To Live & Die in L.A.

Who says a garage band has to sound anything like a "garage band". Not Portland Oregon's latest contribution to the indie-rock scene, "To Live and Die in LA." The ironically named Portland quartet is comprised of singer/songwriter/guitarist Jake Portrait, guitarists Benjamin Brucker and Justin Silva, and bassist Patrick Adams. 2LADILA is an anomaly of sorts; their music, a product of each member's unique style, seamlessly blends epic rock, indie to pop, leaving no emotion behind. They have also managed to write, record and produce their self-titled debut album all on their own, void of any record label money or expensive studio time. But don't let their garage band mentality fool you. 2LADILA's music is anything but unpolished thanks to 25-year-old Portrait's experienced producing, engineering and song writing.

Portrait and Brucker met in Los Angeles in 2004. Soon there after Brucker relocated to Portland with Portrait where the duo recorded a critically acclaimed version of "King's Crossing" for the Elliott Smith tribute album "To Elliott from Portland". They began recording their full-length in early 2006. Adams and Silva later joined to solidify a style led by riff driven building guitar assaults, crashing thunderous drums and multiple layers of icy synths accompanied by Portrait's poignant and honest vocals.

2LADILA is a band in love with both sound and texture. They demonstrate booming volume spiked with shards of feedback and melodic harmonies melting into necessary stints of down time. Their energy and ambition to keep making music is tireless, matched only by their intensity on stage as they will march through sets of erupting anthems, catchy pop hooks and edgy indie composition.

Comparisons can be made to the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Creeper Lagoon, The Flaming Lips or at times even contemporaries like The Secret Machines. But To Live and Die in LA's extraordinary range makes them difficult to pin down, which ultimately may be their biggest strength.