Reviews & Interviews
The line of best fit
On the Rise
PISS
Tay Zantingh climbs the shallow stair from floor to stage of Polaris Hall. Standing, trembling, she faces the crowd with a mic in her hand. “Interior. A girl’s bedroom. Nighttime,” she speaks. “A girl lies on her back in the dark staring at the – cut. Sorry. I can do better.” She shakes, searching for the words: “The room is lit by the face of her cellphone. His number is dialed. She’s finally going to – cut. Again.”
The play continues, more frantic with each “cut,” progressing her jagged monologue set to the dulcet slowcore sounds of the band behind her. By the end of “blocking a scene you can’t remember”, I am crying, wiping tears from my face while overcome with catharsis. Weeks after getting to chat with the members of PISS online, I am now here witnessing their live power.
The Line of Best Fit
The wayfaring ways of Billie Marten
Billie Marten’s presence feels much like her sound: calm and soothing, with a lot of character.
From the comfort of our own home, I ask the veteran songwriter in what ways her latest paragon, Dog Eared, represents its namesake – to dog-ear a page, to save its place while also wearing it down. “A lot of this album talks about age, identity, and how each individual sort of aligns with that themselves. Sometimes I feel incredibly tired, worn, and sort of used. I think sometimes the industry…
Also Cool Mag
ALBUM REVIEW: “From Backwoods to Big City: Truck Violence's Debut is a Brazen Fusion of Hardcore and Folk”
Recent heavy-hitter Violence by Truck Violence rips all the bandages off the skin of country living, exposing the raw, gritty wounds underneath. Released July 5th on independent label Mothland, Violence is the Montreal band’s debut record.…
The Lune Collective
Q&A: Scarlet Rae Says Hello to Her Future in ‘No Heavy Goodbyes’
In fact, it seems as if many of Rae’s dreams are starting to take shape. Born in the ambitious city of Los Angeles, Rae started playing guitar at age 9. Talented and driven, her first musical project actualized when she was a teen in the band Rose Dorn, composed of a 15 year old Rae alongside two of her sister’s older friends. Now, Rae is taking off with No Heavy Goodbyes out on Bayonet.
Rae’s lilting voice and hazy gaze accent her unique style, transforming grief into a twinkling mirror we can all peer into. Her solo project kicked off at the height of universal anguish:the COVID-19 pandemic…
The Line of Best Fit
Night Tapes capture memory in sound
Instead of heading to bed after performing, Night Tapes wrote an entirely new album on their last tour. Born in hotel rooms on the road, it finds Iiris Vesik, Max Doohan, and Sam “Richie” Richards cracking the code on how to capture a moment in time with sound.
The electronic outfit have been releasing jaw-droppingly dreamy tracks for the past six years, and now seems a fitting time to head out on a new adventure into another one of their vivid dreamscapes: portals//polarities…
Also Cool Mag
SINGLE REVIEW: “Seattle-based Chinese American Bear Touch on Growing Up in “Feelin' Fuzzy (毛绒绒的感觉)” (Moshi Moshi Records)”
There’s a certain thrill that comes from staying up late with friends, giggling over bubbly drinks, and riding the sugar high of eating sweet treats. Seattle-based band Chinese American Bear really tapped into this feeling with their latest pop banger “Feelin' Fuzzy (毛绒绒的感觉),” released May 29th, which sports an uplifting cotton-candy sound. Composed of duo Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, the bilingual Mando-pop outfit is both cute and profound; and now, this single is out to make the world feel… well, fuzzy…
The Line of best fit
Jay Som and the bravery of belonging
Nostalgia is the embodiment of a life lived. Embracing the embarrassing, idealizing individual idiosyncrasies, and longing for lasting moments, it cuts deep into that feeling of the familiar – and Jay Som is full of big, huge, gigantic feelings.
Six years ago, Melina Duterte – aka Jay Som – released Anak Ko. Since this last album, she saw growth in working with other artists: touring with Lucy Dacus, winning a Grammy for her work with boygenius, and creating an original track for I Saw the TV Glow. Now, she is circling back to the sounds of her Bay Area roots. At long last, Jay Som’s latest record, simply titled Belong, is a fierce compilation of dreamy indie, fierce pop punk, and wistful alternative rock…
The Luna Collective
To Grief and Goodbyes: La Valentina’s “ASHO” is a Celebration in Moving On
La Valentina’s latest funk-infused single, “ASHO,” makes it clear that she’s not afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve as she tenderly reaches out for connection, showcasing the melancholic truth of longing. In Portuguese, “acho” means “I think” or “I guess." But alongside La Valentina’s powerful sound, it’s clear that she’s not guessing anything; she’s here to confront her past and step forward…
Also Cool Mag
INTERVIEW: “Population II Get to the Heart of their Sound with Latest Album ‘Électrons libres du québec’ (Bonsound)”
Playful and alluring, Population II’s Électrons libres du québec is an enigma wrapped in a fever dream. These new sounds by the Montréal-based band hang above Earth’s atmosphere like a twisted multicolour satellite. Sure, it’d be easy to call them “psych-rock”, but that would be an oversimplification. Instead, this powerful trio successfully brews a multi-era potion, seamlessly collecting jazz fills, funky basslines, and emphatic synth in their intergalactic cauldron…
Pinstriped Zine
ALBUM REVIEW: Pardoner "Peace Loving People”
Bay Area’s charmingly comedic Pardoner has just released their newest album Peace Loving People, delivering an exquisitely tongue-in-cheek critique of the trend-hopping alt-youth and evils of competitive culture…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Pool Boys’ Emma Browne on influences, inspiration, and cool boys being cool
