doesn’t make them obvious, and the overall tone is urgent and foreboding. His voice has rough edges, cosmetically speaking, and his songs are somewhat melodically limited, but he hits the notes head-on. Differentiating the tunes falls largely to cumpston, a chameleon of an axeman, lending different textures and tones as needed, from the coruscating, Byrdsian lines of “Highway Sign” to the Stonesy swagger of “Watch the World Go By,” with stops at Velvets and creedence along the way, and the penultimate “Heaven Stuck” lends the whole album a welcome catharsis. JEFF RoSEnBERG. Secret Society, 116 NE Russell St. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
lick and mandolin-flanked aside. While the album’s playful nature and lack of ornamentation may play to Shur’s innate strengths as a songwriter, he still offers plenty to mull over if you look past the plainspoken acoustics. BRAnDon WIDDER. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 8 pm. $5. 21+.
TUESDAY, JUNE 14 Secret Drum Band, Golden Donna, Double Plus Good
[PERcUSSIVE PoWWoW] Secret Drum Band is a collective composed of Portland’s most seasoned party-percussionists and improvisational experimental musicians. Led by Lisa Schonberg, formerly of Explode Into colors and founder of Tom Tom Magazine, the group will be performing a loosely scripted piece in advance of a West coast tour, and will bring out the works for this gala event, with video art and colorful costumes as part of the pageantry. Also on the bill is Golden Donna, which recently set Holocene ablaze with an all-hardware set of sequenced synthscapes and drum-machine marvels. WYAtt ScHAFFnER. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St. 8:30 pm. $10. 21+.
The Body, R.I.P., L.I.A.R.
[HEAVY non-MEtAL] the Body’s 2016 album, No One Deserves Happiness, is not a metal album, and the Body is not a metal band. It plays an extremely heavy mix of pop, post-punk, electronic, industrial and choral music, usually overlaid with chip King’s haunting shrieks, at times so high-pitched and distorted they sound like actual industrial machinery. No One will probably be the best heavy album released by a Portland band this year, but don’t call it heavy metal. WALKER MAcMURDo. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St. 8 pm. $10. 21+.
Tokyo Police Club, We Were Promised Jetpacks
CLASSICAL, JAZZ & WORLD The Bad Plus
[FUtURE JAZZ] A trio of forward-thinking jazz performers as quirky as they are genius, Bad Plus generated a sweltering jazz-
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PREVIEW coURtESY oF BILLIonS
[InDIE RocK] For its latest release, toronto’s tokyo Police club departed its hometown, relocating to the U.S. in search of perspective and change. After five years of shaking up routines, the dudes reconvened to record Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness, a pair of EPs whose first half saw release in April. It’s a solid effort that finds its sound simplified but expressive. Its bouncy, angular punk enjoys a synthy studio polish, veering into pop territory without coming off as anything so simply categorized as “pop punk.” opener We Were Promised Jetbacks evoke early Strokes if fronted by Arab Strap’s Aiden Moffat and harboring a deep, abiding love of the cure’s Disintegration. cRIS LAnKEnAU. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St. 9 pm. $20 advance, $24 day of show. 21+.
Battles, Chanti Darling, Máscaras
[EXPERIMEntAL AcES] Battles is an example of absurdity at its best. over the course of multiple EPs and three albums—including last year’s excellent La Di Da Di—the new York outfit has developed a style that sounds like the musical equivalent to HtML programming, crafted with electric guitars and an onslaught of loop pedals. the resulting music is complex and layered, with repetitive structures giving way to colorful rhythms that are at times as frantic as they are taut. Sometimes it’s hard to decipher the sound of a guitar from a keyboard or bass, yet therein lies the beauty: the ambiguity of the instruments is what often makes the band’s glitchy instrumentals so inventive, impressive and just plain mind-boggling to see in the flesh. BRAnDon WIDDER. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St. 8 pm. $12 advance, $3 with RSVP at redbullsoundselect.com; $12 day of show. All ages.
SUNDAY, JUNE 12 Mattress, NRVS LVRS, Reptaliens
[WEIRD StUFF] Mattress is weird. out here in Portland, that’s a serious compliment. For starters, there’s Rex Marshall’s voice, somehow sounding like a mix between an ’80s post-punk crooner and a doommetal overlord. then there’s the anxious synths and rhythms that manage to be sparse and minimal while also sounding chaotic and claustrophobic. Mattress’ new single, “Fuck the Future,” maintains all that good stuff while cleaning up the project’s sound by dialing down the lo-fi signatures and pushing Marshall’s voice to the front of the mix. It’s a promising sign for his new album, due this summer. SHAnnon GoRMLEY. Rontoms, 600 E Burnside St. 8 pm. Free. 21+.
MONDAY, JUNE 13 Future Historians, Bevelers, Lee and the Bees
[ELEMEntARY FoLK] Portland’s Future Historians make a special brand of bubblegum folk. there’s both sorrow and shimmering hope embedded in Dave Shur’s lyrical whimsy and direct mannerisms, which he often places beside a catchy medley of “doo-da-doos” and enough nostalgia to power an old-school Spielberg film. the group’s latest release, Portrait of Self, opts for pastoral folk over sci-fi textures, though, and in doing so, culminates in a collection of mellow rockers that shuffle and shake with every lingering guitar
Adia Victoria, Blossom [DARK COUNTRY] Consider Adia Victoria the Chelsea Wolfe of country music. Victoria’s brooding take boasts dark, gothic elements amid murky guitars and a sharp sense of lyrical storytelling. Her religious Southern upbringing provoked a desire to tell her story through a personal gospel, and her debut album, Beyond the Bloodhounds, serves as the window into a young woman’s journey through youthful discontentment and confusion toward self-actualization and satisfaction. Acting as an extensive swan song to her 20s, Beyond the Bloodhounds is a poetic diary entry serving up glum wit with an extra side of disheartened realization. Musically, Victoria creeps into a void that hasn’t immediately appeared empty, yet is refreshing to have filled. Her Southern twang should be graciously welcomed into our Northern atmosphere, offering a different perspective on the ails all of us have experienced, with a stage presence demanding pure, undivided attention. Having already earned glowing praise, it’s clear Victoria and her doleful novella aren’t going anywhere. CERVANTE POPE. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 503-328-2865. 9:30 pm Friday, June 10. $10. 21+. Willamette Week JUNE 8, 2016 wweek.com
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