First Impressions of Trust Issues by The PDX Broadsides


At the time that I’m writing this, I’ve had Trust Issues for a few days. I signed up for the Kickstarter campaign after The Doubleclicks mentioned them. I then went to the PDX Broadsides’ bandcamp page and ended up buying the entire back catalog.

After having heard the album a few times, here are my first impressions:

  • Favorite Song: Robot vs Boy – although it seems like it should be the first track to a concept album and leaves me wanting to know more about the story
  • Most beautiful song: Dolores – about HBO’s Westworld
  • Most fun song: Tiny Little Octopus

Now, track-by-track:

  1. The Weather – I love the vocalizing on this track, but I have no idea what it’s about and why it goes from an ominous song to talking about the weather. So I enjoy listening, but will probably enjoy more when I know what it’s about.
  2. Rocket Science – a song I’d play to kids 7 or 8 and up about how treating others by the golden rule isn’t Rocket Science
  3. Acoustic Kitty – pretty funny premise, but one of the ones I currently like least
  4. Tiny Little Octopus – see above
  5. I’ll Eat You Last – this is a nerd version of the song my brother danced for his first dance. I don’t know what the song is, but it was a young Christipher Walken singing it and somewhat insulting the other person, but still being about love
  6. Noncompliant – a good feminist song
  7. Nerd Love Song – what it says on the tin.
  8. On the case – About Where’s Waldo? Probably the song I like the least
  9. Delta You Delta Me – a song about growing apart. I like how the chorus/bridge go
  10. We Want Rey – a great, fun song about how representation in media is a good first start, but what about representation in merchandising? Also has a part near the end reminiscent of the main verses in We Didn’t Start the Fire
  11. I Go Both Ways – a very fun song about not falling prey to flame wars/culture wars and just enjoying what you enjoy – even if it comes from rival companies. I didn’t get the line about the snails, though…
  12. Dolores – see above
  13. Robot vs Boy – see above
  14. Sign off – a whispered message that freaked out my 5 year old when it played because she didn’t expect someone to be whispering in the speakers.

2 responses to “First Impressions of Trust Issues by The PDX Broadsides”

  1. Hi Eric!
    First of all, thank you for backing our Kickstarter and picking up our back catalog. The Doubleclicks are great supporters of ours, and we love sharing our music with new folks.

    Great review! We know that not every song is for everyone, but here’s some info on the stuff that might not be obvious:

    “The Weather” is based on the podcast “Welcome To Night Vale”, which is about a little desert town where nothing is quite right. It’s really entertaining, and you may enjoy it. Before the narrator (a radio host) plays each episode’s musical interlude, he says “And now I take you to… the weather”.

    “Acoustic Kitty” was an actual CIA program in the 60s to put listening devices in cats so they could spy on the Russians! Weird, but true. It didn’t last, because as soon as they released the first cat, it ran off and got killed by a taxi 🙁

    In “I Go Both Ways”, the oysters/snails reference is from the movie “Spartacus” where a Roman bigwig asks his slave which he prefers, in a coded question about his sexuality. We decided to play around with that and allude to the binary expectation of gender in society.

    We really appreciate you taking the time to write something about Trust Issues!
    Love,
    The PDX Broadsides

    • Hey Guys,

      Thanks for the comment! I checked out the latest episode of Welcome to Night Vale and have recommended it to pretty much everyone I know. I love the style of the storytelling in that podcast. The song really shines with that knowledge. I guess my ignorance is an example of how even among nerd-fare there are niches.

      That cat thing is hilarious! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised after the premise of The Men Who Started at Goats (which I didn’t see, but read the premise), but that’s so funny!

      Finally, I *thought* it was probably a gender/sexuality reference, but I had no idea what it meant. Thanks for the info on that!

      After listening for a couple weeks, I’m loving the album even more!