THURSDAY 3/11

MIKE WATT AND THE MISSINGMEN, LITE, MEERCAZ

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See My, What a Busy Week!

PILL WONDER, RAINBOW BRIDGE, AND AND AND

(Ella Street Social Club, 714 SW 20th Pl) It's obvious right from the opening track, "The Great Tide," that Portland band And And And have created something fantastic with their debut album We'll Be Better off with the Plants. And the rest of the album doesn't disappoint—junky pop gems are delivered passionately and directly, unadorned in their simplicity, and unavoidable in their exuberance. With vocals that alternate between creak and shriek, the duo of Nathan Baumgartner and the cryptically named "Run4yoLyfe" (please rethink that stage name, Mr. Lyfe) thrash through a supremely melodic, Kinks-y, Pavement-y repertoire. These lo-fi sounds were a result of the two friends dicking around on a four-track in the bedroom, but the band has swelled to six members and now has every potential to take the Portland music scene by storm. No joke: This album is fucking awesome. With any luck, And And And will be making terrific music for years to come. See 'em now. NED LANNAMANN

THE CLIENTELE, THE WOODEN BIRDS

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The reviews of early Clientele records uniformly talk about reverb and space and atmosphere; the reviews of their later albums all attempt to come to grips with the loss of those traits while still singing the band's praises. To this latecomer to the band, with no wistful nostalgia in tow, their most recent album, Bonfires on the Heath, sounds like fine, spacious indie pop, with lots of piano, some distant echoing slide guitar and muted string arrangements, and always lead singer Alasdair MacLean's sighing, reclining voice. It's mostly mellow stuff, but Bonfires also offers the slight funk twitch of "Share the Night." Throughout, seasons and times of day and their attendant shades of light color the album (apparently another classic Clientele touch). I'm sure I'm missing out on their most mind-blowing album, but Bonfires on the Heath seems as good a place as any to pick them up. ERIC GRANDY

ROLLERBALL, FANCIE, HEATWARMER, WHAT WE DO BE

(The Artistery, 4315 SE Division) Indescribable and unstoppable are words well suited for Portland's Rollerball. To some, the group that has weathered 15-plus years (and just about as many albums) should be part of our town's rock music canon alongside the likes of the Wipers and Smegma. The fact that Rollerball are lesser known and definitely underappreciated doesn't seem to faze the group, who relentlessly continue their explorations of sound. They are, after all, extremely famous in other parts of the world, including Italy, which serves as their base of sorts. Funny and strange that in their hometown, they can still play low key, intimate shows like the ones they played in the early '90s at the X-Ray Cafe. MARANDA BISH

BLUE HORNS , WORLD'S GREATEST GHOSTS, TYPHOON, DJ HANUKKAH MIRACLE

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Good golly, I hope you are as excited as I am about the upcoming release of Typhoon's album Hunger and Thirst. The seven-to-17-member-strong group (depending on the day and the gig) is fronted by the plaintively soulful-voiced Kyle Morton, and, in its way, Typhoon is the Broken Social Scene of Portland—except kind of better. Typhoon's been building up to this work since the band's inception, and even though it's been a lengthy wait, at no time does the album disappoint. Maybe you feel like you've been reading a lot of about Typhoon lately; I guarantee that once Hunger and Thirst sees its official release in May on the Tender Loving Empire label, you'll be reading a lot more. They're following last weekend's triumphant show at Burgerville with this triple bill, which pairs them with two of Portland's best likeminded indie outfits. Blue Horns are currently working on their eagerly awaited sophomore effort at Old Standard Sound with Justin Higgins, while World's Greatest Ghosts are riding high on their debut full-length, No Magic, and kicking off a month-long tour that'll take 'em down to Austin for SXSW and back. NL

FRIDAY 3/12

RED FANG, THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT, SALVADOR

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See My, My, What a Busy Week!

DJ SUKETU, DJ PRASHANT

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!

