Silver Pines

It was a Monday or Tuesday at The Whistler on Milwaukee Ave, I park the car far away. The thing that was fueling the urgency to see this band was extreme curiosity. I notice from far away that there is a line formed in front. The place is filled to capacity. You have to wait for people to come out first. Now I really want to see them, 'cause the Whistler don't just fill up on a Tuesday night for nothing. So I finally go in and catch the tail end of the show. I got like two pictures and a video, in case I like it. I love the captured music for so many reasons. Like I'm catching some fleeting moment that need not be forgotten. I feel fortunate sometimes for this curiosity that leads me to these places, to these moments. At the time it's still too early to analyze what I captured. I buy a cd and a shirt that looked gray in the club but like turned purple on me outside. I bought the cd "Forces" from the lead singer I forgot what I asked her but I think that they are from Texas. I even forgot her name, if I even asked. I completely invested in the band on blind faith that I would like it. It took a few days and now I'm so into them.

It's like this is the local Twin Peaks band that opened for St Vincent. Hell they're from Texas too. They are dreamy and quirky like Cocteau Twins only with heavier beats. They got this swagger and twang to them that just imposes on me this picture of Texas bars. It's in the girl's voice and in the guitar this swagger is all I can collect it under. And sometimes they sound sweet, familiar and weird like a fuzzy dream nearly forgotten. Fuzzy dream that revealed you. I just have to say this again, if you are a fan of Cocteau Twins this Texas band Silver Pines is for you. They got this dreamy psychedelic sound that does not alienate Alice so much as it invites her in. There are no liner notes that tells you the names of the songs, or the names of the band members. Nothing. Not even a myspace page, well at least not on the CD itself. I did find it, the myspace page itself. And they filled up The Whistler. There is a sadness in some of the songs, like in "Time Father". It's shoegaze that does not let your mind wander away into your own thoughts. It's not boring. Instead you find yourself wandering into the music, but once again it's like Cocteau Twins, or Julee Cruise if she were from Texas. There is something haunting about it, like a tragic event trapped inside amber. All this honestly is not analysis of the music. They were immediate impressions that I got from the first listen in most songs......alright, two songs. Still those that don't imprint right off, do so over time like you just bought it all over again. . The wonder captures you, but the relationship with the music will be long term. I guess when I say "Texas swagger" I don't mean it in a way that takes from it's urban appeal. I don't mean "Tex-Mex".....yet that is not a bad thing either. How do I say this without digging myself into another hole.....I hear this band and I'm reminded of the movie "Love & A .45", like the songs from this band belong in that film or something similar. A good Texas indy film.