I Am the Portuguese Blues

Infobox Album |
Name = I Am the Portuguese Blues
Type = Album
Artist = Starflyer 59


Released = February 24, 2004
Recorded = ???
Genre = Indie rock Shoegaze
Length = 27:31
Label = Tooth & Nail Records
Producer = Starflyer 59
Reviews =
* Allmusic (2.5/5) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:it4zefrk3gf2]
*"Jesus Freak Hideout" [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/IAmThePortugueseBlues.asp link] |
Last album = "Old" (2003)
This album = "I Am the Portuguese Blues" (2004)
Next album = The Last Laurel" (2004)

"I Am the Portuguese Blues" is the eighth full-length album released by Starflyer 59. With this album, the band returned to its past in multiple ways. The band's earlier albums had been characterized by loud guitars, but later albums saw the band progress to a softer sound, incorporating keyboards. "I Am the Portuguese Blues" saw the return of the sound from earlier albums, as the band was stripped just to Jeff Cloud on bass, Frank Lenz on drums, and Jason Martin, the only person to perform on all of Starflyer 59's albums, handling guitar and vocal duties. In addition, the album has a monochromatic cover, similar to those of Starflyer 59's first three albums ("Silver", "Gold", and "Americana"). Many of the songs on "I Am the Portuguese Blues" were written years earlier as demos for an album to follow "Americana". They were eventually scrapped, as the band decided to take a different musical direction for "The Fashion Focus". The old demos were refined and combined with several new songs for "I Am the Portuguese Blues". In regards to the title of the album, Martin, the band's frontman said,

“I thought the title was odd. There are a couple of proper blues riffs‚ on there, but mainly it is just a rock and roll album -- no tricks no gimmicks.... And, oh yeah, I’m Portuguese.”

Track listing

#"Wake Up Early" – 2:53
#"Unlucky" – 2:11
#"Teens in Love" – 2:53
#"The Big Idea" – 2:53
#"Worth of Labor" – 2:48
#"Not Funny" – 2:34
#"Sound on Sound" – 2:34
#"Destiny" – 2:24
#"No Revolution" – 3:33
#"I Need Some Help" – 2:44

Writing Credits

All songs written by Jason Martin

Personnel

*Jason Martin - Vocals, guitar, engineer, art direction
*Jeff Cloud - Bass guitar
*Frank Lenz - Drums
*Aaron Sprinkle - Mixing
*Troy Glessner - Mastering
*Brandon Ebel - Executive Producer
*Kris McCaddon - Art direction, design