When Portland five-piece Times Infinity first began writing songs for what would become their fifth album, Boy on Horse, they were in the midst of their rollicking 2018 West Coast tour, at which time it looked as though the country might finally escape from underneath Donald Trump’s grubby thumb. By the time the band was back from tour and ready to record, however, the pandemic put a definitive halt to their—and everyone else’s—catharsis. While not exactly shelved, Boy on Horse would be more or less relegated to the realm of an uncertain future.
“I’m not a super political writer,” says vocalist/guitarist Ryan Olson, “but we were writing these songs during Trump administration number one, and you can tell there are a lot of vibes [on the new album] that are like, ‘what the fuck?’ It’s weird that we’re putting this out during the second iteration.”
The members of Times Infinity have been playing music together since 2005. The lineup—guitarist/vocalist Paul Seely, guitarist Keenan Cloud, bassist/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Radtke, and drummer Matthew Seely, along with Olson—all led previous musical lives in bands including Elkteeth and Porches, before coalescing under the Times Infinity banner in 2015.
A tight-knit crew quick to joke in the brotherly way longtime friends do, the camaraderie the band exudes is audible throughout Boy on Horse’s expansive tracklist. While the record was released on vinyl at an intimate, invite-only showcase at Broadcaster Studios in late 2024, it will be available digitally May 31, 2025—a release party is slated for that same night at Tender Loving Empire’s warehouse in Southeast Portland.
Leading up to the digital release of Boy on Horse, Times Infinity are releasing a single from the album the first three Fridays in May. The singles “Permanent Address,” a treatise on global warming in the guise of a cosmic rocker; “Man Suit,” a jangle-pop tune thinly veiled as a jab at Trump; and “Lifer,” a blistering punk sendup—offer tempered slices of the band’s matured musical assault.
Armed with a renewed sense of purpose and focus following the lost Covid years, the band reframed their approach to Boy on Horse. After handling much of the recording and mixing of their previous albums themselves, the band enlisted music engineer Justin Longerbeam to step up and mix the new album. Longerbeam’s fresh perspective provided new aural frameworks for the band to create with—the songs on the LP bear out the collaboration’s creative shot in the arm.
The title track opens the album with plaintive guitar—Olson’s vocals bridging the vacant sonic real estate in his refrain “ride on / carry on / right on.” As the song slowly erupts with three guitars’ worth of distorted bliss, the lyrics hit like a blast of therapeutic affirmation, introducing the remainder of the album’s various auditory wormholes.
“It never really feels like work,” says Seely. “It’s so much more fun playing music with people who are your close friends than just at home with a guitar.”
While not an overt protest album, distinct moments burn bright in which the songwriting duo of Paul Seely and Ryan Olson tap into a collective consciousness where heavy, indirect imagery exposes the artistic and cultural frustrations brought on by the current political climate.
Times Infinity celebrate the digital release of Boy on Horse at Tender Loving Empire May 31. The show will also feature the bands High Glow and Spooky Mtn. (Tender Loving Empire, 3434 SE 21st, Sat May 31, 7 pm, FREE, tickets here, all ages)
