Big Ass Boombox: Animal Eyes, Your Rival, Lee Corey Oswald, Kithkin, Swingset Showdown, Our First Brains

[ECLECTIC ENERGY] Between Kithkin’s drum circle-like percussion, Swingset Showdown’s theatrical comedy and Your Rival’s boisterous power pop, tonight’s installment of the two-day Big Ass Boombox Festival should be a loud and lively display of Northwest young guns. Rounding out the evening will be Animal Eyes, an Alaska-born group that gained Portland’s attention last year with a slew of local shows and its debut album, Found in the Forest. The quintet’s fusion of lush electric guitar, worldly beats and punchy accordion yields an eclectic collection of songs striving to find a distinctive and cohesive sound. From the light verses of “Ponds” to the raucous chorus in “Mezmin,” Animal Eyes exercises a wide vocal capacity and a range of musical ideas in its recordings that translate quite favorably in a live setting.

Where: Backspace
Phone: 248-2900
Address: 115 NW 5th Ave.
Website: backspace.bz