TEN YEARS ON: The Jerks of Grass finally
have a disc! |
Here’s a question: Is our local music scene actually better because so little national and international talent comes here? Traveling around the country (I’m writing this in Columbus, Ohio), it’s clear to me that few other cities (Nashville, Austin, the other Portland, maybe still Seattle) have better local scenes than ours, judging by press coverage and local-music sections in places like Borders, but that virtually every city gets better national acts than we do.
Just this week, Columbus scored Iron & Wine and the Raconteurs (who did come here to open for Dylan during that experiment with national booking at the Portland Sports Complex, but still...).
Isn’t it likely that music fans have thrown their entertainment dollars toward local acts here because there’s simply nothing else to go see on a Friday night in Portland (with apologies to SPACE, the Station, and One Longfellow — who have been attracting some indie and mid-major touring talent)? Is it possible those of us who really enjoy local music should be thankful there’s no State Theatre, or a sweet outdoor amphitheater like every other decent city has, bringing in bands like Wilco to distract people from our homegrown talent?
Maybe that’s stupid. Maybe it’s obvious that local bands would love more opportunity to open for national acts and that Portland’s reputation around the country would be superior if touring bands were having good experiences here.
Still, the fact remains that much of the music to get excited about this summer comes from local talent. Even with a place like SPACE, it’s the all-ages rock show with COVERED IN BEES, CONFUSATRON, and MAN-WITCH on June 29 that’s drawn my attention. All ages at SPACE? It’s about time.
Speaking of facts, I’d like to see someone argue that July 19 through 26 isn’t the most significant week of local music in this city’s history. You’ll have to read on for the details, though, as here’s a rundown of what to watch for this summer:
JUNE 25 Milled Pavement seems to have really found its groove as a label. Last year, the much-discussed Project Dark album, a collaboration between Moshe and KGB, dropped to much acclaim. Tonight, MP releases another long-term collaboration: the TULES’ A Hunter’s Workshop pairing Moshe and Nomar Slevik. Like Project Dark, you’re not going to find a lot of happy thoughts here, as Moshe’s trademark low-end synths get even more industrial and chaotic behind Slevik’s grunting and grinding vocals, turning out phrases like “all my day, working a job that I really hate ... wishing that I could pass away,” from “Waiting to Fight,” which sports a nice keyboard line in the intro.
The album actually opens with what sounds like a sample (but I can’t find the reference material) claiming that, “the Christ that we have come to know was invented by men for their own purposes” ... “god is dead/There is no supreme being/We are alone.” I’m on board. Anybody else?
Get with the program at the White Heart for the release and listening party.
Across the street at SPACE is another long-awaited event: the release of Pinkwood Two, the third album from SEEKONK, as part of an art opening from Pat Corrigan, Seekonk guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. They’re printing up a limited run of 100 12-inch LPs, which will have screen-printed cover jackets and “some mystery in the artwork that some may enjoy.” No word yet on a proper release show, but the band say they’re working on a digital release and that may happen in July.
JULY 2 Speaking of Pat Corrigan, he and Seekonk’s/Rustic Overtones’ Dave Noyes have a new band called the PLAINS, who’ll debut tonight at SPACE. They’re joined by members of South China and others and play tunes that aren’t unlike Seekonk, slo-core with whispered vocals and melodic, though maybe more guitar oriented.
JULY 19 Here’s where the big guns start coming out. Tonight at SPACE this city will finally get a taste of Take to the Trees, the new album from PHANTOM BUFFALO, the sometime best band in Portland. It will be available on CD or LP (12-inch transparent red vinyl — thanks to Time-Lag Records) and you can bet the band will play a ripping set behind Metal Feathers and Honey Clouds.
The disc has nine tracks, a couple of which you’ve heard before. “Be the Boss” was on 2005’s Greetings from Area Code 207, Vol. 6, and “Dynamite Squirrels,” a truly great song if I’ve ever heard one, was on the Killing’s Not Okay EP, the band’s last proper release. Frontman Jon Balzano-Brookes still has that luminescent voice and Tim Burns and Phil Willey still know how to fill a song with thrillingly melodic bits and pieces. I’d tell you more, but a full review will follow.
