PORTER BLOCK RELEASES PUEBLO A GO GO
Friday, January 16th, 2009
PORTER BLOCK RELEASES PUEBLO A GO GO, THIRD FULL LENGTH FOR ENGINE ROOM Recordings
Brooklyn, NY - New York based musician Porter Block releases Pueblo A Go Go his third full-length album for Engine Room Recordings. Pueblo is the prolific songwriter’s fifth release in four years.
Influenced by the great rock bands of the seventies, the songs of Pueblo were written with a focus on the craft of songwriting, perfecting the lost art of the three-minute song. Joined by his band, Caleb Sherman (bass, keyboards), Garrett Alarcon (guitar) and Steve Holly (drums), the 10 new songs take what Block has done on previous releases and perfects it. The songs follow the basic powerful pop formula, with hooks and harmonies, and paired down production.
Pueblo A Go Go is a haunting trip through the small desert towns of west, viewed through the windshield of a slow moving car. The visuals are vivid and the stories are full of characters that have lost something or are running away, with a poignant theme of loneliness. The title track sets the mood, with its upbeat, but spooky description of abandoned pueblo communities, bartenders and strippers aimlessly walking down a blacktop looking for a long defunct dance club. “Wipe It From Your Eyes” is a sweet sparse story of domestic dispute and unrest, the music is almost a lullaby contrasting with the solemn lyrics, “If it gets any worse, someone’s gonna phone it in.” “True Enough” is a song which firmly sets itself in a southern California landscape where ” the desert sun sits high and heavy on a petrol dripping sky”. And the two star-crossed lovers kiss “beneath a palm next to the meth shack” continuing the blend of a simple country shuffle love song with somewhat disturbing images of modern urban decay.
Pueblo was recorded with vintage gear at Block’s Gowanus Brooklyn studio, The Carriage House. The Carriage House was designed for the comfort of recording and mixing, built to get great sounds and filled with retro equipment, including strips of soundboards instead of a traditional console.
Porter Block will be performing around the East Coast, with upcoming residencies in Brooklyn and Philadelphia. He is already working on his next release which will be an album of songs co-written with other Brooklyn songwriters.
