EP Review: Porcelain Tongue – Goodbye Peggy
Porcelain Tongue are a post-rock band from Boise, Idaho. They are back with a deep and complex album Goodbye Peggy.
The album opener Support masterfully switches rhythms and emotions. It starts with quiet and comforting guitar arpeggios and culminates with walls of crying guitars and frenetic drums, going through a few changes of mood in between. "My body doesn't know how to support my mind", sings the band's frontman Max Voulelis. And the instruments all exist in their own sonic spaces, gathering and disintegrating, like the character's feelings.
Held Up is a moody and somewhat drowsy track with dreamy guitar chords and waltzing drums supporting the song's character who struggles to hold himself together. The standout part of the track is the vocals – deep, sincere, touching.
Back Pains is more energetic and the vocal delivery on the song is more confident. However, the harsh reality that the narrator finds himself in is undeniable. Walls of distorted and abrasive guitar textures surround the vocals, growing stronger and more bitter, until they are ready to swallow him, like a storming sea crushes a lonely ship.
The storm doesn't settle on Quick to Blame, but Max's voice is even stronger, yet colder and more detached. The song is as short and as emotional as Back Pains. And its abrupt ending leaves the listener puzzled.
Comply is slow and head-spinning, and the vocals border on spoken word. Some of the reverberated guitar textures in the background have an eerie quality, sounding almost like alien voices. The composition's finale is dark and seemingly chaotic, like the previous instrumental passages, but some of its parts sound optimistic and confident, giving you a glimmer of hope.
Feel Your Pain is the EP's main single. It's a highly melodic track where the vocals sound the most bare and vulnerable. The song's writing coincided with the news of a close friend's death. Max Voulelis composed the lines about mortality minutes before learning of the tragic event. This song captures the challenge of adapting to ordinary existence following the profound impact of losing someone dear.
The EP closes with Goodbye Peggy, the composition that is both bitter and filled with inner light. Like the track before it, it features an outstanding, highly memorable melody. It is a graceful way to close the album that delves into themes of sorrow, mourning, comprehension, and reconciliation.
The band confronts the prolonged process of healing and the challenge of making emotional room for cherished memories after losing someone special. This short yet deep and emotional album underscores the never-ending journey toward recovering a sense of normality and preserving connections to the loved ones who have passed.
The album opener Support masterfully switches rhythms and emotions. It starts with quiet and comforting guitar arpeggios and culminates with walls of crying guitars and frenetic drums, going through a few changes of mood in between. "My body doesn't know how to support my mind", sings the band's frontman Max Voulelis. And the instruments all exist in their own sonic spaces, gathering and disintegrating, like the character's feelings.
Held Up is a moody and somewhat drowsy track with dreamy guitar chords and waltzing drums supporting the song's character who struggles to hold himself together. The standout part of the track is the vocals – deep, sincere, touching.
Back Pains is more energetic and the vocal delivery on the song is more confident. However, the harsh reality that the narrator finds himself in is undeniable. Walls of distorted and abrasive guitar textures surround the vocals, growing stronger and more bitter, until they are ready to swallow him, like a storming sea crushes a lonely ship.
The storm doesn't settle on Quick to Blame, but Max's voice is even stronger, yet colder and more detached. The song is as short and as emotional as Back Pains. And its abrupt ending leaves the listener puzzled.
Comply is slow and head-spinning, and the vocals border on spoken word. Some of the reverberated guitar textures in the background have an eerie quality, sounding almost like alien voices. The composition's finale is dark and seemingly chaotic, like the previous instrumental passages, but some of its parts sound optimistic and confident, giving you a glimmer of hope.
Feel Your Pain is the EP's main single. It's a highly melodic track where the vocals sound the most bare and vulnerable. The song's writing coincided with the news of a close friend's death. Max Voulelis composed the lines about mortality minutes before learning of the tragic event. This song captures the challenge of adapting to ordinary existence following the profound impact of losing someone dear.
The EP closes with Goodbye Peggy, the composition that is both bitter and filled with inner light. Like the track before it, it features an outstanding, highly memorable melody. It is a graceful way to close the album that delves into themes of sorrow, mourning, comprehension, and reconciliation.
The band confronts the prolonged process of healing and the challenge of making emotional room for cherished memories after losing someone special. This short yet deep and emotional album underscores the never-ending journey toward recovering a sense of normality and preserving connections to the loved ones who have passed.
