pacificUV
“…a masterpiece” - Rolling Stone
Discography:
pacificUV (2003)
EP (2006)
Longplay 2 (2008)
Free Singles, EP 2, EP 3 (2011)
Weekends (January 31, 2012 - US, April 10, 2012 - UK/EU)
Licensing:
Californication, Showtime (2010)
Biography:
Howard Hudson and Clay Jordan formed pacificUV in the late 1990s in Athens, Georgia. One of them wanted the band to sound like a psychedelic Jesus and Mary Chain tripping on Nyquil, the other wanted to play one chord for 45 minutes to determine its color. Somehow, what emerged from these disparate goals was their self-titled debut album that Rolling Stone called a “masterpiece”. The perfect mixture of noise and melody, the first LP was a sprawling ambient landscape that revealed myriad influences from shoegaze, to 60’s rock, to slow core, to post-rock.
Skip ahead a few years - and a change of location to Portland, Oregon - Longplay 2 is released, again to ardent critical praise. The sound of the debut record has been refined, with a more assured command of dynamics and tighter songwriting, but still sounding like it was beamed in from a distant planet.
Which leads up to now, and the releases of their newest, and best, record: Weekends. Recorded over the course of two years in Portland, Oregon and Athens, Georgia, Weekends details the disintegration of a relationship and represents a departure from the sprawling, dense soundscapes of the past to include a newfound pop sensibility that references the electronic musings of bands such as Kraftwerk and Magnetic Fields while still maintaining the ambient leanings and ethereal textures that have become pacificUV’s trademark. We won’t lie and say this is their masterpiece (wait for the next LP!) but we are proud to say it is very, very good. Enjoy.
LP1: Recorded with Andy Lemaster (R.E.M, Bright Eyes) over the course of two years, the debut record by pacificUV is the perfect mixture of noise and melody and recalls everything from My Bloody Valentine to Jesus and Mary Chain to Brian Eno. LP1 is the perfect soundtrack for the foggiest day of the year, beautiful and mysterious in equal measure.
LP2: Is that water in the distance or another mirage? This record will make you believe you can float (maybe). Or it might just want you to stay in bed all day eat and eat animal crackers and peyote. Either way, you will be thankful to have purchased it.
Weekends: Weekends is the best pacificUV album to date and is a perfect mixture of the old pacificUV (ethereal sound and texture) and new sound that references an electronic pop sensibility. Listen to the upbeat half before you go out, and the mellow half at the end of the night, and you will have had a very pleasant day guaranteed.