Forty Feet Tall

Forty Feet Tall play the Aladdin Theater on Wednesday, December 9, with Buddy Wynkoop opening. It's a local bill, with both acts based here in Portland, and the night leans into the art-punk side of the city's scene.

Forty Feet Tall is a six-piece art-punk band. They describe their sound as a blend of raw punk energy and experimental, boundary-pushing textures, and the songs pull from a few different places at once: shout-sung melodies, angular guitars, and spoken-word existentialism. It's the kind of music that doesn't sit still, shifting between the loud and the strange.

If you're trying to place where they fit, the comparisons they draw help. They point to Devo's quirkiness, IDLES' raw energy, and Parquet Courts' angular precision—three bands that each approach punk from a different angle. Putting them together gives you a sense of what to expect: the weirdness of the early New Wave, the heavy drive of modern post-punk, and a sharp, precise guitar sound. With six people on stage, there's enough room for all those elements to run at once.

Buddy Wynkoop opens the night, and the whole thing is at the Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Doors open at 7 PM, and the show starts at 8 PM.