Porto Geese: Duck [Album Review]

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Porto Geese
Duck
Sheep Chase Records [2021]

The debut album from Oslo’s Porto Geese is an intense mix of shoegaze and post-punk that is filled with strategic transitions, an array of instrument mashing and a speaker destroying rhythm of sound. The detail to every note on Duck is fantastic as the extra studio time the band clocked during the pandemic is rewarded in the album’s spanning sonic aggression.

Porto Geese cover you with their dark seesawing guitars and wall of sound that at times closes in around you as these little tweaks to frequency stand out on every song. There is no better song than “Every Day Every Day” to showcase this drive as the track builds and uses its last two minutes to grow in intensity with each swaying and banging riff. “Screens” is a great track that puts the vocals out front a bit more until the band drenches you in the reverb. “Whale On A Horse” has these incredible swirling tempo shifts that include some spazzy electro keyboard moments which then concludes with Porto Geese flexing their guitar and drum muscle.

Porto Geese deliver their dark wave of firing drums and guitar with the intention of trying to break down your door. In many places this attack is slow and methodical which is where Duck thrives. The vocals are always direct, both above and below the background, and sung with determination as they really do guide the album’s stern mood through its different instrument sides. Duck is a grower for sure, so make sure to give this record multiple spins to hear all of its nuances. It is an album that has been sitting with me since early October and its complexity is just now revealing itself in all the right ways!

Key Tracks: “Every Day Every Day” / “Whale On A Horse” / “Fuckitthen”

Artists With Similar Fire: JOHN / A Place To Bury Strangers / Qlowski

Porto Geese Website
Porto Geese Facebook
Sheep Chase Records

Thomas Wilde
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