Eugene Weekly

"Bang," "quack" and "sizzle" are onomatopoeias. If a band name were ever onomatopoeic, it would be Mexico-via-L.A.’s Metalachi — the self-proclaimed first and only heavy metal mariachi band in the world.  Lead singer Vega De La Rockha calls the band’s blend of traditional Mexican music with hard rock and metal a genre of its own.  “El Cucuy [trumpet player] is very fond of the ranchera sound,” La Rockha tells EW. “Pancho [guitarron player] is a fan of both genres.”  Continue reading →

In 2009, at the tender ages of 9 and 14, best friends Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse formed the band Skating Polly. Bighorse says the pair bonded over a shared love of music and movies.  “We were pretty fast friends,” she recalls. “We’ve always been surrounded by music and instruments, so it came very naturally for us and since we were so close before, it felt easy to be creative with each other.”  Continue reading →

Musical traditions, like cuisine, say a lot about a culture. Pay attention and learn of pinnacles, invasions, conquests and declines. The recipe for great music and food is often the contradiction of outsiders celebrating their own lousy situation, mixing in ingredients that in different contexts might not make sense. New York’s Gogol Bordello has long been one of rock’s tastiest stews — a culture unto themselves.  Continue reading →

Last year, Seattle band Chastity Belt released its debut, Time to Go Home, on Hardly Art, a subsidiary of Sub Pop Records used to foster and grow interesting bands that might not otherwise be quite ready for prime time.  The album runs the gamut of Northwest indie rock: a little Riot Grrrl here, a little Nirvana there, a little Sleater-Kinney elsewhere. Listen closely and hear the guitar tone of REM’s Peter Buck on the song “Trapped.”  Continue reading →

What is the sound of Northwest rock? Some might answer Bikini Kill, Nirvana, The Wipers or even The Kingsmen. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I posit it’s Boise’s Built to Spill.  The evidence? The music of Built to Spill is like a day that’s ended up rainy when you expected sun. Doug Martsch’s nasally tenor sounds like damp basements, guitars, drums and bass intertwined in a woozy haze, fueled equally by beer, weed and disappointment.  Also the band’s longevity: Built to Spill have been at it since ’92, and in that time they’ve remained remarkably consistent.  Continue reading →

Last year, Ohio’s Saintseneca released Such Things, one of the freshest, and yet familiar, indie-rock records of 2015.  Saintseneca’s guitar-based music is sweetly earnest, exhibiting the infectious melodies and charmingly snotty lo-fi sensibilities of Pavement. In other words, Saintseneca are quintessential college rock.  Continue reading →