Hands and Knees

http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2009/04/29/mp3-of-the-week-hands-and-knees-quot-you-got-pop-you-got-style-quot.aspx - The Boston Phoenix

Chinese! - Vision (China)

My attempts at amateur sleuth were soundtracked by Boston indie rockers, Hands and Knees. I knew nothing about the group going in, but I liked them well enough. They had a nice snappy rhythm section, taseful guitars that broke loose from their cage occasionally, and guy girl trade off vocals that didn’t descend into cutesiness. They won my affection further with a one-two punch of nicely executed 80's proto-indie covers; a spirited yelping version of the Vaselines’ “the Day I Was a Horse”, and an indulging of my Kiwi Rock jones with Tall Dwarfs’ “All My Hollowness to You.” - Merry Swankster

Hands and Knees are clearly a playful indie rock outfit, and with their upcoming release, Et Tu, Fluffy?, they put their playfulness on full display. Combining a varying collection of soft, catchy melodies with an abundance of beautiful thrashy guitar, Et Tu, Fluffy? is a fun and friendly record that is never afraid to bite.

Because this was my first exposure to the Boston-based quartet, I started with their album art — which, as this was a pre-release version, was not the final cover art but instead a hand-drawn sleeve — in an effort to get a sense of what kind of band I’d be listening to. The brilliant collage of assorted geometric shapes, bicycles, stick-figure surfers, airplanes, and what appears to be fast-food soft drink containers immediately reminded me of those beautiful sketches you draw in the margins of a boring economics class. Like a classroom doodle of chaotic proportions, the DIY art accompanying the CD has simple artistic integrity. It is rambunctious, yet serene — full of life and sparse at the same time. These themes carry directly over into the first song of the album and continue through record’s duration.

It’s almost impossible to pick which of Et Tu, Fluffy?’s songs is the catchiest, so I won’t go about attempting such a feat. The album does, however, begin with three sweetly composed tunes — each displaying Joe O’Brien’s warm vocals with delicate musical accompaniment punctuated by inventive guitar solos and periods of heavy drum and bass. The record picks up the pace with "Blue Day Moon," which is also the first time I started noticing bassist Carina Kelly’s backup vocals. O’Brien and Kelly’s effective vocal coupling bring to mind the Deal/Francis charm that made so many Pixies songs come to life.

While the middle of the album brings about an increase in tempo, there are still plenty of soothing moments sprinkled amongst the vibrant, writhing guitar. Kelly’s lead vocal performance on "Anywhere But Here" is a perfect example of the playful combative forces at work throughout the album. Her small voice floats amongst the waves of guitar that flood the song with a commanding force. O’Brien’s vocal treatment in "Do You Really Need A Drummer" works on a similar level. As the intensity of the music builds, O’Brien keeps an eased composure, creating a fascinating balance between the rising music and his collected singing.



The latter portion of the album may be its weakest section. In "We Are The Man Who Cannot Fly," O’Brien seems to abandon the vocal poise he perfected earlier in the album in favor of numerous echoing yelps. "Shove It Up Your Heart," the shortest track on the album clocking in at just over ninety seconds, is a turbulent duet that feels somewhat out of place. While neither of these songs are bad, they never seem to capture the mixture of push and pull energy the rest of the album embodies.

The final tune, "What Ever Happened to that Beautiful City," is another track that may feel out of place on the album, but works very well as a closer. It is by far the slowest (and longest) song of the set and it shows yet another side of the band. The soft guitar and airy vocals produce a dreamy composition achieved nowhere else on the ten previous tracks. While it did sound like an awkward departure at first, it quickly became one of my favorite songs on the album — once again establishing how well Hands and Knees are capable of merging beautiful harmonies with potently edgy guitar rock. - Three Imaginary Girls

Carina y Joe viven en Boston. Ellos aman la música. Escuchan Pixies, Guided By Voices y Jesus & Mary Chain. Ellos no se conocen. Ambos quisieran tener un grupo, en una ciudad donde una college band debe nacer cada 5 minutos. Él fuma Lucky, ella admira a Frida Kahlo. Un día en que ambos deciden evadir sus clases (Nueva Ola Francesa y Poscolonialismo, respectivamente) la casualidad los reúne en una cafetería. No en un Starbucks, ellos no disfrutan el café cuando se sirve en envases descartables. Ella lleva una polera de Violent Femmes y eso llama la atención de Joe. Él se pone a tararear algún b-side de Elliott Smith y ella lo acompaña haciendo palmas. Luego vendrían los lugares comunes: intercambios de discos, ciclos de neorrealismo italiano, comida rápida y sexo más rápido aún. El día que Joe le llevó un mixtape como obsequio, ella se alegró (especialmente cuando se dio cuenta que todos los grupos eran escoceses), pero inmediatamente le dijo: “la próxima vez quiero que todas las canciones sean tuyas”. Ese fue el punto de partida para Hands and Knees. El nombre fue elegido también fortuitamente: un baterista demasiado puntual en llegar al primer ensayo interrumpió la jornada de goce justo en dicha posición. Una banda más entre millones, un nuevo MySpace, una nueva nota de prensa (escrita por la disquera o por ellos mismos) que los vendiera como “the next big thing”, un video que los mostrara espontáneos/rebeldes/deprimidos/artys/cool… todo dependía de la tendencia del mercado. Sin embargo, lo único que Carina y Joe querían era tener sus propias canciones. Jugar a ser Frank Black y Kim Deal. Pensar que algún día la canción que tararearan en una cafetería cualquiera sería la suya.
- Revista 69

Hey everybody! Guess what? Your friendly neighborhood Brobots! (form of Raliegh Fingers!) are DJ-ing the record release party for hometown heroes Hands and Knees. Their album “Et Tu, Fluffy” (Midriff Records) is out just in time for the great weather here in the Northeast.

There are many great musical comparisons that could be made to describe this album (Pixies, My Morning Jacket, Tegan & Sara, Violent Femmes) but i don’t think that does these guys justice. It never feels like they are directly imitating a style and, even though it’s there first album, it always sounds like a Hands and Knees album.

