I apologize for the little hiatus I took from blogging. Now that its summer I've been traveling a bit up and down the California coast. I stopped in Carmel for a bit. The smoke from the fires in Big Sur still haven't fully cleared. The sky was tinted the smokey orange while the sun set over the ocean. And it felt good to escape from the City Of Angels.
It was up in Carmel that I discovered Forest Fire, Catbird Record's new discovery. The small but mighty record label just recently released the bands debut album Survival. The album is available for free from the record labels website, with the option of choosing to pay what you want. The Brooklyn and Portland split band recorded the album over and eighth month period and were left with a spectacular collection of songs that express "a picture of the whole world - or so much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always rather than spreading it out thin" [Ernest Hemingway].
The band has the sound of a hazed romance, drawing influences from folk rock but also toying with screeching electronics like in the song "Steer Me" and "Sunshine City". Forest Fire's songs though dotted with beautiful guitar melodies also hold a darker feeling of punk up held in the song "Promise", which is only supported by the grinding electronics used sparingly through out the album. I was surprised when I listened to "Through My Gloves" and Mark Thresher's hair raising voice reminded me of Thom Yorke. The albums second track "Fortune Teller" is certainly the most pop accessible. In all this album is held together with enough and heart and reflectiveness on the modern world that it is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year so far.
Mp3:
Forest Fire - I Make Windows
Forest Fire - Fortune Teller
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