Not to be pigeonholed.
Now Port O’Brien are a bunch of bonkers, strange but highly talented folk, who give us songs that mix traditional Folk with Acoustic Rock throwing in tight, complex arrangements and a whole bunch of harmonies, dazzling us whilst leaving us slightly dazed and confused. The band are the brainchild of Cambria Goodwin and Van Pierszalowski who came together to make (and succeeded) beautiful music!
The first song on, ‘All We Could Do Was Sing’ is the sing-a-long track, ‘I Woke Up Today’ which has been making appearances on a few of the music channels of late. It has a folk stomp beat, and an acoustic guitar melody whilst seemingly the whole band sing the lyrics. Next song, ‘Stuck On A Boat’ is a very Kurt Cobain-esque number, slow and gentle with the very precise lyrical delivery, it captures what made some of Nirvana’s slow numbers great, by being simple but hugely effective. This leads us to, ‘Fisherman’s Son’ an acoustic song that tells the true story of Van Pierszalowski and how he goes to Alaska each year to help his dad as a commercial salmon fisherman, and how he wishes not to take over the business!
The more traditional Folk is on show with the banjo in, ‘Don’t Take My Advice’ which plods along gently, whilst we have strings playing out in the background as Van’s vocals sound slightly raspy and strained, but in a good Chris Rea kind of way. The tempo steps up in the sing-along acoustic rock of, ‘My Eyes Won’t Shut’ with throwaway lyrics and sung with a smile of the band’s face, it’s a happy-clappy tune for the summer.
‘Pigeonholed’ sounds a little like Frank Black mixing in parts of the Beach Boys at their most out there moments. It’s certainly got that Alternative Rock sound of The Pixies, giving Port O’Brien a different sound pulling them away from just a hippy crowd. There is then a big contrast to next song, ‘Will You Be There?’ a slow and thoughtful song with acoustic guitar which has the added sounds of fingers sliding on the strings, and the atmospherics of strings in the background. It’s got a Simon & Garfunkel feel to it. In ‘The Roof Top Song’ it’s almost a collage of the previous two songs as the music is semi-acoustic but with a faster tempo, and the vocals are slightly more distant and strained around quite a complex arrangement.
With ‘In Vino Veritas’ the lead female vocals from Cambria, along with the banjo, guitar and plodding beat give a happy Folk/Rock feel and this is where the band hold their strengths. ‘Close The Lid’ borders on Indie Rock, whilst the last song, ‘Valdez’ gives you the feeling of being recorded down in the cabin of a boat, with strange creaking noises as a slight beat, behind an acoustic guitar. It’s great stuff and a fine finish to this album.
‘All We Could Do Was Sing’ is a very good album and one that takes you on a musical journey the teeters between Acoustic Indie and Folk expertly. I think that the first half of the album is slightly stronger, however like most good Folk the more that you hear the better it gets. There is beginning to be a large following for these bands, and following on from great albums from Dusty Rhodes & The River Band, Langhorn Slim, Micah P Hinson and Noah And The Whale this is another.