Maybe you’ve stopped in for a growler once or twice, but did you know that Bunker Brewing is now hosting shows? It’s true! The little East Bayside fort has three of them lined up this weekend alone: the barreling rock band Whale Oil Thursday night; the soaring spirit-core group Endless Jags with heavy acts Sylvia and Swaath Saturday night; and a gorgeous folk comedowner Sunday evening, with Lisa/Liza, Joanna Warren, and Andrea Tomasi. With the dearth of non-bar venues in town, this is noteworthy indeed. Also noteworthy is that several of those acts have made it onto our Best Music Poll 2013 ballot, which went online this week at contests.thePhoenix.com/PortlandBMP2013.
Those with fond memories of this year’s 48 Hour Music Festival can now attempt to relive them. Recordings by the groups Citizen Science, U-Boat, Familiar Ritual, and The Body in the Kelp are now up on bandcamp (48hourmusicfestival.bandcamp.com). It’s always gratifying to hear what compelling musicians do when put in awkward, precarious situations, and the results can come out surprisingly good. U-Boat’s downward skuzz-pop is ridiculously listenable; the collage of noise-metal and samples of cinema dialogue makes the Body in the Kelp a unique sound; and the cinematic funk of Citizen Science could totally make a great night at the Big Easy.
With one member in Vermont and another going back to being Jeff Beam full-time, the art-rock band the Milkman’s Union just narrowly avoided being included in our music poll’s Best Band That Broke Up category. We’re glad, of course, that they didn’t, and the egg might’ve been on our faces anyway: Apple, a new single of an old song, was released digitally last week, and the group are prepping a record of covers and remixes of their songs by Jacob Augustine, Afraid, and Jared Fairfield. This might still spell doom, but we’re not ready to bury them just yet. In the meantime, visit themilkmansunion.bandcamp.com to hear this lovely slab, and dream about the world to come.
Fresh off what must have been considered a dream show with the Misfits, Portland deathpunk staple Covered in Bees have released a full-on live record. Glorious! Live at the Alehouse contains 17 songs of manic horror-punk, joke-metal anthems, and yes, covers of T-Rex and the Misfits. Visit iamswampman.bandcamp.com to pile on.
