High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week, May 19-24

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Ancient punks, suburban songsmiths, and our own Hutch and Kathy are on the boards this week. The least you can do is turn off the telly and pony up the cover charge. Think of it as a way to put some karma in the bank to make up for that time you let a roommate’s plant die.

GBH

May 19 @ 9pm

Universally celebrated as one of the founding fathers of British street punk, GBH must have surely come in out of the rain at some point, because core members Colin Abrahall (vocals), Jock Blyth (guitar), and bassist Ross Lomas are still at it, nearly 40 years after their debut, slagging away at society and serving up sacred cows on hardcore classics like “Sick Boy” and “Give Me Fire.” As long as they can keep fresh drummers on hand, there’s no good reason why these feisty ol’ geezers should give up the stagediving any time soon. If you want something that grows old gracefully, buy a bottle of wine.

$16.50. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St. Sandy Blvd.

Real Estate

May 21 @ 8pm

The members of Real Estate obviously hail from a different part of New Jersey than Frankie Valli. The sunny serenity of their first two albums is several area codes away from any means streets, though the bright, tingly guitars of Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile are reminiscent of another Jersey crew, the Feelies. On Real Estate’s third album ‘Atlas,’ the subject matter is decidedly less lighthearted, suggesting it was high time for these suburban lads to take stock and look beyond the picket fences.

$20. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St.

Ava Luna

May 22 @ 8pm

Has there ever been a nightclub scene in any of the ‘Star Wars’ movies? Sure, we had the famous Mos Eisley cantina sequence when Han guns down Greedo, but if director J. J. Abrams is looking for a more funky/sexy setting, then he should strongly consider Brooklyn’s Ava Luna as the house band. Their ticklish arrangements include thumping grooves offset by idiosyncratic soul vocals punctuated with wandering thrusts of piano, sax, and guitar—all competing for your attention. It’s an otherworldly experience; a technological upgrade from our own sadly terrestrial R&B.

$8. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave.

Sons of Huns

May 22 @ 8pm

Like fellow Portlanders Red Fang, Sons of Huns are devotees of the three B’s: beer, bong hits, and Black Sabbath. Guitarist Pete Hughes has certainly devoured every riff Tony Iommi ever spewed (backward, forward, sideways, and upside-down), but on trademark rippers like “Horror in Clay” and “Argenteum Astrum,” SoH extrapolate on a well-worn rock template with focused explorations that are efficient and up to date. The band is on the verge of releasing a new album called ‘While Sleeping Stay Awake,’ that features a vocal cameo by St. Vitus singer Scott “Wino” Weinrich.

The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St.

Hutch and Kathy

May 23 @ 8pm

Shortly after the turn of the century, and right before they teamed up as the Thermals and turned everything up to 11, Portland’s Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster recorded a self-titled album of amiable pop-folk strummers that sounds like the Thermals unplugged—and undaunted. Recently re-released by local label Jealous Butcher for Record Store Day, ‘Hutch and Kathy’ is now seeing the light of day and going out for a concert spin, for which we should be grateful. Songs like “In Brilliance” and “My Unborn Beautiful” are as addictive as anything in their better-known catalogue, while more overtly acoustic numbers like “Through the Day” proves that Hutch and Kathy can rock effectively at any speed.

$12. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave.

John Chandler has been writing about rock and/or roll for 25 years with The Rocket, Portland Tribune, Portland Monthly, Magnet, Dagger, No Depression, and Puncture. He also writes about beer, booze, and bars for Portland'sBarFly website and plays in a couple goofy bands when the mood strikes him. He can most often be found at the wheel of horrificflicks.com, a review website dedicated to horror movies.