Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features indie-gaze by Harper, jazz fusion by The Missing Cats, pop-punk by Premium Rat, trumpet jazz by the Charlie Porter Quintet, and electronica by ness lake.

Harper, Robot Beautiful
I missed last December's debut EP by "Ann Arbor, Detroit Michigaze" band Harper. The five songs on Robot Beautiful remind me of bands such as Love Battery, Smashing Pumpkins, Catherine Wheel, and Bush, which had shoegaze and psychedelic elements but were also squarely in the alt-rock genre. Harper's vocals are washed out like those of a shoegaze band but the guitar riffs and leads are often more grungy and dark, making for an appealing combination of light and heavy dynamics. I stumbled across Robot Beautiful seven months late because Harper posted about a video for the EP's closing track, "Wez," but I don't see the full clip anywhere, though there is a 30-second tease on Instagram.

The Missing Cats, Walls
This Ann Arbor project, spearheaded by guitarist and primarily songwriter Brandon Mitchell, keeps cranking out jazzy, fusiony, and bluesy albums that showcase the ensemble playing of Devin Webster (trombone), Jacob Lachance (sax), Haydel LeCesne (drums), Lenny Swanson (upright bass), and Erik Miller-Galow (guitar). Still, I never see The Missing Cats playing any of the numerous local clubs and rooms that book jazz-oriented projects, so maybe the band is mostly a studio project or I have an inability to discern the words "the" and "missing" and "cats" while pursuing entertainment calendars. Walls is The Missing Cats' fourth studio album since 2023, and it was produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Michael Skib, one-half of the very talented Mirror Monster and a terrific solo artist.

Premium Rat, "Connecticut" video, live on WCBN, and "Feral Mermaid"
While Premium Rat primarily comes from the mind of Ypsi singer-songwriter Mer, the working trio version that they put together in the past year has been crushing it on stage—and in a radio studio—as well on the new single and video "Connecticut." The excellent pop-punk song is about Mer's growing up in a suburban area that felt alien to the budding artist. "Feral Mermaid" is more restrained musically—it's keyboard-driven rather than guitar—but it's an equally affecting and emotional tune about "trans joy, gender euphoria, finding bliss in being yourself." The WCBN session isn't a great recording, but what is apparent—as is true on every Premium Rat song I've heard—is that Mer is an amazing singer with a powerful voice and buckets of strong songs.

Charlie Porter Quintet, Live at Blue LLama
Portland, Oregon trumpeter Charlie Porter is the latest musician to have his Blue LLama concerts put out as a live album, and this particular record is also on the club's in-house label. It's no surprise that there have been numerous Live at Blue LLama recordings: It's the best listening club I've ever been to, and every concert is documented via state-of-the-art audio and video. Porter's album, recorded in September 2022, captures the mainstream jazz quintet ripping through seven songs, including five originals by the trumpeter that haven't been on his previous albums. (Blue LLama owner Don Hicks is a trumpeter himself—and he bought one of Miles Davis' horns, which he displays in the club and lets fellow brass players perform on.)

Ness Lake, "Breaking Through"
Just as it seemed like Ness Lake bandleader Chandler Lach had turned his bedroom project into a stage-ready indie-rock trio, his latest single is a return to his room-of-bed roots. The electronica instrumental "Breaking Through" is the result of Lach acquiring a Roland SP-404MKII sampler, and this two-minute tune is the sound of someone discovering his new toy.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.