Finches

Finches

On Golden Hill

Ulrike

***"On Golden Hill mini-album marks a new direction for formerly folksy SF/LA-based band, THE FINCHES. Now, with electric guitars, four-part vocal harmonies and eclectic percussion, front person CAROLYN PENNYPACKER RIGGS leads the listener to darker reaches, without abandoning her endearingly unaffected vocal quality or unique style of musical storytelling. On Golden Hill weaves together eerie a'Cappella (’Follow Me’), ambiguously perverse laments (’I Loved You as a Child,’ ‘Hannah’), and bouncing pop easiness (’Steve's Song,’ ‘River in Edo’), to create a cinematic tapestry of song. Packaged in creamy Arigato pack adorned with a beautiful linocut from Pennypacker Riggs herself. The Finches will tour America this Spring as a five-piece. Their new stage performance includes homemade masked and costumed characters."

Finches

Human Like A House

Dulc-i-tone

Human Like a House is the debut album from the effortlessly charming San Francisco duo The Finches. It gracefully rides the line between folk and pop, and singer-songwriter Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs brings to mind such unclassifiable wonders as Vashti Bunyan, The Marine Girls, and Mirah. Together with guitarist Aaron Morgan (Roots of Orchis), The Finches' musical storytelling attracts fans both near and far.  The Finches self-released CDEP sold over 1200 copies without any distribution and they've performed with many of their peers including Lavender Diamond, Jose Gonzalez, Mt. Eerie, The Evens, Magnolia Electric Co., and Michael Hurley. Now Dulc-i-Tone Records steps in to bring their fine talents to the world with the release of Human Like a House.  Aside from songwriting duties, singer Riggs also creates all the artwork for Finches releases. Human Like a House is packaged in a deluxe chipboard digipack featuring twelve of her beautiful woodcut drawings. Guest Alissa Anderson of Vetiver plays cello on the song "Two Ghosts," but otherwise the album is literally a family affair: chiefly recorded by Morgan's father David, Human Like a House features both band members' mothers singing harmony. Riggs' mother Susan also lends her fantastic recorder talents to the album's centerpiece "The House Under the Hill."  

Finches

Six Songs

Ulrike Records

***San Francisco Bay Area acoustic duo THE FINCHES (CAROLYN PENNYPACKER RIGGS and AARON MORGAN) have been wowing local audiences with their endearing songs of fantasy architecture, filial love, and travel anxiety. Six Songs will disarm even the toughest of souls, as Pennypacker effortlessly charms any crowd within miles of her deceptively coy approach to musical storytelling. Unabashedly influenced by Leonard Cohen and Francois Hardy (“The House with Two Front Doors” borrows a melody from Hardy’s “La Maison Où J'ai Grandi”), the band brilliantly tread that fine line between pop and folk. On this their first release, Pennypacker already threatens to join that rare club of songwriters, from Vashti Bunyan to Tracy Thorn (Marine Girls) to Mirah, who manage to stay both sweet and poetically mature, warmly innocent but never crossing the line into sugary tweeness. Packaged in beautiful fold-up cardstock packaging, the cover is letter-pressed with a linocut drawn by Pennypacker herself. Look out for the Finches now out on tour with those love-lovers Whysp (ex-Lowdown), playing selected shows with Phil Elvrum’s Mt. Eerie.