PIANO VINES on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

12/01/08; Space City Rock Blog

Happily, the newly-expanded Piano Vines -- they've grown from the original duo of Pam Cantu & David Howard to a fuller lineup (including one of the guys from Lisa's Sons, I think?) -- didn't disappoint. I don't think I'd be exaggerating to say that Ms. Cantu made every freakin' guy in the room fall in love with her, at least a little bit (yeah, including me). I dunno what it is about that voice, but it just melts me (er, you) the same way that, say, Jenny Lewis's voice does. There's a vulnerability to it that makes me think of ex-Sarge/The Reputation singer Elizabeth Elmore, too, and that's never a bad thing. Cantu's singing is sweet and honest and beautiful in a way that, honestly, few female voices ever reach for me.

The music was excellent, obviously, although some of the newer songs the band debuted were a teeny bit shaky-sounding. Personally, I was over the moon to finally get to hear the "original" Piano Vines tracks, stuff like "Sun King" and the beautifully-dissonant "Berlin," as well as more recent stuff like "The Life of Walter Price" -- hearing those songs, to me, was worth the price of admission on its own. Stupid as it sounds, I enjoyed it so much I got all shy & embarrassed about actually talking to the band afterwards, so I only ended up mumbling something praise-like to Howard as he hauled the band's gear out to his car.

11/26/08 issue of the Houston Press:

Duo designs pleasant pop despite distance

BY DUSTI RHODES

Piano Vines are and aren’t locals. The boy-girl duo is split between the Bayou City and Austin (where else?). But despite the distance, band members Pam Cantu and David Howard manage to write pleasant pop that nods toward early ‘90s Chicago indie rock, à la Sarge’s Elizabeth Elmore. But Cantu, who doesn’t strain her voice as much as Elmore does, has a clean croon that’s backed by standard rock guitars, bass and drums. Howard also puts Cantu’s vocals to good use in ballads that have her oohs and aahs floating over his delicate, piano-heavy compositions. The sound is incredibly accessible for audiences who enjoy a pinch of pristine in their indie rock. Piano Vines round out a bill full of other fellow locals including The Mc-Kenzies, Earnie Banks and The Riff Tiffs, as well Austin rockers The Eastern Sea.

03/26/08; The Skyline Network: Ruling Us Lately

Their latest track, "The Life of Walter Price", is their strongest homebrew yet, causing us to spend a stalk-tacular amount of time on their MySpace page. More than ever before, Pam Cantu's voice is the plant living on the top of your cubicle wall, a conspicuous reminder of organic beauty in a place where scientifically tested shades of the most-boring grey, window-blocking right-angled insult walls and teeting stacks of trade magazines conspire to deny you your love of natural light. The rest of the biblically named men of the band (David, Tomas, Zach) nail the songs simple, sparking sunlight on the river arrangement. It's like they took our cookout to San Marcos and floated the entire thing down the creek without getting our laptops wet. We love them for that. (link)

12/31/07; Space City Rock: Featured Bands

PIANO VINES: Yeah, I've been fully intending on putting these folks on here for a while, but I held off in the foolish hope that I'd either eventually A) get to see 'em live or B) manage to glom onto an actual CD. Neither of which, unfortunately, have happened. That's partly my own damn fault, obviously -- I just can't get out as much as I could in the Good Old Days -- but it's also a little frustrating to be teased with these awesomely beautiful recordings on the band's Myspace site (see the link above) and yet not be able to play 'em anywhere other than my damn computer. Argh. Seriously, I need-need-need to get a Piano Vines CD, and quick, before my brain melts and drips out my ears.

In all seriousness, this duo/occasional trio (main members Pam Cantu on vocals/keys/guitars/xylophone & David Howard on vocals/guitars/keys/bass/drums/etc., with Nolan Burke helping out with the live drums and keys) is one of the most promising bands I've heard in a while, local or no -- I love Cantu's clear-as-a-bell vocals, which bring to mind Feist or maybe the kids in Eisley, and the music underneath it is sweet and gorgeous and driving like all those old Parasol indie-pop gems I/you loved back in the day (c'mon, you know you did, just admit it). The songs they've currently got up are light and airy but never insubstantial, instead swirling and charging along in a sunshiny haze that nicely skirts dreampop and building intricately to a perfectly-executed close. Some of the songs come off like Broken Social Scene minus the half-assed-ness, while others come near to Ambulette (esp. the Maura Davis part of the band) territory. Trust me: these folks know what they're doing and can pull it off in a way that should make indie-pop-ish record labels all 'round the country pay attention.

Again, though -- no CD as yet. Which sucks, 'cause it means waiting a while longer for the band to really blow everybody away. I've heard rumors that they've got something in the works, so keep your fingers crossed. (link)

06/07/07 issue of the Houston Press:

Pam Cantu breaks out some rocking lullabies

BY DUSTI RHODES

With a voice reminiscent of Tori Amos, Leslie Feist and Elizabeth Elmore, local gal Pam Cantu leads Piano Vines through rocking lullabies with the help of bandmate David Howard. The pair creates steady rhythms enhanced by Cantu’s wide-ranging vocal abilities in songs that expand from an ambient opening and are driven forward with an acoustic guitar and a tight, quick drumbeat. Others show the duo’s playful side, with a power pop feel à la The Reputation or Eisley. Not only does Cantu sing like an angel, she’s quite the looker as well. So, guys, try not to fall in love when Piano Vines play in a lineup of other locals, including The Dimes, The Riff Tiffs, Earnie Banks and The Brood.