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BANDS: Punk
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Pacer: Big Buildings, Small Stars
When the music industry eventually implodes as a result of infighting among artists, major labels, lawyers, and everyone else, there will be those that remain unaffected, having barely noticed the turbulence that just took place around them. I am referring to those musicians who decide to handle nearly every aspect of their music (recording, distribution, production, etc.) either on their own or through close resources. The Wilmington, NC trio Pacer is well on its way to being part of this unaffected group. Two members of Pacer, Kim Ware-Mathews and Jeremy Mathews began Eskimo Kiss Records to release their own music as well as other music from the Southeast that struck a chord with them. Big
Buildings, Small Stars
is Pacers second release on Eskimo Kiss Records, and although the disc is
successful in delivering one cohesive sound, the band also manages to show the
many colors of
its music on these thirteen tracks. The
disc starts off with Reunion at (74), which is probably my favorite tune
on the album. It begins with the
sound of crickets chirping on a summer night.
The crickets are then joined by a sweet, melancholy guitar, and then
eventually by Kim & Jeremys harmonizing vocals.
The songs simple nature and reminiscent tone makes the listener feel
like (s)he could be sitting on a porch with the band as they played and sang of
times gone past. The
guitar playing on Big Buildings, Small Stars is consistently
indie-ish in the sense that solos are avoided and the playing is simple
and at times purposely dissonant. But
the various songs are characterized by differences in tempo and vocals.
The minor key and somber vocals of She Makes and Aquarium
give these songs almost a goth sound if not for jangling guitars and of course,
the fact that in Aquarium, Jeremy sings about the tragic death of his
innocent fish because he was too slack to take care of their aquarium.
Lifes daily events are a common theme for Pacer as another song called
Telemarket talks of (you guessed it) getting annoying calls from
telemarketers. Other songs like
Trouble and the three-beat Good In It All are Southern-tinged and
are episodic in the way of country music. From
the poppy Workin Too Hard to the
hypnotic melodies of Find The Time, Pacer delivers a diverse selection of
good, uncomplicated rock songs.
You can purchase music by Pacer from Amazon & CDUniverse LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Pacer page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
