Frank Orrall’s Hawaii-by-way-of-Austin-by-way-of-Chicago Poi Dog Pondering could be categorized/ghettoized with the million-and-one Americana jam bands that take in many members, many instruments, and many homegrown sounds, usually revolving around a single singer/songwriter metropole, who make their money on the jam-festival circuit each summer playing events like All Good or High Sierra – in short, PDP could be seen in the Dave Matthews Band way, albeit looking more to the Pacific than the Atlantic (and not the massive success). But you could say that PDP does that approach, that set up, in the right way – not always perfect, but varied and interesting, even on their short mini-LP, Audio Love Letter.
For a sound that’s more Western/Native American/Pacific Islander than Southern/African in origin, Letter borrows from that oldest, whitest, and most-used spot of land for inspiration, Blighty, with three covers of classic English artists. The up-speed jam-run to Van Morrison’s "Sweet Thing" and large, windswept alt-folk for The The’s "Uncertain Smile" are both in Poi Dog Pondering’s wheelhouse, but it is the cover of David Bowie’s "Win" that is the most interesting. From the Thin White Duke’s 1976 Young Americans, when Bowie (QRO album review) first shifted from the glam-rock that he made his name in, to an adoption of Philadelphia Soul, "sung by a limey", PDP’s "Win" is more of a nighttime eighties version (or, perhaps, the nighttime smooth eighties sax sound was just started by Bowie back in ’76…).
There are also four original Poi Dog Pondering pieces (the track order alternates original & cover), of varying quality. The swishing, slow, and distant closer "Starlight" feels like it takes too long to not go anywhere, and "Young and Wilde" (presumably a nod to Oscar) is big, wrought, and overdone. But then there’s opener "Steve Marriott", the kind of enjoyable up-jam party-rock that you loved in high school & college, and still can’t help but have fun listening to today. And Audio has a clear standout in the ode/Love Letter "Jeremy Brett", about/for the British actor who defined the role of Sherlock Holmes in the Granada TV/BBC series (imported to America through PBS and A&E, though only the latter gets the name-check from Orrall – no love for Vincent Price’s Mystery?…). Jeremy Brett the actor & the song can best be summed up in the inventive and excellent line, "He was a sort of a dandy in the classic tradition / A bon vivant filled with bouts of depression."
At this point in a career stretching more than a quarter-century, Poi Dog Pondering probably aren’t going to be recruiting many new fans, save those who catch them at a jam-festival and are already heavily inclined towards their style. Audio Love Letter is written not just to Orrall’s Anglo inspiration, but also to PDP’s fans, each of whom at their pair of shows at Chicago’s Vic Theater, February 4th & 5th (QRO photos), will get a free copy (there was at least one resident of the Second City happy the Bears didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, as that would’ve been some tough competition that second night…). Still, it’s an enjoyable introduction to the band if you’ve never heard them, especially if you’re the kind who’d dismiss them out-of-hat.
MP3 Stream: "Jeremy Brett"
