Portland’s Indie rock band Guitar continues to make heavy waves in the underground music scene with their fearlessly experimental, ever-evolving sound. Fusing elements of 90’s slacker rock, post-punk and beatmaking, Guitar accomplishes multitudes, challenging their audience to think harder about what they actually need from music. The answer is that they need more Guitar. In his book The Trial, Franz Kafka said, “From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.” These words ring true as Guitar releases their second and most powerful LP to date, We’re Headed to the Lake, available this fall from Julia’s War.

 

 

My first impression of him was “this lord has presence”. Tall and vaguely aristocratic, maybe 4th generation in exile. Reserved, lanky, slightly sly. Spacey and wise Aquarius vibes. We cruised to the bar immediately and drank a few tequila and pineapple. He’s affiliated with the bafflingly named DEATH METAL FLORIDA crew of Bellingham lords Careen, AZ POWER which have cells up and down the West Coast. His tunes are rustic and baroque folk rock ballads. Tightly constructed, well organized, lotsa of chords and nary a stray progression. Mostly piano, acoustic guitar, and a vulnerable tenor with a nice waver. There’s a paranoid sorrow to the songs, weary but restless. His album cover shows him running through a dark corridor, but it doesn’t feel like fleeing. Just a constant twist through the maze of the heart, much like the songs. Turn the corner and you hit C#m: Passionate and deep, evoking sorrow, grief, despair, and self-punishment. I gather these tracks were recorded solo, alone, at home and coupled with the Tascam 38 tape glow brings to mind the Brit folk moves of Tony Molina, if maybe more jazzy Canterbury than hit factory Liverpool. Chandler closed the evening on piano and voice, his ballads of toil and tenderness echoing nicely off the musty basement couches. Afterwards we went and got fried chicken and more tequila and went deep on our favorite Zappa albums. OBC Feb 2025, East Jefferson County.