Jack O’ The Clock was formed in Oakland, California in the summer of 2007 when multi-instrumentalists Damon Waitkus and Nicci Reisnour, who had been composition students at Mills College, discovered a mutual interest in alloying folk-inspired songwriting with a composerly approach to instrumentation and arrangement.

Joined by Waitkus’ partner, violinist Emily Packard, and percussionist Jordan Glenn, they began performing and recording as an acoustic quartet until Reisnour’s departure in 2008.

The group then found its signature sound with the addition of Kate McLoughlin (bassoon, voice, flute) and Jason Hoopes (bass, vocals), and began incorporating elements of progressive rock, free jazz, minimalism, and various world musics into its folk foundation.

Over the next decade, Jack O’ The Clock performed regularly throughout the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere, independently releasing six critically-acclaimed albums as well as an EP of covers, joined by a host of guests drawn from the Bay Area’s rich community of musicians including Fred Frith (guitar), Darren Johnston (trumpet), Ivor Holloway (saxes, clarinet), Cory Wright (saxes, clarinet), Karl Evangelista (electric guitar), Thea Kelley (vocals), and Art Elliot (keyboards, vocals), among others.

In 2019, Waitkus and Packard moved with their family to Vermont, taking with them three albums’ worth of unfinished studio recordings made by the original quintet in 2018-19. The same year, the band released the live album “Witness” through the Geomancy label, capturing the original quintet at the height of its powers as a live outfit at the 2017 SeaProg Festival, which turned out to be that line-up’s final show.

In May of 2021, the band signed to Cuneiform Records and released “Leaving California,” which was then followed by “The Warm, Dark Circus.” Both draw from the Bay Area quintet’s last recording sessions.

Meanwhile, Waitkus and Packard have reunited with McLoughlin in Vermont and teamed up with new recruits Victor Reynolds (bass, various other instruments), and Ben James (drums) to relaunch the band as a live entity, and have just released their brand new album of new material entitled Portraits.

1. Josephine’s Fresh Cuts [6:18]
2. I’m OK, You’re a Shithead [4:33]
3. No. 4 Mountain [2:08]
4. Another Sunny Day/Star of Monster [2:49]
5. Year of the Gypsy Moths [3:25]
6. In the Gold Coin Saloon [2:33]
7. My Life’s Not Wasted [1:40]
8. Lazy Tom Bog [3:30]
9. The Gardener [1:48]
10. Nature Abhors a Vacuum [5:05]
11. Puer 1 [2:18]
12. Twomile Island [2:09]
13. Isolation Booth [5:07]
14. Stone Cold Steve Cactus In Mojave [1:32]
15. Windigo Knocking [4:36]
16. It’s Hard To Find Booze On Sunday [3:58]
17. Puer 2 [0:41]

This brilliant new collection of musical gems opens on the gently robust Josephine’s Fresh Cuts and the fervently-charged I’m OK, You’re a Shithead and then we get the playful No. 4 Mountain, the drum-led rocker Another Sunny Day/Star of Monster, the Eastern-tinged Year of the Gypsy Moths, and then we get the joyful In the Gold Coin Saloon, the delightfully rhythmic My Life’s Not Wasted and the lushly crafted Lazy Tom Bog.

Along next is the atmospherically free flowing The Gardener and the charged Nature Abhors a Vacuum and they are in turn backed seamlessly by the industrially rambunctious Puer 1, the elegant Twomile Island, the sumptuously strewn Isolation Booth and the glistening Stone Cold Steve Cactus In Mojave, the music rounding out on another atmospherically charged cut, this time the rain swept Windigo Knocking, the Eastern-hued It’s Hard To Find Booze On Sunday, coming to a close on the fervently strident, short, but guitar-licked sweet Puer 2.

Official Purchase Link

www.jackotheclock.com