Review Summary: An excellent demonstration of Porcupine Tree’s pop sensibilities coming naturally
If there was any trepidation in Porcupine Tree taking the plunge into full pop-prog on Stupid Dream, the band certainly doesn’t seem to show it. The vocal lines and melodies are much more immediate than anything they’d done before and even more the most whacked out tangents are reined in by consolidated structures with tight verse/chorus anchors. It’s not quite Britpop but for all the Pink Floyd comparisons they tend to get, I wager the album plays more like a late nineties update of what the Beatles were doing circa Revolver in certain regards.
What makes the formula work is how the instrumentation and soundscapes still get to make their marks even in these relatively confined templates. The opening “Even Less” and “Don’t Hate Me” have strong refrains but are shaped by their drawn out contexts, the latter lending itself especially well to the jazzy freakout segment that feels like a prediction of Steven Wilson’s mid-2010s solo ventures, while “Slave Called Shiver” and “Tinto Brass” are driven by ominous bass-heavy rhythms falling just shy of the pounding distortion they’d fully embrace a couple albums down the line. “A Smart Kid” is especially potent in this regard, taking Signify’s somberly melodic tracks to even spacier ends with distant chords and lonely echoes singing about the sole survivor of a nuclear war visited by an alien starship.
Even the more deliberate attempts at commercial singles are still packed with Porcupine Tree’s quirky personality. “Piano Lessons” is an iconic track that uses an appropriately nostalgic piano progression to spin a yarn looking back on childhood attempts at artistry through the eyes of a music industry burnout (#mood). “Pure Narcotic” and “Stranger By The Minute” feature endless stacks of weaving vocal lines for maximum catchiness alongside the former’s wistful alt-folk acoustics and the latter’s surging brightness.
Coming off Signify’s smooth stylistic transition, Stupid Dream is an excellent demonstration of just how naturally Porcupine Tree’s pop sensibilities came to them. There would certainly prove to be room for greater development, but the band already showed an incredible ear for engaging arrangements along with their textures still showing off their warped charm. It continues the tradition of music made for zoning out on your headphones but feels just as comfortable for singing along in the car.
