THURSDAY 12/23

THE HONUS HUFFHINES, LUCKY BELTRAN, METROPOLITAN FARMS

(Plan B, 1305 SE 8th) The Honus Huffhines' Bandcamp page (where you can stream the entirety of their latest album, A Brief History of...) labels the band's music as "twee crunk baseball rock." The Portland band isn't really twee, and it certainly isn't crunk, but if "baseball rock" is a legitimate musical genre—and why shouldn't it be?—then the Honus Huffhines could very well be its finest practitioners. Despite a passing resemblance to Elvis Costello at his most adenoidal, the Huffhines have a distinctly American sound, boasting laidback and goofy rock songs that make you feel like you're spending a sunny weekend drinking affordable yellow beer. With the sun nowhere to be found these days, we'll take any happy reminder of baseball season that we can get. NED LANNAMANN

FRIDAY 12/24

TWO SANTAS, ONE CLUB: LIONSDEN, REMY THE RESTLESS

(Beauty Bar, 111 SW Ash) See My, What a Busy Week!

SATURDAY 12/25

BLOW PONY: AIRICK, KINETIC, YER MOMM, TRANS FAT, ILL CAMINO, JODI BON JODI

(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) See My, What a Busy Week!

SUNDAY 12/26

BABY KETTEN KARAOKE

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE

(Tony Starlight's, 3728 NE Sandy) See My, What a Busy Week!

GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH, BOOM!

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) There is more to the prolific Guantanamo Baywatch than tastefully crafted, reverb-soaked, vintage surf rock. Granted, their throwback style could most definitely make Frankie and Annette cut a rug, but the local trio isn't merely mining the idyllic days of yore for material. Their raw sound is equal parts garage punk and the Cramps, and as they combine these styles it creates a sort of live-sound spectacular you won't soon forget. More importantly, Guantanamo Baywatch have been known to drop trou from time to time while onstage, and that's something you'd much rather see them do than Dick Dale. Trust me on this one. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

APES TAPES LABEL SHOWCASE: RADIATION CITY, WEAK STEAL, LYNNAE GRYFFIN

(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) What's better than a mixtape of your favorite songs? A mixtape of awesome songs you've never heard. The fine folks at Apes Tapes, a local record label/collective of bands who release albums solely on cassette, have tapped into this original magic of sharing new music, with the added benefit that the songs you'll be hearing come from a diverse selection of Portland bands. Mixed Ape 2, whose release is celebrated tonight, welcomes new acts to the established fray: Lynnae Gryffin, a warbling songstress in the weird folk style of Tiny Vipers, and Weak Steal, a one-man electro act whose synthy-songwriter concoctions evoke Hot Chip. Apes Tapes remind us that sometimes the best bands are the ones you don't know yet. MARANDA BISH

MONDAY 12/27

HOT FACE, LIGHT HOUSE

(Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) It seems like only yesterday that Hot Face played their first show—a generator-powered, nails-on-a-chalkboard eight minutes of happily anachronistic, experimental punk that further gunked up an unsuspecting patch of beach on Swan Island. The whole punk-as-fuck experience was refreshing for a number of reasons—seeing ASSS's Alex Smith and Sean Sumler pick up guitars for the first time since their disbanded weirdo-punk outfit Syrup, for one—but now, just six months and a handful of confrontational, blink-and-you-miss-it sets later, Hot Face is calling it a day. Though all four members will surely have other creative projects in the works before I finish typing this sentence, their short time together was a necessary, noisy jolt to any Portlander who imagines themselves as thinking outside the punk box. ETHAN JAYNE

TUESDAY 12/28

DEATH SONGS, HOOKERS, WILL STENBERG

(Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) Before closing out the year at Backspace with his band the Shaky Hands, Nick Delffs plays a set with his other band, Death Songs. Conceived as a side project with brother Nathan Delffs (a former Shaky Hand himself), Death Songs recorded a self-titled debut that was released on cassette in very limited quantities by U|H|U Tapes in 2009. Showing a slightly more tarnished aspect of Nick Delffs' songwriting but in no way as dark and dirge-y as the name suggests, Death Songs is every bit as good as a Shaky Hands record—meaning very damn good indeed—and would be well worth reissuing in a greater capacity someday. With a new Shaky Hands record on the horizon, that probably won't happen anytime soon, but tonight's a fine chance to check out some tunes you may have missed. NL

WEDNESDAY 12/29

BOOM!, WHITE FANG, DJ KEN DIRTNAP

(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) See My, What a Busy Week!

KASEY ANDERSON, LEWI LONGMIRE, STAR ANNA

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

REVA DEVITO, NEW YORK RIFLES, BARRY BRUSSEAU

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Portland doesn't have many vocalists like Reva DeVito. The local chanteuse immediately brings to mind soul singers like Nina Simone and Patti LaBelle. But further listening reveals something even more timeless—whether she's digging into hiphop, R&B, or folk, DeVito has effortlessly wrapped her vocal cords around more than three decades of music. Her debut EP, The Catnip Collective, is chockfull of neo-soul burners, tempered by a hippie free-spiritedness. There's no question that DeVito's got the tools—a terrific voice surrounded by crack musicians—but, more importantly, she appears to be more than willing to experiment with new sounds. Think Amy Winehouse minus the train wreck. MARK LORE

THE MARTYRS, SEXY WATER SPIDERS, THE HUGS, TIGER HOUSE

(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) Over their four-year history the Hugs have often been compared to the Dandy Warhols. It makes sense: Both were young Portland groups who effectively channeled (or shamelessly aped, choose your verb) popular bands of yesteryear, garnering them buzz everywhere but their hometown, where they were mostly met with sometimes hostile indifference. If the comparison continues to be apt in another three years, Danny Delegato and crew will have their "Bohemian Like You" moment and have the opportunity to give Stumptown the finger for good, and I wouldn't completely blame them. I suspect that part of what has always put fans off of the Hugs (and, in part, the Dandys) has been the way they sprung out the forehead of Cleveland High pre-formed, hooky and cuddly as hell. Portland has never felt ownership of this band, and they never seemed to need its support in the first place. DAVE BOW