RFBX: ‘It’s Genius, I Swear’ Special – Paul Smith of Maximo Park on Pullman’s ‘Turnstyles and Junkpiles’
By: Paul Smith
Pullman's debut album is a collection of acoustic guitar instrumentals. That may not be the most thrilling of descriptions, but it's enough to interest a saddo like me... What if I tell you this makeshift Chicago ensemble contains members of Tortoise along with Slint/Papa M legend David Pajo? Still not 'vibing'?
Well, let me just say that this album contains a plethora of beautiful melodies that have inspired me endlessly over the last ten years. Whenever I have needed a moment of calm or tranquillity this album has been around. When I first started playing in an instrumental band with my friends at art college, this album was a constant source of encouragement and inspiration. The lack of a rhythm section gave me and my pals the sense that there were no particular rules about making music in a band, and that what we were playing behind closed doors on Teesside wasn't necessarily pointless (even if it was light years behind the skills of Pullman's members).
Full of little squeaks and slides across fretboards, the songs weave a mysterious path that I'll never quite work out; harmonious meetings of notes that deliver undiluted melancholic pleasure. With titles like 'Tall Grass' and 'Sunday Morning Traffic' you kind of know that you're in for a gentle, pastoral listen that's at odds with the busy world we live in.
I know little about the individual members and there are no weird stories about the album's conception. This is music that needs no back story or notoriety to be an obscure classic. It delivers fourteen snapshots of mood and emotion that flicker brightly like the lights of a distant town as the evening sets in.
Paul Smith is the frontman of Maximo Park. olo record ‘Signs’ is released on October 11th on his own label, Brainwashed Records. Head to www.paulsmithmusic.eu to download ‘North Atlantic Drift’ from it, and catch him on his first ever solo tour, details of which are below:
Nottingham, Bodega (26)
Leeds, Brudenell (27)
Birmingham, Glee Club (28)
Bristol, Thekla (November 29)
London, Bush Hall (1)
Manchester, Deaf Institute (2)
Glasgow, Classic Grand (3)
Gateshead, Sage 2 (4)
Artists in this article: Tortoise, Slint, Maximo Park