The Observers Collection LP
Released on the opening day of their summer European tour, the OBSERVERS are back on stage along with this commemorative Collection LP. Taken By Surprise has rounded up EPs and singles from the archive of the OBSERVERS, who were active from 2002 to 2005 in Portland, Oregon. These fourteen songs come from 2003’s Lead Pill, 2005’s Walk Alone, 2005’s Where I Stay, and Maximum Rocknroll’s 2006 Public Safety compilation LP, with some previously unreleased tracks to boot. Colin Grigson’s bass and Douglas Burns’s guitar and vocals started this group, and if the latter sounds familiar, Burns went on to form RED DONS after the OBSERVERS stopped playing in 2005. I reviewed the RED DONS’ Generations 7” a while back, and thought I was hearing something in common…this collection displays the band’s straight-ahead, catchy power punk/garage songwriting, with mid-to-upper-tempo tracks largely in the sub-three minute range featuring clattering, cymbal-heavy drums, gangly bass, simple, crunchy guitar, and Burns’s hallmark croon and exaggerated vocals. This particularly comes to light on “Walk Alone” from the EP of the same name, and has become my favorite of the album. It’s a little darker than the rest, and the vocals really shine through. I also enjoy “Normally Normal,” a tongue-in-cheek exploration of what it means to be normal, reminding me of something SUICIDAL TENDENCIES might do. Not-to-be-missed release of a staple in the Portland music canon.