| "Are you sure you want to block this user?Black Sabbath, Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Love of Everything, Polvo, Big Star, Sonic Youth, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Built to Spill, Shiner, GBV, Taking pictures, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Hum, Shellac, Dianogah, Gish and Siamese Dream, Teenage Fanclub, Replacements, Husker Du, Zombies, .Pinebender is a rock band from Chicago, Illinois.In autumn of 1997, Matt Clark, Chris Hansen, and Stephen Howard got together to manufacture a series of songs that Hansen had written.Stephen's parents' Wilmette, Illinois, home, the music revolved around crawling tempos and loud, soaring guitars.After relocating the gear to a proper rehearsal spot within city limits, the band set its sights on recording.They booked studio time at Electrical Audio Recording in February 1998.An important lesson was learned that night: earplugs must be recommended to audiences.Borrowing money from family, the band paid for the session and began looking for a new home.In April 2000, Things Are About To Get Weird was released to much critical acclaim.Two Aprils later, Ohio Gold released the "Too Good To Be True" EP.Pinebender golf pencil in the spine of the jewel case.Matt Clark left the band in the summer of 2002 to pursue the grandeur of the heartland and academics in Iowa City, Iowa.In January 2003, Pinebender moved on to Lovitt Records in Arlington, Virginia.Pinebender's first release on Lovitt is due out in the summer of 2003.Keep your eyes peeled for their arrival to your town."Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"Your guys music is pretty rockin.Pinebender, but it turns out it was just a spam thing about a Macy's card.Pinebender, you're a killer.Pinebender, I was talking to my neighbor Ryan who plays the banjo.Wish I could make the upcoming show.Pinebender, how are you?Hope you're doing well out there.Pinebender's Classic 1999 'Things Are About To Get Weird'
Available for the first time on 180g Double Vinyl.Your show in Cleveland made me download some brownwear.The Mission of Burma show was great.This double album not only looks great next to my stereo, but it sounds good too."So, how do you know Dennis?""Um, I know him because we made out in the girls locker room.God Bless Tom, because without him, things like this wouldn't happen.Begin Here is the best song...Please come to Florida sometime.Whats up with the Black Cat show in DC?Pinebender rules and everything else is diseased.Thanks again for a great show on Friday.So much Pinebendering, so little time.Hey, thanks for the add!Do you wish to continue your form submission?"Person Carrying a Handmade Paper Bag...Pinebender is a rock band from Chicago, Illinois.Stephen's parents' Wilmette, Illinois, home, the music revolved around crawling tempos and loud, soaring guitars.After relocating the gear to a proper rehearsal spot within city limits, the band set its sights on recording.An important lesson was learned that night: earplugs must be recommended to audiences.They would find that home at Ohio Gold Records, a small indie label in Chicago.Andy Mueller's photography and design provide the perfect graphic representation of the record's mood.EP allows the listener to peer into the early stages of the music and the themes that would be built upon over time.Pinebender golf pencil in the spine of the jewel case.In January 2003, Pinebender moved on to Lovitt Records in Arlington, Virginia.Pinebender's first release on Lovitt is due out in the summer of 2003.Don't forget your earplugs.Clark, Chris Hansen, and Stephen Howard decided they would attempt to
make something out of a handful of songs Hansen had penned.They would rehearse on Saturdays.Greg Norman engineered the three day session.EP, aptly titled Too Good To Be True.Lounge Ax and the Empty Bottle, Pinebender began playing more
dates and writing more songs.In February of 1999 the band again settled
into cozy Electrical Audio.Albini's recording expertise captured the sound of the band perfectly.Truly an amazing sounding recording.At times shimmering and beautiful,
then quickly becoming powerful, almost menacing.How does Pinebender make so much beautiful noise with so few instruments?Pinebender
by Wes Freeman (June 2002)
Between the first opening band and the headliner, my
friend and I were supposed to do something.The band brought out what looked like an orange Danelectro
(actually Jerry Jones) guitar, a small drum set, and another electric guitar.They're called Pinebender, like 'High As A Georgia Pine,'
see?Pinebender brought the drudge.Stephen Howard fell
thickly in behind him on the drums.This went on for a
few minutes as tension built in the room."It's not '50's," my friend said.Pinebender was perhaps six minutes into
