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Pavo Pavo - Young Narrator In The Breakers

  • Written by  Marky Edison

 

“We’re trying to look and sound like pop from the future, but made by people from the '70s.” Brooklyn quintet Pavo Pavo are named for a stellar constellation and their music is summed up in their mission statement. The cover of their debut album portrays two women in retro fashions striding across a walkway over the open water. It’s the perfect representation of the music contained within.

The band, formerly known as Plume Giant, could be grouped with Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend with hints of The Flaming Lips, but it's impossible to hear them without thinking of the ‘60s psych pop of Pet Sounds, the Magical Mystery Tour and The Mamas And The Papas. Their languid, experimental pop is redolent of Everything Everything and Alt J, under mild sedation, and of French chill-out group Air but with a retro vibe. I must admit my surprise at learning that Pavo Pavo are from New York. California seems a much more likely candidate for the kind of this music; Iceland or Scandinavia even more so.

It’s easy to tell why ‘Ran Ran Run’ was the lead single. With its Style Council jamming with Paul Mc Cartney vibe it gently embraces you in it’s warm grasp. ‘Annie Hall’ sticks with the old jazz credo that its more important what you don’t play than what you do. The expectation and denial throughout the tune make the final resolution all the sweeter.

Young Narrator In The Breakers is perfect for a complete listen. Pavo Pavo aren’t afraid to throw in discordant instruments and disharmonious flourishes while drifting away on their gentle melodies, meaning that as well as being beautifully peaceful, and peacefully beautiful, the music is involving and unpredictable. The band display influences from all across the musical spectrum and have distilled their broad palette into a loose concoction that could have come from any of the past five decades; young narrator in the breakers is the very definition of ‘timeless’.

Young Narrator In The Breakers is available from amazon & iTunes.

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