Portland Mercury

TOOTHSOME—With some stellar new tracks up on Bandcamp and a full-length on the way, Houndstooth is firing on every cylinder, particularly with their powerhouse live show. With members Voltron'ed together from countless other local bands, Houndstooth makes jangling, reeling rock that fits perfectly into the ol' earholes. NL

Houndstooth is a fledgling of a group—they only recently began playing shows out and have yet to record anything more than a 7-inch—but their levels of potentiality are high. Including members of Parson Red Heads, Denver, Swim Swam Swum, and more, the band conveys a particularly fetching blend of surf and grunge rock—music that is at once laidback and teetering on a desolate edge that keeps their sound sharp and alert—and does so with the hand of a steady craftsman. The Portland natives will head out on a West Coast sojourn this month, so do yourself a favor and catch their live show (tonight as part of the ongoing Underbelly Bender) before they take off for a while. RAQUEL NASSER

The group conjures up some delightfully washed out surf grunge, with vocals helmed by Katie Bernstein. And notably, Bernstein sounds as if Nancy Sinatra scheduled a conference with Zooey Deschanel, ripped those goddamn bows out of her hair, and helped sully up that cutesy lilt of hers a bit; it's a very good thing... RN

Willamette Week

What I enjoy about Portland’s Houndstooth is the unconventional combination of singer Katie Bernstein’s tranquil, poppy vocals and guitarist John Gnorski’s sprawling, jammy electric guitar riffs. In this town it’s easy for female-fronted indie-ish groups to blend together, but the sprouting Houndstooth is growing into its distinctive characteristics of subtle Southern-fried rock that’s framed by a sweet, unruffled voice. EMILEE BOOHER

[PORTLAND VIA DIXIELAND] Houndstooth, the local quintet featuring ex-Inside Voices frontman John Gnorski (as well as members of Swim Swam Swum and the Parson Red Heads), tags itself as “Southern rock,” but if the band can be filed with groups like the Allman Brothers, it’s the most dulcet act the genre’s ever known. Certainly, Houndstooth bears Southern rock’s country influence, and the style’s jammy tendencies manifest themselves live, where Gnorski spider-walks along his fret board in chopsy guitar solos. Lynyrd Skynyrd, though, never sounded as contemplative—lonesome, even—as the mood Houndstooth summons with clear, ringing guitar and lead singer Katie Bernstein’s serene vocals. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG