Reporter
Dust & Stars
(self-released)
When tragically underrated Portland band Wet Confetti broke up in
2007, the three members—bassist/vocalist Alberta Poon, guitarist
Dan Grazzini, and drummer Mike McKinnon—kept making music
together, taking a new name, Reporter, and transforming their sound
thoroughly enough as to genuinely constitute a new band. (The three
band members even appear to have taken new first names for the
project.)
Wet Confetti paired bassist/singer Alberta (May) Poon’s distant,
disaffected (but tuneful) vocals with jerking-back-and-forth post-punk
drumming and slightly dissonant synth and guitar. Reporter retain
Poon’s distinctively captivating vocals and bolster them with singing
from guitarist Dan (Freddy) Grazzini, but their sound is radically
reimagined. Almost entirely dispensed with is Wet Confetti’s nervous
rhythmic tension and occasional aggressive outbursts—Grazzini’s
guitars are washed out with reverb and fuzz, Mike (Brian) McKinnon’s
drumming is easy rolling and steady, and the effect is often an
in-vogue indie-pop sound reminiscent of Vivian Girls or the late
Slumberland Records roster, with just a touch of Wet Confetti’s old
dark corners.
The most vivid example of this on Dust & Stars is perhaps
“Set Fire,” whose bobbing bass, classic guitar jangle, slightly hissing
high hats, and understated but insistent chorus have been echoing in my
head for days now. But this welcome sound abounds throughout the
record, especially on the excellent Grazzini-led numbers “It Could Work
Out,” “Wild Dogs,” and “Battleship Island.” “It Could Work Out” is
every bit as catchy as “Set Fire,” Grazzini’s shrugging vocals and
slackly strummed guitar backed by Poon’s faint harmonies; “Battleship
Island” is prime pogo-ing material (notably, Poon has been known to
perform with the aid of a trampoline), its drums beating a punk
double-time while the bass and guitar race and swerve around each
other.
Dust & Stars is compelling proof that Reporter are not
just renamed but an entirely renewed band. 
Reporter perform Tues Feb 10, marsBar, 9 pm, $6, 21+. With Fist
Fite, the Hail Seizures,
Jes Blackwell.