"There's A Bag of Weights In The Back of My Car" (the first cut on its
debut album, Things Are About To Get Weird on Ohiogold Records)
and everything was perfect.The sound was more than the sum of its players and that made
it challenging, but it was also simple in its construction, which made
it easy to swallow.When he did send his voice out over the churning
sonic swamp, the band was pouring on those of us below the stage, it was
just as impressive as the sound of his guitar.They both share a firm,
but crystalline sound; they both exhibit an unwavering yearning.Pinebender played many songs
better than that one, with the image in my head of a band possessed of
sheer aural charisma."We call it the drudge," Hansen later told me when
discussing the highly distinctive sound the band produce with a seeming
minimum of effort."And the
songs tend to be long.All three of us know how we like this band to sound."You guys really blew my head off last night," I
told him.Madison for the summer of 1995
to play in another band they were in together at the time."Hansen had written some songs, which he played
for Howard, who is primarily known in Chicago as a bassist.Stephen would be interested in playing drums
so I played him the songs," Hansen explained."He liked them and suggested
we ask Matt if he would be interested in playing with us.So I played the
songs for Matt and he was into the idea, too.Clark, also a bassist for Joan of Arc, plays several
instruments in Pinebender.Electrical (Audio Engineering, where Things
was recorded)," Hansesn said.It's a guitar with
sixteen strings all of which are tuned to the same note.Matt played it on "Bag of Weights."When that song gets really
noisy at the end, he was playing a solo of sorts on that instrument."The band honed its sound in the home of its drummer's
parents in northern Chicago.They played their first show in 1998 on April
Fool's Day "in a bar in the back room of a taquerria" (the band's earliest
recordings are available on their March 2002 EP Too Good To Be True,
also on Ohiogold).The tempo of the band's sound gradually slowed down
and its sonic palette widened as Pinebender matured.Pinebender to be a big rock outfit from the beginning," Hansen said."We
were very loud from the start.He also started
conjuring plain old noise out of it, which began to work its way into the
songs in spots.When asked about "the noise" that is a major feature
in the band's solos and often offsets the melodies during their songs,
Hansen was direct."The noise is something that we go after intentionally,"
he answered."Some songs seem to ask for the noise, or maybe it's our gag."Part of the reason we have always played loudly
is that at lower volumes, it is hard to get the amplifier to spit out those
strange noises.Clark's tastes in effects are even more varied than
his tastes in instruments, Hansen said.At least as far as Pinebender is
concerned.He's got one that works like a Theremin with a copper plate attached that
changes the tone with the proximity of his foot to it.On "Bag of Weights" he uses a chrome vibrator.In February 1999, Pinebender recorded its debut album
with Steve Albini."Working with Steve was great," Hansen said."His studio
is super nice.He taught me how to play billiards.He makes great coffee,
really strong.He told us what it's like to have a heart attack.His gear
and microphones are top notch.The record really just sounds like our instruments do.He did a great job for us.Sweet
guy, as is the rest of the crew at Electrical."Hansen said he enjoyed recording and feels the record
capture Pinebender's sound well.Being in a studio
with all of the cool microphones, and outboard gear, the tape machine and
mixing console is fun to me," he said.That is not my favorite part,
but I am the singer so you'll have that.Great gear and lots of it.All the members of Pinebender are involved in other
projects also."Matt played in Joan of Arc for the tour behind Live
in Chicago and played on The Gap and the last EP (How Can
Anything So Little Be More) and on those tours as well," Hansen said."Matt and Stephen also played in The Love Of Everything
before our pal Bobby Burg took his show to Brooklyn," Hansen continues.He also
writes songs of his own and has played out a couple of times as the Sick
Boy.Pinebender is my first band.Pinebender performs at Mohawk Place on Wednesday (Jan.Sharing the stage are the Exit Strategy and London Vs New York, both of whom have records due out in the coming months.Chicago's Pinebender mixes the noisome, sludgy distortion of grunge and noise rock with an arty approach to indie.Simply because the last picks from Jeff and Jeremy have been brilliant.Your Beauty is a Knife I Turn On My Throat
02.Cold White Christmas
09.Click your browser's Back button to return to the previous page."Pinebender on MSN Music";s. |
