Pure Bathing Culture — Moon Tides (2013)

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           Pure Bathing Culture — Moon Tides
≡   A ghostly atmosphere and melancholia from Portland-based duo.
≡   Recommended if you like: Beach House, Cocteau Twins, Exitmusic
≡   Check out: “Dream The Dare,” “Pendulum,” “Scotty”
Location: Brooklyn, NY ~ Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Album release: August 6 (Partisan)/August 20, 2013
Record Label: Knitting Factory/Partisan/Memphis Industries
Duration:     37:24
Tracks:
01 Pendulum     3:58
02 Dream the Dare     4:15
03 Evergreener     4:19
04 Twins     4:03
05 Only Lonely Lovers     3:07
06 Scotty     4:06
07 Seven 2 One     3:42
08 Golden Girl     4:31
09 Temples Of the Moon     5:23
Members:
≡   Daniel Hindman: guitar
≡   Sarah Versprille: vocals, keyboards
Partisan Records: http://www.partisanrecords.com/
Tumblr: http://purebathingculture.tumblr.com/
Editorial Reviews
≡   It's a rare and beautiful thing when a band emerges fully formed, but it makes perfect sense in the case of guitarist Daniel Hindman and keyboardist Sarah Versprille's Pure Bathing Culture. Building off their past experiences as musical collaborators, in a short time the duo have created a sound that is undeniably their own: soaring synths, chiming keyboards, and shimmering electric guitars move in lockstep with bouncing drum machines. It's a sound that looks back momentarily for inspiration -- Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout, Cocteau Twins -- but then fixes its gaze firmly on the present.
REVIEW
Michael Cragg; Score: ****
≡   The Guardian, Thursday 15 August 2013 21.00 BST
≡   Pure Bathing Culture, aka Portland-based Daniel Hindman and Sarah Versprille, make music for the last days of summer. Recalling the gauzy, sun-dappled haze of Beach House and the dreamier side of Fleetwood Mac, these are nine pillowy songs to bury yourself in. As with anything that falls under the "dream pop" banner, however, there's the danger that Moon Tides will wash over you on first listen – it's all wheezing drum machines, crystalline acoustic guitar figures and Versprille's textured, often indefinable vocals. Luckily, the album yearns for repeat listens, the opening salvo of Pendulum and the indescribably lovely Dream the Dare unveiling their charms slowly but purposefully, while the album's average BPM is raised by the relatively brisk Seven 2 One. It's testament to the strength of the songs that even when your attention starts to drift, your mind still stays within the psychedelic-tinged world the album inhabits. (http://www.theguardian.com/)
REVIEW
≡   Sat, 10.08.2013 - 19:29
≡   Average: 4.7
≡   The album title "Moon Tides" alludes to self-discovery: “We are deeply inspired by the relationship between the moon and the tides. Particularly in the sense that the tides and the ocean are comprised of water and the element water is often associated with human emotion.” While these heady themes can be difficult to explore in a pop song, Pure Bathing Culture makes it feel effortless. “Pendulum” is a perfect mid-tempo album opener that pulses and shines. Other standout tracks from the album — “Dream The Dare”, “Twins”, “Scotty” and “Golden Girl” — are slices of reverb-drenched, soulful, danceable electro-pop, that musically and lyrically tap into an introspective worship of the natural and psychic mysteries that surround us. Pure Bathing Culture’s debut album Moon Tides is optimistic modern music for souls who seek to explore the infinite. (http://music.is-amazing.com/)
REVIEW
by David Meller | 13 August 2013 Score: ****½
≡   Much like fellow Memphis Industries’ stablemate James Mathé (Barbarossa), guitarist Daniel Hindman and keyboardist Sarah Versprille have built their reputations through playing as part of another band – in this case, indie folk outfit Vetiver.
≡   Yet much like Mathé again, the two have caused a stir since going their own way. ≡   Pure Bathing Culture’s eponymous EP whetted many’s appetites and this full-length debut attempts to build on the seductively gentle shoegazey-cum-hazy pop showcased there. It’s a formula producer Richard Swift of The Shins helped perfect first time round, and he returns here.
≡   Album opener Pendulum has the beats of Young Marble Giants, the mid-tempo guitar-driven dreaminess of The Sundays and Versprille’s Elizabeth Fraser-like vocal. All this combines into something quite bewitching; it doesn’t grab your attention immediately, but rather lures you in gradually until you’re into the song – and consequently the album’s – clutches. In many ways, it’s the perfect opener.
≡   From there, upcoming single and somewhat more down-tempo Dream The Dare follows. Yet Versprille’s vocal is more at the forefront here, with the lyrics asking you “to feel fine”, “find your way home” and enquiring whether life “is…all what you want, what you want it to be”.
