song premiere: "Fall Away" - No Aloha
words: Michael Brooks
No Aloha, the Portland-based five-piece founded by songwriting duo Brette Irish and Blake Ferrin, are getting ready to release their debut album Okay Alone, a dreamy and irresistible collection of fuzzy indie-pop. The band has already shared “The Big One” and “My Darling” with us and today we’re premiering “Fall Away”, a track which mangles together the sock-hop pop of the Shangri-Las through the foundation of early ‘90s Kim Deal (the band’s name is taken from a track off The Breeders second album).
Irish’s vocals have a specific breeziness and flair to them, her melodies gently swaying back and forth on top of a gently churning surf-rock rhythm, and it’s hard to not be lulled in by the track’s balmy vibes. All of that stillness gets briefly upended at the 90-second mark when a wave of blistering distorted guitars come crashing down, a brief taste of just how noisy and despondent the Portland band can get. “Fall Away” is a gorgeously sun-kissed, and occasionally scuzzy, summer anthem that feels timeless.