Porlolo/Roger Green

The most obvious connection between Roger Green and Porlolo's Erin Roberts is the Czars: The former is a full-time guitarist for the band, while the latter has occasionally appeared with Green and company as sort of an auxiliary member. This split CD, though, proves that there's a deeper tandem current...

By Jason Heller

December 2, 2004

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The most obvious connection between Roger Green and Porlolo's Erin Roberts is the Czars: The former is a full-time guitarist for the band, while the latter has occasionally appeared with Green and company as sort of an auxiliary member. This split CD, though, proves that there's a deeper tandem current running through the two songwriters (who will celebrate the disc's release on Thursday, December 2, at Bender's Tavern). The Porlolo half of the record perfectly captures Roberts's breathy, rustic take on indie-inflected folk, a dark and yet wide-eyed look over the rich earth opened up by Will Oldham and Chan Marshall. Later, in a stark, virtuoso acoustic style that recalls John Fahey at his most accessible, Green strums and picks like a lonely back-porch troubadour. But Green sings, too, and his songs begin to edge into Jeff Tweedy territory by disc's end, to stunning results. What Would This Be For neatly answers its own title's question; the record is a compelling showcase of two of Denver's most honest, openhearted and intriguing performers.

Jason Heller is a staff writer at Westword. He's the author of the book Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded (Melville House/Penguin Random House), and has contributed to the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and NPR.org. His work has won a Hugo Award and a Colorado Press Association Award.

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