I’m not exactly a paragon of journalistic decorum, but the night I misplaced my wallet (and all conventional identification along with it), walking 14 Portland blocks to the Wonder Ballroom along a leaf-strewn North Williams cursing myself in the autumn dark, was not my proudest moment. Luckily the venue’s staff is as helpful as it is flexible (booth staff asked if I had “a credit card, business card, camera… anything?” on me before admitting, “Well, we don’t have a press list anyway, so I guess I’ll just trust you”), and so I was allowed through.
Just in time, as it turned out; loping onstage piecemeal to overly raucous appreciation from the front rows, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside spared no delay before ringing in “Nightmares,” the slow-burning closer off their debut LP Dirty Radio, vocalist Ford’s full-voiced delivery cracking ever so slightly (“Sometimes I wish it would all collapse/ And I could finally fall on my ass“) as bassist Tyler Tornfelt, drummer Ford Tennis and guitarist Jeff Munger glided through the rendition. After transitioning directly into the title tune off 2009 EP Not An Animal, a simple “Thank you s’much” from Ford was sufficient to launch them into another stretch of tracks mining the young outfit’s favorite territory: freewheeling and jazzy, Golden Oldies-style rock ‘n’ roll imbued with raw punk irreverence and topped with Ford’s abdominal yowls and Etta James purrs.
Another Dirty Radio standout, the rambling swayer “Danger,” brought out the highest in the band’s timbre, anchored by Munger’s casual strumming, Ford’s snarling girl-grunts and Tennis’ excitable percussion. The brand new “Fried Green Tomatoes,” which Ford reported is about sex – “I like it sweet/ And sort of sour” – was followed by a cheeky crack from Munger: “Did you guys hear about Occupy Portland?” the guitarist asked during a pause. “That was in-tents.” Bad jokes aside, the mustachioed guitar player was in fine form, carving up in Chuck Berry slashes the solo space left for him in each poppy rendition, slapping a scrappy blues solo on the waltzy “Poison Milk” and even doing some low-key Lou Reed shredding on the deconstructive “Against the Law.” Ford, for her own sake, led her backing band faithfully, her boisterous delivery verging on a deeper, throatier Elizabeth Fraser in its more oblique moments, contentious and upfront elsewhere and deceptively subdued on two songs played solo, one new entitled “Waiting for the Sound Outside.”
All told, they blazed through over 20 retro miniatures and western howlers, saving fan favorite “I Swear” for the very end – and as their roughest, rawest tune, that was a good place for it. In the lead-up the band covered almost all of the territory staked out in Dirty Radio, from lethargic acoustic dirges to energetic tunes that, courtesy of Tornfelt’s upright bass and Tennis’ upbeat knocking, crossed AM radio sparkle with swing. For whatever complaints that could be leveled against the Wonder Ballroom, primary among them the breadth of the main level, split down the middle between those trying to get drunk and those who arrived already drunk (or, nominally, 21+ and underage, respectively), their sound system is one of the best of Portland’s venues. The crisp chirps of Munger’s electric, Ford’s piping hot vocal turns and Tornfelt’s thumping plucks all transmitted that fact. But really, whether wringing out new songs or turning covers on their heads (their take on Tom Waits’ “God’s Away on Business” was a highlight), the whole band was nothing if not spirited, clearly feeding off the positive (some might say squealing) response from the sold-out crowd and veritably brimming with excitement for the European tour they were embarking on not eight hours after the show. The fact that Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside enjoy themselves makes it all that easier to forget when an evening gets off to a rocky start, or any other kind of start for that matter. (My wallet? “Hiding” on the kitchen counter, of course.)
by Joe Clinkenbeard
[Photos: Anja Weber]
