Goodbye Dyna's "Colour Out of Space"

As promised last week, here’s part two of the August roundup of releases by Central Oregon musicians. We’ll start with the already released holdovers from last week, then move into previews of some upcoming albums and EPs. If I missed you this time around, drop me a line at brian.mcelhiney@gmail.com. With that out of the way, it’s time to make some room in your playlists.

John St. Just, “Indigo,” self-released in May

Best known among local music aficionados as the lead singer/songwriter/producer for Bend rock group All You All, John Has-Ellison returns with the second EP from his solo project, John St. Just. “Indigo,” the follow-up to 2018’s “Burgundy,” features four tracks composed, performed and produced in their entirety by Has-Ellison (with the exception of “When I Die,” written by E. Tickner).

Building on “Burgundy” and All You All, the EP oozes confidence both in the production work and the instrumental performances. This is clear immediately on opener “Rodeo,” which gradually layers sounds and harmony vocals on top of a clean guitar skeleton until exploding into a full-band chorus.

“La La Love” is perhaps the most immediate song here, calling back to indie rock’s ’80s and ’90s heydays with updated tricks and treats for the 21st century. Indeed, each song carries the DNA of rock ’n’ roll past, especially the minor-key dirge of the closer, “Baby Blue,” but with enough modern twists to keep listeners guessing.

Jay Tablet, “Believe in Me” and “Detail,” ZonkedOut Music, June

Busy Bend rapper Jay Tablet continues his steady stream of single releases with two new bangers. “Believe in Me” rides a bouncy, upbeat backing track from DJ Fatboy and features a vocal spot from Marcus Cain and a rapped verse from fellow ZonkedOut squad member Amsterdam. The track works as a slinky summer jam, but the defiant lyrics and attitude take this cut a cut above the typical sun-and-fun fodder.

On “Detail,” Tablet teams up with R&B crooner Keegan Smith for a slow burn that hooks in hard for the final verse. Tablet and Smith again imbue the lyrics with the personal as they “pay attention to every single detail.” The easy-going beat builds to Smith’s final verse, in which the narrator is “left to right all (his) wrongs.”

Gravewitch, “Circle of Power,” From the upcoming album, “The Summoning,” due Aug. 19

Since last checking in on Bend thrash/black metal hybrid Gravewitch, the band gained and shed a bassist (busy metal scene stalwart Brandon Self) and continued its slow spread across the Pacific Northwest with appearances at various festivals and one-off shows. In 2018, the duo — guitarist/vocalist Chris Fleming and drummer Andrew Ingraham — released a demo EP, “Forgotten,” but its long-promised debut album was still M.I.A.

The wait will soon be over. “Circle of Power,” the first single from the upcoming “The Summoning,” contains all the hallmarks that put this duo a couple of notches above most metal groups working a similar sound: ferocious yet still intelligible vocals, meticulous attention to songwriting craft, powerful drumming and of course, deference to the almighty riff.

The duo dropped a music video (youtube.com/watch?v=SoXB fp_4Prc&fbclid) for the track earlier this week directed by Tom Hughes. The black-and-white clip features — what else? — a Salem-style witch burning with a twist that I won’t spoil here.

Travis Ehrenstrom Band, “Selections,” coming Aug. 28

Sisters singer-songwriter Travis Ehrenstrom hit the road last year for his Our Creative States project, in which he attempted to write a song inspired by every state in the U.S. His trip was cut short due to logistical and travel issues on the East Coast, and he and his family returned to Central Oregon just in time for the state to lock down due to the novel coronavirus.

During the downtime, he recorded six of the songs he managed to complete on his cross-country journey, working with bandmates across the world from various home studios. (The drums were recorded by Jose Luis Martinez in Malaga, Spain, with auxiliary percussion tracked by Alex Acosta in Costa Rica; regular bassist Patrick Pearsall also features.) You wouldn’t know it from listening; the tracks sound pristine and carry a full-band energy that was missing from Ehrenstrom’s rough project demos.

