LC project Boreen tease new album at Smith Hall

If you took a look at poster boards all over campus a couple weeks ago, you may have noticed a bunch of banana-covered posters advertising a show hosted by KLC featuring the bands Caution Crow, Strange Ranger and Boreen. If you missed this fantastic show (which unfortunately had no actual bananas), you should look out for these three bands the next time they play at Lewis & Clark.

The show opened up with Caution Crow, the project of Hannah Unkrich ’19. Most of Caution Crow’s recorded material consists of Hannah on keyboard and guitar, and focuses on her powerful vocal talent. As show opener, however, Hannah enlisted the help of a second band member on guitar, giving the set a very emotional and mellow feel. The focus on Hannah’s dynamic voice and at times heart-wrenching lyrics made this a special set. It was the perfect opener as people began trickling into Smith Hall for the rest of the show.

In contrast to the more intimate feel of Caution Crow, local band Strange Ranger led an extremely lively set with their more lo-fi, post-punk sound. The last time I had seen Strange Ranger was over a year ago in Northeast. Since then, they have both changed their name and developed their identity as a band.  By now, the crowd had filled the hall, and the audience danced (and moshed, at times) to songs off of Strange Ranger’s newest release, Sunbeams Through Your Head.  The band brought a lot of energy to the show, yet weren’t afraid to change it up at times and play some quieter, more poignant songs such as “Life Would be Cooler,” which closed out Strange Ranger’s set.

I think it’s safe to say a lot of the audience was there to hear songs off of Boreen’s eagerly anticipated LP Friends, their first release with Good Cheer Records, out March 10. Lead by LC’s own Morgan O’Sullivan ’17 on vocals and guitar, backed by Reed act Lutra’s Emit Martin on keyboard (with a bassist and drummer to boot), Boreen’s set did not fail to impress. Working through a few technical difficulties with a smile, O’Sullivan opened with an impassioned rendition of “Working Out,” the eighth track off of Friends. One thing that strikes me about Boreen is their ability to articulate a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness so well; it’s what makes tracks such as Friends single “Garden” so pleasant to listen to. The combination of clever lyricism and O’Sullivan’s ability to drop in and out of falsetto made Boreen a gripping act, and left me eagerly anticipating the full album release. Judging by the loud applause at the end of the set, it’s clear I wasn’t the only one absolutely enthralled by this band.