The thing that stands out about this album, oddly, is fun. It genuinely sounds like they are having fun making music (and making fun music), which shouldn’t be something that stands out on a modern album (what could be more fun than making music for a living) but it does. To borrow their phrase “they’ve got pop, they’ve got style”…and again - hand claps, c’mon!

So, come on out and show your support. We’ll be at River Gods in Cambridge tonight starting at 9. They’ll also be playing a record release show at Great Scott in Allston on Thursday (4/30) - Brobots!

This quartet lives in western Massachusetts but comes straight from the Boston indie scene, which, because of the sheer number of students and young people, is thriving. The music is quirky, poppy, and catchy, with hints of some country thrown in, but so sneakily that you must take a second to say, “Wait, is that…?”. They played two shows in NYC last week, and they have a new album out called Et, tu Fluffy?, which I have been having a love affair with. Expect that they will be back soon. - Quiet Color

Hands and Knees - 5 Acts

The Phoenix is turning Downtown Crossing into a week long block party! This Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday they’ve got 3 bands per night rocking out in the streets – with different themes per night. Tonight’s show is “Garage Night,” featuring a killer lineup of Needy Visions, Hands and Knees, and Thick Shakes. Wednesday is “Blog Night,” with John Shade, Kingsley Flood, and Magic Magic hand-selected respectively by our buddies at Tea Party Boston, Boston Band Crush, and Bradley’s Almanac. Thursday wraps up the event with “New Night,” with a bill consisting of Mystery Roar, Bearstronaut, and Mean Creek. There’s talk of a full wine bar, and the entire event is sponsored by Budweiser so I’d guess there will be a few beers floating around as well – what’s a block party without alcohol? Best of all? IT’S FREE! (well, admission is free, I’m guessing the alcohol is gonna cost you a few bucks) Here’s some links to let you check out the bands, see you down there! - Playground Boston

"Psych Night" with Needy Visions, Hands and Knees, and Thick Shakes at Downtown Crossing | June 9, 2010 - The Boston Phoenix

Exciting news on the radio front! Apologies if you’ve already heard this from our Twitter or Facebook group already, but for those who haven’t, Boston’s Hands and Knees will be performing live on Knox Road Radio tomorrow! As usual, the show is from Noon to two (Eastern Time), and we expect Hands and Knees to perform for about 45 minutes. We’ll also ask them a few questions about their craft, so you’ll be getting a bit of an insider’s perspective. You can tune in online at WMUC (click on WMUC 2 at the upper left of the page.) Afterward, the entire session will be posted right here on KR for listening, so don’t worry if you miss out.

Please, do yourself a favor and check out our post from several months ago about Hands and Knees, and go visit their MySpace. And then listen to the show!
- Knox Road

It's been a rough year for local-music dinosaurs. The ever-irrelevant Boston Music Awards locked out the public and fulfilled their mission of becoming an event that only 250 industry types vote on or care about. And the Rumble, along with WBCN, has been shelved by its corporate overlords.

So when we huddled up to start thinking about the 2010 BEST MUSIC POLL -- Boston's only democratic expression of musical awesomeness -- we decided to try something new and simple. We wanted to showcase a bunch of up-and-coming bands without the fake-wrestling premise of a "battle." And we wanted to make those bands available to everyone who wants to see them, regardless of whether you "know someone." We also knew the Celtics were going to the NBA Finals, and that on Tuesday and Thursday you would need to be back in a bar or your living room by 9 pm.

So here we are. Meet BEST MUSIC WEEK: Three nights, nine of Boston's best up-and-coming bands, for free, outdoors, in beautiful, up-and-coming Downtown Crossing. For full disclosure, the bands were chosen by (outgoing) music editor Michael Brodeur before the results of the Best Music Poll were harvested -- without knowing who the winners would be. Also, we purposefully did not announce the lineup until after voting had ended, so as not to give any of these bands an unfair advantage in the balloting. The results of the 2010 Best Music Poll will be released this Thursday at http://thephoenix.com/bmp/, just in time for the final night of Best Music Week.

So get ready: the bands are going on at 5 and will be done by 8, which gives you a FULL HOUR to make it to wherever you're going for tipoff.

Tonight, it's our great pleasure to present three bands who, if there was no Best Music Week, and there was still an Abbey Lounge, would probably be playing the Abbey. (Did we mention there's $3 16-oz Buds outdoors for our 21-plus folks?)

NEEDY VISIONS

On MySpace
An awesome Flophouse Session for Band In Boston
Album version of "Mac's Big Secret" over at Boston Band Crush
Live on WMBR's Pipeline!
"the greatest band in Weymouth"
HANDS AND KNEES

Mp3 of the Week: "You Got Pop, You Got Style"
On MySpace
Album version of "Dag for Dag" from Insound
THICK SHAKES

Mp3 of the Week: "Baby, You're a Starfish"
On Vimeo, from SXSW2010
On the internets
For full details on this week's shows, check out http://thephoenix.com/bmw



Read more: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2010/06/08/best-music-week-needy-visions-hands-and-knees-thick-shakes-free-show-5-pm-downtown-crossing.aspx#ixzz0zkagcU9I - The Boston Phoenix

"I feel like I just got beat up by awesome," we marveled following Quasi's show at the Middle East on Tuesday, and the throbbing of Janet Weiss' drums echoed in our being for a full day afterward. We're still recovering from the onslaught of tight riffs, gorgeous chords, and devastating beats wrought by Quasi, but we wanted to share our experience with you while the sonic wounds were still fresh.
Quasi is guitar/keyboardist Sam Coomes (former Donner Party, Heatmiser), drummer Janet Weiss (former Sleater-Kinney, current Jicks), and bassist Joanna Bolme. Every mention of the band is required to tell you that Coomes and Weiss used to be married to each other, but now they just focus on marrying fantastic sounds (ha, ha). Coomes' sometimes-almost-whiny vocals can be a little off-putting at first, but if you give the band just a few moments, its distinctive tough yet delicate sound will completely win you over. And the band is even better live than on its thoroughly rocking records.

