Review: Fire Island Pines | True Grit

We all have some idea of what it means to be subversive. And in an era when indie rock's prevailing influences are loud, gritty, angular and so-called "'90s acts" like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana (all of which, we should point out, first released music in the '80s), is it not just a touch subversive to embrace the New Romantic-descended pop propounded in the quieter, more refined corners of the '90s? We're talking about the first few The Sea And Cake records (not to mention the subsequent transcendent solo sets from principals Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt) or the work of Unrest, Eggs or even mid-period Haywood. We can't say whether Cornwall, England sextet Fire Island Pines has ever heard any of these latter American acts, and it is probably overstating things to say the band is bent on subverting the dominant paradigm, but the British six-piece's keen and anachronistic devotion to genteel indie pop on its sparkling debut True Grit makes the record as refreshing as its hooks are potent and breezy. The set is a very confident and competent collection from a five-year-old act ready for a substantially higher profile.

True Grit opens strongly with new, shinier versions of "You Didn't Mean To Hurt Me" and "Nineteen Fifteen," the lead tracks on 2011's Bratislava EP and last year's "1915" digital single, respectively. "You Didn't Mean To Hurt Me" unfurls over a self-assured beat and slightly funky bass playing, and bursts into bloom during the chorus as layered synth chords and horns stretch toward a distant horizon. "Nineteen Fifteen" positively soars, which belies somewhat fronter Anton Rothschild's wonderfully unsure equivocation "it's up to you, if you wanna stick around." Indeed, there is a delicious unease creeping within Fire Island Pines' ostensibly easy-going pop, a dimension that comes to the fore in the brilliantly realized album highlight "Bo Dep," which materializes from and decomposes into cinematic ambience, and alternates verses of palm-muted guitar and quavering vocals with bold, tastefully reverbed choruses appointed by majestic piano and horn. True Grit is back-weighted with ballads, but spreads its wings one final time with the thrilling closer "Sister Ruth." The tune teases with an intermittent, piano-anchored introduction, but accelerates quickly with layered guitars and vocals echoing one another over a bounding beat.

True Grit will be released Friday as a vinyl 12", CD, cassette and as a digital download. The vinyl 12" is being issued in a limited edition of 300 pieces by German label Firestation Records, who have pressed the collection to black vinyl. Firestation is also doing the honors for the CD version, which comes packaged with a four-page fold-out booklet. The band is handling the cassette release itself, and has a hyper-limited amount of same in an attractive package containing mint green media. All formats can be ordered via the Fire Island Pines Bandcamp page right here, and all of True Grit is streaming via the Soundcloud embed below. That the lads from Cornwall are putting out a record via a German label seems somewhat unusual, we suppose, but not when considered in context: the aforementioned "1915" single was issued by Minnesota's Manic Pop! label, and the digital download of the Bratislava EP was issued via the San Francisco-based collective Vulpiano (which also issued Mr. Rothschild's 2010 solo EP The Year Of The Kitten). That its label partners are relatively widely scattered underscores Fire Island Pines' broad appeal, and hopefully portends big things for the understated sextet.

Fire Island Pines: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud



Related Coverage:
YouTube Rodeo: Fire Island Pines' Transformative "1915"
Today's Hotness: Fire Island Pines
Today's Hotness: Fire Island Pines

YouTube Rodeo: Fire Island Pines' Transformative "1915"

It takes a half-minute for the song to kick in, and its shifting gray presentation belies the song's sunny disposition, but the video embedded above otherwise makes quick work of reminding us of all the things we love about Fire Island Pines' finely appointed, gentlemanly pop. We were both surprised and pleased to read the Cornwall, England-based sextet has a domestic label deal in place for its new single: "1915" and "Midwest" b/w "Cherry Grove" will be released on an orange vinyl 7" by Minnesota-based Manic Pop! Records April 29. The band trades in gentle, layered and jangly indie pop colored by fronter Anton Rothschild's murmuring-in-his-sleep vocals and some breezy and persistent trumpet leads. Fire Island Pines have posted all three tracks from the single on its Soundcloud page, so we are able to offer you streams of "Midwest" and "Cherry Grove" below in addition to the video of the lead track supra.

The three tunes are remarkable for evidencing what seems like a new-found facility for writing more extended, expositive passages into these noticeably darker (but not quite dark) songs. It is also worth noting that each one of those tracks presents new dimensions of the act's sound: with "Midwest" the mood is unexpectedly tense and harried ("this is not a gas station in the midwest, but I bet you wish it was, because you are an ugly man in an ugly tan and you're doing ugly things..."), and there is woven into the mix some very cleanly distorted guitar that interrupts Fire Island Pines' characteristic jangle. "Cherry Grove" touts a long coda that spirals across a sturdy foundation of percussion and quarter-note guitar strumming, like an early '80s Rod Stewart single taking a pleasantly psychedelic turn. Pre-orders for "1915" and "Midwest" b/w "Cherry Grove" are already being taken right here. We last wrote about Fire Island Pines in Feb. 2012, on the occasion of the release of the sextet's wonderful Rickie Lee Jones EP; we first wrote about Fire Island Pines here in April 2011. Manic Pop! appears to have launched only last August, but has already logged 19 releases to its name, a very impressive feat.

