Drunk Dad, Diazepam, Rasputin

All hail Eolian Empire! As Portland turns out a seemingly endless supply of indie pop, folk rock and doom bands, the good folks at this weirdo record label are busy documenting the shadowy corners of the scene. The best band on Eolian Empire's roster is Drunk Dad, a scuzzy quartet that makes some of the nastiest, noisiest heavy music anywhere — as heard on its new album Ripper Killer, an eight-track carpet-bombing of noise rock, grunge, punk and thrash that feels like being punched in the throat nonstop for a half-hour. If that sounds unappealing, also note: Drunk Dad laces its aural assault with enough melody to keep most adventurous listeners, at least, engaged. The results sound like someone shredded the master tapes of Nirvana's Bleach, dragged 'em through a mucky Northwest gutter and then baked 'em until a flaky hate-crust formed. This, folks, is the Portland you don't see on TV and festival stages.