Tuesday's show functioned something like an evolutionary chart for bands, with opener Hands and Knees' eclectic jams, intense drumming, and sometimes-strident vocals all suggesting a band that's practiced in the basement but is still working on its live act. Second opener Let's Wrestle came all the way from England with no place to stay (we hope someone offered them a couch to crash on), and charmed us with their accents and catchy punk-pop riffs (not to mention adorable drummer). The first two acts were clearly good bands at early stages in their development; then, Quasi came on stage to show the kids how it's done.

Quasi opened with "Repulsion" from American Gong, the band's latest album, and continued with lots of other Gong tunes such as "Little White Horse," "Black Dogs & Bubbles," and "Rockabilly Party." The "Black Dogs" lyric "a thousand silver tongues will tell you who you are" seemed reflected in Quasi's layered sound, suggesting that we discover our identity in other sources, music chief among them. Perhaps enjoying music with others even further enhances our collective self-definition; the Quasi show certainly felt like a community bonding experience, everyone entranced by beautiful sounds.



Let's Wrestle!Quasi played a remarkably tight show, each song building more strongly on the last until our ears were filled to bursting with rock and roll delight. To close the first set, Quasi ramped up the simple "Bye Bye Blackbird" into an epic, inspiring ramble through aural landscapes. It was a little jarring to hear nursery rhyme lyrics downstairs at the Middle East, but Quasi is notable more for its music than its words, encouraging audiences to experience the music as much as hear it.
And just when we thought a show couldn't get any better, the band came back for a blistering encore that drew out "It's Raining" into a beautiful near-ballad, then stopped everybody's heart for a while (seriously, we almost called an ambulance) with a phenomenal Who cover. During "I Can See for Miles," everyone was probably all, "Janet Weiss is so Keith Moon," but that comparison doesn't give Weiss enough credit for her diverse career. Sure, Moon is an undeniable legend and was (literally) explosive with The Who, but Weiss has provided a lot of great bands with a rockin' backbone. There's something to be said for mixing consistency in with craziness.

Ultimately, a Quasi concert is way more than "some lefty self-help weekend"; it's an epic journey— something that can be said about far too few bands these days. And don't kid yourself that Quasi is an "opening band"; the group is solid (gold?) rock.
- The Bostonist

I was really surprised by Hands and Knees. They rocked out much more than I was expecting and presented themselves as quite a talented bunch. The drummer especially caught my eye and he was going off in all directions and drove a lot of the songs with forceful precision. The guitars had excellent twang to them and played off one another quite well. They utilized both male and female vocals and the songs each had their own distinctive sound. I can’t speak to individual songs since I was unfamiliar with their catalog, but there were definitely some that I was hoping to revisit. - Stereo Typing

this is the first track from the new record by HANDS AND KNEES -called ‘dancing on your tears’ —the song is called ‘throw me from the bridge of flowers’ and it’s been in my head all morning because it’s fuckin bitchin’ - great job dudes- http://handsandknees.net/
- Snowman Blues

This is exactly why I like Hype Machine - discovering new bands. Hands and Knees reminds me of my friends’ bands in high school who played shows in their parents’ houses and everyone dances in the kitchen. They kinda remind me of Voxtrot (???) with their Bostonian self-proclaimed “unfussiness”. It is the kind of music you imagine dancing to very wholesomely with your boyfriend during a friend’s party. Two of my favorites are “Dancing On Your Tears” and “The Moonlight is Wicked”. Check out the rest of their albums and “keep whistling like a foolish old man.”

BTW – Dear members of Hand and Knees – it’s very awkward to Google your name to find images of your band and you end up with porn – and you are sitting next to a stranger on the Bolt Bus. - My Name Is Reb

Hands and Knees are set to release their third album (as of yet untitled) and follow up to the spectacular Et Tu, Fluffy? It collects some favorites that they've been kicking around for a while and sound great recorded.
Such as 'Throw Me from the Bridge of Flowers' and 'Do You Look at Everybody that Way?' I always really liked "Sitting at the Piano Disappearing,' because that imagery of someone sitting at a piano and trying to play it was really evocative and because of the irony of it being a heavy guitar driven thing. They explore a lot of new territory with this album too. Like the bass and snapping a capella 'Feather Fly.'

There's so many things that are great about Hands and Knees. They have a patented abrasive experimental guitar riff thing while the songs are simultaneously catchy as hell. And the pair male and female vocals work really well too.

Last time I talked to them they said this album should be on vinyl too, so look out for that. Definitely catch them when they tour to support this thing, their live show is a bumping blood-buzzing blast.
- Mango Nebula

AEM117 Hands and Knees
Posted on August 31, 2010
Note: My brother just got married, and all I’ve been doing over the last few days is eating delicious food and wearing suits. So, prepare for a lot of food analogies. I’ll save the tie-tying analogy for next week.
Writing pop songs is a lot like baking desserts (bear with me). A novice would assume that the thing to do is to go heavy on the sugar and just make the damn thing as sweet as humanly possible. I mean, that’s what people go to desserts for, right? Sweetness and excess. However, an expert knows that the touch of salt or mint or basil is what makes for a truly superlative pastry experience. To really appreciate the sweetness of a dish, one needs a hint of something savory and unexpected. The same goes for pop music. Yes, of course, you can’t have a pop song without hooks, just the way you can’t make dessert without something sweet. But great pop songs are always garnished with just enough spice to keep you coming back over and over again. (Two examples off the top of my head: 1. The way the melody in Phosphorescent’s “Pictures of Our Torn Up Praise” pulls back so hard against the tempo that it almost doesn’t keep up with the chord changes. 2. The way Van Morrison sings the entirety of “Who Was That Masked Man?” in falsetto.) Large doses of refined and unmodulated white sugar are what get you factory pop music, and if that’s your bag, you are probably not here on this website reading this essay.

