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Crisp pop songs should never go the way of the dodo bird, so thankfully there are bands like Blues Skies For Black Hearts to continue the tradition of forefathers like The Beatles, The Kinks and Dave Clark Five. Led by vocalist Pat Kearns, the band makes the most of “Siouxsie Please Come Home” with its retro-rock vibe and “A World Without Love” which sounds like a more mature version of The Click Five. The band also pulls out all the stops with the horn-driven, bouncy “Jenny & Steve” which strolls along without a care in the world. It’s like the group are caught in an infectious pop time warp and refuse to come out from the vault, particularly on the jangle-laced “She’ll Follow Me”. However Blue Skies For Black Hearts sag during “Little White Lies”, a nice pop song but one that sounds like their mailing it in a tad. That’s not the case with “Ambition” which is an ambitious, Sloan-leaning foot-stomper that is probably the album’s highlight. A close second is the choppy “I Still Wish That You Were Still Around” that sounds like a very polished Guided By Voices song Robert Pollard spent days perfecting. And if one thought the first 11 songs were flukes, the band shines on the pretty, orchestral “Someday There Will Be Better Days”. - Popmatters
About twice a year I find myself at a random party overhearing the same conversation: “What happened to good song writing? What happened to the song?” It’s at that point names like Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach, or Roy Orbison appear and I head back to the keg. I mean, how the hell can any current songwriter’s tunes ever hope to generate the sheer punching power of THOSE legendary heavy weights? Not only does the current pop song writer wrestle with the genre’s historical figures, they must also contend with our shrinking attention spans. Modern pop music is dependent on hooks and purposefully vague anthems—few of us have time for 3 verses worth of plot line, much less a fully developed chorus with a bridge or two.
Fortunately, many excellent song writers are continuing the tradition of penning ’smart’ pop songs. In fact, we Portlanders get to rub shoulders with some of them regularly, one being Pat Kearns of Blue Skies For Black Hearts. The group’s new album, Serenades and Hand Grenades, is filled with sweetly crafted songs that harken back to the masters of song writing while generating plenty of jangly punching power. This is a band well worth leaning in and taking a closer look, although their songs are rambunctious enough to enjoy from the keg as well. - Pampelmoose
Blue Skies for Black Hearts-Serenades & Hand Grenades. This is a very cool indie pop album that has a real 60s sensibility. Part of the thriving Portland music scene, this band will be playing IPO LA in August and their sound should go down well there. "Siouxsie Please Come Home" is a particularly stunning track, channeling the Zombies and other similar late 60s bands, "A World Without Love" is catchy as hell, and "Jenny & Steve", with its horns and all, reminds me of The Turtles. Other standouts include "She'll Follow Me", "Ambition" and "I Still Wish You Were Around". Bravo, guys.
- Absolute Powerpop
Discography
Serenades and Hand Grenades (May 2008, LP)
Songs receiving airplay on satellite and college radio: Siouxsie Please Come Home, Sweet Valentine, Someday There Will Be Better Days, and Ambition.
Love is not Enough (October 2006, LP) Here Comes the Rain and Otto received college and satellite radio play. Here Comes the Rain was also used for a Nike promo.
Turn the Light Out (June 2006, LP)
This Black Heart is Gonna Break (December 2002, LP)
7" single limited addition: Jenny and Steve/Pretty People (March 2007)
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Bio
“We're making pop music the way it should be made,” lead singer and songwriter Pat Kearns says casually as he returns to the board to mix “Siouxsie Please Come Home”, the premier track off Serenades and Hand Grenades, the brand new 12 song LP from Blue Skies For Black Hearts. Release is scheduled for May 20, 2008.
This, the band’s fourth full-length release, began with mudding sheetrock, painting walls and hanging baffles, turning the back rooms of local guitar shop, Centaur Guitar, into PermaPress Recordings, a modern-day Brill Building and Kearns’ new studio. The paint on the walls had barely begun to dry when Kearns, bassist Kelly Simmons, lead guitarist Michael Lewis and drummer Paul Noel began clocking in nightly, working up arrangements to songs that Kearns had often written earlier the same day. Within two hours of a song's introduction, it was hashed out, rehearsed and basic tracked.
With the advent of digital, today's artists frequently pile their computers with hundreds of tracks and takes, hoping time, reflection and deft editing will produce a masterpiece. Blue Skies, while embracing the functional advantages of modern recording technology, self imposed many of the limitations that fueled the creativity of rock and roll for the last half century. Decisions were made on the spot, focused primarily on feel and melody. Instruments were recorded live with ambiance and real plate reverb instead of relying on digital plug-ins later. Harmonies were worked out around the piano, moments before the entire band gathered around a single, tube microphone to sing the takes together. Nothing was ever added to tracks that needed to be “worked out later in the mix” - a common method of the digital generation. From the first time this record spins, you will feel the same intimacy and attraction that fans have longed for since the Brits invaded America (both times), Stiff Records scoured the pubs for talent and Creation Records saved rock and roll.
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