Typhoon - A New Kind of House EP (2011)

I was recently introduced to Portland based indie legion Typhoon but only used a video posted on NPR of a two song SXSW set and their album Hunger and Thirst to form an opinion of them. Lo and behold they recently released a 5 song EP early last month by the name of A New Kind of House. The EP is a fully formed multi-movement work meant as a continuation of Hunger and Thirst.

A noticeable difference between the EP and it's predecessor is an evolution in style. The use of Typhoon's diverse instrumentation is far more restrained and the folk element that album listeners only glimpsed at previously are more broadly explored in the EP. But the rock influence is not all gone as can be seen in "Claws Pt. 1"

With A New Kind of House, Typhoon establish themselves capable of great things. In a time where the indie orchestra shtick is becoming more common and a bit played out, they prove that all hope is not lost. They manage to distill Hunger and Thirst down to its great moments and not merely replicate them but use them to inform wholly new ones proving themselves as real musicians capable of standing the test of time.

You can give the EP a listen on Typhoon's Bandcamp.