The Pine "Lead Blocks For Feet" LP
[Alone/Owsla]
Here's some interesting emo/indie rock with moderately paced music that's oddly upbeat while still a bit dark. The singing is incredibly unique... it's very hard explain. The vocalist's voice wavers and is sort of high-pitched, so it can take some getting used to, but I really like this. The emotional impact of the music and the way the basslines dominate the rhythms is great, and most of the songs are quite short so things move along nicely. There's sort of a weird early Jawbreaker meets early R.E.M. type of sound going on. "Follow You Home" is one of the only faster compositions and definitely ups the energy. It's a nice change of pace musically, still using rather slow, drawn out vocal patterns. "Letters" is also another significant changeup, using well-placed acoustic guitars. A small part of me feels like the vocals are somewhat forced, despite being so original. If there were less of an emphasis on that delivery it might help the overall flow of the music that they've got working in their favor. But either way this is interesting. The recording has an individual quality to it as well. It's slightly muddy but it still contains brighter tones... it's just this curious mix of smooth density, a somewhat ethereal ringing midrange, and a raw high-end. I can get into it. The rhythm section sounds fucking nice. The LP comes in a well produced D.I.Y. package. The sleeve is screenprinted on heavy light brown paper with one small insert (Also screenprinted?) on thinner, lighter brown paper. The ink is mostly black but there is also some gold as well. The front and back covers show drawings of a wheat field, and inside are some high contrast band shots, lyrics, etc. All of the text is handwritten except for that on the insert. The lyrics deal with personal topics in generally brief passages. "Whole lot of straggling. Whole lot of sinking. Whole lot of strings are looser on me. Don't look down upon me for following my dreams. Got the rest of my life to be stuck here just like you..." This one's a pleasant surprise that I would definitely recommend to fans of the less discordant material from Jawbreaker's "24 Hour Revenge Therapy". It might not be something for everyone, but it's worth looking into. They also have several other releases out. And this is growing on me already... (7/10)
Running time - 35:00 (approximately), Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: A Sad Old Man, Follow You Home, Letters]
Owsla Records - http://www.gridsector.com/owsla.html

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