Ehrenstrom does a fine job of embodying the spirit and sounds of the places he visited in his songwriting. It’s easy to guess that the sunny, spritely “Bombay Beach Club” was written in California, or that the swamp-blues of “Shoveling Coal” was inspired by West Virginia. Those two are perhaps the strongest tracks here, showcasing the range of sounds Ehrenstrom is capable of putting across.

Closer “Beginning of the Day” is another highlight. The folk-y track (inspired by South Carolina) contains one of the strongest earworm hooks on the EP, one that will stick in your consciousness long after the final notes fade.

Appaloosa, “Rough Cuts,” coming Aug. 31

Longtime Bend country group Appaloosa follows up last year’s live set, “Appaloosa Live!,” with “Rough Cuts.” Once again the principal members, songwriters/vocalists/guitarists Dottie and Eli Ashley, are backed with a full band, and they take it up a notch from the live album while still maintaining their rough-and-tumble edges.

Initially recorded at the band’s home studio as a demo, the album was mixed and mastered at Central Oregon Recording with help from engineer Matthew Fletcher, who also handles percussion. Bassist Steve Jensen and guitarist Dan Crossman return from the live album, adding muscle and texture to these often endearing yet thought-provoking songs.

The material splits evenly between Dottie and Eli, with the singers trading off songs and juxtaposing their unique voices. Dottie kicks things off with “Electric 109,” the tale of a woman bucking sexism on the rodeo circuit. Eli’s songs tend toward the historical on “Mississippi Rising” and, closer to home, “The Hanging Noose,” a darkly comedic tale of a crooked water-rights scheme in Tumalo.

The band’s best moments come when the songwriters are at their most vulnerable. Eli’s breakup song “Red Caboose” rides a fitting freight-train rhythm with some particularly ragged and effective guitar work from Crossman, with the studio banter at the end adding to the loose atmosphere. Dottie shines on “Redemption,” a solo number that looks back on life “north of 60, south of heaven,” per the press release announcing the album. It’s the most touching performance here, and a tale anyone of any age can relate to.

Ian Cook, “Ian Cook and the Brightest Light,” coming Sept. 18

Larry and His Flask and Woebegone frontman/guitarist/songwriter Ian Cook steps into the spotlight on his upcoming, debut solo album. While the project is titled “Ian Cook and the Brightest Light,” Cook is responsible for all sounds on the album; he recorded the tracks in the first two months of the pandemic lockdown, he said.

Cook always wanted to record a solo album, but was never able to find the time to work on it, he said. With a pandemic affording just that, he was able to go back through his extensive back-catalog of songs to find material that was “stylistically so personal that it couldn’t be part of any other musical project.”

Expect the first single, “Just for Fun,” to drop before the album is released. The song features lush production with hints of ‘70s rock and pop, while still maintaining Cook’s immediately recognizable voice and songwriting sensibilities.

“It’s a lot more of a mellower record than the usual stuff that I’m associated with,” Cook said. “(It’s) less of a rock record like Woebegone, and definitely doesn’t really have any punk elements in it as all as far as the Flask influence or anything like that. It’s more of an indie pop record or an indie rock record, like acoustic indie pop kind of stuff. … It’s the easiest-listening stuff I’ve ever probably written.”

Goodbye Dyna, “Colour Out of Space,” from the upcoming album, “Badlands,” coming in fall

Multi-talented musician Andy Jacobs, known for work with Subliminal, The Color Study, Beatles cover band Magical Mystery Four and others, returns to his long-running songwriting vehicle-turned-full band Goodbye Dyna for “Colour Out of Space.”

The single is a prelude to a full-length album of songs based on the works of science fiction heavyweight H.P. Lovecraft, and perfectly captures the author’s dark sense of foreboding. Switching between proggy, Pink Floyd-esque verses and crushing choruses, the song builds to a rollicking climax before cutting all the way back to Jacobs’ solitary, eerie whisper.