Dolorean, The Nice Boys

[November 2nd, 2005]

^Dolorean sunday, nov. 6

Folky Alex James and tourmate Damien Jurado depress the Irish.

[FOLK] Seattle's Damien Jurado is the king of sad-bastard folk, a strain of song that celebrates the miseries in life in an aurally pleasing manner. So when he asked Portland's own troubadour of trouble Alex James, above, and his outfit Dolorean to tour Europe, well, it was a match made in purgatory, I guess. The two donned the name Dolo-rado, recorded covers of each other's songs on a split 7-inch and jumped the pond. We caught up with James by email in Vigo, Spain, to see how it all was panning out. MARK BAUMGARTEN.

WW: You chose one of Jurado's earlier songs, "Ghost of David," for the 7-inch. Why?

Alex James: I've always loved his "Ghost of David" track and especially the whole Ghost of David album. It's basically his hate letter to Sub Pop at the time, and in spite of the frustrating homespun production there are some amazing songs on the record. On his original, the song stays very restrained and never really opens up. I always wanted it to open up at the end, and so when we recorded it we made the ending last about four minutes, turning a two-minute song into a six-minute crescendo that finally resolves on the last couple measures.

What do you think of Jurado's cover of "Traded for Fire"?

I loved the way he played it. He had Rosie Thomas sing with him on it. Somehow he was able to make it even more bleak and brutal.

Are the Europeans worried about you guys?

I got into a massive argument with a guy in Dublin the other night. He came up and started saying he had a masters in philosophy from Holy Cross, and he started criticizing the songs that we had played that night. He was a complete arrogant prick, and I argued with him for almost an hour about why Damien and I write the sort of songs that we do and how they don't obsess on the negative or the pain in the world, but put into words the experiences that we all share. His brilliant suggestion was more jokes in between songs.

Do you and Damien get drunk and wrestle? Who wins?

Damien is straight-edge, so I've never seen him drink anything but Cokes. He could take me, though. Anyone on this tour could take me—I'm a lover.

Can you give us a snippet of something you're working on?

"In my still life, your face in the fruit appears, you're everywhere baby/ On my bike ride, your hips are the hills, I can't escape you lately." It's sort of like that scene in The Naked Gun, right?

Dolorean and Jurado play with Tenlon's Fort at Berbati's Pan. 9:30 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.

^The Nice Boys Monday, Nov. 7

Portland power popsters are far from finishing last.

[POWER POP] If what they say is true about nice boys finishing last, nobody told this charming new Rose City quartet. In its brief months of existence, the Nice Boys have issued a fast-selling single of chiming, sizzling power-pop, played some high-profile shows to garner a strong following and touched off a minor indie-label bidding war. That's the type of ascent that takes lesser (and perhaps not-so-nice) bands years, if not decades, to achieve.

The Nice Boys feature vocalist-guitarist Terry Six and members of the Riffs. The group's debut Discourage Records single, "You Won't See Me Anymore," backed with "Lipstick Love" (yes, it's on 7-inch vinyl only), is an irrepressible garage-pop gem reminiscent of such hard-edged bubblegum hit-makers as the Move, Nick Lowe, Faces and, well, the Exploding Hearts, Six's last band of starry-eyed punkers.

That band came to a tragic end in July 2003 when its tour van rolled off I-5 on an all-night drive, killing the group's three other members. After an understandable break from playing music, Six launched into his new endeavor quickly. Without even taking time to build a full band, he sang and played both guitar and drums on the debut single before enlisting pals from the Riffs to flesh things out. The quartet's songs revisit the sugar-desperate three-chord simplicity of late-'70s neo-mod artist the Records, much of the British New Wave style of Stiff Records bands, as well as the glitzy glam of the Sweet. It's a style of songwriting that is deceptively simple but requires considerable talent to pen songs infectious enough to get stuck in listeners' heads. Thus far, the Nice Boys' collection of tunes has proven truly contagious.

Only a few weeks ago after playing a late-night showcase, the Nice Boys inked a deal with upstart indie label Birdman Records (home of the Boredoms and "buzz band" fuzz-pop groups the Warlocks, the Gris Gris and the Cuts) and have already begun production on their debut album. As nice boys go, these four seem to consistently finish pretty far ahead of the pack. DAVE CLIFFORD.

The Nice Boys open for the Detroit Cobras and Reigning Sound at Sabala's at Mount Tabor. 9:30 pm. Cover. 21+.