Favourite Album: The Place We Ran From by Tired Pony

The first of a series of articles (originally published in the ‘Fight Club’ issue of Portsmouth Point magazine) exploring favourite music albums. Today, George Neame explains why Tired Pony’s ‘The Place We Ran From’ is his favourite album.

 Tired Pony is the brainchild of Gary Lightbody, frontman of the more well-known alternative rock band Snow Patrol. The idea of a ‘country-tinged supergroup’ came to him in a bar in Ireland many years ago, but it was only in 2010 that this became reality. Enlisting members from bands such as R.E.M and Belle and Sebastian, The Place We Ran From was recorded in less than a week and peaked at number 17 in the UK Albums Chart.

Opener ‘Northwestern Skies’ begins with a subtle, echoing guitar strum, before becoming overlain with a slow drum beat and piercing acoustic twangs, giving it an instant sense of nostalgia and simplicity, one that screams ‘Americana’ and sounds somewhat foreign but somewhat familiar. The tune is throbbing, pulsating, and instantly lulls the listener into a state of calmness and serenity. Even the lyrics (‘There’s no answers in the tempest, just a million other questions, so just let it take you over, so that we can learn our lesson’) seem to be saying ‘take a seat, watch the world go by; what will be will be’. ‘Get on the Road’ follows, recruiting female American vocalist and actor Zooey Deschanel to sing the lyrics in unison with Lightbody, an exquisite and harmonious effect that amplifies the passion of the song.

‘Point Me at Lost Islands’ and single ‘Dead American Writers’ are shorter, snappier and more upbeat tunes that transform the album from a tranquil love letter to a euphonic blast of hi-hats, rhythmic guitar strums and piano riffs. Here the group show their incredible versatility, with songs that make you want to tap your feet, dance along and sing out loud. One of the most touching and poignant songs on the album, ‘Held in the Arms of Your Words’, follows an incredibly basic chord pattern, but clearly simple is sometimes best. There is little to it apart from an acoustic guitar and crooning vocals, yet this again creates a soothing, peaceful atmosphere that cumulates with the swinging, swaying repetition of the chorus. There is, at times, a sense that it will never end, accompanied by the hope that it won’t.

The second half of The Place We Ran From experiments with different styles, vocalists and tempos, but each with the same characteristic pluck of the guitar and soothing rhythm. Finally, the all-too-short ten-track album comes to a defining finale with ‘Pieces’, the tone of which is set from the first thirty seconds with a stabbing bass line and drum beat. The lyrics echo chillingly until the very last line, when an epic crescendo begins to brew, an organised chaos with a clattering of pianos, drums and strained electric guitars. Undoubtedly the loudest and densest point of the album, it is also the high point, a song that transposes itself so quickly into something completely new and novel, a final release of energy in an album that does nothing if not calm the soul.

Tired Pony’s debut is undoubtedly the greatest album ever. It is innovative, smart and passionate, and features some of the most expressive lyrics ever written, including ‘There isn’t one magical word, but a carnival of them instead’ and ‘They can’t have got that far, ‘cos I can still see some swinging locks’.  Just sit back, relax and get swept away by the peaceful beauty.

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Simultaneous Chess: Mr Puchades v. Five Pupils

Richard Puchades 

On the Tuesday on the last week of the Summer term I played the 5 best PGS chess players in a simultaneous match organised by Luke Ronaldson. All of the games were hard fought but, in the end, experience triumphed over youth and I won 5-0.

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Photography: On Milton Common

by Laura Burden

An ant eyeing a ladybird inquisitively on some ragwort. Photograph taken on Milton Common. 

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The Fourth Test: Analysis

by Tim MacBain

Wow. Wasn’t expecting that.

What a Test! It had everything, controversy, sublime batting, insane bowling, and probably one of the most wonderful moments for one man, so richly deserved. How can the Oval live up to this?

I’ll start with him. Chris Rogers. The poor bloke had about five years between his debut in 2008 and next Test, the first of this series. Eternally behind Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden until their retirements, and overlooked in preference to the likes of Shane Watson and Philip Hughes until this series, many thought he would become just another One Test Wonder. Therefore, the century he scored here, his maiden Test century for his country, was fantastic, and wonderful to see. Hats off to him, for having the tenacity to stay within reach of the national team and averaging 43 against a pretty powerful English bowling line up. He and David Warner may well form a well-rounded and interesting opening partnership.

Staying along the vein of batting, we come to Ian Bell. May the cricket gods be praised for his form and panache, his effortless ability this series to really step up to the mark when the top order failed (again). His century was majestic and very timely. At the other end of the spectrum, what is Jonny Bairstow still doing in the team? He’s averaged 29 this series, with only one fifty, when his country has direly needed him. His repeated failures are disappointing, and he should, quite frankly, be dropped. Joe Root isn’t doing too well up the order either; I suggest dropping Bairstow, moving Root down to 6, and playing Compton. It just isn’t fair to ask Root to open when he wants to but evidently isn’t ready.

