The Builders And The Butchers
The old-timey stomp of Portland-based Builders and the Butchers doesn't exactly dismiss their city's reputation as a backwoods loggers' town, but anything this gripping and immediate is an asset to a musical community already awash in brilliant acts like Blitzen Trapper and the Decemberists. Frontman Ryan Sollee's lyrics bend towards the morbid and the religious (dig that skull on their album cover!), and the group crafts an infectious strain of traditional, string-driven folk. The Builders have been getting great word-of-mouth praise for their energetic live shows, where lucky audiences partake in their weird, rousing music. MICHAEL HARKIN
