Portland's music scene checks in with another EP meant to remind the rest of the continental US that they're doing some pretty impressive shit up on yonder coast. We're From Japan take the Six Parts Seven instrumental approach to a new level of intensity, barreling down their sonic highway at alarming speeds with a gorgeous brunette in the bucket seat -- at least, that's my image. Equally impassioned-yet-under-control, Andi Camp crafts propulsive pop songs with a piano in place of the lead guitar. Her voice is a bit raspy, a bit bedroom-ready, and prepared to sucker-punch you when you're not looking. I imagine the Tori Amos comparisons are inevitable, but Ms. Camp hews closer to the true rock mold than Ms. Amos once veered, and her songs celebrate an additional anthemic quality.

Camp and Japan team up for a stellar cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire", a masterful case study in droning during which I suspect that they may in fact be capable of taking me higher than The Boss ever could. Ms. Camp's breathy intonation probably has a lot to do with that. A great primer to an impressive pair of DIY bands who pour on the extra juice, You Are the Vehicle is a wonderful invitation to dig a little deeper.