Tall Firs

Jerusalem Post
Uganda, Jerusalem December 15

As Deerhoof rocked the Barby in Tel Aviv, their lesser-known compatriots Tall Firs brought Brooklyn to a Jerusalem alleyway on Tuesday evening as they played for a small crowd crammed into the Uganda’s sidecar gig venue.

The band, comprised of guitarists and vocalists Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan and drummer Ryan Sawyer, recently wrapped up a tour of the UK and Ireland. On Tuesday night the threesome seemed not to have recovered from the shock of landing in tiny, tumultuous Israel after performing in front of a massive sold-out crowd at ATP UK’s 10-year anniversary event. Continue reading ‘Jerusalem Post Live Review’

Glass Rock – Tall Firs Meet Soft Location LP

Available from Ecstatic Peace!
also via iTunes

Ecstatic Peace! erratic peeps Tall Firs have followed up their two critically-acclaimed albums by joining a new band.

The delicate fretwork and haunting melodies of Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan on the Firs’ self-titled debut were noted by Rolling Stone as ‘good company’ for those whose ‘idea of staying warm on a winter night is a bottle of bourbon and a bleak memory.’

The follow-up album: Too Old to Die Young added jazz/rock beardo Ryan Sawyer on drums. The Wire reported TOTDY “shifts gear with an easy grace from intertwining guitar drifts to more gnarled, backwoods riffage that nods to Crazy Horse and CCR.” Uncut lauded this guitar “rumble and flicker’ atop the ‘Keith Moon-style perpetual drum solo.”  NME described it as “lusher” than “any number of New York bands, from Patti Smith to Television to Talking Heads.”

Set to begin work on Vol. 3, Tall Firs woke up in bed with another band.  During an impromptu DJ set following a performance on seminal independent radio station WFMU, the Firs spun a track from Detroit’s Soft Location. Lamenting the band’s demise, someone offhandedly remarked that the Tall Firs would gladly collaborate if Kathy Leisen (Soft Location lead vocalist) would come out of retirement. Kathy’s neighbor was listening online two doors down from her in the Motor City. A few phone calls later; Kathy’s languid croon (and the moody grooves of former Soft Location bassman Matt Kantor) had a second home in New York City.

The core elements of the Glass Rock sound are Leisen’s penetrating voice and boneyard guitar combined with Kantor’s slo-mo jet fuel bass jamminating. Then add Tall Firs: Ryan Sawyer’s could-blow-your-pants-off-but-prefer-to-slowly-work-them-over-your-hips drumming and Mies and Mullan’s loosely woven two-man guitar stagger.

The band actively refuses to discuss influences even amongst themselves, but folks who love songs heartrending, handmade, reckless, and brave should gamble a listen.

Of Soft Location: “Posthumous tracks of beautiful light pop-psych from this Detroit outfit, fronted by one Kathy Leisen, who also wrote these songs. Her voice is a major attraction here… Ethereal, light touches of synth, reverb, and a full-round bass tone guide these eight selections to the center of the heart; warm, gentle, non-combative yet stimulating motions of late night ghost trail songs are what transpires… hope they reconvene soon, or Leisen finds another outlet for her songs, as this is too good to miss. Total out-of-nowhere surprise.” –Dusted Magazine

Of Tall Firs: “[S]un blessed beauty…The Firs have… moved into a twinkling star light territory of guitars and stuttering drums.  Pop in the sweetest of traditions, these songs amble along, weaving organically and ending inconclusively.  Thank god.”  – AU