The Pineapples
The Pineapples (or, simply, "Pineapples") are a New York City based alternative rock band formed between the years of 1985 and 1989 at The State University of New York at Purchase (AKA Purchase College) around core members Kevin Neenan (guitar), Michael DeIanni (bass, vocals), Howard Rappaport (guitar, slide guitar, vocals) and Thomas Dwyer (drums). Pineapples' sound is exemplified by fast driving, punk-influenced rock rhythms, dreamlike vocal melodies and harmonies, atmospheric textures created on slide guitar, feedback and modal chord progressions with outbursts of noise in the vein of eighties industrial and noise bands Live Skull, Sonic Youth, Shockabilly and B.A.L.L. Between the years of 1990 and 1993, the band produced four releases successively on independent labels Part Trance, Rapture, Kokopop, and Placebo Records.
Following a formative summer spent living in Truro, Massachusetts after college, the band moved to the artistic and musical hotbed of Port Chester, New York, effectively the college town for SUNY Purchase. Shortly after the move, original drummer Conrad Aamodt was replaced by Dwyer. The band was a regular attraction at The Beat, a tiny indie rock venue in Port Chester well-regarded for its bookings of cutting edge bands. Pineapples, along with Philistines Jr., The Werefrogs, The Juicemen, Rockphonics and DJ Moby, forged a local music scene. Other important local music venues included The Capitol Theatre, 7 Willow Street, Marty's, Blue Skin Gallery, and, just over the river in Byram, Connecticut, the House of Love.
The Pineapples were an integral part of NYC's early nineties Lower East Side music scene, playing Downtown Beirut II, The Continental, The Spiral, Brownies, The Knitting Factory, the short lived Bank, and CBGB, the latter upwards of a dozen times. In 1991, The Pineapples were voted one of the top 100 NYC bands by CBGB staff and participated in a never-to-be-released documentary about the club.
In 1993 the band toured England and Scotland in support of She Brings Me Down, their four-song EP on Placebo Records. Joining them on tour were US bands Drop Nineteens and Antenna. Upon returning to the US, Pineapples for the most part disbanded, though the band would occasionally reform to play gigs in and around NYC. In 2007 the EP Empty was released digitally. Pineapples have since reformed with the first full-length album "Twice On The Pipe" (2015 on Wicked Ape), and the subsequent single "Veil."
Crystalline 7" (Part Trance)[edit]
In 1990, The Pineapples released their first single - the Kramer-produced Crystalline. Backed with Faced, the record is a testimony to the band's noise rock upbringing. Crystalline is a surf inspired, angst-laden up-tempo post punk rant which ends in pure noise. Faced is driving punk a la Too Drunk to Fuck by The Dead Kennedys. The single was recorded and produced by Kramer at Noise NY, and released on the now defunct Part Trance label. Distributed by Matador Records, the record paved the way for the band's critically acclaimed follow up. Crystalline was re-recorded in 1994 at Kramer's Noise NJ with drummer Thomas Dwyer. The later version has a heavier and more steady backbeat, and recited prose drawn from Carlos Castenada.[1] This version is unreleased.
Cacahuates EP (Part Trance Us/ Rapture UK)[edit]
The Kramer produced Cacahuates was largely the band's introduction to the US and UK rock press. Cacahuates received considerable praise in Melody Maker , NME and Recoil magazine. The record was listed as a top ten release by Melody Maker in 1991 and received regular airplay on WNYU, WFMU, and college radio stations across the continental U.S. The record caught the attention of UK manager Colin Simmons of Rapture Entertainment. Cacahuates was simultaneously released in the UK on the Rapture label. Having acquired management, the band began planning a UK tour to support the release. Attempts were made to join Catherine Wheel, Swervedriver and The Smashing Pumpkins on a tour. However, the band would not land a slot on a tour until the following Fall in support of She Brings Me Down.
All For What EP (Kokopop)[edit]
It was the four song All For What EP, released on Shimmy Disc subsidiary Kokopop, that gave the band the notoriety and credential to join The Drop Nineteens and Antennae on a UK tour in 1993. The All For What single (backed with Slave) won an NME Single of the Week. [2] [4] All For What was also released on 7" in bubblegum pink and white vinyl.