Now, I don’t know if Boston indie pop quartet Hands and Knees can bake a cake (for some reason I want to say no, but there’s no relevant information in their bio. I’ll have to tell them to update it), but I do know that they can write a bouncy power pop song that doesn’t cloy even after you’ve listened to it about 20 times in a row. Their Ampeater A-side “Dancing On Your Tears” is a perfect example, building catchy pop music out of unusual six and nine bar phrases, which phrases consist of brief guitar stabs, counterweight bass syncopation, playful drum fills, and the slurred twin vocals of Carina Kelly & Joe O’Brien (when they’ve been in a band long enough, two people can adopt the exact same vocal ticks to the point where they can double vocal lines that seem undoubleable). Some pop songs are weighed down by their artistic ambitions, but here the two are perfectly in sync. “Dancing” bounds and cascades along with so much enthusiasm precisely because it’s so formally off-kilter. The six bar verse phrase always ends just before you expect it to, crashing headlong into the beginning of the next phrase before you even know what’s happening. Then, in the chorus, the elongation of the lyrics bread and butter (buh-huh-ter) during the break stalls the bands re-entry just enough to make you feel like the rug’s been pulled out from under you, only to fly back into another rambunctious verse. Even the simplest part of the song, the lyric-less bridge, runs out two bars earlier than you’d expect, only multiplying the momentum. All this form-play might sound complicated, but the song leaps along with the boundless energy of a new puppy, and you’d never notice a thing unusual about it until you’d already heard it countless times.

B-side “The Moonlight Is Wicked” is simpler formal fare for the most part, but devastatingly catchy and dotted with major two and three chords that spice up the tonality nicely. It also features some lovely jangle-twang lead guitar over the tagged ends of the choruses and the couplet you like simple fun / I like depression, the brilliance of which speaks for itself. The rolling rim-click percussion in the verses lets the song breathe and hang back until the repeated, saucy you’s bring it to a boil and shove us on into the blissful chorus. It’s a song that’s full of indie pop touchstones: the duel boy-girl vocals, the guitar hook answering the chorus melody, the silly humor of the verse lyrics. Even the verse progression is tried and true. If I wanted to bust out a second totally unnecessary culinary analogy, I’d liken a song like “Moonlight” to a perfect pasta sauce. It’s nothing you’ve never seen before, yet when it’s put together with enough time and care, it can be the most satisfying meal you ever ate. Seriously, be careful with this one, folks. Once you pipe it into your head, it will not want to leave.

Both of these jams come courtesy of Hands and Knees’ new, as-yet-untitled full length, generously made available by the band for free perusal on their Bandcamp page. The whole record is full of gangly energy, popping snare drums and tasty guitar hooks. But not only that. Something about the album makes you feel like you are listening to your friend’s band, if they suddenly got their shit together and started writing really great songs. Hands and Knees call themselves unfussy, and it’s true. There’s something selfless and eager about these songs. They want to tag along and make your walk to work a little easier. They want to give you something to whistle while you’re making coffee. There’s no frills and no needless obscurity, just fantastic pop music with a dash of the unexpected. Heat and serve.
- The Ampeater Review

I was curious to see what these guys were up to lately so I went treasure hunting on my hands and knees and found this gem! ...or should I say rock?? ...'cause this album/their music is the closest I'll ever get to crack! (ha...joking)



Listen to Joe, Carina, Scott and Nick's third indie rock and pop album below. Release date: December 31.
- Relentless Noisemaker

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: I adore Massachusetts’ own Hands and Knees.

These garage rockers know how to write some catchy tunes. And they’re giving them away for free! Download their new album Dancing on Your Tears here.
- Melophobe

#76-185 - Dr. Beeper

Hands and Knees’ album Et Tu, Fluffy? looks like Funkadelic’s One Nation Under a Groove as done by the stuffed animals of the Boy Least Likely To’s world. So naturally I had to immediately listen to it. I mean, how often does that visual come along? It sounds, however, completely unlike either band, but still really good.

MP3: Hands and Knees – Midnight In The Applefield
I guess my best starting place for Hands and Knees is that they sound vocally like old Modest Mouse, but maybe instrumentally more like Tapes n Tapes. “Midnight in the Applefield” sounds like Blitzen Trapper (on their first album) backing up Isaac Brock while they’re all slightly toasted… and it sounds good. - You Ain't No Picasso

Boston, MA
Recorded at Ghost Town Recording | Produced and Engineered by Jed Smith | Mastered by Jed Smith at Wood Bee Music Studio

Straight out of Boston comes Hands and Knees, whose fun, indie swagger makes heads turn. The quartet’s second studio album, Et Tu, Fluffy, brings surprise after surprise with tracks that stimulate all the senses.

Throughout the 11-song album, Hands and Knees take you from a jam in your friend’s basement to a lighter-heavy encore at your favorite local music venue. The opening track, “Midnight in the Applefield” has the nostalgic quality of being the audience to your buddies’ jam session in college, and with all the clapping and tambourine you can’t help but want to go back. The radio ready “Hot Little Item,” with its infectious chorus, speaks of a wind-up toy and makes you wonder if it’s a girl, or merely a prize in the Cracker Jack box. Et Tu, Fluffy works its way through fast, catchy tunes toward mid-album, where it becomes more relaxed with “A Great Pain,” only to rev it back up with the exciting and energetic “You Got Pop, You Got Style,” where the band emphasizes, “Well, it’s a long walk to the bottom.” It’s hard to pinpoint one single influence for Hands and Knees, although on tracks like “Do You Really Need a Drummer?” and “What Happened to that Beautiful City?” the vocals echo with a hint of The Cure’s Robert Smith, which is the perfect charm needed to keep you entranced.

Hands and Knees bring an individual flavor to the indie rock scene with Et Tu, Fluffy. With heavy drums, a dash of spastic guitars, and what can only be described as the perfect amount of xylophone, Hands and Knees create the perfect recipe for an auditory masterpiece. (Midriff Records)
-Lisa Perron
- Performer Magazine

HANDS AND KNEES
Midriff Records
Et tu, Fluffy
11-song CD
Ah, yes, Mrs. Slimedog here, the most exciting, innovative, knowledgeable, modest writer of the Noise. I’m debonair and dashing and write scathing, riveting reviews. Now, let us point our ears and hearts toward the toxic of disruption. This CD is full of “jangly pop with some of the catchiest melodies and foot stomping rhythms.” “Oh, boy,” I say, time for some Loggins and Messina or Bob Seger! But instead I get some of that weirdo indie (bellybutton) music.

