“Morton’s fork” describes a point of irresolvable dilemma: a choice between two options, both equally and considerably undesirable. Typhoon’s own “Morton’s Fork”–as recorded by KEXP at Pickathon 2012 in Pendarvis Farm, Oregon–doesn’t prioritize that choice over the inevitable, nasty fate.
Yes, as one would expect from Typhoon, the barrage of sounds on “Morton’s Fork” is wide-ranging: included here are a finger-picked guitar, horns and strings, and, yes, folks rubbing their leg hair for that extra scratchy touch. But the take-home message is simple: “It turns out that we’re all shit out of luck,” lead man Kyle Morton sings over a typically full, wonderfully pastoral arrangement. The vocalized defeat is a constant, but the track overflows with triumph, especially in the final verse:
I haven’t slept in seven nights and I’m not tired
Who protects the ones I love when I’m asleep?
Though there’s little I can do, I say a prayer
That when the wolves come for their share, they’ll come for me
Typhoon has been recording at Pendarvis Farm much of the summer and is nearly finished with their lastest album, White Lighter. If “Morton’s Fork” is representative of what they have in store, fans of last year’s A New Kind Of House and 2010’s Hunger And Thirst should be very, very excited.
