'Cannot fall into the familiar.' Perhaps this phrase, like none other on Poorfolk’s upcoming sophomore release best describes the sonic trudge forward of this Montreal-cum-Ottawa quartet.
If Poorfolk's first album was a work of classic bedroom rock, these new recordings showcase a different sound entirely: singer-guitarist Jonathan Pearce’s personal/political lyrics are still recognizable, but are now bolstered by a muscular rhythm section, frantic, dueling guitar interplay and gang-chanting choruses. So...what happened to that guy-and-a-four-track bedroom rock from the first record? Where did this sweaty indie-rock rave-up come from?
For Poorfolk it happened back on familiar ground. While 5,000 bands were busy crowding into Montreal’s shit-hot hipster clubs, Jonathan Pearce and Scott Freeman got out and back to their sleepy
hometown of Ottawa, a place they once swore over a steely-eyed blood-brother stare they’d never return.
Whereas the first Poorfolk offering was written solely by Pearce in a lo-fi four-track setting, these new songs came together on home turf with the addition of new members Matt Godin and Dave Clark. Perhaps it was the capital city’s underlying rigidity or maybe just a harkening back to the local indie scene that the members cut their teeth on – but the music on Poorfolk’s forthcoming release is the result.
The music has definite echoes of the nineties indie rock the guys grew up on but increasingly the influences track back further...to the early eighties college scene and 'Reckoning'-era R.E.M. in particular.
Recorded at Ottawa’s Legendary Little Bullhorn Productions by Jarrett Bartlett and Dave Draves and mastered by Harris Newman in Montreal, Poorfolk’s “Our Burning Street” is set for official release in July 2008 on Vancouver’s White Whale Records.
Press for "Our Burning Street"
“The songs on Our Burning Street have all the urgency and earnest appeal of a band with something to prove, but are delivered with the assuredness of old hands who have absorbed the lessons of the past and know how to deliver the goods.” - National Post
“It’s all drawn from college rock—but it’s grown up, more capable and broadly influenced, informed by a destabilized world, and stinging from the higher-stakes victories and defeats of adulthood. Poorfolk is the first volley of an updated genre: incendiary post-college rock.” –Vue Weekly (Edmonton)
“Unless you are above throwing on a record and being able to listen without waiting for hundreds of instruments or intricate electro currents to clutter up the mix, I'm not sure how you can find fault with Poorfolk - a name that might be funny when they start getting the radio play this record demands.” –HeroHill Album Review
"Our Burning Street suggests that Poorfolk have it in them to conquer rock radio across North America." –i (heart) music.net
“The ideal end-of-summer soundtrack”–Montreal Mirror
“Our Burning Street conveys more than a trace of vintage R.E.M., Eric's Trip and Sebadoh in its sonic assault.” –Ottawa Sun
“Ottawa’s Poorfolk is a four-man time travel band that takes us back, waaaay back, to the indie rock of the late '90s when dueling, noodling guitars and choruses sung in unison held sway. Recalling Pinback at their best, it’s a gentle, rolling ride.” –Pop Montreal
“The group’s sophomore record Our Burning Street has superb hooks, charming backing vocals and an early eighties college record vibe to it that we can't get out of our head.” -thefirenotefiredrills.blogspot.com
“I'm quite positive that Our Burning Street should net Poorfolk some new fans and please their current ones. Any fan of good indie rock should find something tasty in this release” –Music Emissions
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Bio for self-titled 1st album - released 2004 on white whale records
Poorfolk is a solo mission undertaken by Jonathan Pearce, former singer/guitarist with defunct party-math rockers the Marato.
When that band broke up in 2001, Pearce left for a teaching job in South Korea. There, in a self-imposed acoustic exile, he worked up a batch of songs leaning away from electric guitar workouts and toward spiraling, spectral indie-folk.
Back in Montreal he enlisted Dave Maurakis (Animal town) and developed the arrangements further, adding drums, electric guitars and keyboards. The result is chiming, droning folk-anchored at all times by Pearce’s insistent acoustic chords. The current line-up includes Scott Freeman (ex-the Marato) on bass and Dave Clark on guitar.
The record was brought to life in Ottawa's legendary Little Bullhorn Studios by Jarrett Bartlett with the help of Dave Draves and mastered by Harris Newman in Montreal.
Poorfolk has had quite a run since then with tours and showcases that found them at NMW, Pop Montreal, and Montreal’s Fringe Pop. They have since relocated to Ottawa where they are working on their highly-anticipated sophomore release.
For more info:
http://whitewhale.ca/poorfolk or http://myspace.com/poorfolkmusic
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