But fear not, when this band gets rocking they sound like the Pixies or X, according to Slimedog who says they are ’80s bands, (I assume they must be New Romantic bands). It’s a bit hit and miss when the band slows down but mostly this is rather lovely stuff. I’d much rather listen to this than Rammstein, that French band those silly boys like Slimedog and Zortar listen to. (Mrs. Slimedog) - The Noise

After hours of listening to outstanding and fresh music, I left TT the Bear’s feeling elated yet slightly depressed. Four fantastic bands performed that night, but few were there to bear witness. In fact, the fifteen total musicians made up about a third of the audience. Of course, Animal Collective had whisked away over 2,000 to the other side of town. And the Bruins and Celtics were playing pivotal playoff matches. And I admit, I struggled to stay out until one on a Thursday night, but I’m eight months pregnant. What’s everyone else’s excuse?

Enough whining. As long as artists produce excellent live music, melophobe will be there to promote it. At TT’s, Wye Oak, Pomegranates, Hands and Knees, and Mister Sister did their part, so here’s my part: earnest, gushing praise.

Locals Mister Sister opened the night, headed by the always lovely and charming Amelia Emmet. Part Zooey Deschanel, part Billie Holiday, Emmet’s languid yet powerful vocals and banjo can carry an entire set. Thursday night, however, the TT’s crowd was treated to a full backing band, which fleshed out Mister Sister’s rootsy folk sound. Supporting Emmet were four musicians who are collectively creating some of Boston’s best music right now: Mike Fiore, Elio DeLuca, Brian Rutledge, and I believe Eric Meyer on drums. If you see any of their music projects playing around town (melophobe’s concert calendar will highlight them), rush to see them: whether Faces on Film, Keys to the Streets of Fear, or Hallelujah the Hills.

Second up were Hands and Knees, another favorite local band. The first few times I saw them, their upbeat, raw pop sound instantly hooked me. Having just released their second LP Et tu, Fluffy?, Hands and Knees now sounds slightly more polished—a little less garage and a little more alt-country. From the stage, singer Joe O’Brien announced that the show was probably drummer Philip Ilatovsky’s last, so expect more changes in the future.

When Pomegranates took the stage, singer Joey Cook said that this show was a favorite on their four-week tour with Wye Oak, due to the excellent openers. Considering the members of both Pomegranates and Wye Oak spent the opening sets enthusiastically rocking out in the audience, I believe he was sincere. The band invited the crowd to join them on a “trip through outer space,” playing the majority of their new album Everybody, Come Outside. Like Hands and Knees, Pomegranates’ sound has slightly shifted with their sophomore album. Their debut Everything Is Alive is a perfect blend of twee and punk, especially on songs where Cook and Isaac Kerns share vocals (for example, check out “Thunder Meadow.” Cook’s adolescent voice and vulnerable singing offers a great contrast to Kerns’ guttural, raw vocals. The new material, though still pop, is not at all twee, but more psychedelic and contemplative—like a more stripped down Evangelicals. Highlights of the set included “Late Night Television,” “The Southern Ocean,” and “Everybody, Come Outside,” songs where the band let loose, clearly having fun, with Cook dancing around the other band members and drummer Jacob Meritt making goofy expressions behind his kit.

I was introduced to the three openers by seeing them open for more popular bands during the past two years. In each case, I was more impressed with them than the headliners and became an instant fan. Having only heard bits of Wye Oak before that night, I was psyched to introduce myself to them in the same way. Considering Wye Oak is on Merge Records (a favorite label), and some of my favorite music bloggers sing their praises, my expectations were high. Wye Oak did not disappoint. Despite dancing their way through the opening sets, band members Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner conserved enough energy for a rich and passionate set of their own. It’s remarkable how fresh and new their music is, considering how much Wye Oak reminds me of Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star. But more than a decade after those bands, Wye Oak sounds like nothing out there today. At least no current band matches their ability to balance intimacy, solemnity and reserved passion. Well, maybe Low, but again, their era was the late 90s. Look out for Wye Oak’s July release The Knot, and if you’re lucky enough to find tickets for the XX Merge Fest that same month, do not miss this band. - Melophobe

"Hot Little Item" by Hands and Knees
Et tu Fluffy? was one of my favorites of 2008 but I can sneak it in here because it was re-released on Midriff in 2009. This song is a masterful jangly-pop number where all the pieces perfectly fall into place. - Boston Band Crush

http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/2009/08/check-out-hands-and-knees.html - The Needle Drop

I am currently enjoying a fondness for Massachusetts-based indie band Hands & Knees. I really like the energy of this Boston favorite.

And the vocal combination of guitarist Joe O’Brien and bassist Carina Kelly is brilliant.

H&K is confident in its uncertainty, bouncing and rolling, singing sweetly and then falling into bouts of unanticipated, raw noise. I know of no other way to describe it.

Check out “Anywhere but Here” or “We Are the Man Who Cannot Fly” for an example.

Imagine Dick and Jane or the Berenstain Bears with a side of the dark and comical Alexander and his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

H&K unquestionably turns out indie pop, but with a bit of melancholy, alt-country surreptitiously folded in. The group possesses an unrefined, off-kilter sound in the vein of Matt & Kim.


Et Tu, Fluffy?
Hands & Knees is, however, more rollicking, romping and slightly more put together than the Brooklyn duo. The group’s newest album, “Et tu, Fluffy?,” displays this amalgamation of sound and style best. Great album title as well, by the way.

So, that’s it. I’m in, I’m out and I’m addicted to the pomp as well as the irony of Hands & Knees.

