PINETOP SEVEN
SELF TITLED

Recorded in the attic by Pinetop Seven
Mastered by Mike Hagler at Kingsize Sound Labs

PERSONNEL
Darren Richard: vocals, guitar, upright piano
Charles Kim: slide guitar, banjo, harmonium
Mona Saraceno: drums, clarinet
John Peeler: bass, harmonium
Margot Horton: fiddle, organ, saxaphone

SONGS
1. Tearing It Down At Dawn
2. Money From Home
3. Paramour (mp3)
4. Big Dumb Friend
5. Skyway Ro Alice
6. Starlet
7. Think About You At Odd Times
8. 40 Watt Bulb
9. Attic
10. Out On The Broad American Night
11. Flushed With Sun And Passion
12. Can I Walk You Home
13. Tennessee Pride

REVIEW
Pinetop Seven takes its musical inspiration from the American heartland at the early part of the century - bits of country, New Orleans jazz, some blues - but doesn't necessarily structure it in traditional ways. The sounds of slide guitar, piano, banjo, fiddle, and voice comprise the band's eponymous debut, but it's the solemn, almost disjointed atmosphere created by Darren Richard's songwriting that permeates the album. His voice - which at times veers dangerously close to that of the Crash Test Dummies' Brad Roberts - hangs itself on woeful countryish tendencies, while the band's slow plunking and picking never truly concedes to familiar roots-rock textures. Instead, the simple, understated tempos and forlorn melodies the band churns out add a kind of awkward, imperfect beauty to Richard's words and music, turning songs like "Starlet," "40 Watt Bulb," and "Attic" into gentle, unsettling compositions of subtle beauty. -CMJ

Copyright 2002 Truckstop Records.