This weekend is the 6th annual, all-ages and always-free PDX Pop Now! Festival. As noted previously on Pet Marmoset, the event will feature a variety of different bands that should satisfy fans of almost any musical genre. However, with so many bands playing in such little time, it is nearly impossible to catch all of the music. So to help you sift through all the great music, here is a small list of bands playing PDX Pop Now! that shouldn’t be missed:
Friday July 24th:
The Minus Five (12:15-12:45 am, Inside Stage) If you haven’t figured it out already, we’re big fans of The Minus Five at Pet Marmoset. Here is a chance to seem them play some tunes off their new record, Killingsworth. Don’t be surprised if a few special guest arrive too. This band has been seen on stage with members of Wilco, R.E.M., The Decemberists and many others.
Saturday July 25th:
Magic Johnson (2:05-2:35 pm, Outside Stage) – Hailing from Portland, this duo sounds very similar to the fun, lo-fi punk coming out of Los Angeles recently (Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda). And that is a good thing…a very good thing. Magic Johnson takes away all the toughness of punk while maintaining all the riotous exuberance that made music like this so awesome in the first place. Oh and did I mention they sing in Spanish half the time too! Radical.
Inside Voices (6:55-7:25 pm, Outside Stage)- With that distinct Northwest sound, Inside Voices can easily be categorized as another bearded pysch-folk band rehashing the likes of Gary Higgins or Skip Spence. However, to write them off would be a mistake, because upon a closer listen Inside Voices plays some of the most intricate and moody country-tinged music in Portland. The skeleton structure of each song carefully utilizes the basic necessities to create a highly-romantic, often eerie atmosphere that will have you swaying solitary under a harvest moon.
Red Fang (7:35-8:05pm, Outside Stage)- One of the best parts about Red Fang’s brand of Black Flag meets Sabbath rock is in the no frills way in which they do it. Don’t expect anything but the brutal, urgent intensity of their music when these guys are on stage. The songs speak for themselves and that is more than enough to satisfy.
Sunday July 26th
Grouper (8:20-8:50pm, Inside Stage) – The pseudonym for the musical project of Liz Harris is awash with reverbing waves of white noise cascading through minor chords as her delicate voice that floats above the brittle composition of each song, barely holding them together. As displayed on her 2008 release Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill , Grouper is a dark, quixotic affair that quickly draws you into its heavy, spacious labyrinth.
The Shaky Hands (10:25- 10:55pm, Outside Stage) – Are The Shaky Hands the hardest working band in Portland? It seems that this freak-folk rock four piece is always on tour or in the recording studio. While that might not be so great for their girlfriends, it certainly is great for those that are still rocking their 2008 Kill Rock Stars debut Lunglight. Two years ago, Shaky Hands owned PDX Pop Now! with a rowdy, late-night outdoor set. Such shows have become a routine occurrence for these guys so expect nothing short of spectacular this time around as well.
Team Marmoset | Saxon Baird
