Cuts of the Week

Every Friday, LocalCut collects the week's new Portland music and puts it all in one place for you, the faithful reader, to enjoy. It's like The Week In Rock, with less Tabitha Soren.

1. Summer Cannibals, "Something New"

Portland garage rockers Summer Cannibals are loud, distorted and sound like someone told Haim to fuck off and the Hives to ditch the suits and get sloppy.  A song perfectly situated for that moment when your ex just threw all your shit out of a second-story window, “Something New,” from the band’s forthcoming Larry Crane-produced sophomore album Show Us Your Mind, does well to prove that its name is a lie: Summer Cannibals songs eat people in the winter, too. PARKER HALL.

2. Load B, "Grey Poupon"

Trap-worshiping rap duo Load B couldn't fit more hi-hats into their new single "Grey Poupon" if they tried. The purposely distasteful twosome (joined here by rapper-producer Dust) resemble Tyler the Creator if he was trying to sound like Juicy J on a Yung Gud beat. Once you get past the mouthwatering sandwich recipe in the introduction, it's hard to get a full taste of what this track is about, but it's not the kind of song you should spend too much time thinking about and just enoy. The track comes off the just-released Escape From Snortlandia on which you can expect a variety of topics addressed with similar political incorrectness. LUCAS CHEMOTTI.

3. Robin Bacior, "Water Dreams"

The title track from singer-songwriter Robin Bacior's new album shows off her incredible vocal range with an ease that is refreshingly tasteful. Soulfully ripping through the atmospheric, violin-driven, Bacior voice resembles Regina Spektor in her lower vocal moments and sometimes even CocoRosie, if they dropped the strange instruments and lo-fi production for a more straightforward approach. That's not to say this is just an average, pretty pop song, though. "Water Dreams" is an example flawlessly executed art-folk. (LC)

4. Bombay Beach, "Wood Shampoo"

Bombay Beach, a new act featuring Modern Kin drummer Jeremiah Hayden, was conceived to soundtrack a film the band has been filming simultaneously while working on its debut record, which according to Hayden “follows characters through Joshua Tree, Slab City, Salton Sea as they run from the disintegrating American dream to find solace—or meaning—in the grittier elements of their world.”  â€œWood Shampoo,” the A-side of a seven-inch being released on Hayden’s Amigo/Amiga label, begins with 37 seconds of noise that sounds like it could be from that scene in a Michael Bay film just before everything blows up. The music that follows apparently plays over a fight scene in the corresponding movie, which is appropriate. It’s driving, punchy, distorted and swathed in an approachable darkness. (PH) 

5. Stevo the Weirdo featuring Myke Bogan, "Wake Up"

Rapper Stevo the Weirdo says he lives every day like it's a vacation, but so does everyone else in their 20s here in Portland, right? He's an emerging artist, but if the mellow beat and bong-babe style of the "Wake Up" video is any indication, he seems like a cool enough guy to get stoned and grub a Reggie with. The super chilled-out track also features a guest verse by one of our favorite local wordsmiths, Myke Bogan. (PH)

WWeek 2015