[Matinee, 2010]
It's not all that hard to guess who Northern Portrait's main influence are. Smiths copyist bands have been ten-a-penny over the last 25 years, and on first listen Northern Portrait are no different to any of the ones that have gone before. Admittedly the situation may be slightly different in Denmark, where Northern Portrait hail from, but the lead singer seems to make a concerted effort to sound as much like Morrissey as he possibly can, without the charm and wit of the original. A lot of the lyrics sound like Smiths lyrics, but only in the sense of flippancy and introspection.
But I just love this kind of jangly, carefree, accessible indiepop. The songs are just of such high quality, especially the guitar playing, that the album manages to make you forget just how much of this kind of stuff has gone before. Indeed, I'd say it was a better album than either the Smith's debut or 'Meat is Murder'. After a few listens, the band starts to take on a personality of their own and move away from their forebears. A couple of the members of the band used to have another group, the Mirror Lounge, which sounds a lot less Smiths-y, but just doesn't sound as compelling. Sometimes, we need bands that are able to reinterpret older styles as well as Northern Portrait do. I can't see them ever being anyone's favourite band, but this is a really good, fun, personal album.
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