March 9, 2012

AE004: Lands & Peoples :: Pop Guilt

I first wrote about Baltimore band Lands & Peoples back in 2009 when I was living in Portland, Oregon. I immediately asked for an interview, because I was so mesmerized and enamored with the vast and transportive sonic landscapes the group seemingly conjured out of everyday instruments.

Lands & Peoples have now been one of my favorite bands for years, and I couldn't be more excited to be releasing their debut LP, Pop Guilt, on Everybody Taste's own imprint, Analog Edition. Pop Guilt's 11 tracks are the group's strongest and most fully realized to date, weaving honeyed pop hooks through intricately designed and immersive instrumentals as the group blurs the lines between infectious pop and experimental music.

The cover art, designed by Christopher Muccioli of fellow Baltimore band Secret Mountains, is a photograph of a melted vinyl record and it's meant to embody that dichotomy between pop and experimentation: a vehicle for straightforward recorded music that's been warped and turned upside down.

Recorded with Chris and Mickey Freeland (Lower Dens, Wye Oak) at Beat Babies in Baltimore, mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman (Future Islands) at Mobtown Studios, and mastered by Paul Gold (Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective) at Salt Mastering, Pop Guilt's arsenal of expertly delivered sonic goodies includes everything from violin and a quietly plucked acoustic to growling swells of electric guitar and room-shaking crashes of synthesizer. The band’s defining element though is the soaring and dynamic pipes of members Beauregard Cole and Caleb Moore (the two dudes with the butt cuts). While the two Oxford, Mississippi transplants and best friends since the 11th grade play drums, guitar, and a handful of other instruments on the record, it’s their distinctive voices and head-turning harmonies that cut through every song’s heady tapestry of sound to lend Pop Guilt its brightest and most indelible pop color.

Pop Guilt will be released digitally and on a limited run of 12” white vinyl March 27th. The vinyl, pressed in an edition of 300 hand-numbered copies, features inserts with original art by Baltimore's Stephen Matthew Booth and free digital download codes. All pre-orders will receive immediate access to a digital download of the album.

Pre-order Pop Guilt from Analog Edition.

Lands & Peoples - "Ghosts" (from Pop Guilt)

If you live in DC or Baltimore, the record release show is tonight at Soft House. Details here.

Angeline - Single - Stone Darling

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