Porter Block ft. Luke Wesley

Porter Block is a duo who make music that's melodic, hooky as hell, smart, well-crafted, sometimes sad, always thoughtful; in a nutshell, what many would call Power Pop. Unless you've misplaced your ears, it may be impossible to resist the seductive pull of Hard To See Beautiful. By the end of the first chorus in the opening song, many of its abundant riches will be apparent. These songs are built to last.

Formed in 2005 and made up of New Yorkers Peter Block and Caleb Sherman, Peter says the group's underlying ideology is, "It always comes down to being honest about the writing. If one can't sit down and play and sing the song simply, then it's not ready to be recorded." Regarding his colleague, Peter is effusive, "I actually met Caleb about 15 years ago. I really can't think of another musician who naturally absorbs and produces music with such ease. He can play just about any instrument you can name. His production sensibility was really an old school approach. He understood very well that I wanted to make human-sounding records, so we just clicked."

Porter Block have made one EP and five albums. Frequently augmented by a revolving cast of crack players, 2010's release featured cowrites with Mike Viola (who also produced), Tracy Bonham, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Michael Flynn from Slow Runner, and Dan Miller from They Might Be Giants. The band on Hard To See Beautiful again includes vital collaborator/wunderkind Mike Viola, who co-produces, co-writes, plays acoustic guitar and sings back-ups. And that considerably ups the musical ante.

Mike's resume is vast, including several albums on his own and as Candy Butchers; producing the likes of Matt Nathanson, Ryan Adams, Rachael Yamagata and Mandy Moore; co-writing with Dan Wilson, Panic! At The Disco, New Politics, Brett Dennen, Tim Christensen, MAX and Gin Wigmore; and work on the films That Thing You Do, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him To The Greek. Peter describes Viola's involvement, "Mike ??? really helped drive the 'Let's write a song and not (just) make a cool sounding track philosophy', which can happen when you're writing with the luxury of pro-tools and computers."

Hard To See Beautiful was recorded digitally in Nashville (where Caleb relocated) and on analog in Los Angeles, by Sheldon Gomberg (Ben Harper, Warpaint, Joseph Arthur). Using the two formats allowed for maximum flexibility in capturing the sound and feel the group was after. Guitars and keyboards share the musical turf pretty evenly. Guitars were handled by Peter, Caleb, Mike, Steven Elliot (Dawes, Norah Jones) and Terry Radigan; the keys were split between Peter, Caleb and Larry Goldings (James Taylor, John Mayer, Norah Jones). Drum chores were shared by Brandon Barnes and longtime Elvis Costello compadre, Pete Thomas. Bass came courtesy of Caleb and another Costello bandmate, Davey Faragher. You'll find the musicianship throughout is quite remarkable.

The six-year delay between Porter Block records was the result of a serious illness. Now 80% back on his feet, Peter is pragmatic when referring to the two years his arms and hands were partially paralyzed due to a neurological viral condition called Parsonage-Turner Syndrome. "It was a pretty dim period of my life ??? I still have trouble forgetting about it. But the fact is ??? everyone in this world has something that they're struggling with. Some physical or mental limitation they have to break through. I don't feel sorry for myself. It's just one of those things that happens to you in life." During that difficult time, Peter helped create the non-profit Music and Medicine program at Cornell Weill Medical College, which encourages medical students to continue to pursue musical study and performance while studying medicine.

The songs themselves are, of course, the star of the show on Hard To See Beautiful. With the exception of one (which we'll get to later), they're all written by Block/Sherman or Block/Viola. The album contains 10 three to four-minute classic pop songs, written in various styles. Opener, "Heartbreak On My Stereo," is a mid-tempo number with a chorus that'll make you stop and think: "A disapproving look can feel as hard as stone / Exposes the brick and the foundation you're standing on." The guitar pattern on "When You're Running Scared" has a lilting melody that instantly grabs the ear. "Long Gone" is a tremolo-ridden guitar rocker about miscommunication. "Nothing Matters" has a lyric you might expect from the title, sung over a jaunty tune that belies the text: "Punch a wall ??? Run a red light/Suck a tailpipe/Nothing matters" - as Peter says, "??? a humorous look at basically giving up on life." One of the album's stand-out tracks is "Happens Every Time," a break-up song with jubilant power chords and, gorgeous, soaring harmonies. "Party Dress" ??? co-written by Peter, Terry Radigan and Michael Sackler-Berner - closes the album and breaks rank with the rest, it's the longest and the only slow one on the album. Suddenly, at 3:14, a sort of wacky violin part enters the picture and shakes up the album's previously guitar-keyboard-bass-and-drum-only instrumentation. It's a startling final track.

When the topic of influences comes up, the list is endless. The groups' love of The Beatles-XTC-Squeeze-Elvis Costello-Fountains of Wayne among many, many others is sacrosanct. These boys are some serious music fanatics. Which can be a problem with some artists who lack original vision and merely mimic. But with Porter Block and their musical sidekicks, the sources of inspiration have been deeply loved, carefully studied and thoroughly absorbed into their DNA, coming out the other end as both unique and contemporary. Peter tells us, "I could talk about songwriting forever because it's given me so much joy to do and to observe what others have done so brilliantly ??? it's about preparing to be prepared for me. Then I can throw whatever I've prepared away and just follow instinct."

Touring for the group has grown over the years. From the early days gigging around New York's lower east side ??? The Living Room, Pianos, Rockwood Music Hall - to touring the East Coast, South and Midwest with folks like Deep Blue Something, Mike Viola, The Samples and Mike Doughty. The live show features different configurations: band, acoustic duo (with Caleb) and solo. You can expect to see Porter Block on the road in August and September and beyond with Lucy Woodward and Tim Easton.

When asked if there was anything else he'd like the world at large to know about Hard To See Beautiful Peter replies succinctly, "Music is for Life. I had a problem and it left my life for a while. Now the music's back and so am I."