Fior Fiero
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Fior Fiero

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Pitchfork Media Track Review for Dark Side of the Cop"

This three-piece, which divides its band-time between San Francisco and southern Vermont, has one of the greatest origin-gimmicks ever sold: They began with a dream of making an electro pop album that would correlate to the film Beverly Hills Cop in the same way that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon supposedly synchs with The Wizard of Oz. In addition to this tune's lyrical allusions to Axel Foley's badge-abusing insouciance, the bouncy synths reference the funk of Faltermeyer.

But the culture-quoting achieved by the song seems to go beyond that 1984 urban-blight-visits-sequestered-luxury smash, which was basically Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Miranda readings. The acoustic guitars hint at soft rockabilly, and they combine with the drum programming to suggest a cyber-sock hop. By the time Tyler Gibbons sings the words "summertime blues," you'll have a hard time believing that "Shaky Little Rules" isn't an intentional homage to Suicide, the act who pioneered digitizing Eisenhower-era aesthetics. The lyrics build from bad cop/good cop, street cop/desk cop dualities into a Robocop shout-out, as if giddily confirming (via reverbed handclaps!) the suspicions of whichever guru predicted that pop would forever gnaw on itself.

(4/5 Stars)
- Pitchforkmedia.com


"Magnet Magazine review for Dark Side of the Cop"

Dark Side of the Cop - three Vermont natives who now live in Pennsylvania, California an dTexas - sounds like an eerier version of the Postal Service. The trio has composed a set of musical postcards through road-trip inspired lyrics. Chief songwriter Marco Panella's soft, skidding beat track hums and pulses like an imaginary car motor while Tyler Gibbons mans the wheel, singing gently to keep himself awake. - Magnet Magazine


"Babysue.com review for Dark Side of the Cop"

Dark Side of the Cop - Dark Side of the Cop (CD, Auger Down, Pop)
Sounding something like a modern cross between Thunderclap Newman and Pink Floyd, the guys in the humorously-titled Dark Side of the Cop have come up with a winning collection of intelligent soft pop tunes. The band is driven by the songwriting talents of Marco Panella. the superb vocals provided by Tyler Gibbons, and some additional songwriting support from Joe Weisenthal. The songs on this album are highly stylized and melodic...and feature some great lyrical observations. Melodies are what this band is all about, however...and melodies are what make Dark Side of the Cop such a rewarding spin. The minimalistic arrangements are a perfect match for the band's smart vocal melodies. Heady and genuine, this album gets better with each and every spin. Killer pop cuts include "Stuck in the Darkness," "Paradise Lost and Found," "Love Me From Above," and "Flying Fists and Flashing Lights." Great stuff. (Rating: 5++)
- babysue.com


"SF Weekly Review for Dark Side of the Cop"


You know what's so great about high school? The fr...
You know what's so great about high school? The free time. You can sit around all day, popping zits, talking about which girls have the biggest hooters, imagining what it would be like if Axel F had fallen in love with his pal Jenny in Beverly Hills Cop. OK, maybe everyone didn't wax philosophical about '80s blockbusters, but not everyone's stuck in rural Vermont like Marco Panella and Joe Weisenthal were. Throughout the mid-'90s, the duo — who now live in San Francisco and New York City, respectively — came up with the idea of an alternative soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy comedy, in which his character pursues an old flame from Detroit to Los Angeles, with music that would play right alongside the film, like those Pink Floyd-meets-The Wizard of Oz sync-ups.

After years of playing in jazz and indie-rock bands, Panella and Weisenthal have completed the first third of the score, releasing Dark Side of the Cop's eponymous debut on Panella's Auger Down Records. On tunes like "Paradise Lost and Found" and "Flying Fists and Flashing Lights," Panella re-envisions the blockbuster soundtrack — and vintage Prince, much like Hot Chip — by layering cheap synths and drum machines over acoustic guitars for a sleepy, glitchy, quietly addictive kind of electroni-funk. Fellow Vermont native Tyler Gibbons serves as vocalist, delivering the stanzas in a sexy whisper. The lyrics occasionally drop allusions to the movie — mentioning Motown, freeway chaos, and the art world — but ultimately this is a story of unrequited love, full of clever imagery ("Feels like shooting blanks at a zombie/ He just won't go down") and melancholic phrases ("The scars that heal quickly are the ones on your face"). In the end, it's like Harold Faltermeyer remixed by Aphex Twin, with Bryan Ferry's nephew crooning along. Can't wait for the Bronson Pinchot song in installment two.
- SF Weekly


Discography

The Satellite EP - August 28th, 2007 Auger Down Records

Our last album, Dark Side of the Cop s/t, broke into the CMJ top 100 last summer, with the single Shaky Little Rules reaching #72.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

While touring behind DSOTC during the Summer and Fall of 2006, guitarist Marco Panella and keyboardist Roger Thomasson started to think beyond their “masterful pop” (Houston Chronicle) sensibilities, striving to break away from the confines of electronica and into spaces more commonly occupied by rock and roll.

With The Satellite EP, the duo moves from DSOTC’s sun-drenched pop vignettes into longer and darker ruminations. “On tour,” explains Panella, “we started stretching songs, giving them a more guitar driven, organic feel. We wanted to incorporate some of that looseness in our electronic live set into the new record.” The result is a dramatic step forward. Fior Fiero takes on more expansive structures, looser, fluid drum programming, and a raw, dynamic feel.

“Satellite,” the title track and single, evolves from a simple melody into an Eno-esque, silver-toned wash of guitar, propelled by reverberated 80’s drums, stacked loops and abstract, whirling synths. “Butterscotch” is the kind of song that goes with any mood; it’s an uptempo electro-rocker, incorporating acoustic guitar and shaker to counterbalance the driving synth-bass line and neurotic melodies.

“Shadowboxer”’s spare jazz chords and distant melodies evoke equal parts LA noir, bedroom R&B, empty nightclubs and vacant highways. “So Close,” a studio creation, develops through a series of calls and responses between guitar, synth, bass and drums.

Last year it was a hypnotic alternate soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. This year it’s a new EP and a new sound. Perhaps the change in sound is also due to the change in location: after many months of touring with DSOTC, Thomasson and Panella left sunny California permanently for the city of Philadelphia. The duo recorded The Satellite EP in January 2007 out of their frigid east coast sublet. Auger Down Records will release the EP on August 28, 2007.