Hoboken's underground psych rock quartet The Special Pillow offer a choice selection of quirky pop topped off with a wicked sense of humor on their new The Special Pillow Meets the Space Monster EP. The band's songwriter Dan Cuddy laments the passing of time (Three On A Sundial, but he is also curious what the future might have in store (A Certain Level Of Uncertainty).
Stand-out track Fond And Foggy is augmented by a jazzy baritone saxophone courtesy of Cheryl Kingan and Steven Levi working a double shift on cornet and valve trombone. It is the perfect soundtrack for a boring gray day turning into something way better as the sun pokes through the mist. They turned That's The Way It's Got to Be by Scottish band The Poets into a freaky avant-rock showcase, creating an unrelenting back beat that packs a punch.
The band keeps exploring the back roads next to the power pop highway, with busy drums, tons of of echo and reverb, multi-layered call-and-response vocals and the swirling string parts courtesy of Katie Gentile. Recommended if you like Spottiswoode & His Enemies.
The Special Pillow:
Dan Cuddy: bass, vocals
Katie Gentile: violin, viola, vocals
Peter Stuart: guitars, 8-string bass, vocals
Eric Marc Cohen: drums, percussion, vocals
Debby Schwartz: vocals on "Fond And Foggy"
Cheryl Kingan: baritone saxophone on "Fond And Foggy"
Steven Levi: cornet and valve trombone on "Fond And Foggy"
The Special Pillow Meets the Space Monster is released via Zofko Records. Release date: February 16.
Tracks:- Three On A Sundial
- A Certain Level Of Uncertainty
- Fond and Foggy
- Give Up the Ghost
- That's The Way It's Got to Be
- Nowhere To Go But Home
HCTF review of Mind Wipe.