What a Rush

Ports of Call was in the mood — so why wait?

by Patrick Rapa

Mike Flemming WALL OF SOUNDMAKERS: Ports of Call's self-released debut is a dreamy, shoegazing opus. (L-R: Stephanie Hesser, Thomas Mosher, Carolynne McNeel, Daniel Salerno and Tom Fleischer.) (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Depending on how you look at it, Ports of Call either rushed its debut album or took its sweet, sweet time.

They'd been a band, practicing and playing shows around town, for only about a year. They'd solidified their lineup a mere four weeks earlier. But still the quintet hauled its gear up to Second Story Sound Studios in West Chester to record the dreamy, shoegazing self-released opus Like Thieves ....

According to singer-guitarist Thomas Mosher, when it feels right, you just gotta go for it. "I'd been trying to make this sound in my head for six years and I finally had it," he says. "I just really wanted to get it down before it faded."

Mosher and guitarist Tom Fleischer had been playing together for years in Aircrash and L'Envoi — two Philly bands Google knows almost nothing about. With Like Thieves ... , Ports of Call is bound to make an impression.

"I remember when Tom and I were driving home after doing the final mix and listening to it in his car and we were both just, like, wow ... we finally made something solid, we've finally found the sound," recalls Mosher. "Granted, now I listen to it and think of all the things we could have done differently, but I think you always do that and that's what makes you keep making records: always trying to attain perfection.

The last piece of the puzzle for Like Thieves ... was Carolynne McNeel, known for fronting a few Philly bands, including the defunct April Disaster and still-going-strong Rarebirds. She joined Ports of Call shortly before the four-day recording session to add guitar, violin, keys and vocals. Daniel Salerno plays drums. Since the recording, Stephanie Hesser has replaced Andrew Grossman on bass. Each bandmate praises the chemistry of its current lineup.

On "Washout," Mosher's voice intertwines with McNeel's. The choruses seem to pause for the singers to take a breath. Chords clang, and a high sound (keyboard? cello? something else?) brays mournfully in the background. It's lovely and a little spooky. They're looking to shoot a video for that one soon. Other songs tip-toe the edges of the shoegaze sound; "Honey" has a little guitar hook bravado, and "Claire" is unapologetically catchy.

The album's finest moments come during "Here We Are." Again the lyrics are hard to discern, again it paints up a wistful, yearning vibe with rushing symbols, a garage-rock beat and a bunch of instruments moving as one. "The beautiful vocal harmonies between Thomas and Carolynne added the sugar on top," says Salerno. "Then Tom added the sexy, as he always seems to do."

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Shoegaze music, for those unfamiliar with this curious little sub-sub-genre, is all about putting the human voice on equal footing with the guitars and keys and bass. The singer often shadows the crescendos and rushing walls of sound, but rarely overtakes them. Think Ride. Think My Bloody Valentine. It's a pleasant, atmospheric vibe, gentler than psychedelic, less precious than twee, hazier than math rock, more jangly and moody than fun music tends to be. But Ports of Call is fun. Upbeat beats and swooning verses lead to head-scratching choruses that echo in your ear buds.

"I think overall the aesthetic philosophy is just to make something that sounds good," says Mosher. Melody is valued above all things. "I think in general we all just kinda went with a feeling rather than a lyrical message."

It's no surprise they will be sharing the stage Friday night with two beloved veterans of psych-influenced indie rock, New Radiant Storm King and Photon Band. Those bands got their start in the pretty, gritty DIY '90s, and Ports of Call's understated pop songs would fit nicely onto a mixtape from that era, alongside Tsunami, Ida, Velocity Girl and Moped. It was a time when the singer and the guitarist both worked with the grain, and the blending of girl voices with boy voices seemed like the formula for pop perfection.

To put it another way: This is a band of music fans, and its sound seems to be the simple conclusion when the five of them come together, however quickly they do so. Despite its hurried beginnings, Like Thieves ... sounds comfortable, and assured. It doesn't sound rushed. "It really didn't feel rushed, either," says Fleischer. "I guess we did it that early because it was time to do it, it made sense to."

(pat@citypaper.net)

Ports of Call will play Fri., Aug. 22, 9 p.m., $8, with New Radiant Storm King and Photon Band, The M-Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 215-739-5577, themanhattanroom.com.