silver pines

On Aquarius Records' always trusty advice, I snatched up a a copy of the 2nd release by Austin's Silver Pines. The group (appears to be four members, see pic below) have concocted a gauzy blend of country, shoegaze, and, well, a tinge of pop. Most of the 7 tracks here start off with a slow country gallop and eventually build into an aching roar of bliss-fuzz guitars, yawning saws, multi-tracked and sorrow-filled female vocals, and, of course, mounds of breathtaking slide guitar. The result is an atmospheric slow ride down a canopy covered backwoods river. Simply gorgeous.

I believe that this EP is still available. Please contact the band or Aquarius records to obtain a hard copy of this. Note that this is just a CDR, but it is wrapped in a beautiful silkscreened sleeve. Let's hope that someone out there is willing to get these guys on to wax, where they truly belong.
- Expressway to My Skull

“The languid, droning country psychedelia on Forces, the second self-released CD-R by Texas quintet Silver Pines, seems to be reaching your ears from a long ways off. When clouds of eerie organ and bowed saw curl around Stefanie Franciotti’s syrupy vocals, it sounds as though she’s broadcasting from a pirate station that’s not just across the Mexican border but 50 years in the past. The guitarists seem to recede further into the distance when they start ladling on the distortion—it’s like half hearing a UFO dogfight from three desert counties away. And if the whizzing electronics on a new tune the band recently posted to YouTube are anything to go by, the music can get even spacier than that. Good Stuff House headlines; the Silver Pines and Silent Land Time Machine open.” —Bill Meyer/Chicago Reader

- Chicago Reader

Oh, how we miss the "cassingle". Those two or three songs and perhaps a dance remix that would play on both sides of a cassette over and over again, burning those couple of songs immediately into our heads. And with its cheap cardstock sleeve instead of a case, for the time, before we got so super concerned about the environment, it was so happily disposable.
That's not to say this new 4 song cassette release by aQ faves, Silver Pines is similarly throwaway, but their choice of packaging (a black cardstock sleeve with unique collage elements) and the brevity of its length, just takes us back to those (not really) good ol' days. Made for their recent tour, this is a more lo-fi and blown out take on their majestic shoegazey Americana than we saw on the Forces cd-r (oh, and btw vinyl of that is coming soon!). In fact side one starter, "You Came To My Door", starts off very in the red, with the vocals and drifting guitar soundscapes near clipping out, but the sound issues are pretty much corrected by the second track "(I Believe In) Magic Dreams", a more spacious and slow-burning instrumental. Yet it's the second side that holds the real gold. Both songs, "Glass Church" and "Baby Universe" are stunningly beautiful and druggy ballads that are more strung out and psychedelic than anything we've ever heard from Hope Sandoval or Mazzy Star, the Pines most recognizable sonic touchstones. These two songs alone are worth the price of admission, but act fast, because only 100 were made and we only got a handful. So freakin' lovely!

- Aquarius Records

Now On Vinyl!
We weren't sure what to expect of this, when one slow night we were going through a pile of cd submissions and it was the last thing we put on. But we were instantly floored! We didn't really know too much about this band except they were from San Marcos, TX and recently relocated to Austin, having dropped off the cd with us when they were on tour (we had mistakenly assumed at first they were local!).
Silver Pines revel in a sound that can be best described as shoegazey stoner country-rock. Thick, warm, slow-burning and gauzy with lots of reverbed slide guitar and heavy psych amp fuzz underscoring the female singer's pretty heavy-lidded drawled vocals, the songs on Forces remind us of smoky perfumed parlors from a forgotten age. The kind of music that instantly transports you to an a dreamy antiquated time but in a way that seems refreshingly unfamiliar and charmed. Reminiscent of a fuzzier more narcoleptic Mazzy Star or a more heavier slow-rocking Beach House, Silver Pines has taken us all quite by surprise by their majestic grace and atmospheric beauty. Soooo good!! Hopefully this won't be the last we hear from this band. Already assured a spot on our top ten lists for the year. Limited to 500 copies. Don't miss out!!!
- Aquarius Records

