Crystal Canyon, Midwestern Medicine, Teenage Tom Petties, Ladybrain

The Wiltshire, England and (!) Portland, Maine-based jangle punks reunite on our side of the pond— an occasion worth celebrating with a who’s who of local cross-genre rock.

Local shoegazers Crystal Canyon return to live shows in Portland for the first time in over two years. Their most recent release “Stars and Distant Light” broke into the national NACC Top 200 this past year at #84. Critically acclaimed by publications such as Big Takeover Magazine, Crystal Canyon promises to take you on a sonic and dreamy trip with shimmering guitars and angelic harmonies.

Midwestern Medicine combines the quirky and frenzied songs of Brock Ginther (of Divorce Cop, Lemon Pitch, and King Pedestrian) and the powerhouse rhythm section of McCrae Hathaway and Brian Saxton (of Whale Oil). Influenced by the sincere surreality of Guided by Voices and the wry caricatures of The Kinks, Ginther’s songwriting ranges from wordy comic narratives to scathingly self-deprecative manifestos. Wrapped around the band’s urgent, melodic music, the result resembles Pavement at their most manic, or an 80’s punk variation on the psychedelic character acting of Ween.

Teenage Tom Petties is a slacker indie punk band split between Wiltshire, England and Portland, Maine, USA. Created by vocalist and guitarist Tom Brown, (also of the jangle pop duo Rural France), Teenage Tom Petties features Jim Quinn on bass, Galen Richmond and James Brown on guitar, and Jeff Hamm on drums.

Teenage Tom Petties (2022), the band’s debut album—a co-release by U.K. label Safe Suburban Home and U.S. label Repeating Cloud—is a low-fi, DIY recording inspired by Brown’s early love of bands like The Lemonheads and Guided by Voices. The band’s second full-length release, Hotbox Daydreams, recorded at Big Nice Studio in Providence, R.I., takes a more cynical perspective on ‘90s teen nostalgia as it verges into impending adulthood. The third album by Teenage Tom Petties – and confusingly their second self-titled record – sees Brown return to the bedroom recording techniques of the 2022 debut, pursuing a similar powerpop sound. A 4th album, recorded again with the full band at Big Nice is scheduled for release late in 2025.

Ladybrain is a Portland rock outfit with guts & heart.