The Atlantis Lounge
Cautious Driver, Bory, Big Top
The new self-titled EP is a meditation on what it means to be a “lifer” in a local music scene. It explores themes of heartache in rented rooms, the clarity and pain of early sobriety, aging gracefully with your punk rock cred + morals intact, and dealing with unreliable heating appliances in old Portland apartments.
Bory is the project of Portland-based songwriter Brenden Ramirez, who just two releases into his young career has proven himself one of the most engaging power pop songwriters of his moment. Where his debut suggested a promising songwriter taking his first steps toward defining the contours of his sound, his sophomore LP, Never Turns To Night delivers a fully-realized vision of Bory, elevating and refining the elements that made his debut so appealing.
Ramirez brings a rare nuance to a collection of songs that are at turns quieter and wilder than anything he’s previously released. From the harmonized guitar strut of opener “We’ll Burn That Bridge When We Get To It,” to the squalling instrumental interludes of “That’s Jazz,” to the pinpoint harmonies of “Living Proof,” it’s an album that strikes a fine balance between gentleness and bombast, elevating its earnest, soft-spoken songs with a daring and sophisticated approach to arrangement.
If Bory’s debut established Ramirez as a candidate for a place in the power pop canon, then Never Turns To Night confirms that he belongs there and promises to have an impact far beyond the genre’s confines.