HEEMS, SPANK ROCK
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Heems, AKA Himanshu Suri, has proven himself to be one of the sharpest dudes in hip-hop, first as part of cockeyed rap trio Das Racist and then with a couple of well-received solo mixtapes (Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom). But this year's Eat Pray Thug is his first officially released solo album, and it offers up a bit of everything Heems brings to the table: politics, spiritualism, disco beats, swagger, self-deprecation, tales of NYC, unconventional melodies, and an ongoing search for identity in a complex world. Eat Pray Thug is about Heems' journey to self-discovery in South Asia and life as a brown-skinned man in post-9/11 America, set to (mostly) dope beats. It's clever and affecting, and another installment in what is becoming a very impressive catalog from a guy who became widely known for a song called "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell." BEN SALMON
MOTHERTAPES, THE CENTURY, SALON
(The Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont) Meeting through Craigslist in 2007, multi-instrumentalist Pete Bosack and drummer Tommy Franzen found an easy collaboration in the pop-rock rock outfit Wax Fingers. After that band's breakup, the two streamlined their sound, re-emerging as Mothertapes in 2013. Combining well-stewed math rock with new wave power-pop, their live show is like watching chemists deftly create sensorial explosions. Mothertapes recently signed to DIY label collective Self Group with a full-length expected later this summer. Pop rock favorites the Century and fellow math-rock newcomers Salon round out what is bound to be a night of energetic posi power-pop. JENI WREN STOTTRUP
THE LOWEST PAIR, HARMED BROTHERS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Kendl Winter, one half of the Lowest Pair, is a veteran of the Northwest's DIY music community. She's recorded two excellent solo albums for K Records, was a founding member of popular bluegrass outfit the Blackberry Bushes Stringband, and has toured the country with punk bands, country bands, and surfy pop bands. Her songs occasionally sound like Iris Dement interpreting the music of Kimya Dawson, but they don't usually allow for easy comparisons. In the Lowest Pair, Winter and Midwest bluegrass veteran Palmer T. Lee toy with their listeners. Their first two full-lengths on Team Love exist somewhere between nostalgic sweetness and ominous mystery. They are infectious and haunting, a perfectly sparse combination of two banjos and unlikely harmonies. Tonight is the official release party for their new album of traditionals, I Reckon I'm Fixin' on Kickin' Round to Pick a Little, a work that makes even the most innocuous-seeming old tune unexpectedly full of new life. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
BUILT TO SPILL, GENDERS, HONEY BUCKET
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) In March, while Built to Spill were treating hometown fans to a career-spanning set at Boise’s Treefort Festival, it was impossible not to notice a strange, fancily dressed festivalgoer chastising frontman Doug Martsch around the edges of the stage. Everything was later explained in the band’s playful video for the new Untethered Moon single, “Never Be the Same,” in which the mysterious figure is revealed to be Martsch’s favorite actor, Hairy Canary, who has been coaching the overly obsessed frontman in elaborate stage flourishes. Spoiler alert: Martsch ends up bashfully backing out of the opportunity to showcase his moves in front of the crowd. It’s a clever wink to the frontman’s stoic stage presence, and while Martsch might never muster up the high kicks of Carrie Brownstein or the springboard pogo of Mac McCaughan, his patented head bob and a fantastic new album continue to make Built to Spill a must-see act. CHIPP TERWILLIGER Also see My, What a Busy Week!
