It's been a couple of years since the last album from Brighton, England's Porridge Radio, and in the intervening time, the quartet has complicated their sound. I suppose it's good when a band doesn't take the easy route and, instead, defies expectations and decides to push boundaries. Unfortunately, for me at least, lots of Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky, the new one on Secretly Canadian, seems unnecessarily busy.
And while "Back to the Radio" and the lush "End of Last Year" are as lovely as possible, other selections, like the worrisome "Flowers", seem overthought and overwrought. To say that is not to diminish the impressive power and range of vocalist Dana Margolin's work here. I'd go even further and say that the diffuse "Splintered" and the jittery "Birthday Party" work in small ways thanks to her performances and range.
This is material that stretches for the kind of catharsis that early PJ Harvey records gave, but without the sheer noise. It's just that so much of this didn't quite do it for me. "The Rip" is the most obviously harsh thing here, but there's a general tone running through even the more subdued numbers that suggests a band and singer coming to grips with something really awful and bringing it to light.
What is sort of admirable about Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky is that it sounds like a band fighting itself every step of the way. I sort of dig that. As the record progresses, we can hear Porridge Radio confounding and making things rough in spots, emotionally discordant in others. The overall effect of the album is a strange one, where you sort of admire it from a distance, like those records from Squid, but also sort of find moments of peace when Margolin's vocals ease you into a line of melody. I'm very conflicted about this one, with my head liking the release more than my heart, or ears did.
Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky is out on Secretly Canadian on Friday.
[Photo: Matilda Hill-Jenkins]