Today's Hotness: Fire Island Pines, MaoTzu, High Heels

>> The delicate and charming Cornwall, England-based indie pop concern Fire Island Pines, of whom we first wrote here last April, returns next week with a tidy 7" EP. Rickie Lee Jones' four songs combine clean, ringing guitars with sincere, spoke-sung vocals that suggest a more leisurely Morrissey as much as they do a far more youthful Tindersticks. It's certainly a sound under-represented among the louder and more psychedelic devastations that have dominated indie music recently. The EP is available in a limited edition of 150 black vinyl discs packaged with a postcard that carries a link to download digital versions of the songs. It's worth noting Fire Island Pines takes its name from a small beach resort town near Long Island that has earned a reputation for lavish, drug-fueled boardwalk celebrations in the summer months. And really, there couldn't be better imagery than that for a song like "I Was A Runaway." Starting with a faraway reverb serenade, the song builds to the moment a wayward character would enter an amazing party, swept in the spectacle of tan faces and beautiful nightlife. As the march continues, the snare locks in and bright melodies dance around lines like "Where was your elegance?," and "tripping over your shoes, and falling into your car." This is indie rock for the cocktail party, and all the things that make such parties memorable, awkward, and out of time. Stream all of the Rickie Lee Jones EP below, and preorder right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> MaoTzu is enigmatic Chicago songwriter Jamarcus Drake, perhaps the latest notable torchbearer for the Syd Barrett School Of Effortless Whimsy. Mr. Drake's third and latest MaoTzu release, Doodles, is brimming with bedroom charm and enlivened by commensurate audio fidelity. While certain tracks seem more realized than others, the entire collection is unified by a never-ending sense of inspiration (several songs refer to anime, video games and TV shows). The serene strummer "Howl's Moving Castle" transverses the same hazy space mapped by the sweet spot in Pink Floyd's catalogue, the weird post-Barrett, pre-Darkside Of The Moon records. "Case Closed" takes a dreamier route than much of the rest of Doodles, but the choppy guitar, hand-clap breaks, and the amazing guitar solo that closes out the tune mark it as another album highlight. Drake logs time with a number of Chicago-area bands including Martin, King Of Yale and Forestcousin, but we're hopeful he continues to mine MaoTzu for its substantial and quirky gold. Stream "Howl's Moving Castle" below. -- Edward Charlton



>> The High Heels cohort counts among its number conspirators including members of Wussy and Why?, but it is helmed by Austin Brown, a man who seems to be in touch with the finer points of '90s indie rock. The second and latest High Heels long player, On Square Waves, is rife with fuzzy, down-tuned guitar pounders and short kitchen-sink instrumentals laced together into a seamless fever dream of music. "Tracers Emblazoned" is a yearning, melodic anthem in 108-second miniature that touts spectral guitar leads and complementary stream-of-consciousness lyrics bolstered by simple vocal harmonies. "Unspooled Coil" sets out a steady gallop of twinkly, tremolo plinks and fat bass. Brown tastefully indulges in some free-associative imagery that recalls Kim Gordon at times and the overall vibe is not unlike Yo La Tengo at their most Electr-O-Pura-fied. Thick and delightful stuff. On Square Waves was released via Bandcamp earlier this month; check out the embed of "Unspooled Coil" below and grab the entire collection right here. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Ahuizotl, Grass Is Green, Best Practices

>> Few things get us as excited as Dinosaur Jr.-influenced losercore, and so it took only seconds of listening to Ahuizotl's recent Lice EP to know we had struck gold. The Cologne, Germany-based guitar pop quartet certainly wears its '80s and '90s American underground influences on its proverbial sleeves (search the band name on YouTube and you will find fronter Barry Langer covering all the greats, including Palace's "I Am A Cinematographer" and Pavement's "Elevate Me Later"). And the same goes for the thrilling seven-song set Ahuitzol self-released last summer. The act -- which just last week opened for Wild Flag in Cologne -- is named for a creature that ancient Aztecs believed had a hand on its tail, but that's not important right now. What is important is that the foursome's music communicates right at gut-level with big guitars, tastefully restrained synth and earnest vocals. The brilliantly understated "Slide" rests somewhere on an axis between Yo La Tengo's "Blue Line Swinger" and The Cure's "Play For Today." The strummer "Work Is Over (If You Want It)" recalls Versus (particularly the chorus "this is a call to arms / I know you're strong enough to hold me...") and is both buoyant with longing and helplessly tethered by resignation. "Self-Made" makes it by dropping dense guitar in and out of over top of insistent fuzz bass and strikes a neat crescendo before a guitar solo rendered in liquid mercury. Ahuizotl's Bandcamp also houses two earlier collections fo material that suggest Mr. Langer has been honing his craft for almost a decade, and while there are bright spots in the back catalogue, the energy and focus of Lice is a huge step forward for the band. Have a listen to "Slide" below and then click over to hear the entire EP, it is dynamite.



