Ola Podrida
07.07.07
Union Hall (New York)
words: Anna Loosli
photos: Bryan Bruchman

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On 7.7.2007, the most auspicious night of the last several years (according to astrologers), a band called Ola Podrida played at Union Hall in Brooklyn. A fairly new project headed by film composer David Wingo, it was started in Austin in 2005 and followed Wingo to Brooklyn where he joined up with Johnny Christ and fellow Texan Andrew Kenny. While I had never seen Wingo’s films, I am familiar enough with Kenny’s work to be interested in his new projects, and I am very glad I chose to attend the show on Saturday night!

Those familiar with Austin’s mellower music scene will most likely appreciate Ola Podrida’s understated tone; its focus on subtle melodies rather than outgoing, obvious endeavors. They play with a combination of electric and acoustic guitars, and a banjo thrown in for good measure. Wingo’s nasal tone draws one toward the impression that he is much inspired by the Texan country music scene, both literally and figuratively, but the overall impression of Ola Podrida’s music leads me more to relate it to indie-folk.

The band members, Wingo (guitar/vocals), Robert Patton (guitar/banjo), Matthew Frank (drums), Andrew Kenny (bass) and Johnny Christ (keys/vocals), are as understated as the music they make, rarely changing facial expressions or interacting with the crowd. This reserved quality preserved the almost reverent way in which (most of) the crowd attended to the music. (At every show the obnoxious ones who feel the need to screech at friends they saw 5 seconds ago make an appearance, though.) So it was a pretty quiet show, with polite clapping and occasional whistles. Ola Podrida finished their fairly short set with a cover, a couple of songs that are featured on their myspace page and “a song written for the film ‘Short Circuit 2,’” which were fun. My favorite song is “Instead,” which makes me think of notebooks and tea; and my second favorite is “Jordanna,” a sweet and melancholic song about someone who has part of my name.

In the end, Ola Podrida is a group that has been garnering increasing attention from the indie rock community and with good reason. Their first album was released in April of this year by Plug Research and is widely available online and in stores, so go out and get one so you can say you “knew them when…”