I get the impression that if bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and Arcade Fire never existed, Typhoon frontman Kyle Morton would still be doing his thing, quite possibly as an earnest solo folkie type without the explicit influence of those bands. But the aforementioned bands did happen and seem to have had an influence on the musical output of Morton and Co. The signifiers are all there: horns, strings, gang vocals, a large number of bandmates – many of the things that made those bands so memorable and well loved seem to be evident in Typhoon as well.
I had spent much of my Saturday night wandering around trying to find something that would catch my interest and possibly make my night (all while doing my best to avoid the drunks on Sixth Street). While I did see some good stuff otherwise, it would appear that the Portland-based indie folk orchestra would be that band. They’ve got a lot of charm, some good melodies, enough members that their drummer had to set up on the floor of Swan Dive (Morton quipped that the drums were in the way of him executing a stage dive), and a bona fide crowd pleaser in their song “The Honest Truth.” Not too shabby.