Big Buildings, Small Stars [Explicit Lyrics]

Pacer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 28, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 16, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Eskimo Kiss Records
• ASIN: B000063BRC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,372 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Appalachian folk rock meets the Jean Paul Sartre Experience, May 10, 2002

By 

M. Jason (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Buildings, Small Stars (Audio CD)

Wilmington, North Carolina husband-wife team Kim Ware-Mathews and Jeremy Mathews founded their band Pacer five years ago, reacting against a prevailing local fashion of loud & heavy music. But the avant-folk-rock sound they've evolved over the course of two albums is indeed heavy--not as some over-the-top kick-in-the-face; but as an understated, heart on the sleeve, stripped-to-the-bone opening-up.

    Their new record is the freshest and most gripping avant folk rock this side of 1980's New Zealand--which brought us The Bats, The Chills, The Jean Paul Sartre Experience, and The Clean.

    Kim (previously with Tex Svengali and Health & Beauty) sings and plays drums, husband Jeremy (ex Voodoo Squid, Two Headed Dawg, Shake) sings and plays guitar. Bassist Bill Patterson (ex Cruise Control Pills) completes the trio and has been with Pacer from the start. Producer Jerry Kee (Ashley Stove, Kingsbury Manx, Polvo, Superchunk) worked with the band on the new LP at his Duck Kee #8 studio in Mebane, NC.

    Big Buildings, Small Stars--out 5 March 2002 on Kim and Jeremy's own Eskimo Kiss Records label, with wider distribution since 16 April--is a diverse album, with some tracks sufficiently gentle for folks whose heart rate rises at the sound of new-age pap. But even those songs are raw and artless enough that the rest of us won't wanna puke.

    There's also a high energy indie rocker (Song About It), some jangly pop (Workin Too Hard), some off-kilter folk-core (Find The Time), a couple of poignant ballads (She Makes, Good In It All), and a time-warp evocation of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here (100 Million). There's innocence in abundance, some goofy humor, but nothing mealymouthed or banal, thank god.

    (Well, actually, I suppose I could do just fine without two of the tracks: Aquarium and Telemarket. Telemarket, in particular. I mean, a song, about one of the most annoying aspects of western culture, that doesn't tell me anything new? Please.)

    But weak spots aside, I love this record and its bounty of pretty lo-fi textures, melodic creativity, and guileless, personal lyrics. It's a homemade affair through and through--with a slightly sour harmony here, some unfortunate, unintentional distortion there, and a slightly hackneyed reference or two to the Velvets--which all just add to its charm. Down the road, here's hoping that Pacer gain some polish without any loss of modesty or honesty. (Review originally appeared on Rockbites.org)