Viva Voce

Rose City

(Barsuk)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

Things are happening quickly for Viva Voce.  Part of the Portland musical family, Kevin and Anita Robinson have kept busy collaborating with the likes of The Shins and Thao Nguyen.  While Viva Voce qualifies as their day job band, they also kick up their heels and get countrified with Blue Giant.  When the time came for a new album, they wrote and recorded it in one month – and it was a month very well spent:  Rose City is a winner.

The title is a nod, of course, to the city that’s been so good to them, and the title track is an urban valentine.  It’s a charming, straight-ahead rocker that captures the homesickness of a band on the road – its simple plea is “I want to be in the town I love” – even if “virtues of Portland” is up there with “Boston sports triumphs” as conversation topics that could stand to be put on the shelf for a little while.

The front half of Rose City is especially loaded, and begins aggressively with “Devotion.”  The Robinsons have added some new members to their fold, and they bust out of the gates sounding like a lean, mean alt-rock machine.  The harmonizing between Kevin and Anita – Kevin taking the lead here – is always effective, and “Devotion” is the first of several tracks to feature a genuine sing-along chorus.  “Die a Little” takes the baton with a peppy blast of percussion and more harmonizing, this time led by Anita, whose versatile vocals are on target whether she’s backing James Mercer on the last Shins record or fronting a piece of dusty psych-rock.   Things slow down on “Octavio” (with its whispers of Yo La Tengo) and the lovely, atmospheric piano ballad “Midnight Sun.”

Rose City’s crown jewel is “Red Letter Day,” coming right at the center of the album.  The track is infused with just the right amount of twang – the sort of twang that emanates from the depths of the desert, not from Nashville.  It’s enigmatic but immediate.  And even though Rose City tapers off a little after hitting those heights, it’s still a worthy addition to their catalog – and yours, too.