Not even two hours outside of Portland, Eugene is mainly known as a hippie haven or, on a more scholarly note, a college town. As with many college towns around there isn't a lot that's lively or thriving about them outside of academia, but Eugene's a little different. They have the makings of a, albeit small, music scene, and at the forefront of it is one of the most enjoyable fuzzy garage rocks of late. They're a little trio called VCR.

VCR debuted with Season One! last year. Doing what "pilots" are supposed to do, Season One! was the band's introduction, developing each member and their instrumentation like characters in a show. With their latest release Season 2, these elements are further evolved, making for a more developed sound overall.

Season 2 starts with the mid paced lovey-ish ditty "A Walk to Remember" establishes the carefree air of the album, though following track "Next Day" blasts a beginning that jolts the system. Later in the album "Season of the Ball" trickles in as somewhat of a ballad, while "Halloween" is one of the most lively and memberable on the record. 

As a sophomore effort, Season 2 attests to VCR's (hopeful) residency in the Pacific Northwest scene.

 Last year, the first round of Jeff's Plasma Blast rolled out to overwhelming success. Its venue, the American Legion up on Alberta, filled to capacity as tickets sold like the hottest of cakes. The mini fest was started by the surfy psych band Skelevision, formally known as Thong. Since the second installment happens this Friday, we exchanged some words with Skelevision drummer Philip Zevenbergen on names, lineups and Plasma Blast details, like how it'll also be the band's release show for their new full length Inside The Horror and tour kickoff...

The Deli Portland: How did the band end up settling on Skelevision for the name change, from the former name Thong?

Philip Zevenbergen: It kind of just became this name that got thrown around in our desperate attempt to ditch Thong. Some weird names were considered. Chemical X (like the powerpuff girls), Warped Tape, and The Shrimpers were all top contenders for a while, but ultimately Skelevision just rolled off the tongue better and was more fitting to our sound.

The name Skelevision specifically came about out of my boredom of working at Wunderland Nickle Arcade. I would often combine random prefixes with objects I'd see around the room, "skele" and an arcade game with "vision" in the title stuck out one day and I wrote it down.

Speaking of names, how did the name for Jeff's Plasma Blast itself come about?

I am a huge fan of David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986). Throughout the film Jeff Goldblum, who plays the lead role of a scientist who becomes a gross monster fly, refers to jumping into the "plasma pool". I found that to be real silly and Jeff's celebration of the plasma pool just seemed like a good name for a music fest for some reason. Originally, it was Jeff's New Years Plasma Blast when we did it in December of 2016. We just dropped the "New Years" and picked up the "2.0" and there ya have it.

What was your process for selecting the lineup for Plasma Blast 2.0?

Well, it started with just asking some bands I am close with about hopping on so I could have a good baseline of acts before reaching out to headliners. Once I had my baseline, I reached out to some more of the scene leaders about getting on, people who have been around longer in the Portland scene and have some street cred from touring or having a notable label. Once that was taken care of, I shifted into getting the headliners which was easily the hardest, most time consuming, and stressful part of the whole show. A lot of agents will lead you on and throw you back and forth on how the likely the headliner you want will take the money you've offered. However Mean Jeans and Walter TV have both been pleasures to work with and so have their agents. We are stoked to have them playing the festival and even more stoked that we get to hit Eugene the next day with Walter TV again.

Is there any particular artist(s) whose sets you're really looking forward to?

I'm most excited to see The Fabulous Downey Brothers. We played with them at the BIG BLDG BASH this year and we were totally blown away. They are going to have a crowd of totally fresh faces and I know they'll tear the house down.

I'm also stoked to see Mannequin, who are opening the festival as this will be their first show. They look like some girls who are gonna kick some serious ass.

Why did you decide to have the event be all-ages and one day long, versus spanning over two days?

When you span it over two days, you have to get the twice the artists. I see it this way only because I am a believer in the short, around 20 minute long set. Show us what you got and get off. To have the amount of artists we are having in Jeff's 2.0 would require 40 minute sets from each band over the two days. I think less people would pay attention to entire sets and the show would move a lot slower. I love this set up because it's going to pack a punch. The music will just keep going and changing rapidly, which is great for a young, unfocused mind like mine. Plus, having it be all ages was a no brainer. You don't have to be 21 to love good music, that's just silly.

You've mentioned to me how Skelevision is now a three piece. How did losing Carlo affect the writing process?

