Albums : Pickwick : Can't Talk Medicine

Albums : Pickwick : Can't Talk Medicine

Listen To Pickwick : Can't Talk Medicine

Who Is Pickwick?
They had an escape route, a rendezvous map and a plan for potential heckling.

But it turned out the men of Seattle band Pickwick didn't need any of it. In October, they walked into the University of Washington's acoustically stunning Suzzallo Reading Room, sang their song "Blackout" a cappella, and left, leaving students surprised and pleased.

It makes sense that Pickwick would stage something unconventional and a little risky to announce its Thursday show at the Neptune Theatre. The neo-soul band's music and story fall in the category of "unexpected."

"We're six white kids who grew up on indie rock," said guitarist Michael Parker during a chat with four of the band's members last week in Greenwood.

When Pickwick formed in 2008, the group played what the band name conjures: folky Americana. But no one was really listening.

Then a year and a half ago, they reworked two Grateful Dead songs as soul and blues numbers for a cover night at the Tractor. Something clicked and they decided, as Sam Cooke says, "a change is gonna come."

They threw out all their old material. Singer Galen Disston ditched his acoustic guitar to be bona fide frontman, and the rest ramped up the rhythm, found their groove.

"We were all doing what felt right," Disston said. "We didn't have to second-guess or doubt ourselves the way it was with the folk stuff."

The change did them good. This year, Pickwick followed a Bumbershoot gig with a sold-out show at the Crocodile. Last month, a compilation of the band's three EPs, titled "Myths," was the third most popular Northwest album, based on local record sales.

The songs on "Myths" aren't traditional revivalist soul. The lyrics are Tom Waits-sinister, Disston dragging out his vowels with a longing that belongs somewhere between church and a dirty basement. The guitar rings, bass struts and choruses of piano riffs swell.

This month they'll head to Oregon to record their debut full-length with Richard Swift. (Swift plays with the Shins and recorded Damien Jurado, among others.) They imagine the record will be lo-fi, a little garage-y.

But, of course, you never know quite what to expect.

Can't Talk Medicine Review
It’s hard to think of a more radical and welcome change than the one Pickwick made about two and a half years ago. At the time, the group was a fairly mediocre indie folk band in an oversaturated Seattle scene. And the guys in Pickwick knew it. Rather than give up, they stepped back, reevaluated their strengths, and reinvented Pickwick as a soul act. Since then they’ve been wowing audiences around Seattle with killer live sets, and building a substantial fan base despite only having released a few 7-inch records. This month Pickwick finally delivered Can’t Talk Medicine, a debut LP that was worth the wait.

Pickwick’s sound centers around Galen Disston’s dynamite vocals. Simply put, he’s the best singer in the Seattle music scene. His voice soars octaves, from a rich low register to falsetto coos and the occasional energetic guttural wail. Disston slides in smoothly on both slower numbers (“Well, Well”) and barnburners (“Window Sill”). One of my only real quibbles with Can’t Talk Medicine is that it doesn’t fully capture the totality of his range; Disston’s vocals come off ever so slightly reserved on the album when compared to Pickwick’s untamed live shows.

As for instrumentals, it sounds like the band has been playing these songs for years (because, well, it has). Garrett Parker leads with standout bass lines, be it the slick fretboard sliding on “Halls of Columbia” or bouncy plucking on “The Round.” The consistently sharp guitar work of Michael Parker adds a spring to the band’s step, particularly on upbeat numbers like “Hacienda Motel.” The record takes a slight misstep with the duet cover of Richard Swift’s “Lady Luck,” featuring singer-songwiter Sharon Van Etten. Even though the track has a distinctly Pickwick flavor, showcasing Disston’s highest notes, it still comes off drab compared to the buoyancy of the rest of the album. (When the hypertalented Van Etten can’t save a song, that’s saying something.)

Pickwick took its time to release its first full length, but thanks to years cutting its teeth on stages around Seattle, the group now has some well-deserved swagger, a “we nailed this” vibe. Like Allen Stone before them, Can't Talk Medicine positions Pickwick to break out beyond the comfortable confines of the Northwest. Seattle soul is alive and thriving.


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Sources : Pickwick Photo | Listen To Can't Talk Medicine | Pickwick Article | Can't Talk Medicine Review

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