Everyone’s favourite band of Californian folk-rockers who write songs about salmon fishing in Alaska, Port O’Brien, have announced details of their new album Threadbare, due to hit shelves on 12 October. They play at London’s Borderline on 18 August.
Having had a rather staggering year in the wake of their 2008 debut All We Could Do Was Sing, the band, now just a trio, have re-shaped their sound away from the manic, Crazy Horse-inspired rock and roll of that record to offer a set of songs that set a distinctly more sombre instrumental tone, suggesting added maturity and austerity. The album promises to live up to its name.
What’s more, they are (thankfully) branching out into wider themes with their songwriting. All We Could Do Was Sing was a tribute to the long, wet summers that frontman Van Pierszalowski and his girlfriend and bandmate Cambria Goodwin spent on Kodiak Island in Alaska working with the former’s father, fishing for salmon. The joy at those halcyon expeditions was infectious on that first record, but thankfully Port O’Brien have evolved. From all accounts the new album is mournful and plaintive in parts. Perhaps Van is growing up, and the production help from Papercuts’ Jason Quever probably didn’t do him any harm either.
Pierszalowski will be most pleased, mind you, that promoting the record in 2009 will not yield countless questions from journalists about a certain Alaskan candidate for Vice-President, as happened last year.
