The day after Ocean's predictably under-attended (30-40 people) Cinco de Mayo performance at SPACE, a friend who also attended asked what I thought. "So loud," I said. "So slow," he responded. It wasn't hard to catch the reverence in both reactions.
Ocean's concerts demand you put on some earplugs but refuse to let you keep them in. Their music is, to a large degree, all about precisely what gets removed when there's a cushion between the stage and your shell-shocked eardrums: the puncturing shrapnel of their guitar feedback, Reuben Little's sunken growl.
The band played through the length of their latest album, the monolithic Pantheon of the Lesser (Important), and the differences (aside from the obvious absence of guest vocalist Yoshiko Ohara) were minor but interesting. Much of the set still moved at a slow, chugging grind, but the suspense in those long spaces between notes was greater: a product of eyeing drummer Eric Brackett to see when he'd lift his sticks again; wondering how long it would take Candy's wrenching, guttural vocals to fail; or merely the experience of hearing Pantheon echo out into a long, open room.
The night's out-of-town openers, earning more than a couple fans (and sales of their strong new album, Maker, on Thrill Jockey), were the three brothers Carney, who comprise Virginia's Pontiak. Equally loud but gleefully freewheeling in their approach, the trio never stay tethered to a style for long — whether dissonant stoner rock, borderline speed-metal, or a lighthearted indie style dotted with involving three-part harmonies.
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The outsiders, Last call, Greetings and salutations, More 
- The outsiders
Ocean's album Pantheon of the Lesser — a two-track, hour-long, deconstructionist monster — is the linchpin of what's become an exciting moment for the Portland doom metal four-piece.
- Last call
One of the big topics of social conversation in Portland last week was the anonymous Portland Point blog's ruthless, somewhat self-negating takedown of the Honey Clouds' May 23 CD-release show.
- Greetings and salutations
The film, a decidedly unlikely crowd-pleaser, has had a charmed year so far. It won a Special Jury Award upon its world premiere at Austin, Texas's SXSW Film Festival, and an Audience Award at the prestigious Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina, becoming something of a "little documentary that could" on the festival circuit.
- Local Sprouts dig in
For two years, the Local Sprouts Cooperative has been creating a name for itself as a sustainable and healthy catering and meal cooperative in Portland. Hanifa Washington, a worker-owner and chef, likens it to "Superman in slo-mo," saying that the organization has experienced a "steady advance" since its inception in 2007.
- Music Seen: Assemble
This month's Evolve2Advance bash, "Assemble," the latest in a series celebrating the convergence of visual art, music, food, and community, was one of those events whose status update should have read, "Come to SPACE right now for this very cool and under-attended event."
- Rock of wages
Huak are the rare local band who, in the two-plus years they've been playing regular gigs, sound bolder and more self-possessed every time you see them.
- Ripple effect
The Portland Phoenix launched in 1999, just as the Portland music scene was turning.
- Music Seen: Neko Case + Haru Bangs
First things first: Neko Case is the complete package, an unmitigated bombshell (gorgeous, wry, self-effacing) with a singular artistic vision (country/folk songs so heavy on metaphor and animistic and obscure mythological references that you could — and should — unpack them for months) and a voice like an air-raid siren.
- Samuel James at SPACE and the dilly on Dilly Dilly
• Keep next weekend open: throwback bluesman SAMUEL JAMES has a release party scheduled for his third full-length, For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen. Joining James on August 22 at SPACE will be the likes of SONTIAGO , LADY LAMB , MICAH BLUE SMALDONE , MEANTONE , and, well, lots of other folks. Sounds like a party.
- Put your skirt on
Portland's aggressive new frontgal can hit all the notes while she hits you in the face.
- Less
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Live Reviews
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, Entertainment, Music, Music Reviews, Chris Gray, Ocean, Ocean, Space, Space, Portland music, Eric Brackett, Less
