LOVE & FIST - LAST DAYS IN COUNTRY by Seayou Records
Recently, Seayou Records has grown on me. Odd ball yet wondrously individualistic, Seayou Records tends to have an act at picking out unique sounds and bringing them out into the international scene. Love & Fist's recent EP, Last Days In Country, is one brilliant example of this. As described by Seayou Records, Last Days In Country, "is about farewell and returning home. The return to My Hometown is preceded by a move out, the departure in Say Goodbye is a metaphorical renewal of oneself as coming home, Behind The Times is a musical reunion with Hannes Strasser, who died way too young and can be heard here on guitar and in the choir, and Wasting My Time is about separation and beginning anew."
Born and raised in the rural, rolling hills of Upper Austria, the seeds of the group were first planted in a bar when Jakob Kubizek asked his friend Stefan Deisenberger for his advice on analogue synthesizers. This lead to their collaboration in Superformy with their release, Pop Will Save The World. Although the single became a pop hit in Germany and Austria, the band ended up breaking up with its members moving to Vienna. Jakob became a multimedia artist and Stefan a member of Austria's biggest indie-band, Naked Lunch. It would be in 2009, when they joined the interdisciplinary art project known as The Nowhere Train, that progress on Love & Fist finally began. Contributing several songs to the 2010 film Inside America, which celebrated its world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival as a part of the Feature Film Competition.the two worked away recording their self-titled album in November 2010.
With all the background notes out of the way, what are my personal thoughts? They certainly do not shy away from being called music, an attitude which I respect in honesty and humility. Yet such a simply classification may, in fact, be modest of the group. Wasting My Time hints at country folk tinge, while My Hometown continues this feel into a drunken bluesy melody. Behind the Times plays out as a catharsis, with somber overtones leaving Say Goodbye as a gloomy conclusion to what seemingly 10 mins ago seemed like mindless poppy fun. Last Days In Country has that unique ability to lure a listener in with its seeming casualness yet, by the end of the EP, is able to hammer home far greater emotional appeal. It's surprising, to say the least, yet an endearing surprise, what which makes Last Days In Country a worthwhile investment. Grab a listen and go ahead and support some amazing indie acts across the Atlantic.
Original Article
- Cliff