Pencildive Grown-Ups CD
One of the reasons I appreciate reviewing the ol’ tactile items (I know, I know, very 20th century of me), is that every now and again, you get a fantastic package like this one. A beautifully stripped-down and elegant fold-out CD sleeve encases this debut full-length, which perfectly matches—sonically—the packaging. Minimalist (without being lo-fi, or garage) instrumentation—just drums, bass, guitar, and the one female vocal, from the trio. They produce, nevertheless, a propulsive dynamic range, from goth to indie to punk, I guess whatever that means. Kind of like if FUGAZI (or fIREHOSE) were fronted by a female singer/songwriter/guitarist, and covered some of the poppier tunes that came out on the likes of K Records and Kill Rock Stars twenty years ago.