"End of the Sweet Parade", the debut release from Washington DC's Stamen & Pistils, is a collection of songs that aim to illustrate some of the follies of youth. The observation of uncertainty in ones self and others, and the result of perhaps putting too much of an emphasis on ones expecations of others.
But now we've reached the end. The songs tell excerpts of stories that speak of the time passed, and that contained with each instant. The company of friends, the embrace of lovers, rivalries engaged, a cathartic peak, and humbled hopes. The real focus of attention here is the sincerity in lyricism, self-effacing and at once honest.
Mixed by improvised electronic noise artist and sound designer Derek Morton of the Mikroknytes, and mastered by Alan Douches (Animal Collective, Def Jux, Her Space Holiday), the band present here an unconventional pop record. From the dense RIL-esque opener "Hand Painted Characters," through the futuristic aggression crest of "Boys Vs. Girls," to the innocent calm-after-the-storm sparseness of "Friction," Stamen & Pistils strike a balance between folksy acoustic stylings and left of center electronic sounds.
PRESS
"For a city that has long fostered a reputation as a musical hotbed, Washington DC hasn't produced anything the least bit surprising in ages -- until now. Budding duo Stamen & Pistils are spearheading a new movement, taking the music out of the streets and back to the bedroom. Lovely and lovable seemingly in spite of itself, End of the Sweet Parade is a wispy, hotwired collection of nouveau-folk bedroom pop that wavers between shambolic Mangum-like rancor and gorgeous laptop-abetted mellifluousness. A bright sprinkle of video game blips and bleeps dot "She the Widow, the Child who Follows"'s desolate lyrical landscape, and the impossibly graceful "Handpainted Characters" is three minutes of ether-burning loveliness with a painfully sad vocal tiptoeing over a verdant bed of acoustic guitar and broken beats. "Sleep for the Bells"'s cryptic crawl is at once caustic and serene, the beautiful bastard spawn of a fervent secret affair between Boards of Canada and Olivia Tremor Control. Insightful beyond its early years and brimming with blissful sorrow, End of the Sweet Parade is clearly only the beginning for the talented duo."-- Jason Jackowiak, SPLENDID
"The mix creates a lo-fi intensity that is difficult to find, even on pure folk records. "Peonies and Dahlia Petals," for example, illustrates an incredible ability on S&P's part to favor vocal lines and rhythms and emotion-eliciting sounds over song structure and perfectly rhyming lyrics. The overall effect is rather beautiful. This is not to mention, of course, the feeling of truly hearing something you've never heard before. I can't stress enough the import of projects like this pushing the musical envelope. "Penny Farthing Fair" sends me groping for a better classification of Stamen & Pistils, because although the folk contingent is well manifest, the hip-hop aspect is underdeveloped, if present at all. The beats therein are more reminiscent of what the Aphex Twin would place over the top if he were in charge of percussion. "Boys Versus Girls" shows a particularly nice voice layering effect, present only after the end of the down-tempo electronic beats, tending to play up the folk aspects of the record. In the end, it seems like Stamen & Pistils is fighting against the "everything that can be done has already been done" mentality with this new release, and its incredibly refreshing to hear a new point of view on music in general."—Nick Cox, The New Scheme
"...appealingly dense. Titles such as "Penny Farthing Fair" give some idea of this duo's folkie core, but not of what happens next. Drones, bangs and whooshes mingle with the multitracked harmonies, creating both stylistic friction and a formidable sense of space. The result may not be exactly operatic, but it is richly textured and consistently inventive.-- Mark Jenkins, Washington Post
Human loves gentle unfolding blooms and the savage thorns and pricks hidden beneath form the staple inspiration for the groups lyrics. On Handpainted Characters, over the strummed acoustic guitars and lo-fi drumming, the singer laments that his lover wants too much from him in a voice that seems weary with the knowledge that in human affairs it was ever thus. The self-explanatory Friction (pt 1 & 2) uses a backdrop of glitch samples, with a spiders web of guitar harmonics over the top...."--Nick Southgate, The Wire
"...a bizarre group, altogether unconventional and jarring to the ears. But that's exactly why they're so interesting. If Animal Collective were remixed or Hood played up the quirk factor a little more, it would sound something like this."--Jeff Terich, Treblezine
"...Stamen and Pistils show greater interest in the deconstructive side of contemporary pop (more aggressively so than, say, Wilco)."--Justin Cober-Lake, Stylus
"Done in a breathless half an hour, the sweet acoustics and electro-pop flourishes of this sort-of EP definitely make Stamen & Pistils ones that more adventurous Stars fans may want to keep an ear out for. With an impressive indie warbling leading the guitar and electronic beats through their journeys, it is in the balance between the beats and more traditional music that Stamen & Pistils find their triumph..."--Chris Whibbs, Exclaim!
"On Tap has often noted the renaissance in forward thinking experimental music taking place in Washington DC. One of the more accessible groups on the edge of that movement is Stamen & Pistils, whose brooding guitar and piano melodies are enhanced by dark electronic wizardry. Though rather dense, Stamen & Pistils’ recent full length “End of the Sweet Parade†is captivating in its gloom. In some ways, this DC duo is on par with indie-darlings Animal Collective or Devendra Banhart–folk music at heart that is twisted and warped into something far more interesting and challenging. But while Banhart and Animal Collective rely on more organic instrumentation to achieve their innovation, Stamen & Pistils look toward electronic drums, blips, white noise, and other samples to push at folk’s tattered edges."--Chris Connelly, OnTap
The water floating Stamen and Pistils boat is made of wavy electronic improv with indie-folk flowing on top. They have taken the best parts of Arcade Fire and Postal Service, mixed them with a beat-up guitar they stole from a homeless guy and threw it all into "End of the Sweet Parade."
"Somewhere In Between the Beginning and the Middle" has video game blips over distorted drums with contrasting vocals that feel like fingers through hair. "Friction" sings a frightened child to sleep, but with bittersweet lyrics about giving in when you tell yourself you're not. Stamen and Pistils is a great band with so much going on under the guise of a simple song that you can't help but listen to them again...I could listen to this all day.--Modern Fix
End of the Sweet Parade is very well-produced and beautifully lain out... The best songs on the album are “Handpainted Characters†and “Peonies and Dahlia Petalsâ€, which both feel like they could go on forever, in the best possible way.--Kirsten Schofield, Bejeezus
"Electro indie rock takes a new experimental turn with this band. This was a hard band to compare directly to others because they are making original and intriguing music."--MP, Impact Press
