PAC NW Presents... Candy Cigarettes, Dreamcatchr & Colorworks @ Kelly's Olympian

June 28, 2016 / Lacey Chastain

PAC NW Presents... Candy Cigarettes//dreamcatchr//Colorworks @ Kelly's Olympian, 6/21/16

TUESDAY, June 21 2016--Earlier this week, I headed to one of my favorite dives in SW Portland, Kelly's Olympian. A dark, motorcycle-clad little hole in the wall on Washington Avenue, this place has been the site of some of my favorite shows in PDX. This night would be a special treat, as it was the first time I was able to catch our Seattle Artist Members--Colorworks and friends dreamcatchr--joined by Rip City's own Candy Cigarettes.

The first thing that struck me was the energy in the room, which was by no means packed to the gills, but had a notably generous turnout for a Tuesday night. Avidity. No random drunk stragglers jello shooting their way through downtown like on your average weekend; tonight the intention was music and music only. Okay, maybe a couple beers, too. But mostly music.

First up was Colorworks. I watched them take the stage from a distant table and was taken aback by their melodic coolness--it was like watching a four-headed beast spawned from the loins of The Zombies and Elvis Costello--a comparison solidified by their unblemished cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me". They sailed through their set with dreamy charisma, swooning harmonies, and a chiming reverb. The relationship between drums and bass was so strikingly in-tune, reading one another and maintaining steady eye contact as if they were keeping a secret from us.

Required listening: "Daydreams" off of their new EP "Dreams of Mangoes".

Find it here: https://colorworks.bandcamp.com/track/daydreams

Next was dreamcatchr, a five-piece indie superclan. I'm gonna start by saying, Shannon WAILS. Between their undeniable chemistry as a group, stacked guitars, thumping bass, perfectly sugar-dusted vocals, and taut drumbeats, they create an expertly calculated neon pop sound that warrants every meaning of the word FUN.

Required listening: "Friends" off if their latest, "Night Terrors".

Find it here: https://dreamcatchr.bandcamp.com/

Closing it out was Portland's Candy Cigarettes, comprised solely of Lane Mueller--a one-man beat laboratory, this evening joined with live percussion. Despite the physical barrenness left on a stage with only two people and a macbook atop it, there was absolutely no lack of fullness in sound, which in my humble comparison bore the same equanimity as Radiohead's "Idioteque" meets Brian Jonestown Massacre's "Anemone".

Required listening: "My 45" off of the self-titled "Candy Cigarettes".

Find it here: https://soundcloud.com/candycigs

What a damn good night for music!