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[rating: ****] Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub, among other bands) was the perfect choice for producer of Pia Fraus' latest confection. Possessing the ingredients for indie pop, twee and shoegaze, After Summer was right up Blake's alley. In fact, most any song from the Estonian group could have been on that famous C86 comp. Every segment, from the dizzying "Doctor Optimism" to the trippy "Mute the Birds," is soft as snow and warm inside. Allowing its instruments to flow on their own, Fraus has put together one of the most pretty, natural-sounding recordings of the year. A welcome addition to the Clairecords catalog.
reviewed by: keynon for advancecopy |
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Centered on lead vocalists Rein Fuks and Eve Komp, Estonian band Pia Fraus are often referred to as neo-shoegaze, and in that sense they do bring to mind the blissful and buried harmonies of My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab. Featuring warm production from the sympathetically-minded Norman Blake of Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub, 2008’s After Summer finds the band reaching for a bit more studio sheen than on previous efforts. Which isn’t to say they’ve sacrificed any of the lo-fi charm and blue-sky energy of their previous work. On the contrary, Blake’s pop craftsmanship is a perfect fit for similarly inclined Pia Fraus and the result is an organic, exquisite little daydream of an album. Poppy but off-kilter, Pia Fraus never sacrifice a great song for sheer noise. Instead, they make room for waves of fuzzy guitar, percolating keyboards, and little nibbles of percussion throughout. In that sense, they aren’t as mannered or predictable as some of their indie pop contemporaries, and evince a supple balance between their more avant-garde leanings and their obvious knack for crafting melodic sugar-rush melodies. From the shimmering album opener “Springsister” to the rippling Theremin affirmation of “Sailing Yes” and the woozily romantic “Doctor Optimism,” these are the sorts of songs that teenage dreams live and die on.
reviewed by: matt collar for allmusicblog |
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After Summer is the latest from dreamy Clairecords, this era's premier shoegaze label. Pia Fraus hails from Estonia, but something tells me their brand of lush, hook-laden dream-pop will find approving ears just about anywhere. Since their inception in 1998, this cast of musicians has put out five records and three EPs, and their ten years of artistic progression is certainly evident on After Summer. On these ten tracks, Pia Fraus exhibit a keen eye for melody and an almost professional ability to knock out solid song after solid song.
While Pia Fraus' adherence to shoegazer conventions does limit them creatively, the quality of the songwriting manages to circumvent most criticisms towards this record's level of originality. As might be expected, most of these songs hoist hazy, shifting guitar layers over fairly conventional rhythms and ethereal keyboard parts. Vocals - often boy/girl trade-offs and harmonies - provide airy, summery melodies. The band's set of influences are fairly standard fare - My Bloody Valentine, Lush, The Jesus and Mary Chain, as well as many of their Clairecords brethren - and in all likelihood, if you've enjoyed the work of those bands, you'll find plenty to admire in After Summer. Early on, tracks like "Springsister" and "Sailing Yes" show off what Pia Fraus can do with their time-proven formula, and the results are very successful. Curiously, the second half of the disc takes a bit more time to appreciate than the first. This is due to the album's middle section, which houses a pocket of more fuzz-laden and less overtly poppy songs that take the listener's attention away from the music's melodic constructs. Still, there is much to recommend in the later stages of After Summer - the soothingly uplifting "Mute the Birds" is a definite album highlight, while closer "Far Fade Whisper" is a juicy, keyboard-drenched pop tune. Although this album's relative homogeneity might make it a bit off-putting to genre newcomers, it remains a very good shoegazer record, and another fine addition to Pia Fraus' and Clairecords' prolific discographies. reviewed by: matt shimmer for indieville.com |
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Centered on lead vocalists Rein Fuks and Eve Komp, Estonian band Pia Fraus are often referred to as neo-shoegaze, and in that sense do bring to mind the blissful and buried harmonies of My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab. Featuring warm production from the sympathetically minded Norman Blake of Scotland's Teenage Fanclub, 2008's After Summer finds the band reaching for a bit more studio sheen than on previous efforts. Which isn't to say they've sacrificed any of the lo-fi charm and blue-sky energy of their previous work; on the contrary, Blake's pop craftsmanship is a perfect fit for similarly inclined Pia Fraus, and the result is an organic, exquisite little daydream of an album. Poppy but off-kilter, Pia Fraus never sacrifice a great song for sheer noise. Instead, they make room for waves of fuzzy guitar, percolating keyboards, and little nibbles of percussion throughout. In that sense, they aren't as mannered and predictable as some of their indie pop contemporaries, and evince a supple balance between their trippier, more avant-garde leanings, and their obvious knack for crafting melodic sugar rush melodies. From the shimmering album opener "Springsister" to the rippling Theremin-sounding affirmation of "Sailing Yes" and the woozily romantic "Doctor Optimism," these are the sorts of songs that teenage dreams live and die on.
reviewed by: matt collar for allmusic.com |
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After five years, Pia Fraus has found their way back to Clairecords. Initially releasing their debut album in 2002 (In Solarium) as well as their first EP (Plastilna) shortly after in 2003, they took a hiatus from Clairecords to give the labels Seksound and Kohvirecords a try. Now reunited with Clairecords, their brand of dream pop has a sound more thick and well-produced than ever and the Estonian six-piece should still be going strong with their dedicated following. With the special note on the intense production, it should be said that the master behind the production process is none other than Norman Black, known for his work with The Pastels and Teenage Fanclub.
While the interesting catch on Pia Fraus is perhaps their geographical surroundings, the fact that they're from Estonia shouldn't make you have expectations for a sound in any way. While most bands from this area have a strong folk appeal that is intensively apparent in their music, Pia Fraus don't seem to hold a sound that would be uncommon from any other dream pop artist anywhere in the world. Honestly, it is this normality, with the exception of some interesting synth effects, that would make Pia Fraus a bit disappointing to some. However, any fan of moderately calm and nearly joyous sounding dream pop will find After Summer immensely listenable, if not a candidate for many spins in the CD player throughout the weeks after purchase. The true gem of this album, though, is the fuzz rock stylings found in some of the middle tracks. While the opening and ending tracks work to show off the shoegaze formula we've come to know and appreciate in this styling, Pia Fraus turn to giving the music more of a less melodic “oomph” in the aforementioned tracks and give the music more power than you would come to expect with “typical” shoegaze. Towards the end of the album the strange synth effect slide gets a bit tedious and overused, if not halfway annoying, but it doesn't really kill what the band has too offer. All in all, a pretty ordinary shoegaze release with a lot to offer to any fan of the genre. If you go in not expecting the top album of 2008, there are a million reasons to enjoy this one. reviewed by: sage for heathen harvest |
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