The music of Pittsburgh indie rock darlings Ball of Flame Shoot Fire has proven to be immensely popular with a strange demographic - suburban moms. Ball of Flame Shoot Fire, composed of Mt. Lebanon High School graduates, released their first EP, Grumpy Little Bird, in 2007, and released their first full-length album Jokeland in late 2008. Often compared to Man Man, Beirut, and other nationally acclaimed indie rock darlings, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire combines epic, time-signature changing, hyper-instrumented with a choir of falsetto voices. They shout, they clap, they bang on stuff, they frantically sing nonsense about religion and love and people named Bertie. And all of this endears them to the women who raised them and others like them. Says Wilson Cook-Winston, the band's pianist, "As the sons of suburban moms, it makes sense that we understand the issues they face, which comes out in our music, especially the live shows." Suburban moms are a great demographic for the band to attract - with their large disposable income and an adorable lack of knowledge about music piracy, they make ideal fans. The band has started to look into ways to accomodate this portion of their rapidly growing fanbase. Says saxaphonist Henry Peters, "We'll probably have to play live at more reasonable times - maybe lunchtime concerts they can go while the kids are at school. And a whole new line of apparel - aprons, New Balance cross-trainers, and control top pantyhose."
Even non-suburban non-moms are invited to check out BOFSF at www.myspace.com/bofsf
1 comment:
I should write a counter-review about how they were better when Winston was the king of Vaudeville/sounded like Ethel Mermann.
In about a decade I plan to see Winston in concert and do nothing but scream, "Plaaaaaaay Pancaaaaakes!" and see if he pulls a Ryan Adams and has me thrown out.
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