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The Mojo Fins debut single ‘Pinata Face’ is OUT NOW
All proceeds will go to RoadPeace
Available with iTunes
HMV
Virgin Megastore
and all other good record stores.
It was never going to end. How could it? You can't just switch off the need to write music.
When The Mojo Fins vocalist and guitarist Jon Chandler was tragically killed in a road accident in May, 2007, there were many who wondered if the band could continue. Stephen (vocals/guitar), Steve (bass/keys) and Dave (drums) did not. They knew it had to: because music, like friendship, transcends death, and the dream that four school mates once swore they'd make a reality lives on.
Now, half a year later, and galvanized by the addition of new member, friend and guitarist Adam Atkins, the Brighton based pop-rock quartet step across the threshold of 2008 undeniably different, yet holding true to the same values that saw them signed to independent label Amazon Records in late 2006.
Talk to The Mojo Fins and you'll get to know a band in love with music, rather than the celebrity it can bring, their devotion to the art inspired by the likes of Elliot Smith, Tortoise and The Shins.
Listen to their ever-expanding repertoire and you'll hear songs composed with painstaking care and attention to detail, coruscating guitars, intricate rhythms and driving bass bound together by the unifying force of melody, that most primary of musical elements so often lost to haircuts and swagger or within walls of noise.
Watch as the guys' electric live performances light up stage after stage, face after face from the front of the audience to the back – then you'll see what it's all about.
With their first single, Piñata Face, having garnered wide critical acclaim last September – a track sung by, and released in memory of, Jon, from which all royalties were donated to RoadPeace, the UK national charity for road crash victims – The Mojo Fins are now gearing up for the May release of Always Now, the first song to be taken from their as-yet-untitled debut album. Self-produced and currently being recorded in their home town, the 12-track long-player is due out at the end of 2008.
Together with a string of forthcoming live dates, The Mojo Fins are buzzing with anticipation for the year ahead. In the words of the band: “You can't forget the past – but you can't live in it either. Never has the future seemed more important.â€
‘One to watch...’ – Claire Sturgess, XFM
‘The Mojo Fins could very likely position themselves as the cult British band of the moment come 2008.’ – The Downloader
‘This gentle single is a definite grower that will connect you with your inner peace faster than a toga session with the Dalai Lama.’ – Gigwise
‘Pinata Face is a slice of fairly lovely delicate folk.’ – Soundsxp
‘Pinata Face could simply be described with one word – sublime’ – Losing Today
‘Mesmerising debut...’ - Music News
‘Wonderfully wistful, like Either/Or era Elliot Smith.’ - Subba-Culcha
‘The Mojo Fins have perfectly captured the essence of a laid back summer afternoon’ - The Music Magazine
‘Hitting the kind of highs you expect from something religious...The Mojo Fins prove themselves to be an exceptional band’ - The-Mag
‘Bold, gentle and beautiful’ - ManchesterMusic
"The Mojo Fins are one very good reason to encourage this uncontrolled birthing of talent. 'Pinata Face' starts off with an acoustic meandering that would impress Nizlopi, with a vocal akin to Mike Rosenberg. The surprising twist comes courtesy of the building instruments, which elevate the music from acoustic to semi-orchestral with the crest of the wave hitting the kind of highs you'd expect from something religious. Then the post-orchestral chill of the last couple of lines supplies a sudden reflection on an excellent three minutes. Following on from the two versions of 'Pinata Face', 'Between Stations' shows off the Captain-esque aspect of The Mojo Fins with a bit of pop sensibility in the twinkling delayed guitars, which bounce off each other with glittering clarity. The chorus is spiced up with an interesting rhythm and the dual vocal talents of Chandler and Brett allows for some strong harmonies.
On this effort, The Mojo Fins prove themselves to be an exceptional band."
Steve - Editor - The-Mag
"For all the pontifications about Cash influences and unaffected song writing, Brighton’s The Mojo Fins lend themselves to much more obvious and contemporary comparison. There’s an element of José González amongst fashionable folk influences that genially sound similar to Pennsylvanian troubadour Neal Eles. Redeemed by a stratum of keyboards, which add a deeper, kinder tone to the skate of melody and a dip into freeform noise at the end for good measure, it may be hard to find excitement in anything created from such simple components but it’s just as difficult to fault the songwriting and easy-listening temperament that flows through Piñata Face."
Neil Ferguson - The Skinny Mag
"the Mojo fins debut release 'Pinata Face' could simply be described with one word - sublime. Not since Pellumair's debut 'Iris' from a few years ago has a record entered our listening space and touched us so. Trembling shy eyed rustic pop carved from nakedly bare acoustics (like a rounded full blooded sensual take on John Fahey) that cascade and tumble warming flurries of aching enchantment that softly carry hope laden love notes through the vividly colourful landscaped air. Frosted glockenspiel melodies play peek a boo as the moods steadily build in stature to slowly unfurl braided seductively with the passage of pining stratospheric shimmers of feedback that converge to a crushing soul sapping finale that'll leave you breathless, vanquished and begging for more."
the sunday experience
"I don't know how to do that little wavy thing over the n on a keyboard so you'll just have to imagine it's there. My own problems aside, The Mojo Fins have perfectly captured the essence of a laid back Summer afternoon on this single. Pinata Face (it's really bugging me) is just dark enough, yet insanely beautiful, to bring a smile to your face and make you truly thankful that the Summer time is here. Powerful, yet quiet enough to be inspirational, it'll make you think twice before attacking a pinata in the future."
The Music Magazine
"As with most great bands and artists, the group’s music doesn’t lend easily to neat comparisons and categorisations, though not because it’s completely separate from anything heard before but just that it’s refreshingly, well refreshing. The band have a skilful ability for songwriting which seems built on a passion for music, picking up on elements of different artists or styles and distilling these into a traditional focus on melodies and harmonies, altogether creating easily digestible songs which are hard not to enjoy. The band switch between glowing, warm, and cooler, clean sounds; upbeat, uplifting hooks and questioning moods and chord changes. There is also a strength offered by the fact that the four piece has two lead vocalists/guitarists, alternating and swapping melodies, playing off each others lines whilst the bass and drums tightly keep the structure and flow. Different songs have different lead vocals and during one’s song the other’s guitar will weave top-end melodies around it, also offering backing vocals which create an exiting polyphony, that will suddenly harmonise and move together for a line or a chorus, lifting the song up higher for a capturing moment.
Hopefully with new releases to promote, this year will not just be a successful one for The Mojo Fins, but one full of impressive live shows like this."
Phil @ Zap Bang Magazine
