Top Five Local Albums to Get Excited About in Early 2013

By MATTHEW SINGER

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, II (2/5, Jagjaguwar)

The mystery is gone, but Ruban Nielson's once-enigmatic post-Mint Chicks project is still one of Portland's singular bands. Based on the new album's sequel-y title (and hazy lead single), expect another batch of what the debut offered: funky psych-pop future-breakbeats that sound like the product of a group that ate a bunch of acid, turned on the four-track and tried to copy a Meters record.

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Untamed Beast (2/19, Partisan)
In the two years since being crowned Willamette Week’s Best New Band, the brassy, bluesy quartet put out a swinging-hot debut, played Letterman and blew up in France, and—if the barroom-brawlin’ promo video for its second effort is any indication—got even tougher in the process.

 

STRFKR, Miracle Mile (2/19, Polyvinyl)
Having settled on a name (and a marquee-friendly abbreviation) after 2011’s Reptilians, Josh Hodges et al. get back to their particular brand of business: making DayGlo electro-pop for kids who wish Passion Pit wasn’t so emo and MGMT would take more uppers. 

Eat Skull, III (2/19, Woodsist)
It seemed like the noise-punk day-trippers disappeared into the ether sometime after 2009’s Wild and Inside. Turns out, the ether is where the group recorded its new album. Once far beyond overdriven, the band’s recent teaser 7-inch suggests a shift into more placid realms of lo-fi mind-fuckery.

Sapient, Slump (2/19, Camobear)
Is Marcus Williams a rapper with indie-rock aspirations or an indie rocker with a hip-hop jones? Maybe he’s something else altogether. As a producer and MC, Sape’s always pushed boundaries. Now, he’s preparing to eliminate them entirely.

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