April 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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April 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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Fiver come together on third full-length 23 April 2002
On their third full length, Modesto, California six-piece Fiver (they’ve recently added keyboards player Lauren Singleton) have blended somnambulist meanderings, neo-gothic darkness, and lilting harmonies into a bittersweet psychedelic concoction. Producer Jason Montilla of Modesto band American Holidays worked with Fiver front man David Woody, in Fiver’s home studio, to craft subtle arrangements whose depth belies the new album’s ad-hoc, almost accidental, feel. The low-light pictures they paint across the ten songs on Here It Comes are spooky and abstract, off-kilter and evocative. Here It Comes, out tomorrow for the US (limited distribution began last week), is their first LP to be available worldwide on the merged Devil In The Woods/Future Farmer Recordings label. It’s slated for a 20 May release in the UK. Fiver’s previous LPs (1999’s Eventually Something Cool Will Happen, produced by Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle; and 2000’s Strings For Satellites, produced by Fuck’s Kyle Statham) are still available for the UK and Europe on London’s Fierce Panda label. Reviewers tend to liken Fiver to Radiohead, Grandaddy, and Built To Spill. But to understand them I prefer to look a bit further back down rock’s evolutionary tree—as well as a bit further out along its branches. Here It Comes reflects elements of Yes and Kiss, as well as evoking Jane’s Addiction and My Bloody Valentine in moments. And it’s hard to miss Fiver’s musical concomitance with Bardo Pond and Quickspace. But Fiver (front man David Woody, guitarist Chris Doud, keyboards player Sean Duncan, keyboards player Lauren Singleton (who, by the way, happens to live on a 40 acre rice farm in tiny Home Valley, California), bassist Andrew Bland, and drummer Ryan Coscia) are blessed with enough vision to make the seams disappear in this musical patchwork quilt, resulting in a shimmery fabric of their own design. Tracks on Here It Comes are Speeds Of Light, Buildings And Homes, Tinywaves, Goner, Queen X, Warriors, Desires Of The Lazer Age, O Fearless One, Haunted Us, and On Our Way. They haven’t announced any singles or EPs. Like a sweet lament from a beautiful zombie siren, Fiver get under your skin in a disquieting but irresistable way. Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. Fiver play a couple of northwest US dates this weekend with Kaito and Imperial Teen. Then late next month they hook up with Ken Stringfellow and The Long Winters for ten west-coast US shows: April 26 - Seattle, WA (Crocodile) 27 - Portland, OR (Blackbird) May 31 - Seattle, WA (Crocodile Café) June 1 - Seattle, WA (Univ. of Wash.) 2 - Portland, OR (Dante's) 3 - Chico, CA (Senator Theater) 4 - San Francisco, CA (Café du Nord) 5 - San Luis Obispo, CA (Railroad Coffee) 6 - Fresno, CA (Starline - held) 7 - Los Angeles, CA (Spaceland) 8 - Oakland, CA (Dani t.b.c.) 9 - Sacramento, CA (Capitol Garage t.b.c.) | Devil In The Woods | | Future Farmer Recordings | | CD from Amazon US | | top of page | |
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