Shirt

Aaron Maine has always had a complicated relationship with rock'n'roll. In the early 2010s, Porches' band crystallized around a choppy and choppy guitar music that suited the messy DIY venues and drizzly basements he frequented in the Northeast. Since then, his songs of longing have become more experimental and opaque, taking tangents with hazy synth-pop (2016 Pool), dreamy dance music (2018 The House), and subdued ballads reminiscent of Arthur Russell's solitary recordings (2020s Ricky Music). But recently, he's been thinking about getting strong again.

On tour in support of the exuberant pop songs of 2021 Soft hold all day!Maine had a chance to enjoy this impulse. He cranked up the distortion on his guitar, thrashed around the stage and screamed—a way to exorcise the angst and unbridled energy that lies beneath his music, even at its softest. These shows provided the immediate spark for ShirtMaine's sixth studio album as Porches, a collection of the most compelling songs he has recorded to date.

The heaviest moments of the record document what is called “album-shirt/interviews/under-the-influence/” class=”external-link” data-event-click=”{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.stereogum.com/2270890/porches-on-how-nine-inch-nails-weed-childhood-more-shaped-his-alluring-new-album-shirt/interviews/under-the-influence/"}” href=”https://www.stereogum.com/2270890/porches-on-how-nine-inch-nails-weed-childhood-more-shaped-his-alluring-new-album-shirt/interviews/under-the-influence/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>precarious emotional state” that he put himself through while making the record. Working in a windowless underground rehearsal space and smoking “a lot of weed” for the first time in his life, he allowed himself to explore an emotional terrain he doesn't often access. He wrote songs about existential angst and everyday anguish, accompanying the abstract yet disturbing imagery of his lyrics with chopped-up production and raw arrangements.

Single “Rag” is perhaps the most indicative of the tension Maine reaches throughout Shirt. Wounded and paranoid, he weaves together lyrics about libidinous desire and violence that flicker over a depraved instrument that harkens back to Deerhunter's adventures in red Obsession. The coiled tension of 'Sally' is reminiscent of grumpy miniatures that ex-Maine roadie Alex G nested between love songs on his own early records. On “Itch,” Maine further explores this warped desperation, offering words of piety and pain while pounding out menacing guitar chords that thump and thump like an oil drum hitting concrete.

ShirtIts most impressive moments twist these familiar rock tropes into something stranger. Auto-Tune, an occasional Maine fixture, renders his voice crude and vulgar, smearing it across the tracks like a bug caught under a windshield wiper. Even when the guitars take center stage, there are also moments like the narcotic ballad “Precious,” where each layer sounds unstable and tense, as if a sinkhole is opening up and swallowing her.