The Memories — Pickles & Pies(May 29, 2020)≡♦ Když se The Memories rozběhne se svým nejnovějším albem, uslyšíte vlnu nezpracovaného pocitu, který hledá a zná svého posluchače: každá píseň je světem samým o sobě — stejnou věc neuslyšíte dvakrát. Vynikající hudební požitek Pickles & Pies je přesvědčivou směsicí zvuku a stylu, které představují to nejlepší z alter ega White Fang.
Pickles & Pies ubytuje během svého 40 minutové nádhery spoustu rozmanitostí: jejich první nahrávka, která představí skladby všech členů kapely, je to tedy opravdu The Memories v jejich nejlepší a nejvyleštější hodině. Pickles & Pies, kde je vše od psychedelie po lo~fi a shoegaze, akustická balada a další, je úžasně podivné a úžasně výstřední; je to zásluha na individuálním i kolektivním talentu The Memories, že každá skladba zapadá do formy (nic nepostrádá) a celé album je volně tekoucí. Bylo těžké si představit, že hudba může mít všudypřítomnou a soudržnou podobu, ale je to právě Pickles & Pies ve zkratce: hodili hudební malování na zeď a funguje to. Mastná malta, pevná zeď. ≡♦ Jedna věc překvapí: píseň Sign. Kapela se vyjádřila: „Rádi děláme cover~verze a když jsou obvykle v souladu s vlastními estetickými a kurátorskými vlivy naší kapely, mysleli jsme si, že by snad bylo lepší je mít mimo tuto zeď. Naše vlivy jako kapely jsou však tak obrovské, že jsme chtěli ukázat, že v naší hudební stravě nejsme puristé. Colleen již provedla covery tohoto živého filmu ve svém vlastním stylu, ale opět jsme si mysleli, že využijeme Funkleho kouzelnické kouzlo a v té době zcela přetékáme bohatstvím vybavení pro studio. Je tam stále úžasné vybavení, ale v létě roku 2018 to bylo téměř ohromující. Myslím, že jsme to zabili. Chtěli jsme ukázat nejen naši lásku k 90. letům švédského popu (a také pravidlům ABBY), ale také naši lásku k 90. letům obecněji (a všem dobám). Podobné je to s písní Kissing Candy: Nejsem si jist, jak přesně se to propojilo, ale Magnetic Fields má velmi vibrační magnetické pole typu Jonathana Richmana, smíšené s tímto vlivem promenády. Téměř 80s rom~com vibrace Goldie Hawn. ≡♦ Eccentric and eclectic DIY label based in Los Angeles. Founded in Portland, OR in 2008 by Rikky “Free Weed” Gage. Dedicated to documenting the weird and wonderful sounds of our time.
Location: Los Angeles, CA Recorded: at Axis Mundi’s Beach Hut studio in Rockaway Park, NY. Album release: May 29, 2020 Record Label: Axis Mundi Records/Gnar Tapes Duration: 40:04 Tracks: 01. Too Old (To Fall in Love) 3:07 02. Waves from the Shore 2:16 03. In My Heart I Am Sailing 2:39 04. Last Chance to Dance 2:45 05. Second Try 4:29 06. The Sign (Ace of Base cover) 5:30 07. Taffy 1:49 08. Kissing Candy 1:56 09. Under the Sea 2:29 10. Druid 3:54 11. Someone to Love Me 3:00 12. Our Little Secret 3:04 13. Purple (featuring PYNKIE) 3:09
Review Steven Ovadia⌊ 25 May 2020 10.51 BST ⌋ Score: 8.5 ≡♦ The Memories Pickles & Pies is what it would sound like if someone listened to 40 years of pop radio in a short interval (not an impossible task, given how tight playlists can be) and then quickly recreated the music themselves at home with their friends. It’s weird, fun, and clever. The Memories are an LA~based band/collective. The fluid membership list adds to the radio effect, with different voices and sounds, the one constant an emphasis on capturing the spirit of the song, but not necessarily focusing on the production or performance. This isn’t the Beach Boys hunkered down in a studio for months, trying to nail an arrangement. Rather, this is people making something cool and stopping to move onto the next thing as soon as the tune gels. ≡♦ This is easiest to see with their cover of Ace of Base’s “The Sign,” here sung by Colleen Green. I never thought of “The Sign” as anything close to a good song and this version doesn’t change my mind, but it does show how much an empty song, devoid of meaning and heart, can be elevated by talented artists. The Memories reimagine the song as reggae, taking the original’s mechanical offbeat groove and giving it a more human flow. Green sings at an impossibly slow tempo, the