If Conrad Plymouth’s nascent career were the basis for a movie, the resulting biopic would undoubtedly set a montage to the band’s “Fergus Falls,” where scenes of impressed Milwaukee bloggers and tastemakers spreading word of the song would be interspersed with footage of the band playing to wowed, progressively bigger audiences. Of course, a fictionalized version of the montage would end with A&R reps swarming the band, and though that’s unlikely to happen, there’s still something romantic about the way a fledgling local band like Conrad Plymouth can claim a signature song, that one showstopper that audiences come to their sets hoping to hear. “Fergus Falls” probably isn’t destined to climb the charts, but if nothing else, it’s already left its small stamp on Milwaukee. It’s easy to imagine local open-mic singers covering it a decade from now.
The song is smartly sequenced as the closer of Conrad Plymouth’s lovely self-titled EP, posted online for free streaming and pay-what-you-like download. It’s the album’s most dramatic track, swelling to National-esque levels of grandeur, and that final payoff sounds even more climactic following the three understated folk-rock tunes that precede it here.
“Fergus Falls” opens with the strum of a guitar restless in anticipation of the fireworks to come, as singer-songwriter Christopher Porterfield teases what will become the song’s jubilant, sing-along refrain: “This is the one in which I miraculously pulled out/ Of a free-fall dive over Fergus Falls, Minnesota.” That’s what all the celebration is about: not some glorious victory, but rather simply pulling out of a downward spiral. "Fergus Falls" evokes those desperate moments where just averting a complete flame out feels like a miraculous triumph, and appreciatively raises a glass to how much worse things could have turned out. It’s a beautifully pure sentiment, perfectly sold.