And I’ll most definitely be on my feet clapping my hands at the Tin Roof tonight.!!
- South by Southeast

En nous plon geant ré cem ment dans le ca phar naüm de sou mis sions mu si­cales re çues par notre blogue et pre nant la pous sière sur les ta blettes vir­tuelles de nos disques durs, nous sommes tom bés sur les forts sym pa­thiques Hands And Knees. En ac ti vi té de puis 2006, le quar tette ori gi­naire de l’état du Mas sa chu setts a fait pa raître au prin temps der nier son deuxième album, Et tu, Fluf fy? (2009).
Mené par le chan teur Joe O. Brian, le groupe nous offre un indie rock aux in fluences ex trê me ment mé tis sées : une touche de punk par ici, un peu de coun try par là, du glam et une dose de brit-?pop non cha lant pour faire bonne me sure. Le ré sul tat n’im pres sionne peut-?être pas par son ori gi na li té, mais la for ma tion nous offre des com po si tions so lides in ter pré tées avec classe et brio. Au sein d’une scène mu si cale rem plie d’émules d’Ar cade Fire écri vant une mu sique pseu do-?an gois sée par trop sé rieuse, nous sa luons tout spé cia le ment l’op ti misme de Hands And Knees et leurs chan sons dy na miques et ac cro cheuses, au then ti que ment pop.
À l’ex cep tion d’une ou deux pistes, l’album est éga le ment d’une qua li té très constante. Voici trois chan sons qui nous ont par ti cu liè re ment conquis : You Got Pop, You Got Style est une des plus en le vantes du disques, os cil lant entre des cou plets aux gui tares désac cor dées et un re frain ryth mé; We Are The Man Who Can not Fly nous rap­pelle beau coup The Clash avec ses rythmes ska; Blue Day Moon enfin, plus mi gnonne, nous laisse en tre voir un côté plus ly rique du groupe. Pour plus d’in for ma tions, nous vous in vi tons à vi si ter leur site in ter net au www.?handsandknees.?net.
- Black Out Musique

This quartet lives in western Massachusetts but comes straight from the Boston indie scene, which, because of the sheer number of students and young people, is thriving. The music is quirky, poppy, and catchy, with hints of some country thrown in, but so sneakily that you must take a second to say, “Wait, is that…?”. They played two shows in NYC last week, and they have a new album out called Et, tu Fluffy?, which I have been having a love affair with. Expect that they will be back soon. - Quiet Color

'm so glad we live in the future now. When I was 21, I had all kinds of time to dig deep into the rock scene to find the good stuff, to pick up the first Green Day EP or Mercury Rev or The Flaming Lips before they hit with “Jelly.” And that’s what it took, if you wanted the really good stuff. You had to dig for it. If you were to turn on the radio back then, all there was to hear was the fading detritus of hair metal competing with the muffled guitars and high-calorie male vocals of “grunge,” whatever the hell that was. How exhausting. How banal.
But things are better today; diversity reigns. Now that the major labels are withering and A&R reps aren’t snatching up every band with a nose ring and throwing millions of dollars of payola after them, now that we’re in the future, it’s so much easier for the casual rock fan (even an old man of 34) to find exciting new sounds – even if they’re old sounds made new all over again. And that’s the key to the future. The future (e.g., now) is where a band can take a bit of Bo Diddley and a splash of Herb Alpert, and make out of them something that’s more meaningful than mere pastiche.
And the best part is, it’s (I swear this is true) so much easier to find the good stuff now that rock radio is dying. It is a very pleasing thing, living in the future as we do, this group over here can think Atreyu or Dragonforce are the bees’ knees, and that group over there can be all “Dragonwho? I sure love that Neko Case, she’s the best!,” and, because this is the future, they can both be right at the same time. That’s breathtakingly awesome.
So, let U2 and Kelly Clarkson and Nickelback have the airwaves – rock fans of every stripe have an embarrassment of riches right here in the future. There’s wonderful music everywhere you look, if you want it.
Case in point: Et Tu, Fluffy?, the second album from Boston's Hands and Knees, is an album of the future. Their deceptively simple, simply performed songs contain multitudes – Paul McCartney, Sonic Youth, X, The Banana Splits, The Heartless Bastards, Thee Headcoats (who?!?) and even shades of alt-country – specifically groups like The Jayhawks and Paisley Underground stalwarts Green on Red. They have a very postmodern low-fi sound, an unpretentious way that draws on influences decades old, but with songs that could only come from, yes, the future. Have I blown your mind yet?

It’s actually quite impressive. Hands and Knees not only make matching X with The Banana Splits sound easy, they make it sound natural, as if they were sitting around in someone's living room on a Sunday afternoon jamming on some spontaneously generated but perfectly crafted Sonic Youthy McCartney countryish bubblegum X sounding songs, and someone just happened to roll tape and capture the whole affair for posterity.
Et Tu, Fluffy? creeps in on acoustic guitars and handclaps, and just over half an hour later creeps out again the same way, buoyed by a lovely hook played on a thumb piano. But for a record that comes and goes so modestly, nearly every song of the album’s eleven is a perfect little self-contained world. "Hot Little Item" blends a shuffle beat with new-wave guitars and a chorus that draws on "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," and "You Thought it'd Make You Feel Better" manages to fit the twisted boy-girl harmonies of X right next to Minor Threat and an amped-up Paisley Underground bounce. “Anywhere But Here” throws turbulent, noisy guitar up next to a tart and echo-laden female vocal performance, and the vocal performance on the 90-second long “Shove It Up Your Heart” is a tough little mash note to Exene Cervenka and John Doe of X.
And, honestly, it’s so nice to find a band who do what they come to do, and then shut up! Only one song on Et Tu, Fluffy? (the lovely album-closing “Whatever Happened to That Beautiful City?”) tops three and a half minutes. Thank you! Thank you, Hands and Knees for saying what needs to be said, and playing not one note more. I mean, I’m a pretty big Mastodon fan, but I don’t really need to hear a 13-minute multi-part opus about Czarist Russia (a la “The Last Baron” on 2009’s Crack The Skye) all that often. On the other hand, I can throw “Whatever Happened to That Beautiful City” on repeat, open my blinds, and stare out at a beautiful sunny afternoon any time at all (right this minute, in fact).
I do suppose it’s odd to claim that the future is made of three-minute pop songs complete with handclaps, but plus ça change, I suppose. We don’t have jetpacks yet either. In any event, Hands and Knees have made a damn good charming and winsome little record, and kept their eyes squarely on making the eleven songs on Et Tu, Fluffy? as good as distorted, low-fi power pop is likely to get.