CABINESSENCE, GRAND HALLWAY, MIGHTY TIGER

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) With a band name that harkens back to sandbox/insanity/genius era Brian Wilson, it should not come as a surprise that local popsters Cabinessence deal in massive pop hooks and warm harmonies. While their just-released Naked Friends can't lick the Frosting on the Beater of other legendary Pacific NW classics, Cabinessence expands upon the Byrds and Posies template of perfected harmonies with a nice tinge of vintage country and steel guitar thrown in the mix as well. Life-changing, hardly, but it's the sort of recording that fits nicely alongside your copies of Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Bandwagonesque. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

FIST FITE, TOUCH ME SATAN, SEI HEXE

(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) Sei Hexe is made up of three metal witches whose combined musical résumé reads like a who's-who in the local underground. In spite of all their other projects, this coven manages to cook up strange, experimental metal spells that they claim are heavily inspired by their kitty cats (or familiars, if you want to get technical). Their sound evokes visions of everything from Bikini Kill to Napalm Death, Melt Banana to Rammstein. The latter comparison is due to bassist/singer Katherine Krajnak, who spits her shrill, pretty, and gravelly vocals in both German and English. Anyone who tries to tell these ladies that girls can't shred better prepare to be turned into a toad. ARIS WALES

LAURA VEIRS, THE OLD BELIEVERS, CATALDO

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) While I'm no doctor of pregnantology (not a real thing), I'm pretty sure Laura Veirs will be just about ready to burst by the time she takes the Mississippi Studios stage. Not one to take it easy, Veirs and her future offspring wrap up an extensive three-month global touring regiment with tomorrow's show in Seattle. The purpose of such aggressive touring is for Veirs to share the good word on her finest work to date, the ambitious and self-released July Flame. While Veirs will actually take a break—onstage births are just so awkward—to become a mother, her guitar won't collect much dust; she already has a festival date booked in England this August. EAC

METH TEETH, NUCULAR AMINALS, GUN OUTFIT

(Ducketts Public House, 825 N Killingsworth) It's no secret that North Portland is home to many of our city's burgeoning music talents, and some diligent booking has seen the nondescript pub Ducketts bring many of them out of their respective houses and onto the bar's ramshackle stage. "Beautiful All Morning," the latest posted track from Meth Teeth (fronted by new Mercury intern Mattey Hunter), eclipses the "bummed out" tag often associated with their music—it's a lilting guitar instrumental, deliberate and expressive. Another acoustic demo, "Control," adds vocals with a melancholic echo to the reckless, fuzzy rock with which they've made their name. Nucular Aminals share a similarly palpable sound, distorting simple chords and lyrics with overflowing reverb and a sweet sort of grunge. MB

PROFESSOR GALL, HEROES AND VILLAINS, JUAN PROPHET ORGANIZATION

(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) Remember the breathy evangelist/pitchman that kicks off The The's Dusk? Professor Gall begins The Psychology of Booze and Guilt in a similar manner. A spoken-word intro ("Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity") is followed by a studio audience's eager applause, and eventually the bellowing howl of frontman Drew Norman. With blaring horns and a sideshow barker's twisted way with words, there is a sinister carnival feel to Booze and Guilt (somewhere between Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and Bikini Kill's ode to carnies and Mötley Crüe mirrors, "Carnival"), which stretches the length of the album and concludes with the back-cover artwork of a boozy clown atop a donkey. If a haunted midway is your thing, Professor Gall just made your day. If not, stay the hell out of the big top. EAC

SATURDAY 3/13

EFTERKLANG, HELIOS, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See Music.

