Norfolk and Western
Issue #30
The Unsung Colony (Hush)
By Matt Siblo
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
If indie rock’s shape-shifting and fickle nature has settled on anything these past few years, it’s that bigger is now better. Catching a crashing crescendo or some mandolin solos among a wall of distortion doesn’t possess quite the same cool it once did. Cinematic artists such as Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire opened the economically viable floodgates and, for better or worse, most bands now seem to be swinging for the cheap seats on their way to create the next In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
There are certainly worse things in the world to emulate, and it should be noted that nothing on The Unsung Colony comes across as morose or lo-fi as the aforementioned bands. Instead, Norfolk and Western have more in common with former tour mates and fellow Portlanders the Decemberists, creating quirky Americana with a firm proclivity for pop. But rather than focusing on the sea shanties of yore, you’d sooner find songs from The Unsung Colony being sung in a gin-soaked haze while dust balls tumble across a tired-looking front porch. Gold rush and vaudevillian imagery abounds.
Sound like a bit much? Well, it can be. But the band makes no qualms about their theatrical ambitions, which place the listener in the position to either indulge or seek refuge elsewhere. “The Longest Stare” opens with the soft hiss of a projector that segues into one of the albums most sprawling and melodramatic numbers, while faux-lullaby “The Atget Waltz” draws you in, sounding as if it was taken directly out of a brooding Tim Burton cartoon.
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