PINE*am profile article

[nmskalmn]

Excerpt:

LAist Spotlights: PINE*am

Pull The Rabbit Ears: It's not just a catchy title, it's a suggestion from PINE*am.

"We named it after the old TV antennas," explained backing vocalist and guitarist Chizuko Matsubayashi. "We would like as many people as possible to receive the music."

Those that choose to "receive" this CD are in for a trip. PINE*am combines digital clicks, drum loops and guitars with unpredictable vocals. The effect is a sound that ranges from the dreamy Starlight, Star Bright to the adrenaline-infused Get A Choco.

Pull The Rabit Ears is the kind of album that grows on you. When LAist first spun the CD, we found the sound to be alien to anything we'd heard on local radio. Repeated listens reveal that many tracks are seductive, playful and downright fun. That would please the band. Their music is not intended to be a social commentary.

"When we first started [playing], there was no goal or aim for the music. We just wanted to make something we enjoyed. It would be great if people enjoyed what we make [too]," said the band.

In an attempt to describe their music, fans and critics often stamp the "anime" classification on the band. PINE*am is amused by this misnomer.

"To us, we have nothing to do with anime. Like, in Japan, our music is classified as electropop. Just because we are Japanese, people automatically think it's anime. So, that's not our intention. We are more electronica, pop and rock," Matsubayashi asserted.

"It feels strange that American people see the anime in our music, because our influence is actually Western music," said Vocalist and Bassist Tsugumi Takashi.

Keyboardist Taeca Kinoshita cited influences like Jim O'Rourke, Joe McIntyre and even Duran Duran (the old stuff).

Read the entire article:
http://www.laist.com/archives/2005/0...hts_pineam.php