Portastatic - De Mel De Melão
(Merge)
After I bought this EP, I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to write a
review about it. I am not very familiar with the material Portastatic is
covering in these 5 songs (tropicalia Brazilian pop like Os Mutantes), and
while I enjoy the songs, I did not fall head over heels for this EP. Then,
it occurred to me. "Portastatic singing in Portuguese." Haha... Being
able to say that in a review, alone, makes writing it worthwhile.
Ultimately, that, "Portastatic singing in Portuguese," is both the purpose
and main feature of this EP. The arrangements are fairly spare, bringing
Mac McCaughan's voice to the forefront. The recordings end up sounding less
like the rich, beautifully orchestrated songs from Portastatic's last
album, The Nature of Sap, and more like the simple, more Superchunk demo-like
acoustic songs that dominated the pre-Sap releases. Plenty of instruments
are used, including an appearance by Wobbly Rail artist Jeb Bishop & his
trombone, but the focus is on Mac's voice.
Mac says in the liner notes that this EP is simply the result of him feeling
the need to sing these songs he loves. (Maybe he didn't realize the thing
about the rhyming first syllables.) I assume, though, he also hopes this
EP may convince some of his fans to check out the originals. However, I think
this EP works better if you already are familiar with the songs and can
appreciate Mac's rendition & relate to his love of the genre. Regardless,
the songs contained here, for the most part, are simple, pleasant, catchy
pop songs, the highlight being the slightly syrupy but vibrant & catchy
"Baby," and they will appeal, at some level, to all fans of vocal-heavy pop.
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