• The band DARLINGSIDE have scorched up some primo buzz for the string-based chamber pop they've been touring around New England the last couple years. Most of the band is Boston-based, but their drummer is a full-time Portlander, Sam Kapala, who tells us the band's full-length debut was recently finished right here at THE STUDIO. Darlingside plan to release that effort, The Pilot Machines, in July, but will stagger three seven-inch pre-releases in the months before then, available to fans on a subscription basis and on their forthcoming US tours. They play here in Portland at One Longfellow Square March 17, and if you're into progressive string groups with thoughtful arrangements and off-kilter tempos, we'd recommend checking out pilotmachines.com even before then.
• If spring whets your appetite for some true outsider metal, look no farther than FERAL, the solo project of itinerant Portlander Greg Souza (formerly of Shabti). With help from some of the Falls of Rauros gang, Feral's Culling was recorded this winter, yet outbleaks the season by far. It's a raw and grimy, 21-minute punk blast of unreckoned-with internal howl, containing very little of the atmospherics or overtures that turn up in contemporary black metal. Not the sort of local release we'd expect to get a ton of ink in the coming months, but crucial nonetheless. Visit feralmetal.bandcamp.com for a quick download.
• Miraculously quick turnaround time on this new THEODORE TREEHOUSE EP: the group played a show with Jeff Beam just a week ago (2/28) and a record of their set is already available for download on their bandcamp. Live at Port City contains six songs, two of which ("Two Hands" and "Two Hearts") first appeared on their grade-A debut, Mercury: Closest to the Sun. Among the other four songs are the live favorites "Friendship Bracelet" and "Give Your Love Away," which carry the stomp of Hootenanny-era Replacements (though much more sober, of course), and "Skyo," a psyched-up indie-country ditty. Recorded straight off the mixing board, we wonder if this is a one-off project or the start of a Port City Music Hall live series. Either way, it's a fine primer for the band's proper studio EP in the spring, which frontman Ian Ferrel reports will be "slightly darker" and "less straightforward" than the other shiz. No argument here.
• The KURT BAKER BAND toured the Midwest recently, supporting last fall's snappy Rockin' for a Living EP. We're told that while on the road, they plan to track some new boppers at a studio in Wisconsin, planning for a full-length they're tentatively titling "More Songs About Girls and Local Rock Douche Tards." Catchy stuff.
