Live Music

June 5

The Ambassador speaks

THE party this week will be at the Crystal Ballroom when festival favorite The Polish Ambassador, aka David Sugalski, rolls into town. The DJ/electronic musician mixes dreamwave, glitch, groove, bassy breaks, downtempo melodies and psychedelic funk. The Ambassador provided us with a lengthy interview, which you can find at the Facebook page for “LiveMusic Portland Tribune.” The PA promotes “permaculture,” efforts to create an environmentally sustainable society, and has harnessed fans to work on various Earth-friendly projects in the communities he’s visited. “Permaculture is really just gardening,” he says. “It’s gardening and working with the Earth in a very sustainable and effective way and realizing the symbiosis that can happen from effective human stewardship.”

The Polish Ambassador, featuring the Liminus Visual Experience, Desert Dwellers, Dirtwire, 8 p.m. Friday, June 5, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside St. $25 in advance, $35 day of show. All ages. Info: 503-225-0047, www.crystalballroompdx.com

June 7

Arbor haze

Provo, Utah’s Neon Trees traffick in hard-driving electro-pop all dressed up in glam and dancing shoes and are out on the road promoting their latest disc “Pop Psychology.”

The record features their platinum single “Sleeping With A Friend” but our money’s on the latest single they’re pushing, “Songs I Can’t Listen To,” which crosses the B-52s with every top-down, wind-blown driving-on-the-open-road moment you’ve had right after your one true love tells you it’s me, not you.

Neon Trees, Alex Winston, Yes You Are, 8 p.m. Sunday, June 7, Wonder Ballroom, 128 N.E. Russell St. All ages. $26.50 in advance, $28 at the door. Info: 503-284-8686, www.wonderballroom.com.

Not your dad’s heavy metal

Wrekmeister Harmonies is the sonic child of Chicago’s J.R. Robinson, whose “It All Came Down” is his second long-form metal composition. On “Down” Robinson explores “existential deterioration and ... a deeper understanding of its process.” Heavy, indeed. Wrekmeister Harmonies also will feature Thor Harris of Swans as well as Robinson’s frequent collaborators Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Pullman), and Esther Shaw.

Wreckmeister Harmonies, Daniel Menche, Brumes, 9 p.m. Sunday, June 7, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave. $12. Info: 503-288-3895, www.mississippistudios.com.

June 8

Stormy leather

Although hard rock rises and falls in mass appeal, there’s a reason it never goes away — we need protein, and whether it’s metal, grunge, blues rock or prog rock, sometimes you just need to have slabs of sound served to you or your muscle mass will melt from lack of meat. Atlanta’s Royal Thunder cooks up a lot of such rock, garnished in psychedelic sauce, and shares this bill with another powerful female-fronted metal band, Halestorm on the Rainy Day Tour. OK, we made that last part up. Get there early to catch California-meets-Zeppelin blues-rock band Rival Sons, all emotive vocals, slammin’ riffs and train-kept-a-rollin’ drumbeats.

Halestorm, Royal Thunder, Rival Sons, Monday, June 8, Roseland Theater, 8 N.W. Sixth Ave. $20, $35. All ages. Info: 855-227-8499, www.roselandpdx.com.

June 9

Doors to dope

L.A.’s Gateway Drugs crosses noise, fuzz, buzz, shoegaze, garage and pop to create a sound that puts cool next to hot, which isn’t lukewarm, more like drinking steaming tea and cold soda back and forth till your brain explodes from caffeine overload. The band features Noa Niles, Liv Niles, Gabriel Niles (children of The Knack’s Prescott Niles) and Blues Williams. They all look as groovy as they sound and are in better shape than you despite probably going to better parties than you.

Gateway Drugs, Love Cop, Melt, Branch Walker, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, Ash Street Saloon, 225 S.W. Ash St. $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Info: 503-226-0430, www.ashstreetsaloon.com.

June 11

Semper fidelity

A gruff-looking ex-Marine from a strict Christian no-rock-’n’-roll upbringing, Jacob Dillan Summers, aka Avid Dancer, frankly admits he didn’t quite get pop music until he started smoking weed in his 20s. So it’s a bit of a shock to hear this guy sing “All Your Words Are Gone,” which is about as sunshiny a pop number as you can hear this side of Brian Wilson. Also check on the InterWeb the Blur-sounding “I Want to See You Dance.”

Avid Dancer, 9:30 p.m. Thursday, June 11, Bunk Bar, 1028 S.E. Water Ave. Info: 503-328-2865, www.bunkbarsandwiches.com.

Quick hits

• Eilen Jewell, reigning Queen of the Minor Key, blends old blues, rockabilly, 1960s rock ‘n’ roll, country and other elements to create her own version of the Americana Dream. You can catch her at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St. $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Parent/guardian must accompany minors. Info: 503-719-6055,

www.albertarosetheatre.com.

• Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein sings, or rather growls “I am living proof that you can right what’s wrong in your head!” on the sludge-meets-hardcore metal band’s latest midtempo axe-tosser “Walk With Knowledge Wisely.” Put an end to what poisons you, headbangers, and catch them with Battlecross, Lord Dying, Proven and Disenchanter at 7 p.m. Monday, June 8, at the Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 S.E. 39th Ave. $16 in advance, $18 day of show. Info: 503-233-7100,

www.hawthornetheatre.com.

• Darkwave, electronica artist William Control (William Francis, the frontman of Aiden) & The Neuromantic Boys join Requiem and Justin Symbol for an all-ages show at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at the Analog Cafe, 720 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. $13 in advance, $15 day of show: Info: 503-206-7439, www.analogpdx.com.