Portland's Black Pussy are quick to address their name to anyone provoked by it. You see the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" - a frankly kind of odd ode to slavery and interracial sex, though let's continue not thinking about that - was originally supposed to be titled "Black Pussy." Mick Jagger evidently thought better of titling it as such, and we now have that indelible classic.

We also have Black Pussy (the band) because of that brief moment of artistic confusion. Formed by Dustin Hill, Black Pussy is a band that leans into the stoner rock label, despite the fact that listening to their music doesn't instantly evoke images of smoke sessions and unbearable jams. Rather, their sound and look is absolutely reminiscent of the '70s and the nascent birth of cock rock, back when cock rock was essentially still just synonymous with rock 'n' roll. They come across like the fictional band at the center of Almost Famous - all long hair, denim, booze, and groupies for days, a band lost in time.

"Black Pussy is a little more bluesy, '70s psychedelic," says Hill. "It's probably hard to tell that, if you're just listening to (our EP) On Blonde. That was a very specific concept of songs that I chose. We're probably sitting on about 70 or 80 songs written under the umbrella of Black Pussy. That first record, I wanted to make an album that felt like I was in high school. It was a high school record, like cars, and hanging out by the river and chicks. A lot of people bought that first record, and then they see us live, and they're like, ‘Whoa, this is something a little different.' There's still a lot of heavy rock, psychedelic elements to Black Pussy."

Hill is a member of White Orange, a notably heavy psychedelic band in Portland, so it'd be naïve to think that some of that psychedelia wouldn't cross over to Black Pussy. While Hill is right that their first EP showcases a more carefree, classic rock-indebted band (jams like "Marijuana" and "Ain't Talkin' About Love" present a band that could be jammed by high misfits in '70s convertibles), anyone looking for evidence of their heady psych-rock need look no further than their 20-minute version of their song, "Galaxies," which appears on a split 7".

"I also want to allow for these other things to come through," says Hill. "I want Black Pussy to be a little more poppy, or funny, in a sense, where a little more 5th Dimension comes through. White Orange is very much the ayahuasca trip, if that makes sense. (Laughs.)"

If White Orange is a full-on sonic meltdown, Black Pussy is a bit of a reprieve. Imagine all of those baby-boomers commenting on how marijuana used to be so manageable back in the day, and how oppressively strong the pot is in these days. White Orange is the sort of music you'd smoke at a party, shortly before retiring to the corner of the room, really thinking over every wrong thing you've done in your life, and then leaving without saying goodbye to anyone.

Black Pussy, on the other side, is the drug you take that makes you feel like Neil deGrasse Tyson - curious about the universe, conversant in social situations (where star stuff is concerned), and absurdly handsome for a nerd. Sure, you'll get all spacey, but your footing is held firm through the sheer gravitational power of rock 'n' roll - swaggering cock rock, maybe, but there's nothing to say that you can't be ushered through outer space by a man with long hair and denim clothes.

BLACK PUSSY, w/ Tummler and Solomon, Levels, 9 p.m., Thursday, April 24, The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, $5, 253.572.4020