Death Songs is a band out of Portland, featuring members of that city’s folk-pop outfit The Shaky Hands. “Wounds” is vaguely reminiscent of acts like The Shaky Hands and Quiet Life. It’s full on southern-influenced folk that flirts dually with pop and rock, but keeps its roots close. Their song “Wounds”, which I’ve included below, can be found on the latest PDX Pop Now! compilation, which is now available in mp3 format.

If you noticed an absence of new material on Monday and Tuesday, there’s a reason for that. I took a little bike ride; something called the STP (otherwise known as the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride). It’s a two-day ride spanning a little over 200 miles. I’m now hooked and plan to do two more large rides before summer ends. So seeing the song title “Let’s Go Ride Bikes” by All The Apparatus was all I needed to check out the band.

The stars seemed to align in the 120 year old neighborhood of Brownes Addition in the fair city of Spokane. We had downright miserable weather just a few days prior, but with the 5th Annual Elkfest well underway, it was bright, shining, and thunderous with activity as the big night came upon the thousands of locals who would flock to the neighborhood known for it’s classic homes turned into kitchenette apartments and friendly bungalows.

The merry men (and woman) are back! Jared Mees & The Grown Children somehow found time between touring the nation at an astonishing pace to record their fantastic new album, Only Good Thoughts Can Stay. It’s been almost three years since Jared and the gang shook the world with their acclaimed release Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money and they seem to have calmed a bit since. Their personalized brand of frenzied folk music has been shifted down a few RPM’s to create a less hectic sound. But, …

Early in May, the girlfriend and I drove out to the Pullman/Moscow area in Eastern Washington and Western Idaho. I love this drive, as you see so many distinct types of land, and the weather was near perfect. The reason for this tirade is that we must have listened to “The Honest Truth” by Typhoon about 30 times over that weekend trip.

I initially found it very difficult to write about Jackie-O Motherfucker. After all, I’m a bit of a newcomer to the band, having only really listened to two, maybe three of their albums. And with a total of 15 under their belt since 1995, they have the history and repertoire that is both prolific and highly impressive.

Alameda is a new orchestrated folk outfit based in Portland. The band consists of Stirling Myles (guitar/vocals), Jessie Dettwiler (cello) and Jenn Woodall (clarinet). I gave their first LP, Seasons/Spectres, a good listen and it lines up pretty nicely against many of my favorites from 2010: The Head & The Heart, Hey Marseilles, Seabear, The Migrant. Alameda, however, lacks some of the pop traits of their contemporaries for a heavier (and quite refreshing) emphasis on folk. We here at FensePost are just delighted to premiere their …

Derby has enjoyed a great bit of success since the release of Posters Fade in 2008. Their indie-pop style has been deemed just cool enough to have their single “If Ever There’s A Reason” featured on a couple of Ford Explorer commercials. It is no real surprise that this Portland-based trio has gained a great amount of mass appeal. They are just so damn lovable!

If there were ever a genre-mashing type of music that absolutely needed to become widespread, it would have to be doo wop punk. And no, this not pointed in the direction of the popular ska scene from the 90’s. For a direct reference, please check out W.H. Walker’s triumphant EP SUDS! Never before has the sounds of the 50’s ever seemed to blend so perfectly with, well, anything! In this case, it meshes brilliantly with new age punk. With a good bit of 70’s Superdome …

You know her. You love her. And if you’re anything like me, you probably act like a tween at Justin Bieber concert when you hear she has a new project coming. Or that she might be hitting a city near you alongside her partner in life/art Matt Brown in their world renowned duo Trespassers William. Yes, this is Anna-Lynne Williams. And she is awesome.