Chris Portka’s The Album Everyone Wants feels both unruly and deeply considered based on the choices of originals and covers, Portka and his bandmates; Jasper, Mike, and Kyle set out on a journey to cover folk, freak rock, country, ballads, and do it all in a very authentic organic raw way. Together they find cohesion not in genre but in spirit. It’s a record made by friends who clearly love these songs, and that affection comes through in both arrangement and performance.
Side A sets the tone with She Looks So Good Tonight, a romantic original that I can only imagine makes the subject blush when they here it. Fun in the Summer doubles down with relentless refrain that makes one miss the hazy summer days as we turn into fall. Tom Meagher’s lead guitar adding bite. The covers of Syd Barrett (It Is Obvious) and Mayo Thompson (Dear Betty Baby) pay scrappy, strange, alive in their own right tribute to the originals. Portka closes the side with Song for Carol which features surf rock influence and beautiful guitar tones, the haunting “ahhs” as the chorus really give this one an indie charm.
Side B stretches wider. Alan Wilson’s Poor Moon mourns environmental ruin with uptempo unique rhythms and very interesting backing vocals that kind of reminded me of a didgeridoo. While Fred Eaglesmith’s Trucker Speed is a sweet ballad leaning heavy into the country vibe with a church organ, this is a midnight tune for long open roads. The Skip Spence cover Broken Heart lingers like smoke, fragile and haunted. An additional female vocal joins on Broken Heart, this rendition is giving early Tom Waits. Portka and company reshape Tennessee Whiskey into a wonderful country track with an energy and vibrance of a warm southern night with whiskey, I picture fairy lights strung from a barn and there’s picnic tables while the band plays, it’s a lovely image to think about. The trippy synth/delay effects going on, I believe are on the pedal steel take, very cool stuff.
Two originals anchor the back half: The Observer, an introspective on love, impermanence and time gone by that features some incredible acoustic guitar playing and pedal steeling that really round out the jam band sound that’s been subtle but present throughout the whole record.. To close out the record is Molly, Jasper Leach’s shadowy closer that features reversed vocals but for the most part is a stripped back soliloquy.
Mixed by Jasper Leach, the result has lots of hi-fi shine while preserving the warmth of hands on strings, voices in rooms, and songs allowed to breathe.
The title might be tongue-in-cheek, but The Album Everyone Wants earns its name through generosity. Portka isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, he’s playing songs he loves with people he trusts, and the result is honest, heartfelt, and inviting. In an era of singles and branding, it feels radical to hear a record that values friendship and feeling above all.
My personal faves, not that you asked, are; “Song to Carol”, “Tennessee Whiskey”, and “Song to Carol” but they’re all very organic sounding which I’m into… check it out!
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