Piano Vines

Yeah, I’ve been fully intending on putting these folks on here for a while, but I held off in the foolish hope that I’d either eventually A) get to see ’em live or B) manage to glom onto an actual CD. Neither of which, unfortunately, have happened. That’s partly my own damn fault, obviously — I just can’t get out as much as I could in the Good Old Days — but it’s also a little frustrating to be teased with these awesomely beautiful recordings on the band’s Myspace site (see the link above) and yet not be able to play ’em anywhere other than my damn computer. Argh. Seriously, I need-need-need to get a Piano Vines CD, and quick, before my brain melts and drips out my ears.

In all seriousness, this duo/occasional trio (main members Pam Cantu on vocals/keys/guitars/xylophone & David Howard on vocals/guitars/keys/bass/drums/etc., with Nolan Burke helping out with the live drums and keys) is one of the most promising bands I’ve heard in a while, local or no — I love Cantu’s clear-as-a-bell vocals, which bring to mind Feist or maybe the kids in Eisley, and the music underneath it is sweet and gorgeous and driving like all those old Parasol indie-pop gems I/you loved back in the day (c’mon, you know you did, just admit it). The songs they’ve currently got up are light and airy but never insubstantial, instead swirling and charging along in a sunshiny haze that nicely skirts dreampop and building intricately to a perfectly-executed close. Some of the songs come off like Broken Social Scene minus the half-assed-ness, while others come near to Ambulette (esp. the Maura Davis part of the band) territory. Trust me: these folks know what they’re doing and can pull it off in a way that should make indie-pop-ish record labels all ’round the country pay attention.

Again, though — no CD as yet. Which sucks, ’cause it means waiting a while longer for the band to really blow everybody away. I’ve heard rumors that they’ve got something in the works, so keep your fingers crossed.

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