music at times slurring, so the whole thing sounds like a record being played at the wrong speed. It’s both a tribute to a pop music staple, but also an indictment of the soulless, robotic original. ≡♦ “Under the Sea,” also featuring Green’s lead vocals, continues the 90s thread with Wilson Phillips~esque harmonies over straight~forward guitar. This is one of the album’s strongest tracks because of the beauty and intricacy of the melody. Plenty of 90s bands worked the idea of a nice, processed voice over simple rock instrumentation, but not enough spent so much time trying to craft such a lovely vocal, one that could probably have, at one point in time, been used on something much more overly produced and innocuous and presented as a radio single. ≡♦ The tour through time continues. “Last Chance to Dance,” with its Casio keyboard, drum machine, and autotuned vocal almost would have been perfect in a Rocky night club scene. The only thing that spoils the authenticity is an opera~like vocal that cuts in and out of the song, which is both hilarious and awesome. “Someone to Love,” sung and almost entirely performed by Chris “Unkle Funkle” Uehlein, has a Cars energy. “Purple,” perhaps a tribute of sorts to Prince, reaches back to 1970s soul. And “Waves from the Shore” has a very 1960s beach rock vibe, with a doo wop progression and plenty of beautiful vocal harmonies. ≡♦ The most striking thing about Pickles & Pies is its directness. The songs are unadorned, but TheMemories give you more than enough to hear the charm of their songs. But what’s nice about this album is that unlike many bands, especially ones that describe themselves as lofi, The Memories don’t feel the need to mask the beauty in noise, distortion, and distance. They allow you to hear the pop underpinnings of every track and while there are lofi trappings, it doesn’t define or constrain the sound. It’s a tribute to their shared love of radio, but also their maturity as a band. ≡♦ https://northerntransmissions.com/ Also: BY MITCH MOSK MUSIC, REVIEWS, TRACK~BY~TRACK MAY 29, 2020: https://atwoodmagazine.com/tmpp-pickles-and-pies-the-memories-album-review/ Bandcamp: https://gnartapes.bandcamp.com/album/pickles-pies FB: https://www.facebook.com/The-Memories-321633651184829/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/memspop Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thememories420/
Pickles & Pies ubytuje během svého 40 minutové nádhery spoustu rozmanitostí: jejich první nahrávka, která představí skladby všech členů kapely, je to tedy opravdu The Memories v jejich nejlepší a nejvyleštější hodině. Pickles & Pies, kde je vše od psychedelie po lo~fi a shoegaze, akustická balada a další, je úžasně podivné a úžasně výstřední; je to zásluha na individuálním i kolektivním talentu The Memories, že každá skladba zapadá do formy (nic nepostrádá) a celé album je volně tekoucí. Bylo těžké si představit, že hudba může mít všudypřítomnou a soudržnou podobu, ale je to právě Pickles & Pies ve zkratce: hodili hudební malování na zeď a funguje to. Mastná malta, pevná zeď.
≡♦ Jedna věc překvapí: píseň Sign. Kapela se vyjádřila: „Rádi děláme cover~verze a když jsou obvykle v souladu s vlastními estetickými a kurátorskými vlivy naší kapely, mysleli jsme si, že by snad bylo lepší je mít mimo tuto zeď. Naše vlivy jako kapely jsou však tak obrovské, že jsme chtěli ukázat, že v naší hudební stravě nejsme puristé. Colleen již provedla covery tohoto živého filmu ve svém vlastním stylu, ale opět jsme si mysleli, že využijeme Funkleho kouzelnické kouzlo a v té době zcela přetékáme bohatstvím vybavení pro studio. Je tam stále úžasné vybavení, ale v létě roku 2018 to bylo téměř ohromující. Myslím, že jsme to zabili. Chtěli jsme ukázat nejen naši lásku k 90. letům švédského popu (a také pravidlům ABBY), ale také naši lásku k 90. letům obecněji (a všem dobám). Podobné je to s písní Kissing Candy: Nejsem si jist, jak přesně se to propojilo, ale Magnetic Fields má velmi vibrační magnetické pole typu Jonathana Richmana, smíšené s tímto vlivem promenády. Téměř 80s rom~com vibrace Goldie Hawn.
