Album Notes

Pirate Radio is a four-piece indie band from San Francisco mixing infectious melodies with earnest lyrics and lush guitar sounds. On their sophomore effort, Welcome Home, an Americana backdrop is layered with an analogue palate, adding just enough sonic icing to the cake to leave the tongue singing. The sound is not only unique, but endearing. The album opener, "Stealing Hours", is energetic yet down-home. Acoustic guitars juxtapose horn hooks and frenzied guitar dynamics. The sweet nostalgia and soft-pulsing rhythm of "Let It Go" recalls Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire." "Lodestar" falsettos with Neil Young delicacy, adding a distinct syncopation and warm Moog. "Ocean Beach" and "Sideways" give a melancholic nod to the pysch-folk of M. Ward and Sun Kil Moon. While "Thousand Miles" starts like an indie take on Mississippi John Hurt, it slowly crescendo's into an epic garage-rock opus. Rockers "Annie…" and "North Coast" are cut straight from the Rolling Stones/Gram Parsons country-rock cloth. "Catching Leaves" rides a wave of surf guitar, picking its way through a Mariachi-style instrumental a la Calexico until finally landing in a psychedelic pool, evoking My Morning Jacket without all the reverb. "Welcome Home" is a giant step from Pirate Radio’s previous stripped-down country garage-rock to a more diverse atmosphere filled with superb songwriting.