Dignan Porch always teeter between heartbroken -- and heartbreaking -- eloquence and shambolic pop, and on
Observatory, they tip toward their appealingly scruffy side. Recorded in frontman Joe Walsh's apartment, the band opt for a brighter, simpler approach than they took on
Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen. It's a move that suits the
Porch's move from Captured Tracks to London imprint Faux Discx, as well as these simple yet somewhat aloof songs. The title
Observatory implies a certain remove, and the band spend equal time examining feelings as they do expressing them. Fittingly, there's a slightly hallucinatory feel to much of the album, whether on the swirling psych-grunge hybrid "Harshed" or the aptly named "Veil of Hze," a gently trippy ballad where Walsh sighs, "There's a veil of haze that makes me doubt if it's true." That distanced, numbed feeling rounds off the edges of
Observatory's lows; instead of the devastating insights "Like It Was" or "And Now Are Not" offered previously, the band deliver wry bummer-pop like "Dinner Tray" and "Wait & Wait & Wait & Wait," both of which reaffirm
Dignan Porch's mastery at making feeling bad sound good. Even on the album's poppiest moments, the band can't completely abandon their bittersweet essence: "Deep Deep Problem" tries to play it cheeky with sing-song choruses and buzzy keyboards, but its solo hints at greater emotional depth; meanwhile, "Got to Fly" manages to get more introspective and insistent at the same time. While
Dignan Porch's mix of jangle pop, psych, grunge, lo-fi, and whatever else they can get their hands on isn't quite as cohesive this time as it was on
Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen,
Observatory still has plenty of indie pop charm. ~ Heather Phares