Nasalrod & Help w/ Zookraught at Polaris Hall
Schedule
Fri, 05 Sep, 2025 at 08:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
635 N Killingsworth Court, Portland, OR, United States, Oregon 97217 | Portland, OR
TICKETS: 🎟 truewest.info/40pqqQXTickets On Sale Now!
This Event is 21+
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Nasalrod:
Described by the legendary Lydia Lunch as “harsh, hard...catchy, weird, arty" and "a very unique blend that defies category,” Portland's Nasalrod is a collaborative vision. The intensity of drummer Spit Stix (a founding member of the seminal L.A. punk band FEAR) is a major driving force behind the ferocious spazz-rock and roll quartet. The band is currently performing its frenetic act in support of their recent split 12" record with Bay Area luminaries Victims Family. This record, entitled In the Modern Meatspace, is currently available in the Alternative Tentacles catalog. The new video for their song "The Maker" features appearances from various punk and metal legends, such as Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Janet Weiss (Quasi), Steve Turner (Mudhoney), Matt Pike (High on Fire), and more.
Armed with a notoriously frantic live show, Nasalrod has found that originality and insanity can go hand in hand. Lead singer Chairman’s sneering, kooky yet soulful vocals soar over a sound that is simultaneously melodic, violent and convulsive. Spit Stix, guitarist Mustin Douch, and bassist Mandy Morgan provide a sonic backdrop that is the demented and freakish heart of the band. Their music has been described by weekinpop.com as “raucous and radically defiant…a party crashing cavalcade of confidence and cavalier fancy".
Help:
Help is the frenzied sound of a broken and collapsing society. In a world overwhelmed by anti-human systems, the Portland punk trio—Ryan Neighbors, Morty, and Bim Ditson—responds with a pro-human ethic: act in defiant joy, reject fear, refuse domination, and embrace solidarity. “If Ram Dass says: Be Here Now, I say Class War Now,” says Ditson, decrying a world made unlivable by billionaires—though he admits, “meditation is cool though, actually.”
After years in more restrained bands (Portugal. The Man, And And And, Hustle and Drone), the members of Help return to their punk roots, tearing things open to see what’s really inside. They reject a culture co-opted by corporatism and surveillance capitalism, insisting now is the time for a sound that says: “Fuck this shit.”
Help is the band Portland needs—and maybe the rest of the world, too—if we hope to move from the dark age of greed toward a future of mutual aid and collective creativity.
Zookraught:
"High energy. Visceral. Captivating. Down right fun as hell. Zookraught have become Seattle’s dance punk darlings and it’s not long before the rest of the world catches up. The 3 piece, with their psyched-out face markings and freak-punk aesthetic, leave stages covered in sweat, spit, and whatever strange liquids that tend to generate from the crowds they have converted to the power of the Zook. Their new album VIDA VIOLET, out independently on September 19th, features their unforgettable sound, top-tier skills, charming demeanor and their tightest performances yet. It's no surprise they were included in Global Rock Underground’s “Best of the Northwest 2024.”
