 degrees out, and you're a teenager in a parking lot full of thousands of other teenagers, drinking an unidentifiable clear liquor your friend stole from his parents and snuck past security. A handful of dragon-tattooed frat bros have come to "get down" to Senses Fail, but you are here for the real heart and soul of the festival, which is obviously whenever Yellowcard plays "Ocean Avenue." This is Warped Tour, and even though everybody will tell you how lame the festival has gotten, how all the "real" punk bands have left, you don't care because all of those people are adults—adults who used to listen to Limp Bizkit. Sure, you might be wondering why New Found Glory are wearing their own merch (basketball uniforms with "NFG" sprawled across them), but it doesn't matter because you're drunk for the first time on some unknown mixture of vodka, gin, and berry schnapps. CC

SUNDAY 11/15

RIDE, CAT HOCH
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!, and read our article on Ride.

TONY MOLINA, ROD, PASS, ALYESKA, DOG THIEVES
(Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock) See All-Ages Action!

WARREN G, MIKE SLICE, MANIAC LOK, YUNG MIL
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) Damn, it's good to have Warren G back. The OG rapper/producer returned this summer, seemingly out of nowhere (though shouts to crafting the beat for Gucci Mane's indelible "Crush"), with Regulate... G Funk Era Part II, a fantastically well-produced miniature ode to the old heads of the West Coast. The smoothness, the swag, and the rubbery bounce are all still very much in effect, with grooves that bump as if trap and much of '00s rap never happened. Warren G's always been more slept on than his Compton compatriots, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much: The beats and rhymes here are laid-back and carefree in that peculiarly Californian way. KYLE FLECK

RYAN BINGHAM, JAMESTOWN REVIVAL
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) It's unfortunate that Jamestown Revival are coming through town during the doldrums of November. Their music is better suited for a sunny outdoor setting like Edgefield or Pickathon, as optimistic 20-somethings alternate between sipping from beer koozies and puffing on vape pens. Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay—childhood friends from the pleasant-sounding town of Magnolia, Texas—formed the band in 2010 and released their debut album, Utah, early last year. As their name might suggest, Jamestown Revival write songs nostalgic for simpler times and good ol' American music. They don't exactly break the mold, but if male harmonies, Workingman's Dead-style country-folk, and all-around chill vibes are your thing, then by all means grab that vape pen and get over to Wonder Ballroom early, before ol' sad-faced, frog-voiced Ryan Bingham makes the mellow considerably more harsh. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY

BRONCHO, THE SHELTERS, PEARL CHARLES
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Norman, Oklahoma's Broncho scooted back into the limelight with last year's Just Enough Hip to Be Woman, three years after their debut album, 2011's Can't Get Past the Lips. From the infectious pogo stick "do-do-do-do-dos" of "Class Historian" to the Cure-inspired riffs of "Stay Loose" to the dance-floor bum wiggle of "It's On," the new album is grimy, electric, and deliciously catchy. Singer Ryan Lindsey's nasal voice kind of sounds like a punk-rock Keebler elf (in the best way). I saw Broncho at Burgerama in March and will never forget the image of hundreds of beach-goth youths bobbing around in a veritable hurricane of bodies. CD

FEVER THE GHOST, PSYCHOMAGIC
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) In the blink of an eye, Los Angeles based sci-fi pop outfit Fever the Ghost has gone from a promising LA buzz-band to an established force in the psych-rock world. Part of that quick rise could be due to support from The Flaming Lips, who invited the band to contribute to their Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's tribute, With a Little Help From My Fwends, which paired the young band up with My Morning Jacket and J. Mascis on the opening track. Considering Wayne Coyne must have half the experimental-rock and pop worlds on speed dial, it's safe to assume he saw something special in Fever the Ghost, and the band's recently released debut full-length, Zirconium Meconium, doubles down on that assumption. The album takes listeners on an alluring, glam-infused journey through a hypnotic and trippy kaleidoscopic range of noise and sonic styles. CT

GOLD CASIO, DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, ASTRO TAN
(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) Two of the Portland bands on tonight's bill have new singles to offer ("single" is old record-label parlance for "a song"). Gold Casio's new one, "Last Song," is indeed that, the final cut on their upcoming Fever Dreams EP. It's a disco-ball-meets-wrecking-ball anthem with blown-out snare hits, unceasing synth arpeggios, and a mixture of dance and rock tropes. Astro Tan's new one is called "Whiskey + Water," and it's decidedly more melancholy, mixing slow but forceful drums with watery synths and R&B grind. NL

MONDAY 11/16

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS, SEOUL
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

LA DISPUTE, WILDHONEY, ENVY
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Grand Rapids, Michigan's La Dispute embodied many of late-'00s post-hardcore's most attractive aspects. They were unabashedly emotional, enjoyed a certain poetic flair, and dressed better than (or at least, not as stupidly as) their influences. The band hasn't broken out like Title Fight, Touche Amore, Fucked Up, or other recent punk-crossover acts, but that might be because La Dispute choose to keep pushing further into genre, creating music that's immensely satisfying for a smaller following. They're joined by Japanese post-hardcore titans Envy, who laid the groundwork for La Dispute's emotional, aggressive sound, and Wildhoney, a Baltimore shoegaze act who's heavy My Bloody Valentine-indebted sound is poised to churn out a classic. MP

TUESDAY 11/17

MODERN BASEBALL, PUP, JEFF ROSENSTOCK, TINY MOVING PARTS
(Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) Philadelphia nu-emo group Modern Baseball sounds collegiate in the best and worst of ways. At best, they are engaging, as in Brendan Lukens' thoughtful yarns about the years of life where you are wise enough to know you're fucking up but too stupid to know how to stop. At worst, they are repulsive, as when his narrator mistakes awareness for sensitivity, self-obsession for reflection. This infuriating split comes from a cognizance that drives both their memoir-esque storytelling and their painful narcissism. Yet perhaps that's why Modern Baseball's music is so alluring. Selfishness masquerading as introspection fuels the engines of many modern-day emo acts, but that's not necessarily a slag at the genre. Like a surgeon dissecting his own corpse, watching an act both describe and embody their own faults can be fascinating. MP Also see My, What a Busy Week!

MGLA, WEREGOAT, SEMPITERNAL DUSK, DEATHSTENCH, DAEMONIIS AD NOCTUM
(Panic Room, 3100 NE Sandy) The Panic Room will be aptly named tonight as the Polish black metal band MGLA brings its earth-moving roar to the Sandy Boulevard bar formerly known as the Tonic Lounge. MGLA's newest album, Exercises in Futility, is an absolute monster, mixing raw guitar riffs and jaw-dropping drums with dramatic, melodic post-rock for a sound that's both brutal and relatively accessible. Frontman Mikolaj Zentara layers the guttural icing on this cake, growling his way through bleak lyrics about this hell we call Earth, as the music swirls and soars behind him. MGLA makes music for people who like their metal charred and angry; this is not Deafheaven's chiming, charming take on black metal. Anyway, Exercises in Futility is on Bandcamp and YouTube, and you should give it a listen. And go see the band tonight. Portland is a loooong way from Poland. BS