Northampton, MA. (Top40 Charts/ Signature Records) - "Matching the girl-boy vocals of Flora Reed and Philip Price, 'Handkerchiefs' isn't exactly the stuff of summer drives and beach parties: 'A great divide / I didn't know her best friend died,' the pair sings, adding, 'Drawn in black-light chalk / her ankles tied in flower stalks.' But the song gathers steam and snappiness as it progresses, morphing into an agreeably ambling pop number. It may bathe in pathos along the way, but it comes out smelling like spring flowers." - Stephen Thompson, NPR's Song of the Day.
"Over the course of two records, 2005's Winterpills and the new The Light Divides, the band has carved out a singular niche using pre-owned indie-rock tools. You can taste Iron and Wine, recall Elliott Smith and hear shimmers of Neutral Milk Hotel, but the sensibility is all the 'Pills' own: fragile, angry, solicitous and self-conscious the way very smart people can be. And it's all free of the smug solipsism that makes so many like-minded bands juvie bores. Price's lyrics are densely packed but hugely evocative, tiny bombs of feeling and meaning. - DC Express "Delivering melodies that draw on influences as diverse (and yet harmonious) as the Beatles, the Carter Family, Elliott Smith and Neil Young, the band presents the results as an organic whole" - David Dye of NPR's World Cafe.
Winterpills recently captured the coveted NPR "Song of the Day" title for the third track from its new album The Light Divides. "Some (of the group's) songs have all the hallmarks of bleak dirges — themes of death and alienation, mournful harmonies, deliberate pacing, a touch of slide guitar," writes NPR's Stephen Thompson. "But, it's an overall effect that seems strangely uplifting. Witness Winterpills' 'Handkerchiefs,' which stuffs all those grim ingredients into a winsomely pretty package that feels strangely sparkly, even downright lilting."
According to a recent interview with the Bangor Daily News, Winterpills keyboardist and co-vocalist Flora Reed reveals, "We would congregate at Dennis' [Crommett, guitarist] apartment, and we'd start swapping the guitar around, playing cover songs. We did a lot of Neil Young and the Beatles. Occasionally some Abba. Whatever we felt like playing. One night Phillip [Price, lead singer and songwriter] and I sang 'The Book of Love' from the Magnetic Fields' '69 Love Songs', and that was when we were like wow, this sounds really good." After realizing that their collaborations were worth more than just playing cover songs, they began writing and recording their own material. Upon listening to Winterpills' new album The Light Divides, which the band refers to as "more of a true studio effort" (the group's debut was recorded in vocalist Reed's home), the beauty and talent that each individual member brings to the group is immediately recognizable. The sound is a band playing together—each member supporting the others' musical leaps of faith. The individual musicianship on The Light Divides is impeccable, though never at the expense of letting loose with an ultra catchy pop hook ("Broken Arm") or getting deeply intimate with some of the most compelling vocal harmonies you'll hear this year ("Lay Your Heartbreak"). What is most amazing is how effortless it all sounds.
The Northampton, MA band is returning home from a successful tour, including several shows at SXSW and live performances on several radio shows, including KOOP. The KOOP set can be heard HERE.
Winterpills shares a zip code with rock legends J. Mascis, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore, and the way the press has raved about the band's self-titled debut, and now The Light Divides, this group is on the road to being the next big thing to come out of this otherwise sleepy New England town's thriving music scene. The band is currently preparing for a homecoming show with the wildly popular Fountains of Wayne.
