100254

3D Message

Thrill Jockey
thrill 169 - 2006

A 3-D message without the glasses, Pit er Pat's new EP is a frantic exercise in cryptic pop. Laid before you are the constituent parts: Rob's pulsing bass hooks, Fay's synth flourishes, Butchy's tweaked drum mechanics. But, look farther, listen sideways, and patterns, images, secrets are revealed. In just four songs clocking in at around 15 minutes, Pit er Pat manage to encode a universe of gestures, utterances, and ideas about the mixed-up America they're set to navigate on their first US- wide tour this month.

The four songs on the EP are the end result of some experimental fragments the band tried out on their last tour before heading into John McEntire's Soma Studios to polish them up. Their first venture under McEntire's care results in a texture and feeling not present on any previous Pit er Pat output; John's intuition became a fourth member of the band. On the opening title track, Fay's vocals shimmer along side twinkling bells, with buoyant backing vocals from the boys bobbing in the mix. "Diamond Messages" changes the mood with some frantic keyboard and drum arpeggios that delve into prog and DNA territory. Griffin Rodriguez, aka Blue Hawaii of tour mates Need New Body, checks in to provide vocal support. Like a classic tour EP should, this record is a snapshot of the band in motion, as they sound here and now.

The EP comes in a sleeve designed by Fay. A selection of the covers were hand made and printed by the band; the rest were custom made and silk screened by Crosshair press. Check out 3-D Message and find out what the old man sees when he stands on top of the ocean.

Tracklist

00:00:00

  • 1 3D Message
  • 2 Diamond Messages
  • 3 Hey, Oldman
  • 4 Take Out The Trash