Sir Sly

The underground music scene in Portland, Oregon is exploding at the seams. When it comes to the radio, aside from everyone’s closet desire to hear the occasional Weezer throwback jams, Beastie Boys, or maybe some Nirvana, it isn’t often that one needs to flip over to corporate broadcast radio stations when there are three great options for local non-profit radio with terrific programming (KBOO, KZME and XRAY.FM). However, when that desire to dial in to corporate rock radio does strike, one big new indie pop band you could be on the lookout to hear is Sir Sly.

Before they unveiled their soon-to-be-celeb names, the Los Angeles based trio was, for a time, rumored to be a “darker” offshoot of Foster the People due to a likeness in vocal styling. But they’re totally different dudes. Their debut release, Gold EP, first saw the light of day in February of 2013 and immediately shot Sir Sly to the top of online indie charts. Title track “Gold,” which was featured in an episode of Teen Wolf, is a ballad packed with electronic drum samples, spacy synthesizer, and a catchy vocal hook that elicits imagery of being a rich badass: “My mouth is made of metal. . . Pockets full of gold. . . Chasin’ down the devil. . . I don’t owe you anything.” Hard core dudes, am I right? The EP’s closing track “Ghost” almost verges on the brink of being dubstep, with pulsating sub bass frequencies, but the track stays aligned to the band’s indie pop nature with a head-bobbing beat, cool synth, and gentle vocals.More recently, Sir Sly has released some remixes of their Gold EP, as well as one newer single, “Miracle,” that’s available for free download on their website. Kicking off a two month North American tour in August, the band will make a stop in
the Rose City on August 8 at the Crystal Ballroom for just the second show of a long trip to come. Then again, there’s always Portland’s superb underground music scene for us to fall back on. »