This writer is still stuck in "2020 Year In Review" mode because this writer refuses to believe that 2021 has even begun yet. Let's agree this past week was merely the afterbirth of 2020 and move on to the real start of the year next week mmm'kay? And let's pray we're not dealing with evil 2020/2021 twins because I'm guessing they'd make those twins from The Shining look like nothing more than the "cousins...identical cousins" from The Patty Duke Show. Anyway, here's one of my fave rekkids from last year I mean this year:

Artist: Death Valley Girls
Record: Under the Spell of Joy

Imagine if the Manson Girls had talked Charlie out of that whole Tate-LaBianca nonsense and instead wrote a bunch of cool songs and talked Mr. Helter Skelter into murdering his guitar parts instead of writing drivel like “Look At Your Game Girl” and then enrolled as a group in some EST seminars and you may have ended up with something like this album rather than a bunch of dead bodies. On the Death Valley Girls’s fourth full-length, frontwoman Bonnie Bloomgarden and company subtly expand their sonic palette with a mix of funhouse organ and guitar, fevered sax squalls, motivational mantras (a children’s choir is even brought into service!) and a clutch of songs that put the “mesmerism” back into “mesmerizing.”



Opening track “Hypnagogia” sets the tone with its cascading layers of sound enveloping the listener in the liminal state of its title--a word for the twilight consciousness between wakefulness and sleep--a state that holds sway more or less to the last track with its declaration that “life is but a dream / that is really happening.” A kinda concept album about joy made by a gothy garage-psych band previously drawn to all things dark and spooky it’s unsurprising that DVG doesn’t offer up too many bromides here--”You will survive / while you’re alive” is pragmatic uplift--but the joy on offer *is* unhesitating and unadulterated. Best of all UTSOJ manages to capture something akin to the blissful state I’ve experienced alongside many others at DVG’s incredible live shows. And that’s a joyous thing indeed. (Jason Lee)

photo credit: Abby Banks

Burger Records is more than just the SoCal-based label dominated by scruffy ruffians shotgunning beers all the time. A first glance at not only their extensive roster but the typical scene flooding their festivals and gatherings would appear to make that the truest statement about the label. But it isn't. For the last four years the label has specifically curated an event catering to the promotion of bands, groups and solo artists where one or all of the members are non-male identifying. That event is called Burger-A-Go-Go, and it's awesome.

Now, using "female-fronted" or any iteration of the sort as a selling point for anything is pretty played out and low-key offensive, but in this case, it works within the context. Femmes haven't been well celebrated in the realm of music or anything else throughout history nearly enough as they should, but for the next two nights, Burger is doing a little bit to quell that in Portland.

Sentimental garage-pop act Patsy's Rats will be holding it down on the local front and sharing the stage with a grip of punk, garage and dream pop acts, like The Coathangers, Death Valley Girls, Summer Twins, and much delight from Dengue Fever, who dish out psych-pop with a Cambodian Rock flair, among others. 

Tickets for Burger-A-Go-Go will run you anywhere from $20-$35, but it's well worth it to see a bunch of acts that aren't what the music industry considers the "standard."

Let's just go ahead and say it - the Shivas are Portland's pride and joy. The trio, who first started at the pinnacle of their youth way back in 2006, have put hard work and a high level of talent to good use in the last decade. Backed by both K Records and Burger Records, the Shivas have four full lengths under their belt, a series of single releases and are actually returning back to PDX today from a two month long European tour in support of their latest release, February's Better Off Dead. As a welcome home gift to us all, the Deli Portland has the pleasure of premiering the video for the album's title track.

Better Off Dead itself shows a more mellow output from the Shivas with a heavier use of country western elements. As a track "Better Off Dead" showcases this well in its simplicity. The harmonic pairing of guitarist Jared Molyneux and drummer Kristin Leonard are the focal point of the song, with a light riff as the basis.

The video matches the track in its minimalistic beauty. Shot in black and white, it features Molyneux trudging around an industrial area alone. It's reminiscent of old school French noir art films and couldn't be a better fit aesthetically with the pace of the song.

It seems the Shivas will be taking some weeks off before they perform again, with their next show scheduled for September 11 at Mississippi Studios with L.A.'s Death Valley Girls. Until then, get your fix of the trio by watching the new video for "Better Off Dead" below.