Cincinnati, Ohio-based quartet In The Pines recently released their third full-length studio album, Impossible Daze via Soul Step Records. Recorded in just seven days, the eleven tracks on Impossible Daze “immortalizes the journey the band took on together through unfamiliar creative territory”.
The most recent single they’ve shared is “Jeeze Louise”, a lo-fi track that shows off the band’s tendency towards immersive and atmospheric vocal harmonies.
Guitarist and vocalist Michael Shular comments on the single:
‘Jeeze Louise’ was one of the tunes where we knew exactly how we wanted it to sound, but we weren’t sure of the best way to go about it. We wanted it to sound like it was done out on the front porch, real loose, just like we were pickin’ around, having a good time. We wanted a low fi sound so our engineer decided to run it through a cassette player in the front room of the studio using an old 50’s Altec broadcasting mic. While we were recording he was pressing on the tape to give it that warbly old school sound. It was really satisfying hearing the final result, it had exceeded our expectations and has become a favorite of ours.
Bassist and vocalist Patrick Zopff adds:
The verses allude to some of the more exciting parts of love – the feelings of excitement and courage in a happy new relationship. Those images are contrasted with the chorus, which is a desperate apology. (“Babe I’m awful sorry, oh jeez Louise!”) It’s supposed to evoke the feeling of surprise and shame upon the realization that you can hurt someone despite the best of intentions. All of this is performed with a little whimsy, sincerely bittersweet… We chose to strip down the arrangement to just banjo, guitar, and vocals, to make it feel like four friends drunkenly singing together on the porch on a warm summer night.
You can watch the band perform more songs from the new album on Audiotree Live:
