The Fishermen Three
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
The Fishermen Three’s debut album Rosina on Every Balcony is a side project of Simon Beins (NYC anti-folk trio The WoWz) and Raphi Gottesman (friend and percussionist). The songs on Rosina on Every Balcony are all thoughtfully composed, building on strong harmonies, lo-fi instrumentation including Bein’s layered guitars, and upbeat vocals with Gottesman’s drumming. The Fisherman Three features a unique brand of folk punk that is neurotic, off–the-cuff and manages to clear away the gloom. - Record Dept.
Dans un festival (Mo’Fo, février 2009)l es plus grands plaisirs ne viennent pas tous des têtes d’affiche annoncées. Mais je suis de parti pris, car ces Fishermen three là, je savais qu’ils ont invité Lisa Li-Lund pour une partie de leur tournée, ce qui me les rend d’emblée bien sympathiques.
Un trio, donc, même si quelques cuivres pointent aussi leur nez sur l’album. Le talent quand on fait de la pop, c’est d’entrer tout de suite dans l’oreille, et d’y rester. Plus c’est “facile” pour l’auditeur et mieux c’est, à condition bien sûr de ne pas avoir entendu cent fois la même chose.
Avec les Fishermen three, on est dans un univers musical, cher à Lisa Li-Lund, joliment représenté. Un peu moins rétro et lyrique qu’Elvis Perkins, un tantinet plus rock que les Pale Fountains malgré la trompette, plus proche peut-être de l-ll ou de Julie Doiron. L’art de la légèreté. Un art cultivé par des amateurs des disques du label Cherry red, par exemple, auquel on pense souvent à l’écoute de ce disque attachant, sorti sur le label confidentiel Hype city de Bergen (Norvège).
Après quelques écoutes vous vous laisserez séduire par les paroles tout autant que les compos. Une touche d’humour noir (making love is hard when you’re living in a graveyard*), une mélancolie affichée malgré le ton léger à l’oreille (Golden pain, If you ever return…), Simon Beins sait écrire, en particulier dans Obsession (it ain’t love) :
“just a simple experiment,
in a bedroom with a closet
I was the only one who saw it
your body came accross
I was guided by science…”
Toute la chanson est de ce niveau, et portée par quantité de trouvailles, un rythme à rebondissements, et tout ce qu’il faut pour devenir la vedette de votre ipod :-)
Simon Beins et ses comparses, Raphi Gottesman à la batterie, Jack Lewis à la deuxième guitare, prennent la scène avec bonne humeur, tout est bon enfant. Mais ce qui sépare leur prestation d’un concert de fin d’année de lycée, outre la qualité technique, c’est tout de même une dose de talent qu’on aimerait croiser plus souvent.
Simon n’est pas le plus expansif, mais il s’en donne à coeur joie à la guitare, et ne voit pas d’inconvénient à laisser une partie du chant à Jack. Est-ce cet ego peu envahissant qui est la cause d’une si faible notoriété?
Retenez en tout cas que Rosina on every balcony est un des très beaux albums de cette année. Souvent entrainant, parfois dansant, jamais ennuyeux, toujours lumineux, plus d’une fois brillant. Une découverte, oui, mais probablement plus :-)
Lundi, on vous fait gagner l’album :-)
* : “c’est galère de faire l’amour quand on habite un cimetière” - Arbobo (France)
Jeg liker sanger som gjør meg mo i knærne. Golden Pain er en slik. En aldeles fortryllende liten sak, som på papiret er ganske ordinær: Slentrende, jovial folklåt i melankolsk moll. Banjo, sår vokalknekk og skyfri stemning. Det finnes så mange slike, men av og til er det noen som bare treffer den store nerven.
"Hit my head in a cloud when I stood up" er de lovende linjene på Danny, med marsjtrommer og tilbakelent gitarer og istemmende blåsere som gjør det klart at vi her har å gjøre med en aldri så liten sjarmbombe av en plate. Da tredjesporet If You Ever Return triller forbi som en annen Gram Parsons med sola i øynene, så er jeg vel egentlig solgt.
"Dessverre" blåser The Fishermen Three sitt aller beste materiale i første halvdel, men platen faller på ingen måte sammen av den grunn.
The Fishermen Three er en duo, og ikke er de fiskere heller. Hjemmebase er New York, selv om de høres ut som de drømmer seg til den andre kysten for cirka 40 år siden (40 år siden 1969, dere!). De kan knyttes til antifolk-gjengen i hjembyen, frontfigur Simon Beins kjenner kanskje noen allerede fra The WoWs, utgiver på denne er norske Hype City (som nylig slapp I Was a King og er flinke folk) og dermed kan vi naturlig knytte et relevant bånd mellom urban nyfolk og skrangleskeiv indiepop.
Rosina On Every Balcony avslører raskt sine kvaliteter, heldigvis av den typen som både holder. Jeg har sytet litt i det siste på at mange av dagens mest hypede artister mest er bare staffasje uten de gode låtene i bånn. Kanskje det er derfor jeg falt så for denne. For her er det nettopp låtene som står i høysetet, og den godeste Beins viser et godt grep om pennen. Platen daler litt midtveis - da er det viktig å huske på at knærne allerede var skjelvne - men tar seg nydelig opp igjen med Obsession (It Ain't Love) og You Can Quit Me.
Rosina on Every Balcony glimrer om kapp med vårsola og bærer bud om sol, sommer og alt som er fint. Vi trenger noen slike nå. - Groove.no (Norway)
"Also appearing are the Fishermen Three, who take their name from the nursery rhyme 'Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,' but don’t play kids’ music. Their country-folk sound can be gentle and lulling—at least until the mood is shattered by an electric-guitar solo or frenetic drums." - The New Yorker
Discography
Rosina on Every Balcony LP (Hype City, Norway, 2009) - radio and streaming airplay in Scandinavia, available in stores in Scandinavia and UK, available online worldwide
Photos
Bio
Even if you haven’t heard The Fishermen Three, they’ll make sense to you. They’ll sound right and good. The songs are written and recorded with one ear toward the classic country past and the other toward a darkly complex modern world. Their debut album, Rosina on Every Balcony, is a reminder that while things get a little murky, they will be okay.
Where did The Fishermen Three come from? They snuck up pretty quickly. 2009, the year of the band’s birth, has been pretty busy. Here goes:
Before their debut record was available in stores throughout Europe, they were playing to thousands across England (with Jack Lewis), supporting UK’s NME playboys The Cribs and US favorites The Thermals on a winter tour. They also played Paris’s MoFo Festival as a featured band chosen by David Ya-Ya Herman Dune.
As the Brooklyn spring poked its head out, The Fishermen Three released their first album, Rosina on Every Balcony, on the Norwegian label Hype City, home to Serena Maneesh, Herman Dune and Great Lakes. They celebrated the release with a five-country European tour with labelmates I Was a King. The album is available online and in stores across Scandinavia, and soon to be so in the UK.
Spring became summer, and The Fishermen Three played two festivals, in two days, in two countries – Norway and Germany.
Marking the passage into autumn, they supported the Jeff Lewis Band on sold out dates throughout England and Scotland.
To celebrate a successful 2009, The Fishermen Three are getting ready to record their second record at Marlborough Farms Studios with Brooklyn’s Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor.
In the coming year, look for another album and more touring. And listen for more Fishermen Three songs that remind you of yourself.
www.myspace.com/thefishermenthree
www.thefishermenthree.com
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