SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PORCHES – SHIRT

PORCHES
SHIRT
EXPLODING IN SOUND RECORDS/DOMINO RECORDS

Shirt serves as a brutal self-introspection in the form of an indie rock album equipped with piercing grunge tones and an eerie production style brought to you by Aaron Maine of Porches. His willingness to exploit his own pain made for a deeply immersive production.

Our “rebel without cause” portrays the chaos of his internal monologue by gutting the listeners right in the stomach with aggressive distorted guitars, then immediately giving them a kiss on the forehead with gentle synths and acoustic guitars. He’s emotionally hot and cold throughout the album and it follows the nonlinear pattern the artist is experiencing on his personal journey.

Shirt is such an invasive listen. It feels like the audience is witnessing Aaron Maine’s loneliness first-hand through a keyhole the way it comes up so repeatedly. “Sally” is the most blunt example of this when he desperately tries to reassure himself that he and the subject of the song “will never be apart again”. The genius of Porches is the way he aligns the production with the theme of the song. When he’s screaming the previously mentioned line drowned in autotune, there’s an intentional sort of glitch in the vocals that makes it sound like a highly polished whimper in a cry. This goes way beyond “Sally”, the entire album is so raw and personal, creating an atmosphere of vulnerability that resonates to the audience and their hardships.

While Shirt does demonstrate such impressive production and lyricism, it seems to fall into the trap of predictability and clichés at times. Every song follows a classic formula with no new variation that is expected from such an abstract artist. “Music”, the last track on the album, is the most visible casualty of this. He sings, “I love to play it fast / I love to play it slow / I love it when the music takes control”. For an artist as abstract as Porches, this doesn’t sound like a sweet and simple verse, but rather like he’s talking while half asleep, saying nothing with any substance.

Shirt is an authentic album that showcases Porches incredible lyricism and Aaron Maine’s ability to graciously blend it with his unique production style.

Artist Links