received pronunciation
December 4th, 2009 at 8:11
Pants Yell! Initially seeing the name of this band I thought I was getting into something that would be fast paced, and high energy, but in actuality you get something much more mature and refined. Pants Yell! formed in 2003 and perform the songs of Andrew Churchman. I’m not quite sure how I am sitting here in 2009 hearing them on their third (maybe fourth…looks like they had a full length tape) and last album for the first time…but it makes me a little sad knowing that something this good will be coming to an end.
Received Pronunciation is another album coming out via Slumberland, and if you have been following their recent releases that is in itself a good indication you should be hearing it. Received Pronunciation is a short and sweet nine song album, and while in first song didn’t catch me by time it got to middle of the second, “Rue De La Paix,” I was hooked. It is refreshing hearing an album that relies on the the natural sound of the instruments, and that is what Pants Yell! have done on this one. Not a single distortion pedal was used in the making of this record, nor was one needed.
There is a time when good indie rock is what one needs, and Pants Yell deliver this. In a time where fuzzy distorted guitars are on almost every album it’s nice to hear music that can stand without it. Chuchman expresses a deep level of emotion throughout Received Pronunciation, and to the extent that most lyricists can only wish to achieve. Churchman has a way with words, and even lines like “does that asshole ever tell you that he still thinks of…Megan?” (from “Got to Stop”) in another setting might sounds adolescent come across as sincere and well composed, and something that you probably wouldn’t tell someone in real life. While on first listen I knew what I had was a good thing, I had no idea how much it would grow on me. All culminating, at least for me, with the the guitar rock “Marble Staircase” and self proclaiming “Not Wrong” both of which come toward the end of the album. It really does make me sad that these are the last Pants Yell! songs that will be released into the world because they are beautiful.
Riding my bike home from work yesterday I found that one song from the album had been stuck in my head all day, and I was even singing outloud as I rode over the Queensborough Bridge, and it happened to be “Cold Hands.”
[mp3] Pants Yell!- “Cold Hands”
Buy it from Slumberland here (for only $8 on LP!), or if you need to pick up other things…at Insound.
One of my very trusted music sources keeps telling me to pick up their last album Alison Statton, and I definitely plan on doing so. I was also able to track down Pants Yell!’s cover of the wonderful Jens Lekman song “Tram Number 7 to Heaven” (thanks Marc!). I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
[mp3] Pants Yell!- “Tram Number 7 (Jens Lekman cover)”
Buy Jen’s version here.
Pants Yell! are finishing up a tour, but you still have a couple chances to catch them:
- Tomorrow! Dec. 5th- Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls w/ Fluffy Lumbers
- Dec. 19th- Somerville, MA @ P.A.’s Lounge (Holiday Party)
Links:
Tags: Andrew Churchman, Jens Lekman, mp3, Pants Yell!, Slumberland Records