Bowling-wise, Australia have a lot to be proud of. Harris is a brilliant bowler, who would have kept Mitchell Johnson or Ben Hilfenhaus out of the last Ashes series had he not been so injured. His ball to remove Root in the second innings was stunning. Nathan Lyon is no Graeme Swann, but has showed resilience to compete towards the top of the international game. England have a few question marks. James Anderson has been invisible this Test and the last, Bresnan (in my opinion), despite contributing well with the bat and that piece of genius to dismiss Warner, shouldn’t have been preferred to Onions, with Durham being the latter’s home strip. Swann played well, but was a little overshadowed…

…By Stuart Broad. What a performance. 11 wickets in the match, all conceded for 121 runs. The highlights night were enormous fun to watch. He really can be a game changer, and boy did he change this game.

Bring on the Oval! Can’t wait to see how the Australians will respond…

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Sixth Form Centre: Ground Level

by Tony Hicks

Final images of the demolition of the Sixth Form Centre, which is now at ground level.

Images from the final week:

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'Porphyria's Lover': An Aestheticist Reading

Ben Schofield offers an Aestheticist reading of Robert Browning's poem 'Porphyria's Lover'. This article was originally published in the 'Fight Club' issue of Portsmouth Point magazine in July 2013.

‘Porphyria’s Lover’ tells a tale out of the ordinary, the story of a murder and an exploration of insanity. As an earlier title of the piece, ‘Madhouse Cells’, indicates, the narrator is insane, yet in the narrative of the poem he goes undescribed, in fact we can only assume the narrator’s gender as Browning leaves us not even a stray pronoun as a clue. However due to the form of dramatic monologue, we learn far more about the inner mind of the narrator through his description than we would otherwise.

The poem begins with a succession of images of the storm raging outside the Lovers’ retreat, each seemingly unfit for a storm. How can wind be “sullen”, tearing down elm-tops “for spite”? As well as evoking a fitful storm the images reflect the nature of the narrator, his own “cheerless” mental state. Porphyria herself, the centre of the poem, is initially described in a manner as “soiled” as her gloves; she “glide[s]” into the poem at once carrying the storm in with her and shutting it out.

It is interesting that after death Porphyria appears more alive than when she first enters: “The smiling rosy little head,/So glad it has its utmost will”. An image at once macabre and beautiful, the still couple sitting there throughout the night, only one sits too still. The poem revolves between the aesthetic of two images then: the riotous storm, and the gentle couple. In one there is anger, imperfection, and spite; the other portrays rosy, perfection. The question Browning seems to put to us is which is better? Firstly in the mind of a madman, and then in us; should we choose life with all its stormy soiled imperfections, or the elegance and love of death.

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'Porphyria's Lover': A Structuralist Reading

Gregory Walton-Green offers a Structuralist reading of Robert Browning's poem 'Porphyria's Lover'. This article was originally published in the 'Fight Club' issue of Portsmouth Point magazine in July 2013.

The key element to appreciating Porphyria’s lover is in understanding how Browning repeatedly subverts our expectations. In the first nine lines, we are offered a scene that could come just as easily from the Romantic poetry of the earlier 19th Century; the immensely impressive might of nature at its most ferocious is juxtaposed with the doting girl who makes the rural cottage comfortable and warm for the narrator. From this we might expect something along the lines of Coleridges’s “Frost at Midnight”, another poem set in a cottage, with a fire burning, but this one goes on to reflect at length on the power of nature, a common theme in Romantic poetry. Instead of these musings, Browning plunges us into a description of a woman being overtly sexual, undressing in front of her lover and taking the lead in their relationship. This sort of open display of sexuality had been absent from poetry since the Renaissance, and so is entirely unexpected in a poem that starts off in a Romantic vein.

If Browning were to continue to develop along this plot-line, he might have taken a similar route as Renaissance poet Sir Thomas Wyatt in his poem “They flee from me”. In it, we are offered a description of female dominance also seen in Porphyria: the title characters are described as “seek[ing]” the narrator with “naked feet”, and one woman is said to have “caught me [the narrator] in her arms” after her “loose gown” had fallen from her shoulders. The parallels with Porphyria are self-evident. However, from line twenty-two, Browning moves away somewhat from suggestive imagery, and instead focuses onto Porphyria’s innermost emotions, almost reminiscent of his contemporary Tennyson. Godiva, in relation to her internal struggle between “proper” behaviour and her obligations, and Mariana, in her unfulfilled desire for her absent lover, surrounded by a depressing, decaying landscape, both share some similarities with Porphyria.

Just as we are starting to identify with Porphyria, Browning immediately turns our view instead onto her lover, the narrator, instead. The romantic imagery of his “heart swell[ing]”, means that we expect what he was “to do” to be something sexual in nature, to release the tension built up in the earlier seductive depiction of Porphyria undressing. Yet once again, Browning has deceived us as to where the poem is leading. He releases the tension not by a sexual encounter, but by murder. This plot twist is central to the poem, highlighting Browning’s skill at structuring his work, but remaining in keeping with the poem as a whole. For instance, he continues to describe the actions after the death in terms of the language of desire, albeit having perverted such language to depict a selfish need for control rather than love. Furthermore, the macabre ending leads us to see the Gothic suggestions in the introductory lines when the narrator is describing the tempestuous weather.

By these methods, Browning manages to tie the poem together as one complete work despite the numerous subversions of expectation. In Porphyria’s lover, Browning has mastered the skill of manipulating plot, which allows him to consistently surprise the reader. As a narrative poem, plot is crucial in shaping our understanding, and this is why I believe the careful structuring of “Porphyria’s Lover”, which draws on so many genres and literary traditions, is the most important element both in forming the character of the poem, and in our interpretation.

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