The Shivas have come a long way over the years. We've seen quite a few albums since the band's beginning in the early 2000's, released on labels like the DIY Gnar Tapes and the honored Pacific Northwest reppin' K Records. Flash forward to present day, where Better Off Dead came out just last month. Their 5th album, Better Off Dead pomps a pastiche of keenly conjured surf rock, tinged with doo-wop and a western twang. Contributing vocals from all members (guitarist Jared Molyneux, drummer Kristin Leonard, bassist Eric Shanafelt and percussionist Ian Hartley) keep the tracks on Better Off Dead varied and harmonious, without sounding bulky or overbuilt. It's likely they'll play almost all of the album at its release show tonight, so stream it below and get yourself acquainted ahead of time.

Playing with the Shivas will be Deli Portland Artist of the Month nominees Sculpture Gardens and Cat Hoch, the winner of the Deli Portland's Best Emerging Artist of 2015 title. This tightly stacked bill is happening at the Doug Fir, with tickets from $8-$12. Doors at 8pm, show set to begin at 9pm. With the serpentine technique of Cat Hoch and the brazen rock pop styled in a 60s-esque fit of Sculpture Gardens, this show will be nothing short of a hella fun time.

-Cervante Pope

Deli Readers,

Our Best of Portland Poll for Emerging Artists has been - as usual - a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

All of us at the Deli would like to congratulate Cat Hoch for becoming The Deli Portland's Best Emerging Artist of 2015! It doesn't come as much of a surprise, though, as Cat's indelible musical footprint even landed her the opening spot for Ride's performance in Portland last year. She's talented, as is her supporting band, and she'll without a doubt keep dishing out incredible, dreamy psychedelia for the enjoyment of the masses.

---

The Domestics - after winning this same poll last year, when their full length debut album hadn't been released yet - ring in our #2 slot, with their fun and loveable rock-pop. They've got a mass appeal and an easy to enjoy sound, so much so that it landed them on last year's PDX Pop Now! festial compilation album, along with our top spotter Cat Hoch (and a performance at the fest along with our 3rd place winner). 

---

Round out our top 3 is DIY/post punk trio Golden Hour, comprised of wonderfully endearing ladies who produce songs that are just as captivating. Almost out of nowhere, Golden Hour sprung up on the scene, dominating every show they've played so far with a charming humbleness. The Don't Be Cute LP came out in February of last year and we're hoping to get another release from these lovelies soon.

---

Check out our poll's top 15 below, and don't forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT-ROCK/METAL | ELECTRONIC | INDIE-POP | INDIE-ROCK | PSYCH | PUNK/GARAGE | ROOTS

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Cat Hoch 6.5   0.036 6.536 2 The Domestics 6.5   0.005 6.505 3 Golden Hour 6.5   0.004 6.504 4 Fur Coats 5.5   0.016 5.516 5 Chanti Darling 5.5   0.014 5.514 6 Moon by You 4.5   0.064 4.564 7 Blowout 4.5   0.015 4.515  8  Coco Columbia 3   1 4 9 Dirty Revival 3   0.125 3.125 10 Rod 3   0.055 3.055 11 Leo Islo 3   0.054 3.054 12 Muscle and Marrow 3   0.02 3.02 13 Sioux Falls 3   0.018 3.018 14 Boone Howard 3   0.015 3.015 15 Ah God 3   0.015 3.015 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

---

If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Portland scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music Portland produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Aaron Sharpsteen (SSG Music), Ana Ammann (Publisher for Oregon Music News), Annie Ostrowski (Riot Act Media), Chad Davis (music video director), Duffy Rongiiland (Gnar Tapes), Heather Hanson (Portland Radio Project), Hunter Skowron (Dazzleship Records), Jeni Wren Stottrup (Portland Mercury), Linneas Boland-Godbey (Vortex Mag), Mac Pogue (Impose Magazine), Meagan Ruyle (PDX Pop Now!), Noelle Magia (CD Baby), Rob Cullivan (Portland Tribune), Todd Walberg (show photographer), Tony Prato (Bunk Bar), Travis Leipzig (Noise & Color), Yousef Hatlani (Faces on the Radio).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff