Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen

by Dignan Porch

Overview

Dignan Porch tiptoe a few steps farther out of the bedroom on Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen, their first album as a full-fledged band. Building on the Deluded EP, the group have cleaned up their sound significantly since 2010's Tendrils -- which was largely the work of frontman Joe Walsh -- but they're still far from slick: as they channel '90s lo-fi via '80s indie pop and '60s psychedelia, Walsh's wavering vocals are still often buried under layers of fuzz and static, and he and his brother Sam's guitars jangle and swirl, leaving lysergic traces around the edges of their songs. However, Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen finds the band expanding the borders of their sound and songs; some approach or pass the five-minute mark, more than twice the length of most of Dignan Porch's previous tracks. While the brilliant brevity of "On a Ride" and "Like It Was" (which was wisely re-recorded in a superior version as "Like It Was Again" on Deluded) is missed, the band do some interesting things with this widescreen approach. Hayley Akins' keyboards elevate "Sad Shape" beyond grungy balladry, and later transform "Darkness" from a simple lament into what sounds like an alien abduction. Sam Walsh's solos get the spotlight on "Sleep with the Dead," a hypnotic track that recalls Dignan Porch forefathers th' Faith Healers and their later incarnation Quickspace, and on "Sixteen Hits," where he treats his stomp box the way his brother treats his heart. Still, Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen is often at its best when it lets Joe muse over long-ago heartbreak that still seems fresh, with less accompaniment to cushion its impact. "Picking Up Dust" is a quintessential Dignan Porch song, with lyrics like "Somewhere else there's an old toy on the shelf picking up dust" conveying life's little tragedies with a wryness that only ends up making them sadder; "She Is Landing"'s gently downward-drifting melody and shambling conclusion evoke the best of their earlier work; while the devastating "And Now Are Not" swaddles its rage and grief over the end of a relationship in an innocent melody that sounds like the start of one. Meanwhile, the bittersweet slackerdom of "TV Shows" and its cheery reprise "Cancelled TV Shows" reflects Dignan Porch's growing range in a subtler way. As a portrait of the band's evolution, Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen has flashes of brilliance and moments where they're still figuring out what to do, but overall, it shows them growing into something new as gracefully as they can. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	08/14/2012
Label:	Captured Tracks
UPC:	0817949016111
Rank:	118662

Tracks

1. Picking up Dust
2. Sad Shape
3. She Is Landing
4. Darkness
5. TV Shows
6. Pink Oil
7. Sleep With the Dead
8. Never
9. Sixteen Hits
10. And Are Now Not
11. Cancelled TV Shows
12. Interlude
13. You Win You Win

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dignan Porch   Primary Artist
Hayley Akins   Vocals,Keyboards
Joe Walsh   Guitar,Vocals
Stephen Keane   Drums
Ben Goodwin   Bass
Sam Walsh   Guitar

Technical Credits

Ed Harris   Band Photo
Hayley Akins   Cover Art,Group Member
Joe Walsh   Composer,Group Member
Stephen Keane   Composer,Group Member
Ben Goodwin   Group Member
Sam Walsh   Engineer,Group Member
Henry Withers   Engineer
Dignan Porch   Musician
Mark Jasper   Engineer
Alex Clegg   Engineer