Album Review: Portman - From Here To Your Eyes and Ears

Portman are a six-piece band from Stamford, a small town near Peterborough and have recently released their debut album, 'From Here To Your Eyes and Ears' released on Pep-Rock/Wal Nut Tree Records. Portman are made up of James Cuccio, Luke Warrington (both Guitar and Vocals), James K Sanford (Guitar, Vocals and Synth and Programming), Toby Potter (Bass and Vocals) and Luke Raymond (Drums and Vocals).

'From Here To...' starts off with the album title track, which is a brief intro consisting of group vocals and a sample. The record then kicks into 'Overestimating Your Audience', with Get Up Kids- style guitar and song structure. 'I Can Do Anything' sees the band slowing things down, this concept continues with 'All Is Not Well In Middle England'.

'Who Watches The Watchman?' starts off with a nice piano intro and then builds into a song which is well written and well played, with a combination of a good beat and background vocals. 'The Great Machine' is another great track with a mixture of quiet verse and a shouting chorus.

'Back To Default' is a ballad with a simple use of piano and stops the album from becoming repetitive. 'Those Left Behind' is built around a electronic-based beat which is nicely complimented by an acoustic guitar and keyboard. The album comes back to life with 'Whatever Next', which wouldn't be unrecognised if it was on a Mid-90's emo mixtape, with Sunny Day Real Estate and The Get Up Kids being an key influence on this track.

'We Are Nihilists Lebowski' starts off beautifully with sweet keys and pleasant guitars and then sees the band letting off some steam with them all shouting "We don't believe in anyone or anything anymore'. The album's penultimate track 'Can't Stop The Signal' which sees the band continue their use of 90's emo song structure. 'Last Broadcast' is sample-heavy outro, which rounds off the album with the band using radio signal beeps, synth keyboards and movie dialogue samples. The track is an interesting affair which sees the band going in a different direction and eventually ends with band peforming one last set of group vocals.

On the whole 'From Here To Your Eyes' is a refreshing listen, in a time where bands are trying to be the next Fall Out Boy etc, Portman have stuck to their influences and have written a collection of good songs, which are original and are combined with good musicianship. The only likely downfall of 'From Here To Your Eyes and Ears' is at times the record seems a bit too long and perhaps one or two tracks could of been excluded.

For Fans of: The Get Up Kids, Sunny Day Real Estate and Brand New

8/10

'From Here To Your Eyes and Ears' is available to buy from Wal Nut Tree Records for £2 Here or Pep-Rock Records Here.

Visit the band's Myspace here.