Old time rock + roll Loverless and Micah Blue Smaldone kick off the fall BY SAM PFEIFLE

Last week we told you about the Swamp Witch Revival reunion show. Too bad we didn’t tell you what day it was on. Oops. Check them out Friday, September 23 at Geno’s. Still, that’s a pretty good entry point for a fall preview of the local music scene. There’s going to be some serious rocking going on with Swamp Witch, and that’s only the beginning.

Actually the true beginning of the fall of rock will happen the night before, September 22, at the Big Easy, when Loverless release their self-titled full-length debut. Did I say the fall of rock? With Loverless, we’re talking about rock’s brand-new resurrection. This is a flat-out killer album — raw, edgy, and manic like the John Spencer Blues Explosion; spit-in-your-eye mean like early Red Hot Chili Peppers (without the funky bass); and just plain fun.

Loverless let their songs yawn and stretch, without filling them up with too much ridiculousness. "You Never Drive Aggressively," built on a fuzzed-out and simple descending guitar line, surprises with a melodic and thrilling guitar break from Elijah Ocean (this is a real departure from the poppy Ocean & Casas, let’s say that) at the four-minute mark. Shit, "I’m Trying to Avoid Your Love" (maybe mocking Wilco’s "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"?) has such a great drums-led breakdown/fall apart to finish the tune that the band let it take five minutes or so to happen — which is sort of unbelievable the first time you listen, like the song is ending over and over again and you’re caught in some kind of time flux.

They even have a theme song (love that). "Loverless" is built on the great line, "When you’re cold and lonely I hope you’re thinking of me." That can go two ways, right? Like, when you’re cold and lonely, I hope the thought of me gives you hope, or, alternately, when you’re cold and lonely I hope you remember it was me who made you feel that way. Fucker. Then comes a guitar break that may just be a bunch of blues riffs, but where some guitarists might seem to be simply plucking the same old notes, Ocean somehow transmits soulfulness.

Oh, and if you want to know why "Sticksrocksknives" is named just that, check out the frenetic and crazed jam that finishes the song. "Why you gotta worry about anything at all when I’m right here wiping your brow?" asks Ocean in "Till Your Mama Comes." "Why you gotta worry about Hell, baby doll, when the devil’s so far from you now?"

What a contrast to Micah Blue Smaldone, who releases his much-anticipated follow-up to 2003’s Some Sweet Day (Northeast Indie) September 23, at SPACE, with Hither and Thither. Smaldone matches Loverless’ raw power by giving Portland more of his utterly stripped down and naked acoustic warbling. This is beautiful, through and through, and a wonderful reassurance that you don’t need much more than a guitar, a voice, and a microphone to make a world-class album.

Don’t get Smaldone wrong, though. He may be lo-fi, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a details man. His packaging is filled with thoughtfully paired images created by Colleen Kinsella (of Cerberus Shoal), his picking is painstaking and pointed, and he had to have worked really hard to get just the right 1870s, sawdust-on-the-floor, whores-in-pink-and-black-hoop-skirts, cowboys-playing-poker-with-guns-on-their-hips vibe. This album makes you think the 21st century is for the friggin’ birds. "Sunlight it soothes," warbles Smaldone on "Grim." "Sunlight it tolls for you and I, pretty mama/ But when the evening comes is when our wagon rolls."

I’m ready to ditch the car for the wagon. Yes I am.

But if I was considering actually getting on the wagon, Diesel Doug and the Long Haul Truckers quickly disabused me of that notion. Portland’s resident honky-tonkers are celebrating 10 (yes, 10) years in existence with Mistakes Were Made (Cornmeal), to be released September 30 at the Big Easy. The disc is a retrospective that includes a brand-new recording of "If I’d Shot Her When I Met Her (I’d Be Outta Jail By Now)," a couple tunes each from An Angel Not a Saint and The Fine Art of Carousing, and even "Merry Christmas from the Family," a funny, drunken hoot originally released on a "promotional cassette" in 1997. Hah. They’re old enough to have put out cassettes.

Sorry guys, you’re not old.

Neither are Sidecar Radio. These young bucks (formerly the Christian Hayes Element, and, simply, the Element) just polished off Soundtrack from the Upside, the full-length debut they’ve been recording with the Studio’s Jim Begley all summer. Gateway’s Adam Ayan is done with the mastering and they’ll have a big party for the release on October 28. Stay tuned for show details.

Finally, fans of world music done right get another treat when Jordan Benissan releases Fame Without Fortune. The West African drummer has made a name for himself outside of traditional world-music circles by incorporating all kinds of blues, bluegrass, and folk elements into his hypnotically fascinating rhythms. Don’t miss his show October 13 at Deering High School’s, West African Culture through Arts, Literature, and Music Festival (I think that’s the name, anyway — check "Listings" for details).

And, of course, stay posted for plenty of other big shows and releases (and even a local appearance by Bright Eyes).

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at sam@phx.com