Illustration by Mandy Newham-CobbPins are a Manchester, UK, band with a cleaned-up garage sound—plenty of sweet harmonies, but the dingy garage is never far away. Garnering praise likening the band to such luminaries as Dum Dum Girls, Faith Holgate, Lois McDonald, Anna Donigan, Sophie Galpin and Kyoto were in Portland back in June playing the Doug Fir Lounge to promote their sophomore release, Wild Nights (out now on Bella Union), and stopped by Fur Vault PDX before their soundcheck to share a few songs with Sessions From The Box.
This brand of band tends toward power chords and overblown pop sensibilities so it's refreshing to hear that Pins are ushering in a raw droning approach. Though they are only on their second album, their evolution can be charted, and the addition of a tasteful keyboard player who seems to have all the right sounds proves that they're on the right path. There is electricity and turmoil in their sound.
In between tracks, we talked about, among other things, a fake backstory for the band's name, gold cassettes, the label they started (Haus of Pins), and an ever-evolving lineup. The fact that they're from Manchester, home of The Stone Roses, The Chameleons, Buzzcocks and The Smiths (just to name a few moderately influential bands), does not seem to be lost on them. "We have one song, basically its working title was 'Baggy' because we wanted to make that baggy Manchester sound—it's definitely influenced by '90s Manchester."
Track listing:
1. "Young Girls" (watch the music video below)
2. "Too Little Too Late"
3. "Molly"
4. "Got It Bad"
5. "Dazed By You"