After our first tour the band came to the agreement that we wanted to move forward as a three piece without Carlo. While having to seperate ourselves from him was not something we were super happy to have to do, it really tightened us a band. Our writing sessions feel tighter and more focused on making the core structures of our songs more interesting and I think people have been really appreciating it. People are always telling us how much better of a band we are since we waddled into the Analog over a year ago for our first show. We all wish Carlo could have stuck around, but ultimately our separation with him has been better for both him and us.

What inspired some of the songs/the concept of the new album?

The lyric "Inside The Horror" specifically comes from the second track on the album, "The Sheets." The whole idea of being surrounded by horror but that we're maybe safe if we hide under our bed sheets is the visual we are playing with on our album cover. The whole album holds our psychedelic lo-fi beginnings but also mixes in our newer more punk and horror influence. I think the blend of it all came out really nicely. 

What city are you most looking forward to playing on tour and why?

Tijuana! Derek H. of On Drugs told me that it would be the most stressful and thrilling city to play, but also the most memorable and exciting too. That has me really pumped. Also, just getting to go play in Mexico is such a treat!

Doors for Jeff's Plasma Blast 2.0 are at 2:30, with music starting sharply at 3pm. Tickets are still available and reentry to the fest is allowed all day, so be sure to come early!

Melt has got a grip of good shit in the works, including an upcoming EP and a near 20 day West Coast tour, starting with their tour kick off next week on the 30th at the Liquor Store. Seeing them off properly will be Ah God, VCR and, with one of the greatest band names probably ever, EBT BBQ. 

To even more delight, we're sharing a fresh new track off Melt's upcoming release. "Black Gold" is a quick diddy that rides on a more mellow, almost 60's era melody with an incredibly catchy hook. With a run time of just about 2 minutes, it'll leave you wishing it was twice that long for sure.

If you got any plans to travel before summer is officially over, glance over Melt's tour dates while you check out "Black Gold" below. [House show info can likely be found by asking-a-punk or a social media search]

8/30 Portland, OR at The Liquor Store

9/1 Tacoma, WA at The New Frontier Lounge

9/2 Seattle, WA at a house show

9/3 Portland, OR at a house show

9/4 Eugene, OR at a house show

9/5 Chico, CA at a house show

9/6 San Fransisco at venue TBA

9/7 Santa Cruz CA at Crepe Place

9/8 San Luis Obispo, CA at venue TBA

9/9 Highland Park, CA at GnarBurger (matinee set)

9/9 Los Angeles, CA at Church of Fun

9/10 Tucson, AZ at La Cocina

9/11 Phoenix, AZ at Lost Leaf

9/12 Las Vegas, NV venue TBA 

9/13 San Diego, CA 

9/14 Los Angeles, CA at The Hi Hat

9/15 San Fransisco, CA at venue TBA

9/18 Portland, OR at Angelo's

When former members of BRAINSTORM, Wampire and Blouse creatively combine with parts of Fog Father, you get an indelibly lo-fi, twee, garage pop-like sound à la a cocktail of Cults, Beach House and Ariel Pink that is impossible not to lovingly drink up. That cocktail comes by the name of Portland group Reptaliens, and they're taking their delicious sounds on a musical ride down the West Coast.

Reptaliens as a group may be newer, but its members are vets in the Portland music scene that know their way around a tour or two. This upcoming week-long excursion will find them starting out with their tour kickoff as part of XRAY.fm's benefit show and making their way down to the sunny skies of Los Angeles for a few shows, before stopping in Eugene on their way back up to Portland.

Check out Reptalien's tour dates below and be sure to see them off properly at Dig A Pony!

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8/22 (XRAY.fm Benefit/Tour Kickoff) @ Dig A Pony w/ Lola Buzzkill, Psychomagic, SECRET HEADLINER TBA

8/25 @ Fort Funston (San Fransisco, CA)

8/26 @ The EggTooth (Oakland, CA) w/ The Classical, Golden Drugs

8/27 @ Ham & Eggs (Los Angeles, CA) w/ Susan, Tacoma Night Terror

8/28 @ Gnar Burger (Los Angeles, CA)

8/29 @ Hyperion (Los Angeles, CA) w/ Water Slice, Mikey Kampmann

8/30 @ Luckey's (Eugene, OR) w/ Surfs Drugs, VCR