≡♦ Eccentric and eclectic DIY label based in Los Angeles. Founded in Portland, OR in 2008 by Rikky “Free Weed” Gage. Dedicated to documenting the weird and wonderful sounds of our time.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Recorded: at Axis Mundi’s Beach Hut studio in Rockaway Park, NY.
Album release: May 29, 2020
Record Label: Axis Mundi Records/Gnar Tapes
Duration: 40:04
Tracks:
01. Too Old (To Fall in Love) 3:07
02. Waves from the Shore 2:16
03. In My Heart I Am Sailing 2:39
04. Last Chance to Dance 2:45
05. Second Try 4:29
06. The Sign (Ace of Base cover) 5:30
07. Taffy 1:49
08. Kissing Candy 1:56
09. Under the Sea 2:29
10. Druid 3:54
11. Someone to Love Me 3:00
12. Our Little Secret 3:04
13. Purple (featuring PYNKIE) 3:09
Review
Steven Ovadia ⌊ 25 May 2020 10.51 BST ⌋ Score: 8.5
≡♦ The Memories Pickles & Pies is what it would sound like if someone listened to 40 years of pop radio in a short interval (not an impossible task, given how tight playlists can be) and then quickly recreated the music themselves at home with their friends. It’s weird, fun, and clever. The Memories are an LA~based band/collective. The fluid membership list adds to the radio effect, with different voices and sounds, the one constant an emphasis on capturing the spirit of the song, but not necessarily focusing on the production or performance. This isn’t the Beach Boys hunkered down in a studio for months, trying to nail an arrangement. Rather, this is people making something cool and stopping to move onto the next thing as soon as the tune gels.
≡♦ This is easiest to see with their cover of Ace of Base’s “The Sign,” here sung by Colleen Green. I never thought of “The Sign” as anything close to a good song and this version doesn’t change my mind, but it does show how much an empty song, devoid of meaning and heart, can be elevated by talented artists. The Memories reimagine the song as reggae, taking the original’s mechanical offbeat groove and giving it a more human flow. Green sings at an impossibly slow tempo, the music at times slurring, so the whole thing sounds like a record being played at the wrong speed. It’s both a tribute to a pop music staple, but also an indictment of the soulless, robotic original.
≡♦ “Under the Sea,” also featuring Green’s lead vocals, continues the 90s thread with Wilson Phillips~esque harmonies over straight~forward guitar. This is one of the album’s strongest tracks because of the beauty and intricacy of the melody. Plenty of 90s bands worked the idea of a nice, processed voice over simple rock instrumentation, but not enough spent so much time trying to craft such a lovely vocal, one that could probably have, at one point in time, been used on something much more overly produced and innocuous and presented as a radio single.
≡♦ The tour through time continues. “Last Chance to Dance,” with its Casio keyboard, drum machine, and autotuned vocal almost would have been perfect in a Rocky night club scene. The only thing that spoils the authenticity is an opera~like vocal that cuts in and out of the song, which is both hilarious and awesome. “Someone to Love,” sung and almost entirely performed by Chris “Unkle Funkle” Uehlein, has a Cars energy. “Purple,” perhaps a tribute of sorts to Prince, reaches back to 1970s soul. And “Waves from the Shore” has a very 1960s beach rock vibe, with a doo wop progression and plenty of beautiful vocal harmonies.
≡♦ The most striking thing about Pickles & Pies is its directness. The songs are unadorned, but TheMemories give you more than enough to hear the charm of their songs. But what’s nice about this album is that unlike many bands, especially ones that describe themselves as lofi, The Memories don’t feel the need to mask the beauty in noise, distortion, and distance. They allow you to hear the pop underpinnings of every track and while there are lofi trappings, it doesn’t define or constrain the sound. It’s a tribute to their shared love of radio, but also their maturity as a band.
≡♦ https://northerntransmissions.com/
Also:
BY MITCH MOSK MUSIC, REVIEWS, TRACK~BY~TRACK MAY 29, 2020: https://atwoodmagazine.com/tmpp-pickles-and-pies-the-memories-album-review/
Bandcamp: https://gnartapes.bandcamp.com/album/pickles-pies
FB: https://www.facebook.com/The-Memories-321633651184829/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/memspop
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thememories420/