Portland Prog Rock nerds National Diet, Jake (Rainbow Face) and Connor (Mercury Tree, Rainbow Face, Nick Prol) unveil the single “I Am Food” taken from upcoming album “The Noon Hour” due out on April 26, 2022. Purchase and Stream the track through the Bandcamp player below:
National Diet is a new project from songwriter Jake Rose of Portland Progressive Rock group Rainbow Face along with his drummer and percussionist from that band, Connor Reilly (who also plays with Mercury Tree, Ventifacts, Nick Prol and the Proletarians, and others). In 2020, Rainbow Face released their debut album which made it to Grant Moon of Prog Magazine’s top 11 albums of the year (“Prog, Post-Punk, Noise-Rock, and Math-Rock collide on their striking debut“) as well as receiving positive international reviews from sites such as MangoWave (“Pure perfection“), Betreutes Proggen, and Fast ‘n’ Bulbous (#7 progressive rock album of 2020). For a follow up album, Jake wanted to take a different approach.
It was the height of the quarantine and Jake enlisted the help of 6 different bassists for his longish tracks including Ben Spees (on quartertone bass) and Oliver Campbell, both from Mercury Tree, Justin Stimson of Nasalrod, and others, as well as viola, trumpet, and two saxophonists including lauded jazz combo leader Nicole McCabe, who all recorded remotely. Jake himself sang, played guitar and keyboards as well as theremin, melodica, and mandolin. The result is an experimental wall of sound that is Heavy and guitar-driven, but orchestral in arrangement.
The music is an amalgam of Experimental, Progressive, and Math Rock where finding a 4/4 time signature is like a scavenger hunt. There is a balance between structured parts and improvisation, control and chaos that toes the line; listening is a lot like playing the songs, there is a sense of barely being able to hang on. Stylistic touchpoints can be varied and classic like 60s Pink Floyd and Beach Boys and Mahavishnu Orchestra, often within the same song, or more akin to young Progressives Black Midi, Squid, and Young Jesus.
Much of the lyrics are highly literate, inspired by such thinkers as Joseph Campbell, Robert Anton Wilson, and JRR Tolkien (Preserve the Past, a Prog Rock song about Prog Rock, even features some singing in Elvish). Lyrics are purposefully oblique, a combination of the spirituality of Jon Anderson and surrealism of Kurt Cobain, Jake being a child of the 90s in the PNW. Taken on a whole, the sound is complex, melodic, and unpredictable.
Pre-order the album on Bandcamp: https://nationaldiet.bandcamp.com/album/the-noon-hour
Tracklist:
1. The Map Is The Territory
2. I Am Food
3. Plan
4. Preserve the Past (including The Elders, Gathering of the Elves, Life Dance)
5. The Queen
6. Addled Dreams of Youth
Lineup:
Jake Rose / Vocals, guitar, Ensoniq ESQ-1, Behringer Model D; mandolin on 4; percussion, Pianica on 5; Theremin on 6
Connor Reilly / Drums and percussion
Bassists each composed their own parts
JD Davis (of Gorgon Stare) / Bass on 1
Oliver Campbell (of Mercury Tree) / Bass on 2
Damon Flick / Bass on 3
Ben Spees (of Mercury Tree, Ventifacts) / Bass on 4
Justin Stimson (of Nasalrod) / Bass on 5
Anthony Medici (of Liquid Light) / Bass on 6
Geoffrey McManus / Trumpet on 1
Estafina Tapia / Alto saxophone on 1
Nicole McCabe / Alto saxophone on 2
Tricia Bogdan / Viola on 4