Neon Culpa is an alternative indie-rock outfit of Portland, one of the city's most raw, but also refined and melodically purposeful power-pop acts, with elements found in bands such as the New Pornographers and Built to Spill, in terms of their indie-electric stylings, as well as Wilco, with their country-tinged clean leads, and Cake and Spoon, with catchy horn lines that manage to avoid gimmick or redundancy in an astonishing manner, give that the style of music is otherwise not one typically associated with dense, regular trombone and trumpet arrangements. Defined by an exhilarating, freewheeling energy that is balanced with a self-conscious, but very expressive thematic wittiness, with reflective lyrics that offer different potential levels of depth, depending on the listener and how much they want out of the song…so the aim of these ideological sonic trippers, one might say, is to make music that can make people dance, think and ponder reflectively, or do both at the same...
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Neon Culpa is an alternative indie-rock outfit of Portland, one of the city's most raw, but also refined and melodically purposeful power-pop acts, with elements found in bands such as the New Pornographers and Built to Spill, in terms of their indie-electric stylings, as well as Wilco, with their country-tinged clean leads, and Cake and Spoon, with catchy horn lines that manage to avoid gimmick or redundancy in an astonishing manner, give that the style of music is otherwise not one typically associated with dense, regular trombone and trumpet arrangements. Defined by an exhilarating, freewheeling energy that is balanced with a self-conscious, but very expressive thematic wittiness, with reflective lyrics that offer different potential levels of depth, depending on the listener and how much they want out of the song…so the aim of these ideological sonic trippers, one might say, is to make music that can make people dance, think and ponder reflectively, or do both at the same time, a soul-stirring adventure that brings you up and down at the same time.
The band is the result of a long series of musical journeys and overlapping paths, founded by singer-songwriter and guitarist Charlie Barker IV, and now includes brass player and vocalist Heidi Aispuro--the two being a love-interest who effectively front the band--bassist Eric Speiring, lead guitarist Aaron Byers, recently joined by drummer Evan Gutt. They have throughout 2015 and now into the new year played such local venues as the Doug Fir Lounge, Star Theater, Dante's, Aladdin Theater, the Liquor Store, and numerous others, slowly making a name for themselves in the scene.