Band of the Week: Pin Me Down

Posted on Jan 31st 2010 10:41AM by Barnaby Smith
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Pin Me Down's biggest problem has been finding the time for it all. But Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack and vocalist Milena Mipres have not let the Atlantic Ocean get in the way of creating their forceful dance-pop euphoria. New single 'Time Crisis,' available for free download on the band's website, is the latest installment in their slow and steady journey.

The Pin Me Down story goes back a long way. Six years, to be precise, and yet only now are they ready to launch themselves upon the world properly. In 2004, Bloc Party played a show in New York, and were supported by local electro-punk group Black Moustache. Lissack was immediately taken by Mipres, their singer.

"I remember watching her in soundcheck and thinking she was a really good guitarist," says Lissack, "so we started talking and we got on really well, bonding over several bands we liked. She's also the best singer I know, and I've always been a fan of female vocals."

Unfortunately, Bloc Party's heavy touring schedule ruled out any meaningful partnership for several years, so the two set about conducting a musical collaboration through cyberspace. Lissack cites as inspiration fellow collaborators-across-distance, the Postal Service.

"I generally write all the music on my own and then send it to Milena and she writes all the lyrics and vocal melodies on her own. Because we tend to do our side of what we're doing separately, the distance hasn't proved a problem."

Former music journalist Mipres became the perfect foil for Lissack's ambitions during Bloc Party's current hiatus. With one early review citing that Pin Me Down are the "happy band" inside Bloc Party that has been trying to get out, it's true there is a lysergic fervour to Lissack's new project. Prior to 'Time Crisis', the duo had released singles 'Cryptic,' 'Pretty In Pink' and 'Ticking' to minimal fanfare over the last two years. An album, along with possible live dates, is in the pipeline for this year.

"I wouldn't say it's light-hearted, but there's a definite pop element to it, because that's something that's important to both of us," Lissack says of the Pin Me Down sound. "But I also think there's a lot of emotion in there as well because that comes naturally to both of us in the way we write music. There's always a sense of urgency."

That devotion to dance music is something Lissack has long harboured - and of course it's made its way into the Bloc Party sound on occasion. Like many children of the '90s, Lissack's loyalties generally lie somewhere between the decade's indie explosion, and its leftfield dance.

"I started playing guitar when I was 16 and then when I was 18 or 19 the indie thing got really bad," he says. "At the end of the '90s it seemed really dull and it was in that period I got really into dance music again. It seems a recurring thing in music in this country that the pendulum seems to swing from being live music oriented to dance music oriented. "

Pin Me Down may yet have a say in the next direction that pendulum swings.