- Blogcritics

here’s something quirky and memorable to Boston, MA band, Hands and Knees. Previously posted on last week’s mixtape, I figured a little more info on said band was necessary. (Or at least a few more tunes!) Pop at its root core, but very rough around the edges and delivered with some ferocity to it. Et tu, Fluffy? will keep your head moving and the mixture of boy/girl vocals of Joe O’Brien and Carina Kelly work flawlessly. Album out now on Midriff records and it sure is a fun one to listen to. Buy here. - Weekly Tape Deck

Perhaps – and I hope! – directed at that cute little pink and white unicorn on the cover, Et tu, Fluffy? isn’t a question that looks like it will be answered throughout the course of this Boston four piece’s sophomore album, but that’s unimportant and probably impossible anyway, as unicorns can’t talk. The powerfully strong and throaty voice of Joe O’Brien immediately brings this album to life in the opening track, replete with jangling guitars and a sort of swaggering rhythm. Later, bassist Carina Kelly joins him with her sweet singing. The innate whimsical nature of Hands and Knees – from their cute cover art to their charming, indie pop songs to the very name of the band – conjures up memories of schoolyard songs: “Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!” Together with this and the appropriately happy and rollicking songs like Hot Little Item the band brings a smile to your face. There’s a wonderfully ramshackle quality to songs like You Thought It’d Make You Feel Better, and The Pixies-like women vs man, call and response set up. Jittery and scratchy at times in sound quality, it’s almost as if it were recorded directly to tape and then transferred to CD again, though this gives it a nice, warm familiar glow. Certain songs strongly resonate, like the mournful Anywhere But Here, with its emotive, singular call. Do You Really Need A Drummer? is perfect in its imperfect jump-start, electric elocution, striking a special chord somewhere deep. But what really brings the whole record up is the beautiful, slow-moving final track, Whatever Happened To That Beautiful City? This band clearly likes posing questions, and they seem deeply connected to place and to each other; this much is evident in the swooning sighs of this song. Finger-picked guitar and stomping bass drums riddled with soft harmonies and harsh vocal calls like those in Wolf Parade, Les Savy Fav or even Collapsing Cities give this particular song a hardened, genuinely lived quality. If you appreciate honest, rich, raw indie pop you will most certainly enjoy the beautiful variety of Hands and Knees.
Sarah
- Einstein Music Journal

EMERGING: We receive dozens of albums each week and are offered more still digitally through email each week... but it oddly makes sense that one of our favorite new albums of 2009 comes from right here in Massachusetts... Meet Hands and Knees - this completely indie and beautifully unpolished quartet are on the verge of releasing, Et Tu Fluffy? - a vibrant eleven song album that has us hoping this music group will be around for a very long time.


on sale 4/28/09

THE BAND: Hands and Knees' Joe O'Brien (guitar) and Carina Kelly (bass) share the vocal duties on Et Tu Fluffy? and are the best new 1-2 singing foil we have heard since Laura Burhenn and John Davis of Georgie James (RSL Best Albums of 2007). Adding to the Hands and Knees mix: Scott Hoffman (lead guitar) and Philip Ilatovsky (drums) and what you have are four members who each speak through instruments. Since the tracks on Et Tu Fluffy are so rich and diverse, each song seems to provide each member with a podium to play on; a time to shine!

The record begins with the soft and diminutive Midnight in the Applefield, but let's just say that while the song starts small - it doesn't stay that way for long. Applefield has us wondering if the band was made up about a lovers' rendez-vous or a secret party of friends - both of which might get heated up as town goes on! Handclaps are a primary percussion element throughout the album and they usher us into the album here.

Et Tu Fluffy takes on it's modern indie/alt-country flavor with Hot Little Item, a swirling, slowly climbing homage to a girl that I swear to god could have come from Roy Orbison. Hands and Knees perform the pop-dipped in country guitar track admirably. We can almost smell the whiskey and taste the dust coming off the pickup on that winding country road... Very nice!

Just when you assume you have things pegged, the band comes out with You Thought It'd Make You Feel Better and A Great Pain and Blue Day Moon - 3 songs that are both more subtle and in some ways also far more frenetic and indie rock than their two predecessors. This is no mistake, however, there is more in the bottom envelope than I realized when I opened the mail. We definitely hear bits of Murder Mystery and the Talking Heads on this trio!

Practice Space


And this brings us to You Got Pop, You Got Style - a song that elements of Cracker and the Pixies (sorry, the Frank Black comparison was coming at some point and it's being made in the middle of a compliment!) We just love this song - it's a fast little ditty, but it gives you a small snapshot on just how good this record really is...


Hands and Knees - You Got Pop, You Got Style
NEW!! Highly Recommended.

Kelly wrests singing duty away on Anywhere But Here, a traditional rock lament song. The only difference here is the underlying drums and bass used as vehicles to drag the listener off into the distance. Swirling guitars later join into the fray and finish off the job. Nicely done.

We love a good joke and when it's a good joke embedded in a good song it's even better... Ask anybody you know that's been in a band for any significant amount of time - so long as they are not the dude, they will probably tell you stories about difficult to understand drummers. Drummers sometimes don't get along with Singers. They leave. New weird, flaky drummers take their place... Well, obviously the band chemistry also holds true with personal relationships in general. So the question, Do You Really Need a Drummer? makes for an interesting storyline. Tip of the hat Hands and Knees!

We jump on the hayride for the howling, constant upstage that is We Are The Man Who Cannot Fly. I can already hear this song as the first of a two-piece encore at the end of a wild live show. (Sorry guys am I writing your setlist? This song is just too perfect for this purpose.) We definitely get chills when we hear great live music and this track almost sounds like it was recorded on a Boston stage before a loving, live audience. Echoes here of Lucero and Man Man. (Fair comparisons to successful kickass music!)