Silver Pines have one big thing going for them. And, no, it’s not that their band is based in the lonesome burg of San Marcos, Texas, which at more than a half-hour away is always looking up at Austin with the starry eyes of the semi-isolated college town. That one big thing Silver Pines have going for them is that their haunting, forever-reverberating songs are often pretty exceptional, and everyone who’s heard them seems to agree that something special is going on down I-35. Last year’s Fort Walnut EP served as an excellent introduction to the band, but this year’s Forces EP broadens their sound without compromising what made their earliest work so satisfying. Using all the best of country music—slide and even a singing saw make appearances—without falling prone to the genre’s more troubling cheesy aspects, the stage-taking septet crafts only the most gentle of tunes, and that sincere gentleness remains true even when the full strength of the band is involved.
The linchpin here is lead singer Stefanie Franciotti, whose calming presence both on the album and on stage allows the rest of the band to do its finest work. Her voice is forever distant, not unlike that of a long lost lover, or of other newly-revered vocalists such as Beach House’s Victoria Legrand or Fight Bite’s Leanne Macomber, and its pleading pain or burgeoning enthusiasm acts as the band’s most captivating asset. But that’s not to discredit the rest of the band, which holds Forces together admirably with steady rhythms and the occasional dose of flash, such as the guitar freakout at the four-minute mark of the EP’s first track, “Timefather,” the rollicking conclusion of mid-disc standout, “Payasito,” and the blistering second half of the album's most vicious track, "Fortress of Daughters."

It’s difficult to see the career arc of a band who has yet to truly give the big city a spin, and college-based bands have a tendency to evaporate not long past graduation, but Silver Pines—if they so desire to continue unabated—have prepped themselves for significantly wider appreciation in the indie realm, especially as other country-influenced acts such as Fleet Foxes gain seemingly unstoppable momentum. And the Forces EP, clocking in at an economical twenty-eight minutes, is an undeniably solid step forward.

- Austinist

I distinctly remember the first time I was introduced to Silver Pines - one night in Dallas, I struck up a conversation with a couple guys from The Theater Fire. Once they discovered I had gone to school in San Marcos they were baffled to know I had never heard, according to them, this amazing band. Needless to say, I immediately got on the internet and was swiftly consumed in the whirlwind of musical sorcery that is Silver Pines. This encounter was only the first of many that I would have with multiple musicians who also confessed a deep love and admiration for this group of artists. The seemingly universal respect of their peers aside, the devotion is more than justified and similar to their self-proclaimed influence Kaleidoscope, in that, although their sound isn’t mainstream and popular to the general public, it is obviously born of tremendously unique and talented musicians.

Comparisons are sincerely beyond me when it comes to Silver Pines’ second self-released album, Forces. Stefanie Franciotti’s vocals are beautiful and dynamic yet set well within the overall style of their sound. Her southern twangalicious voice doesn’t sit on top or in front of the songs, but is used more like an additional instrument that intertwines organically with each note and melody. Although their western, psychedelic sound is a bit like Mazzy Star, the vocals are much better embedded and resemble another one of their influences, Bright Black Morning Light.

Silver Pines embodies a gritty, unpolished realism that allows for a genuine, one of a kind style unlike anything heard in years.
Each track on the album is perfectly placed for your listening pleasure and even includes two palate cleansers; “Polar Bear” and “Fortress of Daughters” are short instrumental interludes that bring you in with intense crescendos and prepare you for the next few tracks with dramatic lingering drop offs. A few songs on Forces have an uncanny ability to pull you into a scene. Every sound seems to signal a visual cue, such as “Maypearl,” which paints a picture with its wavering saw of a western saloons and spurred outlaws meandering among the blowing tumbleweeds. Lyrically, however, the songs are very poetic and open to interpretation, adding yet another layer to an already beautiful canvas.

