Porcupine are a mid-west indie-rock power trio and this is their first full length album.
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Casey Virock says he's inspired by Syd Barrett, The Beatles and Echo & The Bunnymen but frankly it's hard to hear these sources here. To my ears, they resemble more the post grunge metal of bands like Foo Fighters or Queens of the Stone Age. A couple of tracks, for instance, use the same radio jabber that intersperse tracks on QOTSA's epic 'Songs For The Deaf'.
The opening tracks 'So Far,So Good' and 'Exit #180' get things off to a promising start - nothing spectacularly original but fired up and possessed of a good tight sound. The downside is that the remaining eight tracks don't depart much from the formula so although it's a short album (35 mins) there's not enough variation to hold your attention.
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The way they race through the songs so briskly suggests a healthy punk spirit - no frills or dull solos. I'd have liked to hear the words better as it might have helped get a better idea of the band's identity. As it is the fact that they remain fairly anonymous and this makes it hard to feel passionate about what they do.
Probably a pretty good band to catch live but much room for improvement on disc.
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