Music Stories Bacon on their doughnuts, basketball on their volcanoes, Smiths in their (Modest) Mice—make no mistake, Portlanders love weird combinations. Take Backspace, a 4-year-old all-purpose cafe where, ...   More

Music [NOISE] Portland noisemongers Yellow Swans' latest LP, At All Ends, isn't so much a departure from its recent freeform sounds—it's a departure from reality. The seemingly mind-melded duo of Gabriel Mindel Saloman (guitar, electronics) and Pete Swanson (electronics, vocals) has churned up an ocean of sou...   More

Music [DRUGGED-OUT METAL] “The last time I was in [Willamette Week] was because I got beat up by the police,” Neutria frontman Sunny D tells me, grinning beneath dark-rimmed glasses and a trucker cap (see “Return of the Naked Pole Katz,” WW, May 9, 2001). We're both at work and on the clock ...   More

Music Stories [DRUGGED-OUT METAL] “The last time I was in [Willamette Week ] was because I got beat up by the police,” Neutria frontman Sunny D tells me, grinning beneath dark-rimmed glasses and a truck ...   More

Special Section [HESHER METAL] The Fucking Champs isn’t so much a band as an art project. Here’s the guise: A few indie dudes who don’t listen to metal at all—in this case, drummer Tim Soete a ...   More