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Island living affords absolute polarities in both geography and the psyche -
tranquility & isolation. This duality is present in the music of Pumice - the
eccentric, flummoxing and oft-gloomy one-man band helmed by Stefan Geoffrey
Neville, a resident of the cultural hamlet of Auckland, New Zealand. Though
Pumice’s skewed take on experimental folk and pop songwriting is firmly rooted
in the outsider vibes of downunder stalwarts like Pip Proud and Alastair
Galbraith, the fruits of his labor are singular in scope as Neville weaves his
own personal mythology mired with comedy, melancholy, humility and tragedy and
delivered with vivid clarity. Pumice’s pesky brand of loner Kiwi DIY -
precariously devoid of fatuous pose - is a colorful, desolate soundworld unto
itself.
On Pebbles, the umpteenth Pumice full-length outing, Stefan Neville excavates
the mutant rock of Simply Saucer & the idiosyncratic, rhythmic compositions of
Moondog (at his most playfully abstract), and re-contextualizes those
touchstones via the pages of a mid-70s Incredible Hulk comic book. Pebbles
offers the unlikely marriage of astute refinement and wild abandon, with songs
uplifting & sincere, yet dark, with oddball substance to spare. Featuring some
of Pumice's best makeshift pop songs to date, Pebbles even manages a few
excellently fractured instrumentals that harkens to The Clean circa Oddities.
Released on Soft Abuse and available July 10th, 2007.
01. Eyebath
02. Bold / Old
03. Brown Brown Brown
04. Stopover
05. Greenock
06.
Northland
07. Spike / Spear
08. Both Beasts
09. The Only Doosh Worth Giving
10. Onion Union
11. Pipi
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Pumice - Pebbles |
CD $19.97
CAD
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