Thanks to Unsigned Unleashed for this very kind review of our band! :)
Picture Atlantic
Unsigned Indie Pop/ Alternative Rock
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Picture Atlantic from San Jose, CA are in no ways a conformed band. In fact, these Bay area rockers are quite the opposite as they use unique vocals, exuberant…
Opening for Local H tonight @ Bottom of The Hill. We start at 9pm sharp. Gonna be a killer show so don’t miss it.
-Nik
P.S. We practiced a lot this week. This picture is proof!
Yes, Jenny Lewis was there.
The Postal Service played their first show in nine years this Tuesday in Reno, NV. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive up to the Grand Sierra Resort’s Summit Pavilion to witness it. To sum it up: it was incredible.
I didn’t know what to expect from the live set. My predictions that they’d have to play all of “Give Up,” all of the b-sides, plus a cover to fill the time were right. Two new songs also showed up in the set, which are featured on the anniversary edition of the album. The songs were different enough to sound like the band had made some progress in their hiatus but retained that familiar sound The Postal Service has created.
The group surpassed performance expectations by perfectly blending digital tracks, triggers and keys with real guitars, drums, vibraphone and melodica. Each member played various instruments with great energy and sang with precision. The on-stage chemistry between Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis was endearing and you could clearly see how engaged the group was.
One of the most interesting aspect of the show was watching for who was playing what; when the group all descended to keyboards and trigger pads, breaking the various tracks of the song down into parts for individuals, trying to determine how they came to that arrangement is interesting on its own.
Another odd but welcomed detail was that the songs come off much heavier live than on record. The percussion, both digital and real, all sound huge and the guitars grew to a swell on some of the jams like “Natural Anthem.”
Getting to witness a group return after nine years of no performances and be this good is incredibly inspiring. The Postal Service put most of the live electronic groups that followed them to shame. I’m now convinced that groups who merely play their backing tracks with minor involvement aren’t just lazy-they aren’t as talented.
-RB
The Postal Service are playing throughout the summer in support of the 10 year anniversary of their sole album, “Give Up.” You can view future tour dates here.
My “clean” boost pedal. It used to sound good. What happened?
Last week I posed the question to guitarists and bassists on how they achieve their “perfect” sound. This Facebook thread contains the replies, of which there were many different opinions. One consensus was that a “perfect” tone will never be found and you should expect to find it at your detriment. But the “hunt,” as Robert Eugene Bradley puts it, is a welcomed process.
So in this follow up post, now that we’ve determined “perfect” isn’t something quantifiable, I’d like to explore the idea of interesting, innovative or just plain weird techniques used in order to achieve a purpose in your sound.
Local H’s Scott Lucas has half of a P-Bass pickup installed in his guitars to capture the sound of the A and low E strings. He did this to effectively replace a bass player and give their two-piece group a huge sound.
While infinitely less interesting or innovative, I was recently in need of a clean type boost pedal for a few select parts of our live set. After spending some time online weighing the options of a new purchase, I realized I could reappropriate my old (and awful sounding) Boss ODB-3 bass overdrive pedal to act as a boost. It’s worked perfectly and I saved money in the process.
I’m sure you out there on the Internet have some interesting musical fixes, so I’m going to pose the question on Facebook again to find some responses.
-RB
Picture Atlantic supports Local H at Bottom of the Hill, Sunday, April 14. 21+, 8:30pm doors. Advance tickets are available here for $12.