The seven tracks of Forces remind me a lot of the Kill Bill Soundtrack with its southwestern, yet modern approach. Each song flows through a spectrum of styles, moving from southern folk melodies to more southern rock that focus heavily on slide but linger using reverberation in an experimental way. Opening track “Timefather” also possesses this somewhat melodramatic, serious tone, but more upbeat tracks like “Payasito” and “Traveling Bones” balance that out. Ultimately, it is a great album deserving of your attention, and you should probably experience them live too as soon as possible.

- Austin Sound

Whenever a band has a girl for a lead singer, and the tempo is slower, the first comparison people make is Cat Power or Mazzy Star. This is somehow different, for me, when it comes to Texas's Silver Pines. Not that the sounds of those two don't come to mind, but there's just something more to it. Silver Pines happen to be one of the best new bands I've heard since moving to Austin. Their haunting melodies were first introduced to me during the dog days of summer, and I was excited. In (Texas's version of) winter, Silver Pines take on an all new meaning.

Getting back to comparisons, it doesn't just end at Cower Stazzy. Silver Pines would also make Lou Reed give up his (now sad) solo career. Of course, without The Velvet Underground, Silver Pines wouldn't exist, but there's more to it. They're making a fresh new noise in the doom/gloom, swaying back and forth, eyes closed, drug smoking, drug drinking, show scene. Placed in the right setting, Silver Pines can electrify a crowd. My only problem with Austin is that there aren't more shows with bands like this. Jackie O-Motherfucker, Brightblack Morning Light, and Silver Pines would make one hell of a bill.
- Evole Happy

I'm under the impression that Silver Pines shares at least one member with my new favorite band, Pure Ecstasy. I could be wrong. Their m.o.'s are similar, but The Silver Pines seem to change it up a little more from track to track. They show hints of the super-slow funk and blues of Brightblack Morning Light, mixed with the mood and melody of Beach House, and even a little Coco Rosie and Psychic Ills.

The Silver Pines Forces 12" is available from Light Lodge. You can pre-order the new Pure Ecstasy 7" while you're there.
- Bread n' Butter

I used to be an avid zine maker and reader, and even though it’s been a while since I put together photocopied collages of text and images, there’s still a very soft spot within for the personal energy and intimacy that goes into handmade media.

After being immediately drawn in by their subdued, sweet music, US band Silver Pines absolutely had me when I found out about their hand-crafted releases. Last week a small package arrived on my doorstep, containing Night Smoker, a four track cassette tape, track list hand-written on a slip of paper and sitting inside a custom-made cardboard case. Likewise, their accompanying EP, Forces, was encased in a hand-drawn sleeve, with track names scribbled neatly on a piece of paper.

The aesthetics charmed me. Each piece was numbered, elevating it from EP to ephemeral treasure, taking a prideful spot on my shelves. The other side of the equation though is, of course, Silver Pines’ music. In an era over-populated with talented music-makers, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by some of the lesser-known talent who cross my very limited path. Silver Pines are good. Their music is sadly romantic, evoking images of Southern twilights, over-sized moons and delicate, off-white lace petticoats. Slightly muffled, entrancing female vocals guide beautifully textured and sometimes distorted guitars with a gentle, carnival-like organ. Who do they sound like? Actually, I don’t know. The first track on their EP, Timefather, reminded me a bit of Cowboy Junkies, though I’m so limitedly familiar with their stuff I have no idea why I’m even mentioning it. I suppose I’d be best off talking about Silver Pines with other new-ish discoveries such as Zaza and Black Swan Green. Three very different bands, but all come from similar places, creating ethereal, delicate and exquisite music. - Drone Magazine-Australia

Just got some more ambient stuff for yall. It's from a awesome band from Texas named, 'Silver Pines.' Incredible guitar work and balmy vocals breathe a breath of fresh air into the now dwindling shoegaze genre. These guys puts out some bewitching tunes, my favorite being a song named "Glass Church." Just the right amount of instrumentals back the incredible vocals and create a ideal soundtrack for a mountain drive. Check out "Glass Church" and the dates, after the jump.
- Small Estuaries