Radiation rock

My initial spin of Animals in the Median, the sophomore album by Portland’s Radiation City, happened in the early morning hours after what was, I’ll be honest, a probably-too-late spring evening out downtown the night before.

As I was driving through Multnomah Village, taking note of the long lines of Portlanders also looking for the panacea of a greasy breakfast and mimosa pairing, I found my spirits buoyed almost immediately by the summer-barbecue quality of the lead off track, “Zombies.”

“So Long,” the next track, continued the good vibes with an indelible chorus, swirling surf guitar and vintage organ flourishes.

Animals in the Median is a focused effort from a band with a lot of disparate qualities. Radiation City’s most recent effort is anchored by drummer Randy Bemrose, whose kinetic style gives the band the ability to blend styles ranging from straight-ahead indie rock to more diverse, almost bossa nova-like, rhythms on tracks like “Foreign Bodies” and “Food.”

The band gets much of its signature sound from dual female vocals, evident in haunting fashion on the ethereal track “Wary Eyes.”

Radiation City is just the latest in a long list of bands (see Typhoon and Y La Bamba) from Portland label Tender Loving Empire to create a national buzz with solid yet inspired songwriting.

Interestingly enough, each of the TLE bands seem to share the ability to blend sounds from various genres, pair them with sincere and earnest vocals and lyrics and employ a variety of multi-instrumentalists.

The quality and popularity of their acts has helped make the Tender Loving Empire label something of a tastemaker among Portland music fans.

I strongly suggest picking up their annual compilation, affordable and always a good snapshot of what’s going on in the Portland music scene in a given year.

I remember picking up Typhoon’s debut LP Hunger and Thirst at the Tender Loving Empire storefront (at 412 SW 10th Ave.) shortly after its 2010 release, and it would have seemed inconceivable at the time to hear that they would be performing on the Late Show with David Letterman less than two years later.

It’s not hard to imagine Radiation City enjoying the same kind of success in the years to come.

The winner of Willamette Week’s Best New Band prize in 2012, Radiation City has been covered by outlets ranging from Time magazine to NPR to Daytrotter.com.

In Animals in the Median, the band has refined its signature sound with delicate layers of harmonies, multiple instruments and lush string arrangements set against distinct pop sensibilities.

Even more importantly, Animals documents a band at the peak of its powers and demonstrating significant growth since their first two releases—they display more inventive song structures and an even greater variety of musical textures.

Animals is a record with a great deal of range, both musically and emotionally.

I began this review with a description of just how exuberant the one-two punch of “Zombies” and “So Long” is as a listening experience, so it only seems fitting to conclude with a description of the meditative closing track, “Call Me.”

Built around a simple, understated guitar riff, “Call Me” begins to evolve as the lead vocal emerges accompanied by more guitar tracks and a hypnotic synthesizer riff.

The track ends as it began, with a lone vocal track and simple guitar riff, and fades out into a soundscape of frogs evocative of a relaxing summer evening spent outdoors.

“Call Me” is an excellent closer to the well-drawn emotional arc that makes Animals an engaging listening experience as a whole, as opposed to being just another album with only a handful of tracks that warrant repeat listens.

Animals in the Median will be officially released on May 21 and should be considered essential listening for all serious Portland music fans.

Those looking to catch a glimpse of Radiation City’s glowingly reviewed live act can catch a free in-store performance at Music Millenium on Tuesday, May 21.