May 1, 2026

We’ve got lots of big news coming up!

May is our first ever pledge drive!

A lot of you may not know it but we’re a fuckin’ 501(c)(3) non-profit and that means we rely a lot on your donations to keep this thing going. A large part of our mission is to pay bands fairly but still keep events accessible (meaning cheeep!) and that’s where you come in.

Our newest program (and what we are trying to fund with this drive) is called UnMuted. Its goal is to raise the visibility of queer and women-led punk(etc) bands in our region. In the music and arts community creativity has pretty much always been synonymous with diversity. This has certainly been true over the more than ten year life of Volume Bomb.

Even still, queer and women led bands have a harder time finding purchase in the largely straight/cis/male dominated realms of aggressive music like punk rock, metal, hardcore and "other musical forms underground".

UnMuted’s first official event will be Sat, July 4: Pride @ Full Volume, an all ages, free-to-attend, afternoon/evening block party on the 2500 block of SE Clinton (Dot's/Clinton St Theater block). With two stages, we’ll be alternating between queer & women-led bands on one and Portland style Drag on the other.

We'll also have a fashion show that afternoon and as the sun goes down we'll vibe-shift to a dance party inside Dot's. A lot of donations will go to fund this event but that's not all. Going forward we hope to offer UnMuted workshops with local creative minds sharing their knowledge, experiences and resources around playing live music in the PNW. We want to be able to create more free events around town that showcase our community's queer and women artists. We'd also like to go back to our roots - putting out compilation records, and feature an UnMuted comp.

This fund drive is going to culminate with a fancy Gayla, May 29th at Swan Dive (727 SE Grand). We’ll have music from Creature Party, a silent auction, signature cocktails, nosh and lots of fun. Check out the website for deets!

And now, without further ado, the LOUD -

Record Reviews

Note: we use our own completely original and made up on the spot metric for rating music but it is also a 100% objectively accurate.

Merwulf Flexi Disc-
available for preorder

Minimalist post-punkish trio from PDX. When I started listening, I honestly thought I was it was gonna skew towards depression but this record is genuinely funny and a damn good time

Will this cause a spontaneous dance party?

Yes, you’ll want to dance but you’ll also have to stop and demand people listen to the lyrics cause they’re legit funny (or devastating)

If I take a valium and go for a walk while listening to it does it feel like I’m solving a mystery?

Can confirm. 100%.

Am I crying cause there’s a sad song about a cat?

Yes, yes I am. I’ll go back to listening to my typical blast beats and guttural screams after I find a kleenex and go snuggle the closest animal I can find

Beelzebabes - singles ‍

Honky tonkin rock n roll from ashes of the Streakin Healys

How likely is the singer to ruin your hot tub?

Listen, Healy and I go way back and I can’t blame him, but this is definitely the music running through someone’s mind while they ruin your hot tub

So, these are drinking songs?

Minus one bomb for introspection

How likely is the bar to sing along?

These songs are built around a drunken bar yelling along with the chorus

The Generals - The Devil You Know

Gasoline guzzling riffage outta PDX, they’ve been around fora bit and are always a damn good time

Paging Shreddy Kruger your Riffs Are Here?

Skeedly leee da da da weeeee (feedback sounds)

How likely are you to get a speeding ticket?

This isn’t Jesus Built My Hot Rod level of risk, but this record is meant for doing burnouts and running from the law

Will listening to this make a mustache spontaneously grow on face?

Yeah, but like a trucker mustache

Apr 1, 2026

Hey folks! This is the first of our monthly newsletters where we will be sharing upcoming events and reviewing records. If you want these directly in your inbox, there’s a subscribe button at the bottom of this post.

We’ve got a bunch of fun stuff coming up as the weather gets better including some new events. First off, we’ve got our annual Halfway to Halloween Party May 2nd at the Twilight hosted by local standup personality and awesome visual artist Jess Bushnell.

May is also our first annual fundraising month! This year, most of the money raised will go to fund our new program UnMuted which specifically focuses on showcasing queer and women led bands. This fund drive will culminate with a fancy Gayla May 29th at Swan Dive (727 SE Grand Ave.)

We’re excited as all get out to share this information with you. Now check out these records!

Record Reviews

Note: we use our own completely original and made up on the spot metric for rating music but it is also a 100% objectively accurate.

Jet Hag Flexi Disc-
available 4/1 on Hovercraft Records

Jet Hag (Portland) is a garage punk 3-piece and the short version of this is that they fucking rip and I’m so excited for their full length to come out. This is snotty and frantic and exactly what I need more of.

(disclaimer: I play in band with their bass player Jessica so I’m biased, but they’re so damn good I’m gonna flatter the shit out of them in this review and I don’t care about cOnfLictS oF INteRest)

Will you think you were dancing until someone steps on your hand?

This is the soundtrack to that kinda night where you think you’re gonna take it easy and just watch the bands, and all of sudden you come to laying on the floor and someone is helping you up asking if you’re okay

Should you skip it if it comes on during a makeout session??

Listen, it’s a 2 song flexi disc and if you’re spinning singles while trying to kiss that’s on you for bad planning, but I would 100% ghost a person who didn’t like Jet Hag

Would Jet Hag help you bury a body?

I fully believe that Jet Hag would bury a body out in the woods, but whether that’s helping you, or burying you, is a question I am unable to answer for you specifically my dear reader. I recommend being nice to them

The Misery Three - Doomed Demos‍ ‍

The Misery Three (Olympia) deal out a mix of garage and proto metal with some surf and western vibes that checks a lot of my boxes

Is this clearly some weirdos passion project?

These tracks were clearly made by a bunch of weirdos with a variety of styles coming together, but it is cohesive and does not feel like like the last gasp of someone's sanity

When Hell is full will this record walk the Earth?

I would love to see this as the soundtrack to a cowboy zombie movie

Will listening to this  start a cascade of bad decisions that will eventually lead to your death?

Halfway through this I started craving MD20/20 and Parliament menthols, but like in a good way

Chaotic Neutral - Demo

Chaotic Neutral is a newer band and if you like your heavy stuff noise and post punk influenced this is gonna be right up your alley. The woman who fronts them has an incredible voice and the band is tight as hell

How helpful will a math degree be?

While they self describe as math and noise rock, this is totally accessible and fairly straight forward. There are some interlocking guitar parts that I kept turning up the volume for on my first listen cause they were so good but you don’t need a math degree to enjoy

Makes you want to airbrush a wizard on the side of the van?

This is a bit of a cheat on my part, cause hell, their name is Chaotic Neutral, but as alignment goes I’d probably airbrush a rogue instead of a wizard and sonically this gives me more warlock vibes with its use of dissonance

Can you handle it on psychedelics?

To me this is a solid EP to get wicked high to with just enough space noises to get properly lost in it, but I can see people with misophonia going down a rabbit hole with some of the noise parts

Record reviews!

We want your records so we can hype them up and review them in our newsletter! Are you playing one of our events? Are you trying to? Then we should probably have your songs; give em to me.

For bands that want to make a submission:

1: email keith@volumebomb.com your record (download link, bandcamp download code, the files themselves, or a streaming link) Make sure you include album art and/or a band photo and link to whatever socials you want to include.

OR

2: Mail a physical copy to 521 NE 74th Ste J Portland OR 97213. I can accept vinyl, cassettes, and CDs. Be sure to email any art or links you want included.

3: Make sure you sign up for our mailing list cause that’s how we’re going to publish these