Sounds like Fire?

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to Port O’Brien’s fun anthem “I Woke Up Today,” you might not realize why critics have immediately put this band on their list of new bands to check out. Despite an almost universal recognition of the band’s remarkable similarities to the Arcade Fire, the song’s fun energy seems to have everyone dismissing said likeness and accepting the talent of Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin, the core unit behind the band, who base their project out of Northern California and a town in Alaska, where Pierszalowski’s father owns a commercial fishing boat, which the musician works on annually. Port O’Brien’s newest single, “My Will Is Good,” off of its current release, Threadbare, is another great singalong pop song. It is mostly stripped of the elements that spawn those Arcade Fire references, and throughout the album there are aspects of bands such as Pinback and Modest Mouse. And Port O’Brien’s music seems to be made for the iPod: Its sound is the perfect background to a rainy, listless day or a brisk morning jog.