Music

Pomegranates | Heaven

Modern Outsider
Although the songs on Heaven might not be uniformly good, the Cincinnati-based Pomegranates bring the charm via killer guitar sounds, creative keyboards, and the girlish vocals of twin tenors Isaac Karns and Joey Cook (whose lighter-than-air musings buoy this collection).

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 29, 2012

Lemonade | Diver

True Panther Sounds (2012)
Halfway through "Infinite Style," the glossy electro-pop opener from Lemonade's sophomore LP, you'll hear the faint sound of a rhythmic exhale — or possibly two sticks rubbing together.

By: RYAN REED | May 29, 2012

King Tuff | King Tuff

Sub Pop
King Tuff keep a low profile, but they're not afraid to talk a mean game.

By: PERRY EATON | May 29, 2012

The Hives | Lex Hives

Disques Hives (2012)
If there was ever a worry of the Hives maturing— or simply becoming less like the Hives — there isn't anymore.

By: DAN WEISS | May 29, 2012

Scott Lucas & The Married Men | Blood Half Moon

The End Records (2012)
The good ol' days of 1996 — the year Local H's "Bound for the Floor" played once every half hour on modern-rock radio — was a long-ass time ago.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | May 29, 2012

Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Americana

Reprise (2012)
The track listing for Americana, the first new release from Neil Young & Crazy Horse since 2003's Greendale, may make some fans skeptical at first.

By: NICK A. ZAINO II | May 29, 2012

Sunset Hearts steal your pain

Ask and they won’t say
You know a band are doing something right when five-minute songs finish up and you're pissed.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | May 23, 2012

Anna Lombard’s first post-Gypsy release

Can you Digg it?
It's not exactly Stevie Nicks releasing her first solo album post-Fleetwood, but it's hard not to listen to Anna Lombard's first release with her new post-Gypsy Tailwind band, Anna and the Diggs, without comparing and contrasting.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | May 23, 2012

Blood on the tracks

Wax Tablet
Although there's a lot of noise on the Americana circuit these days, one very clear signal is a new split LP by BIG BLOOD and MICAH BLUE SMALDONE , two of the state's most arresting practitioners of progressive contemporary folk.

By: PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 23, 2012

Grass Widow | Internal Logic

HLR Records
There is stuff not to like about Internal Logic: a pair of instrumental interludes probably don't need to be there, and the drums aren't as gleefully chaotic as they were on 2010's Past Time.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | May 22, 2012

Scissor Sisters | Magic Hour

Casablanca (2012)
"Twist and shout/Boobies hangin' all out," sings Scissor Sister Ana Matronic on the futuristic sci-fi funk of "Keep Your Shoes On," her robo-tastic chirp swallowed in a maze of mind-numbing video-game synth runs and digital blips.

By: RYAN REED | May 22, 2012

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros | Here

Community Music (2012)
Maybe I'm feeling the ghost of Levon Helm, but it's hard to find many flaws in this new disc from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 22, 2012

Sun Kil Moon | Among the Leaves

Caldo Verde (2012)
The first thing you'll notice about Mark Kozelek's fifth LP as Sun Kil Moon are song titles that would give Morrissey a boner.

By: ZETH LUNDY | May 22, 2012

Shadows Fall | Fire From The Sky

Razor & Tie
Are Shadows Fall still feeling the fan backlash from two albums ago?

By: MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | May 23, 2012

The Toxic Avenger | Angst

Little Owl Recordings (2012)
The Toxic Avenger is a fitting moniker for French DJ/producer Simon Delacroix.

By: MICHAEL MAROTTA | May 25, 2012

Amy Allen travels to Neptune

Shooting for the stars
There were a couple directions Amy Allen could have taken to follow up her 2010 pop-lovely debut EP, Honey, released just as she headed off to the big city for college.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | May 16, 2012

Foam Castles emerge with a Bonanza

Into the spotlight
If summer is the stuff of memories, then the music of Foam Castles has a way of helping to make them.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | May 16, 2012

Whipped into shape

Wax Tablet
We feel pretty amped about Supercharged , the debut EP by the hardcore rock and roll band WHIP HANDS .

By: PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 16, 2012

Zambri | House of Baasa

Kanine Records
For those of us of a certain age who remember when school dances had a strict four-fast-songs-then-one-slow-one policy, the memory of bouncing around to "Let's Hear It for the Boy" with the anticipation of "One More Night" or "Take My Breath Away" still makes our palms sweat with hormonal anxiety.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | May 15, 2012

The Figgs | The Day Gravity Stopped

Stomper (2012)
These days Mike Gent, Pete Donnelly, and Pete Hayes are involved in enough extracurricular activities (Graham Parker, NRBQ, countless side/session-men gigs) that you could hardly blame them if they closed their two decades-plus Figgs chapter.

By: ZETH LUNDY | May 15, 2012