31Knots
Talk Like Blood

THE REVIEW

I was just about to compile the list of the best of the year, trying to avoid the usual and unforgivable omissions, when suddenly a band comes forward, capable of shaking everything up and disrupting the precarious balance on which my personal playlist has always rested. The 31Knots from Portland, with this third work of theirs, very difficult of course, "Talk Like Blood," have, better to say it right away and without mincing words, surprised and thrilled me like I hadn't experienced in a long time, forcing me to frantically search for their previous recordings. The trio, consisting of Joe Haege, guitar and vocals, Jay Pellicci, drums, and Jay Winebrenner, on bass, who with this album moved to the meritorious record label Polyvinyl, could be categorized as "indierock," but that would be a way to gracefully get out of trouble, avoiding writing in the designated box a long and composite word like a magic formula. Because the group's references are many, and all, starting with Fugazi, demonstrate their varied and commendable musical formation.

However, do not think of it as a simple "pastiche," of dwarves riding, more or less deservingly, on the shoulders of giants. The strength of 31Knots is their ability to still express a personal and exciting sound, masterfully keeping together, thanks to a sincere inspiration and a grasp typical of true talent, all the elements present. The musical pendulum of the Portland trio swings between spleen and energy; indeed, the quintessence of their music is a sort of oxymoron: a melancholic positivity, a joy of shipwrecks, one might say, evoking the poet. The journey is one that is unforgettable: "City Of Dust" is chilling, an unthinkable combination of mild industrial rhythms and pastel melodies, almost like a music box, seasoned with skewed guitar riffs. With "Hearsay" our friends "knead" a "police-like" reggae with indie-rock guitars: an unstoppable crescendo, made even more captivating by Haege's vocal skills. There's also Prog, never an end in itself and wisely "bastardized" as in the title track; the math-rock that prevails, as in the superb "Chain Reaction," a potential single. But I don't want to strip you of all the surprises; therefore, I will avoid being too didactic.

However, know that in each of the eleven tracks emerge overwhelmingly the passion, technical skill, taste for hybridization and, above all, the sense of balance of the Portland guys. Such qualities shield them from neo-progressive drifts or narcissistic excesses and bring them closer to much more celebrated bands like the Mars Volta. Along with the Highlands and the icy Canadian steppes, the arid plateaus of Oregon are becoming another of my favorite destinations.