>> We're getting a first taste of what Boston post-hardcore upstarts Grass Is Green have been brewing up for their return next month. The quartet has crafted what sounds like an ambitious concept album about a fictional character named Ronson, and the preview track "Nice Guy Of The Year Award" recently popped up on the Internerds. The detailed and intricate rocker suggests the new collection -- recorded all analog to tape, executive produced by Susan Rogers and co-produced with Alex Prieto at The Recording Company in Boston -- will be a massive step forward for the band, both from a production and songwriting standpoint. The band's previous impressive effort Chibimoon showcased a lot of promise and an almost equal amount of quirk, but it is nothing compared to the tactical precision, conspicious power and impressive gloss that marks "Nice Guy." Grass Is Green is taking pre-orders for Ronson now through its Bandcamp page right here. The band will tour for the entire month of March and full tour dates are online right here. We first wrote about the band here last April upon the release of the EP Chibimoon.



>> Best Practices' forthcoming, ridonkulously titled The EP LP delivers euphorically overdriven post-punk in breathlessly short, hypercaffienated bursts. At least that is what we surmise based on the two bracing preview tracks we can't stop streaming. Neither of these eclipses 75 seconds, and the Providence-based quartet's complete nine-song set clocks in at a blinding 12 minutes. Indeed, the collection is so compact that it will come on a one-sided 12" when Tiny Engines releases it April 24. Stream "Welcome To Erf" and "Future Cougar" via the embed below, and get ready to press play over and over and over and over again. Additional album tracks will be posted each week for streaming leading up to the start of pre-orders, which will commence sometime next month. The EP LP is Best Practices' Tiny Engines debut, and it was recorded July 2011 by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios in Western Massachusetts. Additional vocals were recorded by Dan Sawyer at The Parlour in Rhode Island. The band features current and former members of Light The Fuse And Run, Wow, Owls!, Weak Teeth and Jesuscentric. If tape is your thing, apparently The EP LP was also released in a limited edition of 100 cassettes by the un-Googlable Teeth Like Swords.

Today's Hotness: Grass Is Green, Fire Island Pines, The Henry Clay People

>> Sometimes heavy like the blitzkrieging sounds of the D.C. underground of the late 20th century, sometimes just spacey and weird (check out the wonderful and stumbling ballad "Twinkle Toes"), it's Boston post-hardcore quartet Grass Is Green. The act just released a seven-song EP Chibimoon that is one of the most enjoyable surprises we've encountered in a while. The EP presents an impressive sonic range but at the same time shows Grass Is Green doesn't disregard the importance of melody. The foursome is playing our alma mater tomorrow night, the alma mater at which we spent the mid-'90s when you heard this type of smart, awesome indie rock seemingly around every corner. Chibimoon was self-released by the band in March and you can grab the whole thing for $5 at Bandcamp right here; a debut full-length was issued last September, and is also available via Bandcamp. We're embedding "Twinkle Toes" below, but it's well worth parting with five American dollars to hear the whole collection. Grass Is Green has two local gigs listed at its Bandcamp dojo: May 11 at Church and May 14 at Middle East Upstairs.



>> Additional notable indie rock has been piling up in our inbox, such as Fire Island Pines' fine Bratislava EP. The Cornwall, UK-based sextet fronted by a chap named Anton Rothschild is fewer than two years old, but the calm pacing of its orchestral pop communicates surprising confidence (not to mention competence). The music recollects The Sea And Cake or even Chin Up Chin Up in places, tempered with a spiky energy that suggests a very, very sleepy Los Campesinos! Fire Island Pines's arresting amalgamation of jangly guitars, persistent trumpet and murmured lyrics makes for a very listenable debut. Bratislava was released earlier this month via San Francisco-based digital label Vulpiano; the set is also available on a limited-edition CD-R. You can grab the entire collection for free at Bandcamp, but if you want a taster we suggest you check out the relatively perky "Heaven Till You Say;" the full EP is embedded below.

Bratislava EP by Fire Island Pines

>> As we quipped on Twitter last week, Los Angeles-based indie rock saviors The Henry Clay People have a new EP coming out next month, and it's a barn-burner. The short set is called This Is A Desert, and it's got five tracks, not the least of which is the scalding opener "The Honey Love He Sells." The whole thing was streaming at Spinner.com last week and we listened to it about 10 times, but now we can't find the link and the search on Spinner ain't turning it up. Dammit. Just take our word for it: you want this; it will be released on TBD in May; you can already pre-order the thing for $7 at the band's web site right here; and we think that's a smart move. If you need an early taste and can't be arsed to go to MySpace anymore -- and really, who can -- Aquarium Drunkard has a free download of track 2, "California Wildfire," that one can snatch right here. The Henry Clay People's full-length Somewhere On The Golden Coast was one of our favorite records of 2010.