Have you ever wondered, ‘What if Arcade Fire sang sea shanties?’ Oh, you haven’t. That’s fair enough. Well Port O’Brien from California, one of whom works as a fisherman in Alaska during the summer, has combined the two with pleasing results.

Not all of the songs are about the sea, for the seasick among you, but it does hold sway over most of the album. The opening sound of the waves on Stuck On A Boat introduce the gentle folkier nature of the band, but the standout song on the album is the first track, I Woke Up Today, which is a stomping, shouting singalong that is just infectious and can remain in your head for days, and you can imagine would be a great song seen live.

It would be interesting to see if they decided to focus more on this side of their music for further albums, but for now this works very well indeed. They tour through the UK in October, so see them if you can.

Paul Schofield 

Posted In Album Reviews, Sep 09 2008.