Wednesday, July 31
Hovercraft Records Showcase: Hornet Leg, Charts, Cafeteria Dance Fever
[LABEL PARTY] Portland punk label Hovercraft shows off two of its latest acquisitions, groovy garage-dwellers Hornet Leg and garage-y beach-dwellers Charts, along with drunken prom band and longtime label associates Cafeteria Dance Fever, who are kicking off a national tour. Club 21, 2035 NE Glisan St., 235-5690. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
Détective, Eidolons
[GUIDED BY GUITARS] L.A.-based post-punks Détective (the accent is the byproduct of the Jean-Luc Godard film for which its named) play alluring guitar rock that hits several music-geek pleasure centers—the 4AD catalog, Flying Nun, etc.—belying its three members involvement in the likes of Guided By Voices, Roi and Useless Keys. In little over a year together, they've dropped two EPs and a full-length cassette, all blissfully lo-fi and nostalgically indie. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.
Eleven Mag x Holocene: aan, Sun Angle, Yours
[ZINE PARTY] The free Portland music mag brings a bill of gleeful, boundary-bursting experimentalists to the white-walled Southeast Portland institution. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $6 advance, $8 day of show. 21+.
Sassparilla
[DRRRTY BLUEGRASS] While this set may not be the shoulder-to-shoulder, sweat-gushing, foot-stomping, beer-can-crushing, "yo-ho!"-bellowing show characteristic of Sassparilla's appearances at the Laurelthirst, it will be nice to see the anarchist jug band out and about in the crisp light of day. Spend a nice afternoon jamming downtown, and definitely check out Sassparilla's catalog of eclectic instruments, including a washtub bass, cigar-box guitar, washboard and a dude with about 50 different harmonicas in his vest. AMANDA SCHURR. Music on Main Street, Southwest Main Street and Park Avenue. 7 pm. Free. All ages.
Friday, Aug. 2
Masked Intruder, Sundowner, Elway, Sam Russo, Absent Minds
[DUI-WOP] Who is Masked Intruder? Did their candied harmonies really coalesce during shared prison stints? Or, as some cynics have suggested, did the frontmen of faded pop-punk combos join forces on a side project lark that turned out rather more successful than anyone could have dreamt? Their eponymous debut for Fat Wreck Chords reveals a delirious enthusiasm for singalong choruses spiraling toward self-parody, as the members admit past passions led them to inevitably overstep that thin line between romantic obsession and stalking the objects of their affection. Trenchant humor building through successive paeans toward knife-wielding courtship, there's a genuine sentimentality cutting through the giddiness—one can't so easily pull a ski mask over the human heart. Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave., 248-2900. 8 pm. $10. All ages.
The Goddamn Gallows, Calamity Cubes
[GYPSY PUNK] Itâs tough to decipher whether the Goddamn Gallowsâ Mikey Classic is being honest or ironic when he spouts off the phrase âYâall motherfuckers need Jesusâ over a flurry of distorted guitar and plucking banjo on the bandâs latest album, Seven Devils. Itâs a telling line from the rootsy band of Motor City heathens with seemingly no qualms about cobbling together old-timey bluegrass, carnivalesque folk and lo-fi rockabilly. Accordion-seared cuts like â47 Crossesâ and the instrumental âInstant Major Felonyâ shine with grime, while the cover of Townes Van Zandtâs âWaiting Around to Dieâ sounds more sincere than the original ever could. If rock ânâ roll is the devilâs music, the Gallows are a whole other breed of mean. BRANDON WIDDER. Danteâs, 350 W Burnside St., 226-6630. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
The Mother Hips, Norman
[COASTING NO MORE] On multiple occasions, WW contributors have categorized the Mother Hips as "West Coasting," an amusing reference to the Bay Area outfit's jam-band draw and lengthy intervals between proper studio albums over the past two decades. But the arrival of long-rumored Behind Beyond, the troupe's eighth album, finds the band far from cruising. The Golden State aesthetics—the folky surf guitar, gleaming harmonies and grizzled-hippie narratives—still return after the four-year dry spell, but it's more akin to early '70s roots rock than the straight-countrified or psychedelic meanderings of previous efforts. And while frontman Tim Bluhm and the rest of the Hips occasionally have their off nights, it's simply nice to see the retrospective collections have ceased. BRANDON WIDDER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $16. 21+.
Lovers, Carlos Severe Marcelin, Tipol
[HEAVY-HEARTED SYNTH] If you haven't yet heard, Lovers, Carolyn Berk's ever-evolving, appropriately love-lashed dance-pop project, is releasing its first album in three years (second as a trio and seventh overall), A Friend in the World, in September. The band's got a record release show scheduled for Mississippi Studios on Sept. 21, but this week, they're playing across the street, in the more intimate (and delicious) environs of Mississippi Pizza. Mississippi Pizza, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3231. $5-$10 sliding scale. 21+.
Jane and the Juggernauts, the Lonely Teardrops, Dominic Castillo
[NORTHWESTERN SWING] Back around the late '90s, when "indie" referred to distribution patterns and folk appeared to be a dying niche, Portland was largely known as an alt-country town, with a host of nationally-feted bands playing each weekend to the gingham-clad acolytes. As the musicians aged and began other chapters of their lives, there didn't seem to be another wave of talented instrumentalists replacing the y'allternative champions, but even if the next generation of local twang enthusiasts opted to pursue genres less demanding, the past stalwarts haven't quite disappeared. Tonight marks the debut of two new projects, Jane & The Juggernauts and the Lonely Teardrops, steeped in the old traditions of, respectively, western swing and honky-tonk and staffed by a cavalcade of notables from the Flatirons, the Flapjacks, Everything's Jake, the Midnight Serenaders and a dozen more besides. JAY HORTON. The Secret Society Ballroom, 116 NE Russell St. 9 pm. $7. 21+.
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