Porter’s January Album Reviews

Porter’s reviews of L.A. Woman by The Doors & What’s It Like To Live With Me by English Budgies

Introduction

Welcome to the first ever Analog Utah album review! Because it’s the first ever album review blog post, I’m going to explain how our monthly album reviews work! Every month one of our writers, Porter Young, is going to choose two albums to review, one will be any album of his choice, and the other will be an album from a local band that he wants to review. For this month Porter reviewed the classic and well-loved album, L.A. Woman by The Doors and one of his favorite local releases, What’s It Like To Live With Me by English Budgies. If you like album reviews and want some new music recommendations, stick around for Porter’s month album reviews!

What’s It Like To Live With Me By English Budgies

A Review by Porter Young

What’s It Like To Live With Me by English Budgies

What’s It Like to Live With Me is the debut LP from everyone’s favorite bird-themed indie/alt-rock band English Budgies. Forming in 2019, the English Budgies have been a must-see act for any local show-goers. Having secured their long-term lineup, Joe and Jena Vickrey front the group as husband-and-wife singer/songwriters while Sam Tucker and Matthew Minich round out the sound. Speaking of which, let’s talk music.

The opening track She Reporter sets the stage with an immensely groovy instrumental that immediately places them among the likes of late 2000s groups like Said the Whale and Catfish and the Bottlemen. Although reminiscent of past trends, the song, as well as the album, feels anything but dated. Jena’s vocals are a high point of the album for me. Her voice is deep and smooth, providing the perfect juxtaposition against the bouncy, energetic instrumentals.

Had Enough gave me musical whiplash as it followed She Reporter’s upbeat indie rock grooves with heavy-hitting pop-punk riffs and matching vocals provided by Joe. English Budgies’ talent for genre-bending while keeping the overall record cohesive and indisputably unique and recognizable is simply uncanny. Although they seem to have a “home base” in the reminiscent sounds of classic (classic referring to late 2000s in this case) indie rock, each journey they make into other genres across this record is incredibly rewarding. Something that I can’t go without pointing out is how effective the chosen chord progressions are, best exemplified in songs like Red Sand and Noreen, the progressions are simple yet powerful and momentous. They keep you interested without being distracting from the overall structure of the songs.

Speaking of structure, the English Budgies know how to build a song. Slower songs like the heartwrenching Heartbreak News and We Had it All show contrast within themselves by including open, soaring, or punchy, riff-driven passages respectively. Each song holds itself up entirely on its own but doesn’t keep itself from getting along with the other songs on the LP.

The lyrics across the record are, in my opinion, summed up almost entirely by the title of the record. What’s It Like to Live With Me is about exactly that. The mundanities of life, molehills that feel like mountains, relationships, stress, anxiety, success, and failure. All things that we have all experienced are presented through the lens of incredibly relatable and heartfelt lyrics and songwriting. I don’t have the inside scoop about the actual intended meanings of these songs but the cool part is, I don’t need to. I can find my own meaning in the songs and I can imagine that many others could as well. Over 5 years in the making, What’s It Like to Live With Me is an outstanding debut and English Budgies is a group that you should definitely keep an eye on. I know I will.

If you would like to here this local masterpiece by English Budgies you can find it on every streaming platform. If you like what you’ve heard so far give them a follow on Instagram: @englishbudgies

L.A. Woman by The Doors

A Review by Porter Young

L.A. Woman (1971) By The Doors

What is there left to be said about this band? What is there left to be said about this record? Not much but we are going to talk about it anyway. L.A. Woman is the 6th LP from the legendary American rock outfit The Doors. This record is also the last that frontman and songwriter, Jim Morrison, would release before his death less than three months later.

The Doors can be argued to be the ultimate example of classic American blues rock. Nearly every track on this record is instantly recognizable, even to people who haven’t listened to it before because even if you don’t know it, you’ve probably heard it at one point. The Changeling opens the album with an immediate, unrelenting, bass-driven, groove that nearly persists through the entire song. This reflects the lyrics delivered by Morrison who describes himself as living “Uptown”, “Downtown”, and “All around”, just like the everpresent and continuously building groove.

The Changeling gives way to the hugely popular Love Her Madly, an upbeat jam featuring ragtime-esque piano and classic smooth lyric delivery. Been Down So Long is a punchy, chugging groove that Morrison chants call and response verses to, and Cars Hiss by My Window is a classic low and slow 12-bar blues tune that features a guitar solo that almost sounds like someone trying to mimic guitar noises with their mouth. Then you realize that the “guitar solo” is in fact someone trying to mimic guitar noises with their mouth.

The title track is one of two mammoth-sized songs on this record, coming in at seven minutes and fifty seconds L.A. Woman is a journey through nearly all of the sounds previously mentioned that all culminate in a long, momentous buildup which breaks down into classic highway rock. L’america is a strange and eerie track with a repeating descending bass line and marching snares with lyrics eluding to Morrison traveling to Latin America in search of high-quality marijuana. Hyacinth House is a heartfelt ballad about regrets and relationships. Crawling King Snake and The WASP go back to the ever-familiar blues-rock jams, the latter of which features spoken word vocals over the majority of its run time.

This leaves us with the final track, which truly needs no introduction, Riders On The Storm. This seven-minute and seventeen-second long track has transcended The Doors themselves and has all but solidified itself as an American icon. I’ve yet to meet someone who hasn’t at least recognized this song or any of its countless covers. The track listens like more of a jam sesh than a typical song but always remains absolutely captivating. It seamlessly builds and releases tension and tastefully uses every sound produced by the band.

L.A. Woman is truly a masterclass in songwriting and classic production. It’s one of the most iconic records from one of the most iconic rock groups of all time. I can’t help but feel nostalgic for a time that not even my parents got to experience and that’s what makes this record stand out to me. It immediately puts you in an early 70’s bar in downtown L.A. and you have to try to remember that you’re actually 54 years late to the party. While it wasn’t Jim Morrison’s best vocal performance the rest of the band played at their absolute best and created a very special record and what I believe to be a fitting send-off for their bandmate. If you couldn’t tell I am a very big fan of this record and I cannot recommend it enough if you feel like it would interest you.