Out of the depths of pandemic doom and gloom, a new world of art and sound are beginning to resurface. Amidst fresh new bands and longtime legends, Pool Boys floats somewhere in between: their long awaited debut EP “Obviously, Doctor” set to release June 21, two years later than originally planned…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Thao on how it feels to be back on tour and the sacredness of live music
Thao Nguyen has been playing music for a long time. Her unique and heartfelt sound is undoubtedly the work of someone with an undying passion and love for the craft—and for Thao, that began at the age of 12. Drawing influence from a wide breadth of inspiration, Thao creates riffs that are extremely catchy. And alongside these funky, pop beats are raw lyrics, truthful to Thao’s experience as a queer Vietnamese American woman…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Quinn Christopherson’s new music touches on nostalgia, the joy of Alaskan sun, and how “good boys” could do better
Hailing from Dena’ina Ełnena (also known as Anchorage, Alaska), Christopherson is an Indigenous artist (Ahtna Athabascan and Iñupiaq) and his love for Alaska shows up in sweet and unexpected ways: winner of the 2019 Tiny Desk, Christopherson, with bandmate Nick Carpenter on guitar, played in front of a stunning painting of Denali…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Portland garage/punk outfit Spoon Benders talk science, horror and the future
Edgy, witty, and entrancingly dark, Spoon Benders walk a musical line that straddles goth and classic garage rock. Drawing inspiration from legends like The Stooges, Black Sabbath, and the more contemporary Osees, Spoon Benders’ roots in loud, psych-influenced punk come out hard and fast in a sound that bends and breaks expectations of the genre. Sonically covered in slime and sludge, Spoon Benders has found a way to drudge up the past while simultaneously creating a sound and style unique unto themselves…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Faye Webster talks inspiration, heading back on tour, and Cobalt Blue
Faye Webster’s latest debut, I Know I’m Funny haha is the perfect soundtrack for crying along in your room—it’s also ideal for playing moonlit baseball with a group of close friends, or soaking up the sunshine with closed eyes and a smile. In fact, Faye Webster has a knack for capturing a wide breadth of complex human emotions through everyday honesty and an enchanting voice. Everything about Webster rings authentic…
Eleven PDX
FILM REVIEW: Boy Harsher’s “The Runner (Original Soundtrack)” examines the human condition through the lens of campy horror
At the brink of 2020’s semi-social collapse—the live music scene dwindling to a low hum—Boy Harsher dug deep into their artistic beginnings and crafted an entirely new world. Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller, the iconic darkwave synth duo known as Boy Harsher…
Eleven PDX
ALBUM REVIEW: Floating Room “Shima”
Portland-based band Floating Room has a talent for capturing that gut-wrenching feeling of being human. Holding room for both tender thoughtfulness and an innermost rage, their newest album Shima has a bark that bites…
Eleven PDX
ALBUM REVIEW: Rascal Miles – “Asylum”
In newest single “Asylum,” Rascal Miles reaches into the inner soul, pulling out a blissful daydream, imagining a world of deep compassion, inclusion and belonging. It’s an “I’m-not-crying-you’re-crying” kind of sweet, rife with tender melodies and touching folk sounds that bring forward very thoughtful lyrics on their experience as a trans person in a world that is often unkind and unknowing…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: John Waters
It’s really no wonder, then, that John Waters—divine power of filthy dark comedy—has taken his one-man Christmas show, “A John Water Christmas – Filthier & Merrier,” on the road for another year. Proudly from Baltimore, Maryland, he’s known for being the prince of profanity and is an absolute gay and queer icon…
Eleven PDX
VIDEO PREMIERE: Dim Wit “Wee Thee People”
Dim Wit lives in the a fun, freaky parts of our minds that culture tells us to suppress. But living by the rules has never been Jeff Tuyay’s game. Onstage, guitarist and singer Jeff Tuyay and his band—made up of drummer Tyler Verigin (Reptaliens), bassist Ben Johnson (Death Parade, Heavii Mello, Wet Dream) and synth/backing vocals Salomeya Sobko—appear as wacky mad scientists, wrapped in loose-fitting lab coats and off-kilter, colorfully un-manicured wigs…
Eleven PDX
ALBUM REVIEW: Mal Blum “Pity Boy”
Blum’s lyrics are poignant and poetic, reminiscent of DIY readings in a punk house basement. The songs serve as a personal narrative for a character who is falling in and out of love, trapped in bad habits, trying to break those habits, and falling apart tenderly. Pity Boy has a knack for touching on the endearing reality of co-dependency and unhealthy relationships…
Eleven PDX
INTERVIEW: Red Fang
Red Fang are a classic bunch of guys drinking beers, playing rock music and living their dream. Having spent the better part of the past 13 years crushing it onstage, Red Fang is about to embark on another cross-country tour, after which they’ll be releasing yet another killer music video in its wake…
Eleven PDX
ALBUM REVIEW: Snail Mail “Lush”
In a scene some are calling “bedroom pop” (a sound cornered by indie youth dream rock), 18-year-old Lindsey Jordan dove headfirst into a melancholic wave with her first release in 2015. True to her indie lo-fi roots, Jordan’s first EP was a self-recorded solo work, Sticki, published under the name Snail Mail…
Eleven PDX
ALBUM REVIEW: Jo Passed “Their Prime”
The album is jarring and beautiful: frantic melodies, dreamy riffs and chaotic transitions. Their Prime feels like the ‘70s Beatles and early ‘90s Kurt Cobain crawled from the grave and merged, walking the earth anew in a skewed, off-kilter form…