I’m not sure if local transplants What’s Up? really have a question mark at the end of its name. I think it does (the band’s excellent first album, Content Imagination, has one right there on the front of the disc), but I think another punctuation mark is even more accurate in describing the band’s sound: An exclamation point.

The band’s music simply doesn’t sound like anything else coming out of Portland, or anywhere else in the country, really. Finding signifiers is easy—the hyper math rock of Hella or fellow Sacramento dwellers and 8-bit-obsessives the Advantage—but What’s Up? don’t really sound like either of those bands. “Harper” isn’t a dance song as much as an instrumental barnburner, kinda like Battles’ “Atlas” without those annoying manipulated vocal tics; though it’s fine on the first listen, it takes a bit of time and careful listening to really get the beat.

“Harper” also sounds fully formed, which is a bit surprising considering What’s Up is a relatively new product. Formed in 2008 by Robby Moncrieff, What’s Up is now a powerful trio, with Brian Marshall and Teddy Briggs rounding out a lineup that doesn’t leave a lot of room for improvisation. I still haven’t seen ‘em live, but when I do, “Harper” is surely going to be the first song I request.

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Links:
What’s UpSpace

Photo courtesy of What’s Up

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