Portland Music

Quaker Gun - Wood & String

Quaker Gun is yet another in the long line of good bands that are no longer around Portland. There’s something about this town that just destroys bands after awhile. On the other hand, there’s something about this town that gives us twice as many great bands than anywhere else in America too.

Quaker Gun were a simple formula, straightforward pop songs with an appreciation of country without being overtly pushy about it. Give a listen, and remember a time when these guys were holding down the fort in Portland.

The Wherewithals - The Point

What can I say about the Wherewithals? Their sound was a unique marriage of good songwriters and tasteful musicianship. From Ben Firestone’s heartfelt, passionate lyrics to John Paul Longenecker’s driving guitar riffs. Throw in some fantastic contributions from the incomparable Chuck Townsend (Keys mostly) and you had a tour de force of dark indie-pop.

Support your artists - Buy Burnin’ Bridges by The Wherewithals

The Empty - Princess

Time for some more arty rock. This one’s from The Empty. I saw these guys years ago one late night at Slabtown and they were 10x better than most of the bands I’d seen at Slabtown…ever.

I like their approach to songs, there’s a lot of instrumentation and they like to take leaps with their arrangements, but in the end, all they’ve done is tricked you into thinking it was anything more than just a simple rock song.

Support your artists - Buy Medicine Madison by The Empty

The Interlopers - I Think I Love This Girl

Here’s a great track from The Interloper’s recent single, Night Driving. Remember when rock was simple? When Kurt Cobain thought ‘Hey, maybe I’ll write simple, sometimes non-sensical lyrics and set them to hard, churning, pop songs.’ Well, The Interlopers are that, but with more forlorn attempts at love.

Every song they’ve put out is enjoyable. This single has great sound and I recommend it, but if you grab their first album, Low Expectations, you’ll be in for a treat.

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Charming Birds - Alphabetical. Chronological. 

Please welcome the Charming Birds, the newest great band in our great city. The sound reminds me a lot of Dinosaur Jr. with respect to tone. Apparently, Willamette Week thought so too, as they were included in a mini-feature on all the bands playing in Portland with animal-based names and were labeled Dinosaur Jr. Jr.

This song takes its title from the great book/movie High Fidelity. Great sound, great band, great song. Welcome to the world Charming Birds.