LORD DYING, SONS OF HUNS, GRAVES AT SEA (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Local sludge-metal stalwarts Lord Dying have a new album coming out, and while they weren't exactly slouching on their debut, Summon the Faithless, sophomore effort Poisoned Altars ups the ante in pretty much every respect. The Lord didn't really mess with what already worked, though—the riffs lean hard on groove, accented with serpentine movements and thrashy flourishes. The songwriting is leaner and meaner, and the leads shred a little harder. Newly signed labelmates Graves at Sea open the album release show, and their own Relapse-released full-length is due later this year—it's the doom metal crew's first official full-length, 13 years after the band got its start. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN
COMA SERFS, STILL CAVES, JACKSON BOONE (Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Portland garage outfit Coma Serfs have been serving up bite-sized taster EPs since late 2013, giving just the right taste of their raucous, jangly pop songs. The rock 'n' rollers' latest, Ready or Not America, Here Come the Coma Serfs, captures the rollicking spirit of bands like the Sonics and the Seeds. This time the hooks on songs like "Daisy Chain" and "Set Me Straight" are buffed up with fuller production, while "The Whip" and "Trippy Canoe" go down druggier avenues. This should make the Coma Serfs' release show one hell of a spiked-punch sock hop. MARK LORE
OLD JUNIOR, SLEEPTALKER, THE CUT 45 (Club 21, 2035 NE Glisan) How many moons have passed, Old Junior? How many suns have risen and set, how many tides have ebbed and flowed, how many newborn babes have cried their first tears since we last heard your glorious thunder? It's been close to a year and a half since OJ—the offshoot band of the equally spectacular Old Growth, also conspicuously absent—have played a hometown show, as far as I can tell. And how I've missed their warm, dark, steady, loud, bearish rock—like Neil Young and Crazy Horse without the cocaine or tour buses, like Hüsker Dü after a year living in a mossy cave in the wild, like canyon spirits who learned how to take corporeal form just so they'd be able to press their fingers down on the frets of some sweet-sounding guitars. Old Junior is reuniting for a special gig that's also the EP release for the Cut 45, whose self-titled record is coming out on 10-inch vinyl via Sex Sheet Records. It's a jagged, nervy record with fire-spangled electric guitars and plenty of real power. With the equally great Sleeptalker on the bill, your Saturday night just got filled up with some truly great, local rock 'n' roll. NED LANNAMANN
SDM WINTER COPULATION: ALTO!, SUNFALLS, SISTER MAMIE FORESKIN, NOT BITTER, BLOOM OFFERING, & MORE (High Water Mark, 6800 NE MLK) The folks behind Sonic Debris Multimedia/SadoDaMascus Records aren't skimping when it comes to the release of a new edition of their quarterly compilation series. Tonight's show will be a small epic in action, with 14 bands on the bill, two stages, and a few hours of nonstop noise and incident. The focus of the new comp and accompanying show seems to be a move toward more beat-heavy action by the label, with the two drums/one guitar rumblings of Alto!, the dark industrial pulse of Bloom Offering, and SunFalls' contaminated electronic plops and squiggles. ROBERT HAM
TOO MANY ZOOZ, TOPE (Peter's Room at the Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Too Many Zooz are a self-described "brass house" trio based out of New York City. Their subway busking was captured on video last year and subsequently went viral. While most who leverage YouTube hits into music deals are innocuous pop artists, Too Many Zooz are the exception, with a high musical IQ amplified by kinetic live performances. Saxophonist Leo P. and trumpet player Matt Doe met at the Manhattan School of Music, and rounded out the group with expert percussionist David Parks, a Portland native. Tonight finds them swinging through town on their first major West Coast tour hosted by DJ Fatboy, whom you may know from his work with Cool Nutz, Illmaculate, and E-40. Opener Tope gets the party started, giving all-ages fans a chance to catch his new material live. RYAN FEIGH
MURDER BY DEATH, ROCKY VOTOLATO (Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Since the rise of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, we've witnessed no shortage of backlash and whacked-out ideas that have challenged the integrity of the service. It's important to remember that Kickstarter's main focus is helping creative ideas become fully realized projects, and Bloomington, Indiana, quintet Murder by Death have hit a stride in utilizing the platform's powers for good. After successfully funding their last album, the Johnny Cash-indebted, sprawling orchestral production of Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, the band went on to crowdfund a follow-up in their soon-to-be released seventh album, Big Dark Love. More than a simple pre-order system, the band offered up an exhausting list of rewards, including the incentive to have them record a cover of any song requested. The fruit of the project speaks for itself. The products all ooze with quality, and the band's enthusiasm and commitment shine brightly through every step of the process. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
BOWIEVISION, THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL BAND (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Tribute bands should always be taken with some very forgiving grains of salt (a few whiskeys and leaving your glasses at home might do the trick). But when the act that's being paid homage to is David Bowie, it gets infinitely trickier. To which Bowie do Seattle's BowieVision pay tribute? The glam spaceman of Ziggy Stardust? The lost, lonely Pierrot of "Ashes to Ashes"? The coke-numbed fascist of the Thin White Duke? The slick arena showman of Let's Dance? BowieVision seems to be embracing all these and more, and while the musical purity of Bowie's discrete eras and personas might be diluted, you can't really argue with a setlist that could potentially contain "The Jean Genie," "Fashion," "All the Madmen," "Heroes," and "The Bewlay Brothers." NED LANNAMANN
Senior Editor Ned Lannamann writes about pop culture, music, film, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, politics, Portland, and other things.