HOT VICTORY WITH THE LAST REGIMENT OF SYNCOPATED DRUMMERS, PALO VERDE, HOWIE AND THE HOTKNIVES

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) Two drummers wasn't enough for Hot Victory, who typically boast a pair of full drum kits whip-cracking alongside Erik Hanson's deck of samples and noise. For tonight's show, the trio has enlisted the aid of the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers, a marching drum corps more than two-dozen strong. Together, Hot Victory's abstract, heavily rhythmic sound will be beefed up beyond belief to create a thunder of percussion that probably will lead to sensory overload. I can't think of anything that could compare to this event, except maybe Boredoms' 77 and 88 Boadrum concerts in 2007 and 2008—but those took place outdoors in city parks. This'll take place inside a not-especially-large bar. It's going to blast you away. NL

KMRIA, STATE AND STANDARD

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) In lieu of downing roofie-soaked green beer with some frat boyos at your local faux-Irish bar, do the Republic right by taking in a rare appearance from KMRIA. A Pogues cover act that brings you the rum, sodomy, and (especially) the lash, this all-star group takes their name (Kiss My Royal Irish Arse) from a James Joyce quote and is composed of members of the Decemberists, Dr. Theopolis, the Minus 5, and more. KMRIA shows come but twice a year—St. Patrick's Day and Christmastime (like a "Fairytale of New York")—so take advantage of a cover act that is currently better than the band they are paying tribute to. (Sorry, but the current version of the Pogues is just sad.) EAC

ANDRE NICKATINA, SMOOV-E, COOL NUTZ, MANIAC LOK, DOUBLE O

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) There's something excitingly retro about Andre Nickatina's thug posturing. It's not that Nickatina's out of touch, it's just that, instead of following Lil Wayne and Kanye West on their vocoder-powered spaceship, Nicky is using his deadpan flow to exalt ho's, guns, and drugs like it's not 1994 yet. For Christ's sake, his original album cover for Booty Star: Glock Tawk has a stripper grinding on silver rims. All the silliness could be a strike against him, but Nickatina's sing-along rhymes and solid beats make it thrilling to hear 10 songs in a row about pushing yayo. DAVE BOW

BREATHE OWL BREATHE, SEAN FLINN AND THE ROYAL WE,

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) Adorable as fuck. That is about all you really need to know about the cutesy roots-folk trio Breathe Owl Breathe. Stitching together childlike simplicity within barebones folk structure, this Michigan act combines the best of childhood (a giddy sense of wonder, wearing capes onstage) without any of the downsides of youth (bedtimes, inability to consume candy at every meal). Their endearingly sweet love songs are as memorable as that construction-paper Valentine you received in second grade, proving that when it comes songwriting, sincerity always trumps maturity. EAC

SUNDAY 3/14

WHITE HINTERLAND, ALEXIS GIDEON, COLE MILLER, GORDON SHUMWAY, DJ BABA BOOIE

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See Music.

THE BIG PINK, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, IO ECHO

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) A Place to Bury Strangers provides that Jesus and Mary Chain/My Bloody Valentine fix which many melodic-noise junkies crave. The Brooklyn band's surging waves of FX'd-to-hell guitars played at ego-obliterating volume deliver an intense rush, while the slyly buried, alluring hooks in their sonic tornadoes give listeners something to grab onto. London duo the Big Pink—who sound nothing like the Band LP after which they're named—have their moments of shoegaze glory, too, but they tend to pour too much sugar into the elixir. Their 2009 album on 4AD, A Brief History of Love, often bathes in late-Verve/Richard Ashcroft-ian melodrama, but the Big Pink do have a winning way with an earworm-y chorus, as the orchestral, big-beat bombast of "Dominos" proves. DAVE SEGAL

GET HUSTLE, PAST LIVES

(East End, 203 SE Grand) Get Hustle was one of the first bands I saw when I moved to Portland. It was a weeknight at a criminally under-advertised show, and they brought it so hard: booming organs, free-form jazz influence, spoken word lyrics, and hints of burlesque all rolled into an energetic post-punk package. Based on the strength of that first performance alone, I was convinced that there must be a vast underground of bands in Portland operating on this wavelength that I was yet to discover. Not true. Get Hustle was in a category entirely their own. After the release of 2005's Rollin' in the Ruins I seemed to hear less and less from Get Hustle, eventually hearing rumors that the members were increasingly interested in other projects. But tonight they come together once again for a performance that surely won't disappoint. MATTEY HUNTER

MONDAY 3/15

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) See My, What a Busy Week!

