

Presented as a limited-edition CD run complete with hand-screened covers, The Sun Says He's God is the first proper offering from the Brothers Young. While the band's boots are muddied by the murky waters of traditional folk—with enough down-home bluegrass to justify your bourbon intake during their live performances—the Brothers' intertwined melodies can occasionally fall into Pinback territory, especially on the dark and sprawling "Waterman." But The Sun Says is not a modern mashup of genres; it's primarily a sleepy-eyed folk record, one that buries even the softest of vocal melodies under a mountain of textured instrumentals. It's the product of a band that proudly rolls a half-dozen members deep—Michael, Dustin and Dillon Young, plus Travis Girton, Trevino Brings Plenty, and Levi Ethan Cecil (he put out the record, so he automatically gets to be in the band). EZRA ACE CARAEFFLISTEN:
You may know that there is a fourth Brother Young—the Andy Gibb of the Young clan, if you will—Ritchie Young, who is not in the band but fronts Loch Lomond and runs tonight's show's venue, the Woods. Also, you should know that BOAT is opening for the Brothers Young. BOAT is really good. We like BOAT. Go see Brothers Young and BOAT. You will be glad.
The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie, 9 pm, $7

For those of you headed to the Dirty Projectors/Little Wings show tonight at the Aladdin, beware: You might become part of the opening act! This is speculation based on what I've read, and heard from friends who know Kyle Field of Little Wings, but he may or may not be inviting folks from the audience up on stage with him this evening.
As a rather rampant artiste, Field views his music as "an ever-changing art project," thus prompting him to borrow other bands' equipment and use whoever might be around to enhance (or butcher) his sound. Perhaps he is right? Perhaps everything anyone could ever need is always right in front of us? These are not a terrible concepts in theory; I'm just not sure how it all works when it's put into practice.
Regardless, I've spent all afternoon practicing the harmony for this song, just in case.
LISTEN:
Little Wings- "What Wonder"
You'd be safe to bring a tambourine.

As Lucero is currently being mauled by an evil snow creature—thus canceling their Portland show—the rest of the "Ramblin' Roadshow and Memphis Revue" has made it to Portland alive. Jack Oblivian & the Tennessee Tearjerkers and John Paul Keith & One Four Fives will both be at Slabtown tonight. It's $6, 21&over, and starts at 9pm.
Do it for Lucero.

Okay. I'm sorry. We won't call it that, I promise. But perhaps you'd still like to read it?
PDX Pop Now! Benefit w/Britt Daniel, the Robinsons, & IOA; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $25, all ages
Propagandhi @ Satyricon, tonight
For whatever reason, I vividly remember the day I discovered Propagandi. I was about 14 or 15, on a train with some friends to San Francisco and one produced Less Talk More Rock. I listened over and over and over, blown away by the politics that would quickly lead—or should I say guilt—me into an ill-fated stint at vegetarianism. When I hear them now I wonder if I've gone soft, politically speaking. How does the saying go?
If you're not anti-establishment at the age of 20, you're lying. But if you haven't turned establishment by the age of 30, you're just plain foolish.
That's a horribly written version, but captures the idea and it begs the question, or the reflection on what it means once one's own rebelliousness mellows with age, no matter how rationalized it may appear (ie: we must play the game to win).
But aside from Propagandhi's bludgeoning politics—anti-sexist, anti-facist, anti-capitalist—the music was good, at least in the pop-punk sphere. The three Canadian metal-fans crunched, but subsisted on mostly major chords and crisp breaks and eschewed solos totally. A good heft of melody came from emo-leaning bassist John K Sampson, would would later leave to front the Weakerthans. When Sampson left, so did a lot of the pretty. He was replaced with a more hardcore screamer, and the group's balanced shifted further towards shred. And even though level-headed gender politics prevailed, the testosterone soared.
Now I—like so many of us—listened to some inexcusably horrible music in my teens. Not having yet had sex will do that to you. But all those CD's, records and tapes are long gone. Except Propagandhi. Maybe it was just a time and a place. Or maybe they really were better than the rest. I don't know and I don't care. Because tonight, when they crank up some of those early tunes, I'll be 14 again—a rebel with a cause.
JOE PUG, MBILLY
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Joe Pug played in a barn at Pickathon. He also played in the woods, and on a proper stage as well, but any member of the crowd that was fortunate enough to be riveted by his barn performance knows that no other locale fits the Chicago singer better. He's Woody in a boxcar, Dylan in the East Village, or any other pure American folk image you can think of. Much like the Tallest Man on Earth, Pug (born Joe Pugliese) wields a barren-yet-soulful voice that immediately strikes a chord with anyone seeking a modern-day folk savior. You can believe in Joe Pug. EAC
It's true. Pug (that is just weird to type in reference to a creature that doesn't have a smashed face and curly tail) played a barn on a sweltering day during Picktathon and it felt absolutely perfect. Sort of like the above video, where Pug (again, weird) performs in the emptiness of a ghost town saloon. Granted, the Doug Fir is a little nicer than those places, but it won't stop me from ordering three fingers of whiskey and starting a fight.

