VIET CONG, FREAK HEAT WAVES, AAN (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Before they wrote a note of music, expectations surrounded Viet Cong. Half of the Canadian four-piece comes from the much-loved Calgary ragged-pop crew Women. Viet Cong is a richly dynamic record, full of intriguing instrumental squalls and many moods, tempos, and ranges of post-punk experimentalism. The album's overarching element of darkness turns triumphant when Viet Cong allows in frequent slivers of light. RYAN J. PRADO Read the full article on Viet Cong.
THE SIDEKICKS, CAYETANA, YOUR RIVAL, THE DOOM GENERATION (Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) If you're going to listen to Runners in the Nerved World, the new album from Ohio band the Sidekicks, be warned: These dudes sound a lot like Band of Horses. Like, a lot. And the Shins, almost as much. Much of the similarity stems from the helium-high voice of frontman Steve Ciolek, who's vocally a dead ringer for head Horse Ben Bridwell, and a reasonable facsimile of James Mercer. Musically, the Sidekicks fall somewhere in between the two: bouncier and less twangy than Band of Horses' moonlit anthems, but more ragged than the Shins' glossy pop-rock. Comparisons aside, Runners stands on its own as a solid slab of catchy, guitar-based indie rock that's enjoyable even if you aren't familiar with those two bands. BEN SALMON
CITYMOUTH, BONE ROCK (Beacon Sound, 3636B N Mississippi) Astrocentric, the new album from Portland electronic producer Citymouth, shimmers and sparkles in all the right ways, but refuses to float along peacefully. Underneath its dreamy surface there's a grating underworld of buzzing, rattling, and droning sounds. Think cassette tapes being rewound again and again, a pile of circuit-bent toys sitting around at the end of a party, and a devious sound engineer making one instrument at a time jarringly louder than the rest. Imagine Lapalux or Airhead with fewer pretty vocal cuts. Or a triphop producer collaborating with a noise artist. The album sidesteps overt accessibility with masterful avoidance, and tonight it drops on Dropping Gems; a free listening party with cassette-tape DJ sets will ensue. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
Senior Editor Ned Lannamann writes about pop culture, music, film, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, politics, Portland, and other things.