JAKE SHIMABUKURO

(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) See My, What a Busy Week!

GOMEZ, BUDDY

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) In their native UK, Gomez are Mercury Prize-winning crowd-pleasers, but despite a decade of trying—including a high-profile signing to Dave Matthews' record label and splashy opening gigs for Pearl Jam—the band's quest for mainstream US stardom remains elusive. Tonight, Gomez bring their reliably melodic indie-rock to the Wonder, along with LA-based openers Buddy, another band that traffics in the kind of songs that sound right at home scoring emotional moments of Grey's Anatomy. DAVID SCHMADER

TUESDAY 3/16

BALKAN BEAT BOX, MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND, DJ GLOBALRUCKUS

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Balkan Beat Box put a welcoming, celebratory spin on the sort of global-electronica stylistic promiscuity championed by DJ /rupture and ex-Seattleite Maga Bo. As evidenced by their new album, Blue Eyed Black Boy, BBB want you to party to foreign sounds, but they don't want you to get too lost in the unfamiliar. Consequently, they're cheerful ambassadors for uplifting rhythmic musics from the Middle East and, duh, the Balkans (Belgrade gypsy ensemble Jovica Ajdarevic Orkestar contributed to the new full-length) while also giving hiphop and dub fans something to blaze to. Horns flare triumphantly, beats shuffle and undulate hyperkinetically, bass booms sensually, and voices ably rouse spirits—BBB throw a party that the United Nations could endorse. DAVE SEGAL

WEDNESDAY 3/17

IMELDA MAY, THIN LIZZY DEDICATION, & MORE

(Kells, 112 SW 2nd) See My, What a Busy Week!

BASSEKOU KOUYATE, NGONI BA

(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See Music.

THE SPIDER BABIES, LUST KILLERS, THE LORDY LORDS, THE BLOODIES

(East End, 203 SE Grand) After a five-month hiatus and the return of their original drummer (Ultimate Phil), the Bloodies are back to give the Irish a run for their corned beef. Despite their recent absence and lineup restructuring, you should still anticipate the wall of raw punk rock and roll that the Bloodies assemble so well. Paying homage to the Dead Boys and the Ramones, they take simple three-chord tricks and soak them in their own sweat and sex appeal. Atop their riffs, dual vocalists Mike Hell and Swain growl lyrics about partying, switchblades, denim, and train tracks. It may sound like an all-too-familiar formula, but that is exactly where their beauty lies. The Bloodies have nothing to prove; they just want to rock, and if your feet don't stomp or your hips don't sway, then you're obviously not listening. AW

DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, OCEAN AGE, HOOLIGANSHIP

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) DoublePlusGood's new remix EP, the limited-edition Heart Drive Crash Vol1, is a taste of things to come. They've remixed four of the new songs from their upcoming album (plus a remix of an Eskimo and Sons track) and the results show the melodic sensibilities of the electropop duo. Their beats sparkle and glisten, coyly flirting with glitch and hiphop, as sounds flicker in and out of a synth-constructed backdrop. Every track is good, but the highlight is the remix of Eskimo and Sons' "2012," a whirling, gorgeous track that takes the morose ballad and injects it with a clumping, whooshing beat. It's a ghostly split between ecstasy and sorrow, and shows that while DoublePlusGood are more than capable of creating their own jams, they're even better at reconstructing those of others. Meanwhile, Ocean Age are riding high on an EP of their own, the excellent debut Forest, which proves they're more than capable of carving their own unique niche in the face of Portland music. NL