Over the years, the sound of the indie rock band Porches has shifted with each project. What started as a hazy LoFi cozy bedroom project has since sprawled into a hard-hitting tragic play of rock production. The talent and work ethic have always shown in the music and Porches' new album, Shirt, continues that. Across 12 tracks, the project gets into the highs and lows of love, the passion for music, and how everything isn't always what it seems.
The first track, "The Return of the Goat," makes a streak return of an artist to his craft. Distorted at moments and emotional at others, the track is a great start to a good album. Porches do take the time to announce to fans how different this album will be. The lyricism is still there, just more buried underneath. Despite the end, "The Return of the Goat" follows right into the next track, "Sally."
It is a little more of a love song with harsh rock tones, "Sally" follows just as well as the first track. While the vocals may seem a little drowned out in the effort of the synths and bass, the overall is very much a quality finish.
"Bread Believer" falls more in line with past projects as the music gets progressively more intense. Fading in between the notes are moments of heartache and longing for balance in a world unfamiliar to Porches. While good in practice, it seems to fall flat while reaching for new sounds to explore.
"Precious" and "Rag" could be seen as the heart tracks of the project. Slower than the previous tracks, these songs provide a more in-depth look into the mind of Porches. Deciding to break away from their original formula on past projects, Porches helps leverage the past and future on "Rag."
Most of the songs on the album are short, very much in line with All Day Gentle Hold! and Ricky Music. The longest track, "Music," on the album, clocks in at 3:10 minutes. In all, the project needs more substance than what was given. While the first half of the album gives listeners are wide look into the window of Porches, the second half plays out more in a Garageband format.
Unfinished notes, sloppy production, and simplistic word choice plague the last few tracks. "Usa" has its moments in the grand rock scheme but the overuse of distorted vocals may overcloud the song. "Voices in My Head" shows Porches in a stripped acoustic-style track that is a surprise shift from the tone of the rest of the album. Very 90s soft rock tone when thought-provoking vocals to go with it.
Shirt is Proches pushing yet again the boundary of his voice, style, and creative body. While messy at times, the album itself is a wonder of emotions and heightened musical risks. It holds the ingredients of what makes rock and roll a genre. It frees up artists to color outside the lines and rips open the canvas to a musical array.