She Brings Me Down (Placebo)[edit]
A third four-song EP was released in October 1993 containing the title track She Brings Me Down, Please Yourself, The Taste, and Amy Fisher, a dark comedic ode to the Long Island Lolita. The release received the band's best reviews to that point, NME described it as "a guitar drenched edifice," and compared it to "Dinosaur Jr. covering prime period House of Love."[3] A Time Out Review in the same week stated that "a deep melody holds this racy American guitar rock single together," [4] and Judith Dunn compared the release to Chameleons UK, Husker Du and The Catherine Wheel.[5]
U.K Tour Fall 1993[edit]
The band embarked on their only UK tour in October 1993 supporting The Drop Nineteens and Antennae in support of the She Brings Me Down EP. The performances received notable praise in Melody Maker and NME. Reviewing a show at the Exeter Cavern Club, Ben E. Thorne of Melody Maker wrote that the band brought with them "a particularly sussed maturity, equal parts instrumental indulgence and pure inspiration."[6] A later Melody Maker review of She Brings Me Down live was described as "gliding and vertiginous, guitars flashing at you like out of synch lights, hanging there confidently long after the vocals have faded."[7] The sixteen date tour of England and Scotland ended at London's Borderline Club where the band supported Bivouac.
Disbandment/ Hiatus[edit]
The Pineapples returned to NYC in late November 1993 in financial disarray and disillusionment. Random shows at CBGB an The Spiral Club proved unfruitful, and there wasn't to be another significant release until 2015. In a July 2017 review in Blurt Magazine, Fred Mills referred to the band's "hiatus" as "nearly a quarter century's layoff between releases for this downtown Big Apple outfit, last heard from on 1993's Kramer produced She Brings Me Down."[8] Excluding the limited online release of the four song "Empty" release (Part Trance), The Pineapples were not to reform and record again until 2015's "Twice On The Pipe," which saw a resurgence in popularity for the band and a string of positive reviews.
Twice On The Pipe LP (Wicked Ape)[edit]
In 2013 the band officially reformed, and began playing select shows in Williamsburg Brooklyn and at Arlene's Grocery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The lineup remained the same as it was when the band essentially retired in 1994: Kevin Neenan (guitars), Michael DeIanni (bass, vocals), Howard Rappaport (guitars vocals) and Thomas Dwyer (drums). Between 2013 and 2014 enough material was written for The Pineapples to release their first full-length album. Released on 12" vinyl and compact disc, Twice On The Pipe contained all new music with the exception of "Please Don't Kill Doctor Strange," which originally appeared on the 1991 Cacahuates EP (Part Trance/ Rapture).
Twice On The Pipe was officially released on July 12, 2015, coinciding with a record release party at The Knitting Factory in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Twice On The Pipe was met with strong reviews in The Big Takeover where Michael Toland wrote of the band's "postpone, prog, noise rock" roots, and described the "tuneful confections" of tracks Afterglow and Summergreen.[9] The Big Takeover editor Jack Rabid included the album in his top 150 releases of 2016."[10] [7] The album was also reviewed in Blurt Magazine, where Fred Mills wrote "Amazingly there's still an enticingly familiar early 90's vibe here, with angular leads bolstered by brutal power chords, vocals that slip easily between yearning reverie, loutish growls, and heavenly harmonies, and a rhythmic assault that could power its way through any stylistic decade you'd care to name."[11] [blurtonline.com/review/pineapples-twice-pipe/]
Veil 7" single (Wicked Ape)[edit]
Twice On The Pipe was followed up with the single "Veil," backed with "Minaret" on vinyl. Michael Toland of Big Takeover described the release (specifically Minaret) as "a sterling example of what they do best: 90's alternative rock, 80's paisley underground psych and late 70's experimental Brit rock."[12] [8]
Upcoming Releases and Performances[edit]
"Shaken" 7" vinyl (Wicked Ape) Knitting Factory November 30, 2017
References[edit]
- ↑ Castaneda, Carlos (1960). The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way to Knowledge. Ballantine Books. OCLC 657976934. Search this book on
- ↑ NME Single of the Week April 24 1993
- ↑ NME November 13 1993
- ↑ Time Out November 19 1993
- ↑ The Northumbria Weekender October 29, 1993
- ↑ Melody Maker October 16 1993
- ↑ Melody Maker October 30, 1993
- ↑ Blurt Magazine July 14, 2017
- ↑ The Big Takeover Issue 79 November 2017
- ↑ Jack Rabid's Best of 2016 list: Top 150 LP's Big Takeover issue 80
- ↑ Blurt Magazine August 13, 2017
- ↑ Big Takeover issue 80 May 2017
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