It took me a few minutes to figure out why I like Shove It Up Your Heart! so much. (Well, other than the awesome title.) And then it came to me, Hands and Knees do their very best Muy Cansado on this track. Jangly guitar, punctuated by voice and two-part harmonies... Just awesome!

The coup-de-gras as they say is What Ever Happened to That Beautiful City? - an absolutely gorgeous deconstructed number punctuated by hand claps, foot stomps and delicate bits of silence between notes. This is the closest sound we have heard to Sound Team (one of our all-time favorite and now deceased bands from Austin, Tx)... This was how they say, "The Perfect Ending to an absolutely wonderful album."

Hands and Knees have much to be proud of here. Et Tu Fluffy is a Best of 2009 Selection. Now do your job and get a copy of this record!
- Ryan's Smashing Life

Hands and Knees are a quartet based out of Boston. Just at the end of this past April the band released their debut album Et Tu, Fluffy? on Midriff Records, which happens to feature eleven solid tracks of jangly indie-pop. That doesn’t really help shed light on what this band is all about though, as they aren’t just another throw away flavor of the month shooting for some sort of hipster cred. However, I do hope the band gets plenty of favorable response for this record as it’s a dandy and I honestly don’t care for much of what passes as “indie” these days.

The band at the forefront are singers Joe O’Brien (guitar) and Carina Kelly (bass) providing a solid consistent anchor for every track and most notably shine when the two are going back and forth in sort of a Pixies fashion. That reference doesn’t stop there, as a lot of the songs feature the same sort of snappy bass lines and energetic power pop that made so many of their records staples in many collections. Hands and Feet however do manage to mix in a few other enjoyable qualities to their music as well, often dipping into the alt-country realm and exploring a more regretful and nostalgic tone that helps balance out what would otherwise be an album that is bubbling over with emphatic joy. A lot of times Et Tu, Fluffy? strikes me as an album that gets put on as the party is winding down, or for those weekends that have hardly been spent with a foot inside your own home. Just an all around solid dose of uplifting pop that certainly deserves any attention that is thrown its way.
- Built On A Weak Spot

Bombers Burrito Bar, where you can purchase a vegan chicken-nugget burrito the size of an infant child, is the only reason I know of to visit Albany, New York. So I was a little disappointed when Hands and Knees didn't heed my advice and scope it out during their recent Albany tour stop.
"We ate pizza next door, because we were a little tight on time. Someone else was like, 'Oh, you should eat at this sushi place.' It was odd. We got a lot of recommendations [for places to eat]," says vocalist and guitarist Joe O'Brien while driving around Greenpoint in Brooklyn. He recommends a Peruvian eatery on Brooklyn's Manhattan Ave, the name of which he can't remember. The band, who number four in all, are planning to eat banana bread later at their show at the Lower East Side's Cake Shop. This tour's route actually had them playing in Manhattan, then in North Carolina two days later, then in Brooklyn the following day.

"We are really horrible at booking tours," O'Brien concedes. "We're cool about writing songs, and trying to get better about playing them, but terrible about getting good shows and knowing what to do as a band."

That's a peculiar statement when you consider what Hands and Knees have accomplished in three years. They've been signed to the Beatings' Midriff Records and racked up ample gold stars from critics; late last month they dropped their splendid sophomore record, Et tu, Fluffy? Their unfussy, piquant, Americana-tinged presentation of indie pop (or, could it be . . . rawk?) is well on its way to garnering comparisons with every other band, ever.

"When people have written stuff about us, it's kind of odd because they always mention bands that I either don't know or have never listened to," says O'Brien. "I kind of chuckle at the whole thing. I don't know who I'd compare us to, to be honest. We're in this same genre of all those bands — rock, Chuck Berry, or whatever. It's all the same genre, more or less."

He goes on, "Carina will write some song, and she'll be like, 'This is a total ripoff of Al Green.' " He's referring to bassist and co-vocalist Carina Kelly. "It's good to rip off people who you don't naturally resemble."

O'Brien and Kelly are both from Massachusetts origins and both now live in Boston, but they happened upon each other — and their knack for seamless vocal harmonizing — while in New Mexico. They weren't thinking about a band; they just began writing songs. These wouldn't be recorded until a year later, on the other side of the country, when the two reconvened and joined guitarist Scott Hoffman in his loft studio in Shelburne Falls. Only then did they decide, astutely, that a band would be a worthwhile venture.

As for Et tu, Fluffy?, it journeys from sparkly, punky, crank-'em-uppers like "Blue Day Moon" and "Anywhere But Here" to the smoky cool of "Do You Really Need a Drummer" (they do have one, Philip Ilatovsky) all with charmingly modest production values. There's also some gnarly guitar licks, and an unforced surreality to the sung words. Li'l something for everyone here.

"I always admired David Bowie's songwriting, because every song was its own little thing, and it didn't all sound the same, so I kind of picked up on that," says O'Brien, citing yet another major influence Hands and Knees resemble only in spirit. Let's face it: everyone sounds like the Pixies, at least a little, but I'm name-checking Gogol Bordello, adding them to the list of Hands and Knees' inspirations, to illustrate the rickety oom-pah of Et tu's "You Got Pop, You Got Style."

O'Brien is down with that. "Gogol Bordello are like crazy, party Fraggle music. It's like this Euro Gypsy-beat thing, all kind of sloppy and loud. 'You Got Pop . . . ' is like that. I don't know why I think of Fraggle Rock when I think of that beat, but there are certain bands that make me go, 'Fraggle music!' "

If the endpoint is a world that more closely resembles Fraggle Rock, I'd say a 12-hour detour to North Carolina is worth every mile.

HANDS AND KNEES + WYE OAK + THE POMEGRANATES + MR. SISTER | T.T. the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge | May 14 at 9 pm | $9 | 617.492.BEAR or ttthebears.com
- The Boston Phoenix