ARTIST: Page France
TITLE: ...and the Family Telephone
LABEL: Suicide Squeeze Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 187kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 42m total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-05-08
RIP DATE: 2007-04-19
Track List
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1. The Ruby Ring Man 3:15
2. Wet Dog Afternoon 2:43
3. Mr. Violin And Dancing Bear 3:57
4. Be My Pianist 2:09
5. Pigeons 2:15
6. Hat And Rabbit 3:08
7. A Belly To The Sea 3:17
8. The Belly In The Fish 2:50
9. Rooster And Its Crow 3:17
10. The Joker's Joke 3:29
11. Here's A Telephone 2:42
12. Beggar's Table Legs 3:19
13. Circus Head (Nobody Knows) 3:17
14. Casting Day 2:34
Release Notes:
May 8, 2007 - will see the advent of Page France's fifth release in four
years,...and the Family Telephone. Yet in spite of the band's oft-lauded
prolific nature and numerous national tours, principle songwriter Michael Nau
has only recently dropped his reluctance to call what started in 2004 as a
"songwriting project," anything but that.
"For the first time, it really feels like we're a band," Michael said of Page
France. "...and the Family Telephone is definitely the most collaborative album
that I've ever done. Everybody had thier input and there are a lot of
fingerprints on it."
Most of those fingerprints are the same ones which have been on Page France
albums since the beginning: Michael Nau on lead vocals and guitar, Whitney
McGraw on backing vocals, and Clinton Jones and Jasen Reeder forming the rhythm
section. But there are a few new hands helping Page France, including
Anathallo's Andrew Dost, who provided horns for a few selections.
Though...and the Family Telephone is the product of many hands, it's still the
work of just one heart. Just as he's been doing for three years, Michael Nau put
his heart into the new record. Nau's lyrics call to mind Dylan or Nilsson
ghostwriting for Margo Guryan, all well-accompanied by a range of upbeat
instrumentation. Trumpets blare overtop jangly acoustic guitar, then goth are
laid out as a perfect blanket for Nau's vocals.
Page France's newest album finds them in a period of lyrical maturity, but also
one of that same fresh approach to songwriting that has netted them so much
support. Nau, who still writes many of his songs outdoors in rural Maryland, has
crafted an album full of splendor. The subtlety of wit and intelligence found
within "The Ruby Ring Man," would lead you to believe that Michael Nau's pen is
more the progeny of Mark Twain's than that of any musical group.
But if Nau's lyrics paint him as an old soul, the energy with which Page France
attack each note reveals the youthful vigor that has fueled the band from the
start. In cases like this, new works often demonstrate how fresh faces often
lead to the freshest of sounds. Like much of Page France's previous work,...and
the Family Telephone seems to serve as a soundtrack for times of lazy joy. "A
Belly in the Fish" is so perfectly carefree that it does everything except
supply the summer day for cloud watching.
Couple these elements with a bit of controlled tomfoolery in the recording
process and the result is an album that's refreshing in both it's simplicity and
originality. Page France have long since passed the point of needing to prove
their worth; but for added measure, they decided to do so again.