Ola Podrida
Ghosts Go Blind (Western Vinyl)The general plotline for Ola Podrida’s Ghosts Go Blind reads like the sort of indie film songwriter David Wingo is better known for scoring. It’s a transitory album, caught between the nostalgic splendor of youth and the growing pains that come with maturation. Opener “Not Ready to Stop” sets the scene. “It’s no fun being alone at the end,” Wingo remarks in the final refrain, pleading for company as the party disperses around him. Yet while the character at the center of Ola Podrida’s third album struggles to find his place, Wingo has never sounded so commanding and self-assured. On the band’s 2007 debut, his narratives were guarded and withdrawn, the slo-core longing of Bedhead by way of Iron & Wine’s The Creek Drank the Cradle. Recorded live, this latest iteration of the band lends serious weight to Wingo’s faded Polaroid lyricism in the thrilling “Speed of Light” and “Some Sweet Relief.” That’s paramount in the disc’s turning point, “Staying In,” where pulsing drums and shoegaze guitar underscore Wingo’s attempt to convince his partner to pull down the shades and waste away the day. Ghosts Go Blind is a work of quiet desperation, projected at full volume and with eyes wide open.
This article appears in May 24 • 2013.