In anticipating of tonight's Jesus Lizard performance at the Crystal, we've been hearing all sorts of tales from friends about previous shows from the legendary band. It seems that everyone has a Jesus Lizard story. While some of the tales are believable (the midget that was on David Yow's shoulders during a show), there are others that we are skeptical of (David Yow killed a bear with his bare hands while singing "Mouth Breather").
But of all the stories, this—from our sales guru, Rob Thompson—is easily our favorite:
I was at the show in Peoria that Rolling Stone wrote about. My friend Stan got naked and climbed on stage with the band. In their review, Rolling Stone called him a "pudgy adolescent."
Wow. See you at the show, I'll be the one reliving my (pudgy) adolescent years.

Tonight’s show at the Crystal Ballroom (Train) has been canceled. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

The excellent Two Beers Veirs ensemble performances—featuring Laura Veirs, the Decemberists' Chris Funk, and any able-bodied musician they pull off the street—is returning to the Laurelthirst Public House tonight. The shows are loose and a ton of fun, with plenty of old timey covers and lots of delicious beer to wet your parched whistle. You might end up drinking so much that you wake the next morning spooning a kitchen mop. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Two Beers Veirs runs from 6-8 pm and is free.

Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne, doors at 10, album listening plus film presentation starts at 11, FREE.

I'm thinking tonight's show will be a good excuse to drink heavily and let loose. And by drink heavily and let loose I mean trash your instruments, Mr. Keely, Mr. Reese.
LISTEN:
Future of the Left - "Chin Music"
Future of the Left opens for Trail of Dead tonight at Dante's, 9 p.m.

This-a-Way Records is a direct reaction to the changing infrastructure of the music industry. As traditional record labels continue to fail through an inability to adapt to digital music, TAW has found the way forward through embracing both vinyl and file-sharing, stripping away obsolete industry machinations and fully utilizing the DIY talents of its roster.
Essentially Keith has surrounded herself with a group of badass mother fuckers—musicians, bookers, producers, screen-printers, you name it—all of whom have come together to help one another get their music out. Portland's LookBook, for example. The trio will release The Look and Feel on This-a-Way Records tonight at the collective's big kick-off at Mississippi Studios along with collective-mates The Prids and Soft Tags. And don't let the Teddy bear with the shotgun frighten you... he just takes the term "DIY Or Die" very seriously.
Team Evil plays tonight with the Hand that Bleeds and Jana Osta at Backspace, 115 NW 5th, 9 pm, $6, all ages.


LISTEN:
Golden Bloom - "Doomsday Devices"
Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $20
Warpaint - Tonight at Doug Fir w/ School Of Seven Bells
From an recent U&C:
Certain bands excel in particular spaces. For Warpaint, a breezy, tranquil, starry night at an intimate venue is ideal. There the group's ghostly vapors should float right on through the wispy curtains and off into the summertime sky. For the Los Angeles foursome—three girls and a boy—these grooves (as opposed to more shifting pop compositions...
That was a few months ago, but for tonight it remains true, and perhaps even better suited for the autumn months. The Doug Fir should be a fine, moody spot on this clear but chilly Thursday. See you there.

LISTEN:
Throw Me the Statue - "Ancestors"
Throw Me the Statue opens for Minus the Bear tonight at the Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $18
What happened to the Horrors? 2007's Strange House was a loud, snarling barrage of arty UK punk rock ("arty" in the gothic-with-platform-shoes-and-makeup sense of the word) that appealed to fans of zombie garage punk and Hot Topic. The hairspray must have touched some brain nerves, because the Horrors have slowed down a bit on Primary Colours, trading in some of their previous noise for something more conventional. Portishead's Geoff Barrow co-produced their latest, and if anything can be linked to the drastic change in their sound, it's Barrow's influence; Colours is synth heavy, a little freaky where it needs to be, and a lot slower, with lead singer Faris Badwan droning on like an Interpol tribute band. Where there once was emotion, now a confusing stew of sound and distorted vocals fill the void. But hey, they still look like vampires, so I guess some things will never change. PHILIP GAUDETTEw/Japanese Motors; tonight, Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $13

Uh, what?
No, that's their name. And I Was Like, What? .... got it? The group includes members of other bands like AristeiA, Songs from the Rodeo, and Emma Hill, and the EP is called Grand Delusions. It's the sound of four friends who grew up in the PacNW, crusing from the coast to the forest to the desert, with some hints of pop, country, and indefinable Northwest flavor lining the rough-hewn songs. It's a really good listen. See listen for yourself:
LISTEN:
And I Was Like, What? - "Selfish and With Good Reason"
The release show takes place at the Twilight Cafe and Bar, 1420 SE Powell, 9 pm, $3. Other bands on the bill: Someday Tricycle, Eighteen Individual Eyes, and the Oregon Donor.

