Porcupine tree.

PROG BANDS are considered by many rock fans to be pretentious, over-the-top and self-indulgent, but British quartet Porcupine Tree smash that stereotype to bits with their smart, catchy and direct songwriting. The band's latest opus Deadwing continues the evolution from the previous In Absentia--itself influenced by the extreme metal stylings of Opeth, whom P-Tree frontman Steven Wilson had produced and collaborated with on three albums--and offers the same big, accessible sound. But the new CD, while sounding modern, is inspired more by classic rock like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

Porcupine Tree's music exists at the crossroads where tradition meets innovation. While Deadwing opens up with the mammoth, 10-minute title track that features both rockin' grooves and a sedate ambient interlude, the album's nine songs traverse a variety of styles and alternate between shorter, snappier tunes like "Open Car" and radio cut "Shallow" and epic, multi-faceted compositions like "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here". Porcupine Tree are not pandering to prog tastes nor trying to score a pop hit, but they are finding a happy medium.

That said, "Shallow" has perked up the ears of radio DJs as it was quickly added to 26 stations upon its release in March, which is five times more exposure than the tune "Blackest Eyes" received three years ago. Perhaps timing is part of the equation, for the '80s revival and classic rock resurgence is reaching its apex fight now. But to the credit of Porcupine Tree frontman and mastermind Steven Wilson--along with bassist Colin Edwin, keyboardist Chris Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison--his group has been building up a following since he first began recording under this band name 18 years ago.

"If you want longevity, it's actually better to start out in a slow burn way," believes Wilson. "The problem with selling millions of records, if you could say there is one, is that usually you need to be doing something that's fairly generic to start off with, in order to fit in to an existing market. The hard thing is to create your own sound and build your own audience, but that takes years. When you've achieved it, I think you have a much greater chance of longevity and holding on to that fan base. REM is a great example of a band that took years to build their audience, but the payoff was very big once they got there."

In recent years, Porcupine Tree have lured musicians like Rush drummer Neil Peart and King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew into their growing legion of fans. Belew even plays on some songs on Deadwing. "What I love is the strange, beautiful chaos that he brings to the record," says Wilson. "The nature of Porcupine Tree records is that you have to spend time producing, refining and polishing to make them sound like they do. There's the risk that you end up with something that's lacking that emotional and slightly crazy and chaotic element, so to have Adrian come in and do his thing brought back some of that to me."

Wilson has said that he eschews the fantasy and sci-fi oriented approach of conventional prog bands by writing personal, emotional lyrics. There is an emotional immediacy to Porcupine Tree's music. "A lot of times I'm writing love songs in the age-old tradition, albeit with a very personal slant and a very unique way of approaching that genre," remarks Wilson. "And I think that's why we have a lot more female fans."

Porcupine Tree could easily be perceived as the band to appeal to and convert non-prog fans from the mainstream. "Perhaps like Pink Floyd before us, we are essentially playing quite simple, melodic music," muses Wilson. "It sounds deceptively complex, but it's actually very simple and very direct. I think where the complexity comes from in Porcupine Tree is very often in the production and the arrangements." The singer and songwriter loves "great pop like Abba and the Carpenters and Frank Sinatra, people who just focused on the pop song and the interpretation of the pop song, and that has always been a part of the Porcupine Tree sound."

For Wilson, his band does not play difficult music in any respect. On the contrary, he thinks it is rewarding because he believes people can listen to it over and over again and still discover new things. However, listening to an album too much during its creation can have negative consequences. When asked about the most personal song on Deadwing, Wilson confesses that burnout has clouded his judgment.

"I know I'm evading the question here, but I'm very proud of the whole record," he replies. "Right now, I have a love/hate relationship with it because I've heard it so many fucking times that I don't need to hear it for at least another five years. But at the same time, I can say objectively that I'm very pleased with the record. I think musically, lyrically and melodically it's probably the strongest so far, and it gets tougher every time to be able to say that. We try to keep raising the bar and bettering ourselves, and I like to think we've done it again."

There's no argument here.