Band: Pineapple Thief

CD Title: “Someone Here is Missing”

Band Website: www.pineapplethief.com

Label: Kscope Records

Release Date: 2010

Normally I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t like to hear samples of the music I plan to listen to. Too many times samples can mislead me and there is something deflating about listening to too much of the band before I get the disc. All that is to say I had no idea what Pineapple Thief was going to sound like. I’m so glad I took that path, because I put on their latest disc Someone Here is Missing and I was just blown away! What a fantastic disc. Pineapple Thief has been around for a little over 10-years and this is their 9^th studio offering. The band now consists of main-man Bruce Soord (guitar, vocals, programming), Jon Sykes (bass, backing vocals), Steve Kitch (keyboards) and Keith Harrison (drums, backing vocals). The music is a fascinating blend of intense modern hard-edged prog and grand almost symphonic moments.

There are nine tracks on Someone Here is Missing and things kick off in blistering style with begins with “Nothing at Best” [4:09] a track that begins with a trippy little synth riff that is quickly joined a cacophony of crashing chords that return time and again propelling the tune in an ever intense fashion. The vocals are placed conveniently in all the quieter more subdued moments and are pleasantly restrained. The riffs and melodies are powerful and stirring. The next track is even better, “Wake up the Dead” [4:24] starting off a little more up tempo with a collection of amazing vocal melody lines but what takes this song over the edge is how it builds in layers of sounds until the mash of sounds just bursts forth from the speakers driving your feet to tap. It is viscerally infectious and yet pleasingly cerebral. The pattern is set musically. Pineapple Thief loves the interplay of soft and loud or ambient and complex and they put it all together in some amazingly melodic compositions. There is a melancholic feeling that runs through these selections; a kind of haunting tone that makes for a very modern sound. Three of the nine tracks are a little longer, such as “Preparation for Meltdown” [7:28] which starts off moody and atmospheric constantly building in complexity until the two-minute mark where everything explodes in Porcupine Tree fashion and yet Pineapple Thief manage to put their own indelible stamp on the proceedings sound-wise. The band can also pull the drive back and craft a wonderful acoustic ballad such as “Barely Breathing” [3:45] that hints at some of symphonic orchestrations of the later longer tracks.

It’s been acknowledged by a few that Pineapple Thief have gone for a somewhat different sound with this release. If that’s the case I love where they’re going with this. Someone Here is Missing is an astonishing package of music. Sonically think of mixing the best of Porcupine Tree with Muse and you might just get an idea of what to expect. If that doesn’t help…well you can always go find a few samples to check them out. Someone Here is Missing gets my highest recommendation.