≡   This, coupled with the otherworldly sounding melodies, invites you to self-reflect – to take a few moments to contemplate, something which seems somewhat impossible nowadays. Indeed, the melodies transport you into a world that you think once existed – one without the internet, and where things once seemed much slower, less pressured.
≡   Evergreener is slightly more uptempo and towards the Cocteau Twins ouevre, but again carries on this sense of self-reflection while also wanting to take you on a journey: “Evergreener, no-one follows, as you wander, violets turn to snow, but you already know.” Here, as well as her vocal, Versprille’s keys are equally as elegant and arresting. It all combines to take you somewhere calmer and more tranquil. The same can also be said about following track Twins.
≡   Only Lonely Lovers does, to a degree, hark back to the era of Sarah Records; its upbeat tempo, light sounding sleigh bells in the background, jangling guitar and lyrics including “homesick, my heart beats black, only lonely lovers know what the hopeless adore” produce something quintessentially and irresistibly indie pop. Scotty contrasts this somewhat, carrying a more lo-fi sound and with the slightly reverbed glitch beats in the background against Hindman’s cleaner sounding guitar, but is just as appealing.
≡   The album’s standout track is also its closer. Temples Of The Moon is the album’s longest track at almost five and a half minutes, with Versprille cooing above bass and guitar loops and with an intensity gradually building until it fades out with menacing sounding synth. There’s a mysticism and something of a new age spirituality to this, with lyrics about moons and beings whispering into one’s ear, while Versprille’s vocal has something of the occult about it. From the bewitching to something witch-like, albeit in a sort of reposeful, tranquil kind of way, it’s a captivating listening experience.
≡   Moon Tides’ influences and overall sound combine to form something of a flashback to the early days of indie music. But this only heightens its impact, allowing it to become something of an antidote to these fast-paced, unyielding times. It politely demands your attention; it wants to transport you elsewhere, to a place in which to daydream and reflect. Hindman and Versprille were absolutely right to go it alone; they’ve made a beautiful album. (http://www.musicomh.com/)
REVIEW
By Mason McGough | Published July 31, 2013
≡   Corny new-age spirituality is an all-too-prevalent musical inspiration now, but its resurgence in interest underscores a poignant observation about our culture: It’s growing colder. Forests between work and home are being eroded to make way for massive parking lots, zoos are becoming last resorts, and even places of relaxation aren’t free from our toxic impact.
≡   Portland’s new duo Pure Bathing Culture struggle to reconnect the listener with the forces of nature that strike us with awe.
≡   An album like Moon Tides represents an earnest yearning for a state of mind closer to the peace of nature, a mental quiescence that’s been temporarily disturbed by overexposure to flashing smart phone screens, tweets, digital billboards, and scrolling absent-mindedly through Tumblr. With so much draining your cognitive resources on a daily basis, don’t you just wish you could sit down and stare at the night sky for a while?
≡   Pure Bathing Culture draws their inspiration from nature, factoring heavily into the dreamlike atmosphere of their music. Cymbal clashes rise like waves on an oceanic horizon. Every strum of the guitar sounds less like vibrating steel and more like shimmering crimson clouds.
≡   We’ve been taught to think that spirituality is hokey, a mental deception to get people to buy incense and those Lifescapes CDs you see at Target. But there’s a reason you see all those stupid motivational posters in offices and why their ubiquity soon became a universally-known meme. People yearn for restitution. The ethereal world on Moon Tides is about the closest you can come to that beach sunrise without hitting Beach Blvd. eastbound at 5:00 AM.
≡   Which I do recommend. (http://unfspinnaker.com/)
Also:
By Kieron Tyler
• http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/cd-pure-bathing-culture-%E2%80%93-moon-tides
By Larry Day, 07 August 2013; Rating: 8.5/10
• http://thefourohfive.com/review/article/pure-bathing-culture-moon-tides
________________________________________________________________
≡   We’re thrilled to announce new tour dates! Many of the shows we’ll be opening for the wonderful Widowspeak. Hope to see you out there.
8/27 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s (w/ Alex Bleeker and the Freaks)
8/28 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands w/ Mary Alouette, Leapling
8/29 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
10/10 - Visalia, CA - The Cellar Door
10/12 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
10/13 - Albuquerque, NM - Low Spirits*
10/14 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room*
10/15 - San Diego, CA - The Void*
10/16 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo*
10/17 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place*
10/18 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel*
10/19 - Davis, CA - Sophia’s Thai Kitchen*
10/21 - Eugene, OR - Cozmic Pizza*
10/22 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club*
10/24 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar*
10/25 - Boise, ID - Neurolux*
10/26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge*
10/27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge*
10/28 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown*
11/1 - Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch*
11/3 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore*
11/4 - Winooski, VT - The Monkey House*
11/5 - Boston, MA - TT The Bear’s*
11/6 - New Haven, CT - BAR*
11/8 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom*