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Scene Report: Portland, OR

Posted on December 5th, 2008 by Triumphantly Jenny

If you like indie rock you may have noticed a trend. Every musician on the planet has lived in Portland. Okay that’s an exaggeration, but it seems like a huge number of indie bands and icons are Stumptown alumni. From Elliott Smith to the Decemberists to the Dandy Warhols, Portland is bringing the indie rock heavies. Some musicians move here from elsewhere, like Sleater-Kinney or the The Shins. Others, like Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, are Portlanders who go elsewhere to rock. Even “Louie, Louie” was written there. While you are surely familiar with Stephen Malkmus, there are a lot of Portland bands that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. But don’t take my word for it–take the word of Brandon Summers of the Portland band The Helio Sequence:
The Helio Sequence: Portland Frontier.
So if you’re going to Portland, you’ll be surrounded by great music. But how do you find out about it as an out of towner? Well, the local indie weeklies The Willy Week and The Portland Mercury both have calendars and recommendations for good local tunes.
If you long for The Smiths reunion (I am looking at Poingly), try The Prids. If you wish there were more Westerns so you could rock out to their soundtracks, you should go for some Federale. Would you like to see a Victrola used in more stage shows?  Then you should listen to some Norfolk & Western. But if you’d prefer to pretend you are in a Sinatra film, the dulcet tones of Pink Martini might be more for you.
And if that isn’t enough, check out the local “piratecore” (yes, that means pirate rock bands) to get yourself a view of some vegan strippers. And don’t forget your Nyquil donut. Where else but Portland?

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