Top 10 Portland Albums from 2010

It was a great year to be a music fan in Portland. Between the local shows and buzzing national bands touring through town, every night there were multiple concerts I wanted to see. Even more impressive was the abundance of fantastic local albums. This list could have easily been a top 20 and that still would have left off a couple bands I like. However, these 10 stood out as the albums I loved the best and played the most often.

1. Hillstomp - Darker The Night (QC Review)

A two-man wrecking crew that pounds and sweats out the blues with hypnotic guitar riffs, 5-gallon buckets and a country-mile of duct tape.

2. Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto (QC Review)

A funky haze drifts over the album, riding moody psychedelic grooves into hook-laden choruses.

3. Pure Country Gold - Tough Tuesday (QC Review)

A howling and thumping blues punk duo that drag tired blues structures out to the garage to feed them amphetamines and drown them in cheap beer.

4. The Thermals - Personal Life

Consistently making the best pop punk album you’ll hear each year.

5. I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House - Sounds Of Dying (QC Review)

The moan and squall of a harmonica plays foil to charging guitar riffs. Combined with shredded vocals and a pounding drum, it all whips up into a wild batch of rock n' roll.

6. Horse Feathers - Thistled Spring

Gorgeous and delicate melodies, vocals just above a whisper. Perfectly accompanies Portland's seemingly endless cold, gray winter days, and apparently ballet.

7. Boy Eats Drum Machine - Hoop + Wire (QC Review)

Their bouncing hooks and electronic island beats make me smile every time.

8. Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer Of The Void

Mellower than I initially hoped, but the lush harmonies and lyrics about wild and murderous characters won me over.

9. McDougall - Our New Histories (QC Review)

A folk-singing hurricane of a one-man band, pounding out the bottom end on a kick drum and high hat as he powerfully strums his guitar.

10. Guidance Counselor - Guidance Counselor (QC Review)

Sure-to-wake-your-neighbors, dance-beat fiasco tracks with wall-shakin' drums and spastic vocals.

I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House - Sounds Of Dying (2010)

Hey Lucero fans, you probably should go check out Sounds Of Dying. After taking a break for a couple years and putting out three solo albums, Michael Dean Damron has reformed his harder rocking I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House. I love when he sounds a couple rounds deep and a little pissed off. On "Swear To God" Damron wails, straining his gravely voice to the limit, over a crying and crashing guitar. On "Bad Days Ahead", and pretty much the rest of the the album, the moan and squall of a harmonica plays foil to charging guitar riffs. Combined with Damron's shredded vocals and a pounding drum, it all whips up into a wild batch of rock n' roll. But it's not all spit and piss; "Hotter Hell" is a country anthem that briefly looks up from the gutter to see what lies ahead. There is plenty of laments, regrets, and emotional pleas. These are songs for late nights in the bar and in my experience are best consumed with a boiler maker or three.

If you think your liver can handle it, they'll be at the Doug Fir with Two Cow Garage on Sunday, November 14th.

Michael Dean Damron - Father's Day (2009)

I'd be surprised if fans of the Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood and Lucero's Ben Nichols aren't immediately drawn to Portland's similarly scratchy-voiced Michael Dean Damron and his barroom folk songs of heartbreak and regret. I also hear a lot of Steve Earle's simultaneously world-weary and rebellious attitude. He seems to aspire (and fit) Earle's definition of a "Hard Core Troubadour", a song referenced on "I'm A Bastard". Damron's soulful vocals on "Dead Days" mix acceptance and reflection and allow the electric guitar to provide a touch of optimism. Like early Bottle Rocket's albums, black humor runs throughout Father's Day, evident in songs like "Boy With A Car" and "SOS", which could be country punk if he picked up the pace. As usual, I tend to favor the electric guitar and harmonica driven tracks like "Tornado Song", but he does justice to the slower acoustic numbers as well, like a couple of covers of Townes Van Zandt and King Harvest.