Photo: Noel McGuinness
"The excellent new album replaces the experimental electronics of the
last album for a warmer vibe that better captures their live sound. They
have also switched out some of the funk-laced Talking Heads-like grooves for a
more organic Lindsay Buckingham-like singer-songwriter sound, all while still
retaining their weird yet rewarding arrangements and melodies." - Atlas And The Anchor.
Ball of Flame Shoot Fire was formed in 2006 by five high school friends from Pittsburgh, PA. Jess, Tim, Peter, Pat and Winston played music together throughout high school in various formations, including the now-defunct outfits Person and the People, 1½% and Jawmonster. Though initially conceived of as a “family band” collective that would exist only between college semesters, it quickly turned into a serious collaboration that has been going strong for the past seven years. After graduating, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire left Pennsylvania in the interest of living in a house together and performing in New York City. They first settled in a five-bedroom house in Huntington, Long Island and a year later moved into an abandoned funeral home in Brooklyn.
For the recording of their new album, the aptly titled Zileur
(Mi-Mi-Mo-Mo), BOFSF built up a fully functional home studio in an effort
to reflect the live sound of the band as accurately as possible. It is an
unusually organic-sounding record for the band, marking a shift away from the
dense, electronics-heavy studio-based experiments of their 2011 album Pots
and Knives. It is the most cohesive and personal album the band has yet
released and reflects a newfound interest in writing more pared-down,
lyrically-driven songs, as well as capturing more spontaneous performances. The
influences of mentors such as Van Dyke Parks, Lindsey Buckingham and John Prine
should be apparent. Above all, Zileur (Mi-Mi-Mo-Mo) is a
record which should offer something for everyone. Despite its stylistic
contrasts, it maintains a consistent and engrossing mood throughout, one which
allows the listener to be rewarded by repeated listens.
NEW MP3 : Ball Of Flame Shoot Fire -
"Buddy"
(as premiered on Atlas And The Anchor)
Ball of Flame has released three LPs, two EPs, a soundtrack album and various covers, easy listening and comedy recordings. They also participate in Brooklyn performance art projects Itchy Boys and Rapolon and the Rapalongs, and collaborate with their friends at film production company Astrolab Films. Since their formation, Ball of Flame has gotten the opportunity to share the stage with acts like Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Man Man, Mates of State and Here We Go Magic. In 2010 the L Magazine named them one of the “Top 8 Bands to Watch” in New York City.
Previous Press for Ball Of Flame Shoot Fire:
“Ball of Flame, as we will hereby forever call them, make songs that sound slightly familiar but mostly strange…. overlapping mini orchestras of guitar, organ, trumpet, saxophone, upright bass, electronic samples and everything else under the sun. But there's a dogged devotion to melody too… With so many cooks in the kitchen (all five members live together, putting in time as songwriters), it's clear that they're a band with lots of ideas. They just happen to also be really good at turning them into interesting, unpredictable songs.” –The L Magazine
"Jokeland is crazy and fun and smart and interesting, and I really hope enough people can stomach its beautiful weirdness long enough to dig in and really appreciate it. Stuff like this doesn't come around everyday." -Fear of Arthropods
“Since Pots and Knives is so crazily diverse, each listener is going to have their own favorite tracks. It’s not often you can say this about an experimental album, but Pots and Knives has something for everyone, and something for every occasion. There are songs to cook to, songs to mellow out to, songs to dance to, and songs where it’s really best to sit back and just listen.” –bestnewbands.com
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