NEUROTIC KITES
LIVES
01 over
02 takes too long
03 your own parade
04 don’ walk away
05 cruelest angel
06 next door to nowhere
07 reassurance
08 never meant to be
09 why I understand the rain
10 agony needs an agonist
produced and mixed by: toni sistaré
mastered by: frank rudow
guitar, programming, and vocals: joe
hilferty
guitar: david berenguer
bass, guitar, programming, and
backing vocals: toni sistaré
guitar, synths, and backing vocals:
oriol solé
drums: gerard vich
release date: November 22, 2010
CD rcd06
MP3 rcd06
label: repetidor
distribution: nuevos medios
digital distribution: zebralution
promo: dani@repetidordisc.com
management: No live performances
are planned
www.repetidordisc.com
Neurotic Kites is a studio project in which Joseph Hilferty
(San Francisco, California) provides a beautiful debut LP that
will resonate with high-fidelity pop audiences. A simple,
unpretentious act of confession, and a sound that goes along
the lines of contemporary acts such as The Go-Betweens,
The Jayhawks, Montgolfier Brothers, Prefab Sprout, Sun Kil
Moon, John Vanderslice, or Richard Walters.
Surrounded by friends such as David Berenguer (Alado
Sincera), Oriol Solé (Alado Sincera, Iga Memento), Gerard
Vich (formerly of Palisandro), and produced by Toni Sistaré
(Inot Eratsis), Hilferty conveys an air of unmistakeable frailty
in each song, but in a manner that is both intimate and yet
somewhat detached. The album takes on the difficult task of
creating a sort of bare pop, without falling into clichés.
“Lives” is an attempt to explain psychological states of
anxiety brought on by misunderstandings. It is also an
attempt at catharsis, or as Hilferty himself plainly puts it: “the
pursuit of happiness by someone who suffers from a
neurodegerative disease, such as in this case early-onset
Parkisonism.”
Influences from artists such as the Art of Noice, Thomas
Dolby, Echo and the Bunnymen, or The Psychodelic Furs
can be faintly heard throughout, although what probably
winds up defining the work is underground dream pop and
90s artists such as Juliana Hatfield, Toad the Wet Sprocket,
or the Trash Can Sinatras.