PRESS FOR PLUM: Debuts with a ton of iconic touchstones usually play like singles collections from bands out to prove their diversity or find an identity. But the Yarrows, fronted by brothers Matt and Pierce Backes, stamp their own mature sound all over PLUM’s varied influences. Some cuts feature an undertow of ramshackle twang that recalls early 1990s’ Giant Sand or Crazy Horse guitar workouts; others plug into the yearning sing-along choruses of fellow Jerseyites the Wrens. PLUM’s second half is moodier and even more intriguing. There’s a gentle meditation that sounds like And Then Everything…-era Yo La Tengo, reverb-haunted marches that need only Stuart Staples to complete their Tindersticks vibe, and even a Spiritualized-inspired space-rock crescendo. The Neil Young-meets-Ira-Kaplan feedback solos that bookend the record give it the satisfying feel of a well-planned journey. The Yarrows have the chops to go in any of these directions in the future, but PLUM suggests they might not have to choose at all. - HARP (Mar/Apr 2008) PLUM makes you prick up your ears harder than usual to catch the details beneath so much atmosphere. The maturity and depth of the sounds presented by this New Jersey quartet make it had to believe that PLUM is The Yarrows’ debut. Though not really sounding like either artist, the Yarrows’ slow-burning songs are couched in a hazy beauty you might find on an album by Wilco or The Flaming Lips. Album opener “Your Perfect Mouth” is a terrific example, the song starts simply and gradually becomes a wonderful, swirling funnel cloud of sound and expression. The initially more countrified “You’re Cruel” follows and is arguably the best cut on the album—the song has a sweet, dreamy shuffle to it before an instrumental break a little less than halfway through transitions the tune into a more present, insistent, artful rock song. The melodic “May”, expansive “Nobody Knows You’re Gone”, and “Lie Awake” are other highlights on an album not short on highlights. PLUM is a record not to be overlooked or missed. - PopMatters "Nobody Knows You're Gone" is easily the best thing I’ve heard all year. This is one hell of a debut. Well done lads, well done indeed. - Incendiary Magazine Well met. This fine collection of songs is worth plenty of exploration. And I have a feeling it will only get better with age. As the best always do. - Aiding and Abetting Just about everything here is slow, drifty and vague—but that doesn't make it boring. The Backes brothers utilize their guitars as texture generators; chords hang in the air or progress slowly, but they're big and evocative enough to hold your attention. And the vocals—often mixed down or virtually in the background - have a tentative quality to them, an aching naturalism that puts the personal above the musical. It works quite well, if you prefer your music honest and organic rather than polished and precise. . . . What truly pervades is a sense of patience; the band wants to nail a certain mood here, and they're not the least bit interested in showing off their chops or proving how diverse they are. That's admirable, but it would be less so if the emotional content weren't as high and if the sheer sound of the record didn't prove so hypnotic in its wearily lonesome way. - PLAYBACK:STL Put your headphones on for this one. The Yarrows are soft rock from New Jersey, but unlike a lot of other bands from Jersey that happen to be on Drive-Thru Records, this band keeps a tight restraint on its emotions. The result is a tiny, thoughtful record that is teeters on the edge of something magical. - Delusions of Adequacy This is an indelible, song-driven, and human album; PLUM is a musical atmosphere as textured and psychological as the songs themselves, filled with full-blooded and naked emotionalism that never descends into melodrama. It’s a sublime record, one that trucks in the same territory mined by tindersticks and the National while sounding wholly unique. Really take your time with this one. It's worth it. - Movement PLUM presents us with a very dense sadness, a reliance on tested means and the sound of a world being created. This world is a cube with its edges bent slightly inwards, a circle on the cusp of being called an oval, maybe spinning a little too close to its source of light. The Yarrows survive in this world they've created through tremulous mistakes that sound warmly intentional . . . Their music is just about palatable enough to be obviously difficult, but still simple and relatable enough to make it actually even more palatable than something that doesn't have so many difficult sentiments in it. If that makes any sense. It's kind of backwards, but also kind of excellent. It may not surprise the listener as much as it could, but PLUM is a clever enough, sad enough and brainy enough enterprise by the virtue of its little quirks and corners. - Drowned in Sound |
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