The Swedish guys who created MY FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2009 are playing tonight at the Doug Fir. Miike Snow has been described as "a-ha meets Animal Collective."
INTERESTING MIIKE SNOW TIDBIT #1: Miike Snow is not a dude. It's a band composed of two Swedes and an American.
INTERESTING MIIKE SNOW TIDBIT #2: Two out of the three band members are the Swedish songwriting force called Bloodshy & Avant. Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg probably get tired of the royalty checks they get in mail daily. That's because they've written many of Britney Spear's most popular singles including "Toxic," "Radar," "Freakshow," "Toy Soldier," and "Piece of Me." Heck, they probably have a money chute installed in their Swedish mansion because they've also created hits for Madonna (for her 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor —"How High," "Like It Or Not.") and Kylie Minogue's 10th studio album X ("Nu-di-ty" and "Speakerphone") .
But don't let that sugar-coated pop crap stop you from seeing them tonight. Their music sounds nothing like stuff.
Dynamic poppy English chap Jack Penate opens (one opener you do not want to miss).

Kyp Malone will take his solo project Rain Machine to the Doug Fir tonight to perform as well as give every male in attendance a severe case of beard envy. Read all about it here and discover why Malone never smiles for the camera; also find out the origins of the beard.
Oh, and check out the show. Malone will bring his new band and make some beautiful racket... and if you ask nicely maybe he'll let you touch that voluminous beard. But probably not.

You might have read about the Telefon Tel Aviv show tonight in My, What a Busy Week!, but here's some info about the opener, the Race: It's the project of Chicago songwriter Craig Klein (pictured above with cuddly cat dog?), aided by Alfredo Nogueira and co-produced by TTA's Josh Eustis. Klein wrote an evocative essay about the making of the Race's new album Exiles. Here's an excerpt:
Exhausted late one night, we tried to find a motel room near Odessa, Texas, and pulled into the only motel we'd seen for hours. Without so much as looking up from her tabloid, the prickly clerk at the front desk said, "Everyone's looking for a room tonight, son. We got all kinds of men: Oil Men, Machinery Men, Construction Men, Company Men and Sorry Suckers like you. There ain't no vacancies. You won't find anyplace short of El Paso."And indeed, the end result is—for lack of any better term—electro-stripper spaghetti-western Old Testament music. Or, as some might deem it, "pop." Take a listen.Damn if that clerk wasn't telling the truth. Hours later and a hundred miles from anywhere, we wound up flat on our backs pulled over and delirious on the westbound side of Highway 10. The annual Perseid meteor showers were on, and we laid there in awe, staring at the stars and listening to Ravi Shankar on the van's stereo at full blast. Under that widescreen sky, the idea for Exiles came about — it'd be a kind of Judeo-gothic-electric-western, melting the acid westerns and road films of the 60s and 70s with some cracked vision of Old Testament-style fire and brimstone.
LISTEN:
The Race - "Ride the High Country"
Telefon Tel Aviv & The Race tonight at Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10

If you are still shaking off the cobwebs from last night's Will Sheff show—Why a piano and cello ensemble for only one song? Isn't that like having a harp onstage to rest your can of beer on?—head on down to this morning's super early 10:30 am KEXP show at Doug Fir with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
You don't need a silly wristband, or anything like that, just head downstairs for a rare breakfast time show.

In addition to the kickass/free/all-ages Old Town Block Party going down tomorrow—YACHT, M64, May Ling in the middle of the street—there is also a secret show happening at Someday Lounge after the block party wraps up. Evidently it's so secret, they made a flyer for it, then emailed us the flyer and told us to write about it.
Shhhhhh!
The free (and secret) show will feature hiphop titans Lifesavas and Chief Xcel from Blackalicous. But, please, keep this on the downlow. I'd hate for the secret to get out.
Sure, there might not be any swinging '60s go-go dancers (like in this video) at tonight's incredibly rare performance from the Remains and New Dawn, but hopefully the pair of reunited acts won't need them. In this week's paper we wrote about the Remains and their final tour alongside the Beatles 43 years ago, which makes tonight's perform at Berbati's Pan their first NW show since August 25, 1966, when they played with Ringo and pals at the Seattle Center Coliseum. As for the New Dawn, let's just say that tonight might be your only chance to ever see this cult act play their There's a New Dawn album in it's entirety.
Then after the show you can follow me across to river to the Clipse show at Rotture, because everyone knows that '60s garage rock goes perfectly with coke rap.