Porches Shirt
Porches's Shirt lands as a jagged, nostalgically charged chapter in Matt Young's catalogue, a record that trades polished reinvention for raw, coming-of-age urgency. Across professional reviews, critics point to a louder, guitar-forward Porches where distorted textures and autotuned vocal fragments heighten the album's themes of teenage angst, loneliness, and self-introspection. The critical consensus leans positive but guarded: Shirt earned a 69.83/100 consensus score across 6 professional reviews, with many reviewers praising the record's live-wire energy even as some flagged moments of predictability versus originality.
Reviewers consistently name “Rag”, “Itch” and “Sally” among the best songs on Shirt. Critics from Exclaim and Far Out Magazine highlight “Rag” as the bruising centerpiece, driven by electrifying guitars and heavy drums, while Pitchfork and The Line of Best Fit single out “Sally” for its intimate, glitchy clarity. “Itch” and “Precious” recur in assessments that praise distorted desperation and narcotic balladry; other tracks like “Joker” and “Voices In My Head” draw notice for lingering melody or emotional build.
While many reviews celebrate the album's visceral production, synth-guitar interplay, and lyrical intimacy, some critics voice reservations about moments that feel like retreads of past Porches moves rather than outright reinvention. The critical consensus suggests Shirt will reward listeners seeking raw arrangements, grunge-tinged nostalgia, and candid vulnerability; below are the full reviews that map where the record succeeds and where it frays.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Itch
4 mentions
"The electrifying guitar and heavy drums of "Rag" and "Itch" are just begging to incite a mosh"— Exclaim
Rag
4 mentions
"The electrifying guitar and heavy drums of "Rag" and "Itch" are just begging to incite a mosh"— Exclaim
Sally
5 mentions
"In the hypnotically menacing "Sally," he spins bird shit into a blessing"— Exclaim
The electrifying guitar and heavy drums of "Rag" and "Itch" are just begging to incite a mosh
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Return Of The Goat
Sally
Bread Believer
Precious
Rag
School
Itch
Joker
Crying At The End
Voices In My Head
USA
Music
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Porches' Shirt is a delectably unhinged coming-of-age homage that lands hardest on bruising rockers and sly ballads, which is why the best songs on Shirt feel like live-wire moments. “School” stands out as a halfway ditty that promises possibility, while “Rag” and “Itch” are the tracks most likely to incite a mosh, their electrifying guitars and heavy drums refusing to stay polite. The album's blend of nostalgia, grunge grit and country-tinged winks makes the best tracks on Shirt both comforting and dangerously exhilarating, a portrait of suburban America that wants to take you down with it.
Key Points
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The best song is a high-energy rocker like "Rag" because its guitars and drums are described as begging to incite a mosh.
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The album's core strengths are its blend of nostalgia, grunge grit and theatrical live-ready arrangements that make songs feel both comforting and dangerous.
Themes
Critic's Take
Porches returns to a rawer, louder register on Shirt, and the review makes clear which are the best songs on Shirt: “Rag” and “Sally” stand out for their coiled intensity and blown-out instrumentation. The writer lingers on “Itch” and “Precious” too, noting how distorted desperation and narcotic balladry push these tracks into uncanny territory. The critic’s voice is analytical and vivid, insisting that this is Maine’s heaviest, spikiest collection yet, songs that trade in anxiety, raw arrangements, and unsettling production choices.
Key Points
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“Rag” is best because it most clearly embodies the album’s blown-out intensity and paranoid lyricism.
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The album’s core strengths are its willingness to embrace distortion, raw arrangements, and extreme emotional intensity.
Themes
Critic's Take
Porches’s Shirt reads like a brutal self-introspection, visceral and unflinching in its presentation. The review’s voice lingers on tracks like “Sally” and “Music” as evidence of Maine’s knack for aligning production with personal theme - “Sally” lands as the clearest example of that intimate, glitchy whimper. While the album’s unsettling contrasts - distorted guitars versus gentle synths - are frequently heroic, the critic also flags predictability, singling out “Music” as a cul-de-sac where lyrical abstraction becomes empty. Overall, the best tracks on Shirt are those that marry production and confession, with “Sally” rising as the standout for emotional clarity.
Key Points
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The best song, “Sally”, succeeds because production and lyricism align to create an intimate, glitchy emotional payoff.
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The album’s core strength is its invasive vulnerability and strong production, though it sometimes lapses into predictability.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
Porches's Shirt feels like an effective, abstract rendering of teenage angst, where tracks such as “Rag” and “Voices In My Head” stand out as the album's best songs. The record constantly toes the line between analogue guitars and electronic textures, and that interplay makes “Rag” a bruising centerpiece while “Voices In My Head” provides one of Maine's most gorgeous, lyric-driven moments. If you want a clear answer to the best tracks on Shirt, start with “Rag” for visceral payoff and “Voices In My Head” for emotional build, both of which showcase Maine's knack for marrying melody and mood. Engage fully and drop your guard, and these songs will likely be the ones that stick.
Key Points
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Rag is the best song because it combines grungey acoustic chords, a potent riff and a bratty, crunchy chorus for maximum payoff.
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The album's core strength is its effective balance between electronic textures and analogue guitar, producing an abstract but universal rendering of teenage angst.
Themes
Critic's Take
Porches's Shirt reads like a careful excavation of intimacy, where tracks such as “Joker” and “Sally” stand out for their lingering melodies and blunt emotional clarity. Matt Young's prose notes a refinement rather than reinvention, praising the renewed lyrical focus that makes “Precious” and “Itch” quietly compelling. The record satisfies fans of Maine's evocative storytelling while admitting it sometimes feels like a retread of past glories, so the best songs on Shirt are those that pair confession with memorable hooks. This is an album for listeners willing to sink into its homespun depths rather than expect a radical leap forward.
Key Points
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The best song(s) like "Joker" and "Sally" are best because of their deceptively simple, lingering melodies and memorable hooks.
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Shirt's core strengths are its lyrical intimacy, evocative storytelling, and atmospheric synth-driven production, presented as refinement rather than reinvention.