Tall Firs - Too Old To Die Young

New York based Tall Firs recently released their sophomore record - Too Old To Die Young. Coming from his Ecstatic Peace label, the album has Thurston Moore’s fingerprints all over it. The partnership is fitting because if Tall Firs recall another band it’s the more melodic side of Sonic Youth (think “Candle” from Daydream Nation or “Incinerate” from Rather Ripped). If you counted the rings you’d find these firs date back to the era of vintage 80s/90s indie rock of bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, and Mudhoney. The vocals are a cross between Moore’s and the stoned drawl of J Mascis - furthering the connection to the alt rock heyday that the tossed off fluidity of the music easily conjures, and the songs feature a youthful nostalgia (see “So Messed Up’s” references to underage drinking and drugging - we were acid crazed teenage tweak-outs/those blues for days of pills and freak-outs/tonight we‘ll be alright/we‘ll make it through tonight/tonight we’re so messed up) that probably shouldn’t ring as true as it does. At 9 songs and just 36 minutes Too Old To Die Young (the title itself a sort of secret password into a club for kids of the late 80s and early 90s) is a concise and consistent listen - and one of 2008’s most unexpected and welcome surprises to date.

MP3 :: So Messed Up
MP3 :: Hairdo
(from Too Old To Die Young. Buy here)
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