Porridge Radio – Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For (2024)

Porridge Radio – Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For (2024)

I already loved their 2022 album, “Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky,” but I feel like they’ve managed to do even better! Crazy!!!

I struggled with the song “In A Dream I’m A Painting” at first, but it eventually grew on me. And even if there were one or two songs I didn’t like on this album, it would still be just as excellent. I just wouldn’t have called it a masterpiece. But at the same time, it’s extremely difficult for me not to give this band the highest rating every time.

Porridge Radio had incredible creativity. All four members were really talented. I originally wrote my review in the present tense because I didn’t know the band had broken up in 2025. Which breaks my heart. Another band I never got to see live.

Dana Margolin was the brains behind the band. She wrote songs in her bedroom with her guitar. She founded Porridge Radio to express herself, drawing inspiration from the sea and her seaside town of Brighton. Her band was formed with Maddie Ryall on bass, Georgie Stott on keyboards, and Sam Yardley on drums.

The first tracks are very powerful. The further you go, the calmer it gets. And you hear surprising instruments again, such as the trumpet (not very obvious at first, but much more so in the last track).

The band had already reminded me of some of my favorite bands. This time, the voice and singing style clearly reminded me of Amanda Palmer from the fabulous Dresden Dolls. But this special way of screaming while singing can also lead us to think of a female version of Modest Mouse.

What a delight to hear this harmony between bass, drums, and guitars. And when other instruments are added to the mix, the pleasure sometimes remains intact, but often increases!

There’s a “best bands of the 80s” vibe, i.e. without the kitsch (especially exaggerated synths), but above all there’s that 90s alternative rock feel. Sleeper comes to mind, for example. Regularly trippy, sometimes dissonant, always with great energy.

They’ve also been classified in many other styles, such as indie pop, indie rock, post-punk, slowcore, and even lo-fi. A very complex band.

Porridge Radio has made three EPs and nine singles. They’ve made a total of seven albums, and this one is the last. It’s crazy to split up after doing such great work. But maybe this is another band that stopped just before they started doing bad work.

The last track, Sick of the Blues, reminds me every time that the album went by too fast and I just want to play it again.