The Portland natives of 31 Knots have outdone most of the prog-rock bands of today with their first full-length album release on Polyvinyl Records, “Talk Like Blood.”

Vocalist and guitarist Joe Haege, whose voice patterns are somewhat reminiscent of Sublime’s Bradley Nowell, blends his skills with drummer Jay Pellicci and bassist Jay Winebrenner to make an original and complex sound. The 10-track release explores many different musical beats, some comparable to underground favorites The Postal Service and mainstream hitmakers The Gorillaz and Modest Mouse.

Apart from the amazing sound of this breakthrough band, their lyrics are even more astounding.

In the band’s first track, “City of Dust,” Haege articulates the message, “He gandered to the right and to the left. Tactile affirmations and obsessive observations and need I even mention such impressive desecrations.”

“Chain Reaction” also offers a lyrical cache with the statement, “And the decimals jumped a space, raping the database, slitting the wrist of my statistics.”

Despite having a previously released EP on Polyvinyl, “The Curse of the Longest Day”, and two albums prior to the EP on the label 54/40/or Fight (2003’s “It Was High Time to Escape” and their debut album, “Word is Also a Picture of a Word”), the genre-crossing band is finally receiving the recognition they deserve with “Talk Like Blood.”