Austin, TX band The Living Pins premiere a new single today via The Big Takeover. The song, “Oh Yeah” is part of a new EP of perfect summertime tunes. This one features a constant buzzing groove and cheery vocals akin to the British Invasion meets Britpop. As the band explains to Big Takeover:
“The two songs that The Living Pins are releasing this summer are like two different people. ‘Oh Yeah’ is the naughty rebel rock ’n’ roller and ‘Chateau’ is the sparkly FM radio song that even your mom could listen to. It’s The Stones versus The Beatles. Or Oasis versus Blur.”
The Living Pins recently released their debut EP Freaky Little Monster Children in April 2021 to much critical fanfare, just 25 years since their first single in 1996.
The Living Pins are guitarists/vocalists Pam Peltz and Carrie Clark, joined by a rotating cast of players.
Carrie is an inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as the frontwoman for Sixteen Deluxe (Trance Syndicate, Warner Bros. Records). Pam is a published photographer and the producer of two Daniel Johnston songs, “Ain’t No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me” and “Casper” on Daniel’s Continued Story album.
The Living Pins originally formed in 1996 during the heyday of iconic Austin clubs such as Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, and The Hole In The Wall. Pam and Carrie met as co-workers at Wheatsville Food Co-op and continued in the tradition of employee bands including the likes of Ed Hall, Cherubs, Sixteen Deluxe, Pong, Palaxy Tracks, and Cotton Mather. The original Living Pins line-up included Kathy Ziegler (Morningwood) and Leslie Petit (Bunny Stockhausen) and this incarnation of the Pins appeared on the 1998 Wheatsville band compilation The Wheat Album, with their cover of the T. Rex song, “Spaceball Ricochet”, produced by John Croslin (Spoon, Guided by Voices).
The new single was recorded at The Bubble Studios in Austin, TX. Bubble Master Chris “Frenchie” Smith is Sixteen Deluxe-bandmate-forever with Carrie and it was a natural next step to enlist his skills. As The Living Pins were aiming to embody something like the dreamy crispness of 1970s FM radio, there is definitely the overlap that Pam and Carrie and Frenchie understand. It’s the aesthetic of being a little kid with a portable Realistic cassette recorder. You could sit next to the radio and then hit record and get your favorite ELO song or Badfinger song and just feel the vibe.
The ROCK factor of the Bubble recordings is enhanced by Carrie and Pam’s most excellent company, the impeccable rhythm section of Claire Hamilton on bass and Rich Malley on drums. They are just two Austin legends. Austin has so many legends.
Much was made of the fact that the FLMC was their first release in 25 years. So, Carrie and Pam figured, “Let’s have another release within a year. Keep the momentum going this time.” So, in the spirit of momentum and all that is fun, The Living Pins present two new singles, “Chateau” and “Oh Yeah’, to rock you on through the Summer of 2022.
