The band’s debut album is a set of grime-coated tracks featuring a cast of characters in “some heavy, dark kind of shit”
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Let me begin by saying that listening to this Short Porch record while sitting in my living room sipping limoncello-flavored La Croix feels a little bit like blasphemy.
To be clear, I realize life is not a movie, and thus my soundtrack seldom matches my circumstances. If you were asked to select the activities that actually align with the songs on my Spotify Wrapped, you’d assume I was doing a lot less emailing and a lot more going to Greece to find my three fathers; a lot more streaking and skateboarding and a lot less taking the train home from Trader Joe’s. (I listen to a bunch of ABBA and blink-182 is what I’m saying.)
But the new Short Porch album (out TODAY!) feels made for a movie. There’s an undeniable cinematic feel… specifically, a sort of rogue and rough, outcast—or outlaw—attitude. And not just because of singer Sean McNulty’s twangy growl, his low, gruff voice warbling its way along like that of a troubled, occasionally ominous cowboy. Or because there’s actually a song about murder. This record is narrated by someone—or rather, someones—on the psychic brink, likely with a drink. Each song oozes a very specific sort of ambiance, and listening, I feel like I shoudn’t be lounging with flamboyantly flavored seltzer but speeding down a dusty desert highway or maybe hiding out at a small, seedy motel in El Paso while on the run (whoops, that might just No Country for Old Men).
The point is that this is an extremely evocative album. One that, from the first note, whips up undeniable ambiance and sets a serious mood. Which means that, on second thought, maybe I oughta take back all the bandit urges above. While the album has me feeling a certain way, maybe there’s no need to flee town only to reappear into a dark, damp bar in a small town where I’m destined to drown my heart/brain/liver/life in brown liquor. Perhaps instead, my present reality, the most mundane of settings—a Crown Heights couch, Wednesday ‘round 3 p.m.—is actually ideal for soaking up these particular songs. Because with this album, Short Porch hasn’t provided a backdrop against which to live a specific kind of life. Instead, the band has presented the listener with the entire entertainment package, delivering the characters and the action… a set of short sonic stories, complete all on their own. Cancel your getaway car, kids. Because this isn’t background music; it’s the main event. All you have to do is sit back and listen.
Before we descend too far into talk of fiction, it should be noted that these are no ditties about Jack and Diane; there’s no talk of Gina in the diner or Tommy workin’ on the dock. Rather than name and tell the stories of these songs’ flawed stars—or explicitly spelling out the scenes—Sean and the rest of the band embody them, and invite you to do the same, harnessing the power of the first-person and employing what’s perhaps art’s most powerful tool and greatest virtue: empathy.
“As a band, we’re all into songs and artists that tell a story and capture a moment in time,” Sean told me of the album over email. “Most of the songs on The best of…Short Porch vol.1 are characters and scenes that we imagined, maybe loosely based on some part of our lives; but, part of the reason I’m most proud of this record is because I think that these characters are all relatable, even the ones who are in some heavy, dark kind of shit. We were able create a scene with each song so that everyone can walk in a different set of shoes for a while.”
That all said, while the album is definitely deserving of your total attention, enjoyment doesn’t require your full focus. It’s also a true banger at the most fundamental (and fun) of levels. Beyond being tiny twisted tales, these songs, to put it simply, groove real good, with woo-oo’s and whoa-oa’s and ooh-ooh’s, toe-tapping drums and lots of electricity screaming, slicing, swimming through the grit and gravel—an admirable collective effort by Sean (guitar/vocals), Jon Hunt (bass/vocals), Mudge (guitar/vocals), Mary Kate Mulhauser (keys/vocals) and drummer Joe White, and a result of clear creative chemistry that the group worked carefully to capture (fueled by a very specific set of snacks) while recording in the most ideal of settings: an ancient barn in Connecticut.
“There is a little layer of grime on each of these stories and I think the way we play kind of goes hand in hand with that,” Sean said of the band’s recording process. “Luckily, we were able to preserve that quality when we recorded this record. We worked with Charlie Dahlke of the Brazen Youth at Ashlawn Recording Company in Lyme, CT, and everything was tracked live in a big, centuries-old barn that Charlie converted into a massive live room. We were able to capture these songs circled close together just like we would be if you were to see us live. All we did for three days was record, drink twisted teas, and barbecue and it was kind of a dream. In the end, I think we were able to get these songs down exactly as they were meant to be; loose and loud.”
(If you listen carefully, you can almost smell the bbq sauce.)
To commemorate the release of their record, the band sent over a track-by-track breakdown of The best of… Short Porch vol.1—a tongue-in-cheek title for a relatively new band that (rightfully) refers to their already-killer catalogue, while simultaneously implying there’s far more good stuff to come.
The best of… Short Porch vol.1 —TRACK BY TRACK:
“When the Whole World Shook”
“We open pretty much every Short Porch show with ‘WTWWS.’ This is an old track that I was never really satisfied with until we worked on it together as a band. It kind of laid the groundwork for what we would become as a band; a skeleton of a song that becomes a whole different beast when everyone puts their mark on it. Joe’s drumming builds throughout the song and pushes it over the top.”
“Miami”
“When we were recording ‘Miami’ we knew right away that it was going to be the first single. This was the first song we worked on at Ashlawn and we had really been hammering this song in practice leading up to the sessions; the recorded version was our second take and I think it set the tone for the rest of the record.”
“Frank”
“Since we started playing ‘Frank’ live a few months ago, it seems to be the song that people have connected with the most. People are always asking us ‘So, who is Frank?'”
“86th”
“The best song on the record to drive to. It’s a dark song, but it’s also a pretty easy listen. We are particularly proud of the drama at the end of this one, especially MK’s choral vocals.”
“Circling”
“This is the first song we worked on together as a band and it has been in our live shows since the beginning. My favorite part has always been Jon and Joe’s ‘woah’ part in the last chorus. It’s about the negative cycles that we all find ourselves in at one point or another.”
“Pennzona”
“This is a staple closer of ours, so it’s at the end of the record where it belongs. Lot of nostalgia in this one; sometimes thinking back on the good times can hurt a little. Joe (Mudge) melting faces at the end.”
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While not the most neutral of sensory canvases (a Brooklyn venue doesn’t offer much opportunity for deep listening or lyrical analysis), you have the opportunity to experience the record in a different, and likely even more delicious sense—live, loud and sweaty—on multiple occasions this month.
Don’t miss Short Porch at their release show TONIGHT at Brooklyn Made with Pamphlets, Looms and Uncle Skunk. Get those tix here.
THEN! Catch them at a Bands do BK show at Our Wicked Lady (the last night of our Thursday residency at OWL!) with Obleek, the Resonaters, Real Burn and samkae on January 29th. Grab your tix here.
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Follow Short Porch at @shortporch_, buy music on Bandcamp and add their songs to your Spotify playlists
Feature image provided by the band.