Special Pillow: Mind Wipe CD (Zofko Records)
Release date: August 12, 2022
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Bio: Mind Wipe is the latest, greatest release from The Special Pillow, a full-spectrum, string-driven sound encompassing concise ’60s-flavored pop gems, dreamy hallucinogenic reveries, and pulse-pounding propulsion redolent of your favorite antipodean indie upstarts of the ’80s. A sitcom-length salvo featuring six synapse-snapping songs that address Greek tragedy, artificial intelligence, and voluntary brain erasure, Mind Wipe will clear your consciousness of everything else.
Since 1995, The Special Pillow have trafficked in catchy and confounding songcraft that has earned them notable fans like Yo La Tengo, who covered the group’s classic “Automatic Doom” in 2015. The Pillow’s 2020 releases, the World’s Finest EP and a cover-version single of The Who’s “1921,” garnered extensive underground attention and accolades, but now Mind Wipe is here to make you forget all about that old news.
Mind Wipe is the group’s first project to be recorded at Brooklyn’s Deep Dive studio with longtime engineer Mitch Rackin. The band consists of bassist and songwriter Dan Cuddy (ex-Hypnolovewheel); Katie Gentile (Run On) on violin and viola; Peter Stuart (Headless Horsemen, Tryfles) on a remarkable selection of guitars; and Eric Marc Cohen (Fly Ashtray, Autobody) on drums and percussion.
Guest artists on Mind Wipe include renowned musical polymath Robbie Lee, who supplies eccentric embellishments on an outrageous arsenal of offbeat instruments; dynamic and distinctive horn work courtesy of Steven Levi (The Scene Is Now) and Cheryl Kingan (TSIN, 75 Dollar Bill); and a field recording of a fight among flamingos at the Bronx Zoo.
Praise for The Special Pillow and World’s Finest
Best of 2020 on WFMU’s Three Chord Monte • Big Takeover Magazine, Jack Rabid’s Top EPs of 2020 • One of WFMU’s Heavily Played Records
“The Special Pillow’s string-driven synthesis of psychedelia, chamber-pop, and new wave has delighted a coterie of fans. . . . Sonorous layers of sound . . . A keen sense of humor . . . Psychedelic bands tend to play long songs, punk bands favor short ones. The Special Pillow has always liked to create both. . . . Punchy, bouncy . . . a haunting, spacey jumble that leaves a lasting impression.” —The Jersey Journal
“Pop goodies, chock full of elegant harmonies, flute, violin, sitar, and the occasional sax, cornet, and recorder tossed in for extra-sensory perception . . . Fluttering like a butterfly on a summer’s breeze . . . a surreal pop groove that’s sure to lengthen that illegal smile you’ve been unsuccessfully stifling throughout. (****)” —Shindig!
“While undeniably exhibiting traits that can be described as post-Feelies and Yo La Tengo-descended, the band is so much more, with an incontestable tendency towards psychedelia. . . . Unabashedly melodic, often downright catchy, and frequently baroque.” —The Vinyl District
Since 1995, The Special Pillow have trafficked in catchy and confounding songcraft that has earned them notable fans like Yo La Tengo, who covered the group’s classic “Automatic Doom” in 2015. The Pillow’s 2020 releases, the World’s Finest EP and a cover-version single of The Who’s “1921,” garnered extensive underground attention and accolades, but now Mind Wipe is here to make you forget all about that old news.
Mind Wipe is the group’s first project to be recorded at Brooklyn’s Deep Dive studio with longtime engineer Mitch Rackin. The band consists of bassist and songwriter Dan Cuddy (ex-Hypnolovewheel); Katie Gentile (Run On) on violin and viola; Peter Stuart (Headless Horsemen, Tryfles) on a remarkable selection of guitars; and Eric Marc Cohen (Fly Ashtray, Autobody) on drums and percussion.
Guest artists on Mind Wipe include renowned musical polymath Robbie Lee, who supplies eccentric embellishments on an outrageous arsenal of offbeat instruments; dynamic and distinctive horn work courtesy of Steven Levi (The Scene Is Now) and Cheryl Kingan (TSIN, 75 Dollar Bill); and a field recording of a fight among flamingos at the Bronx Zoo.
Praise for The Special Pillow and World’s Finest
Best of 2020 on WFMU’s Three Chord Monte • Big Takeover Magazine, Jack Rabid’s Top EPs of 2020 • One of WFMU’s Heavily Played Records
“The Special Pillow’s string-driven synthesis of psychedelia, chamber-pop, and new wave has delighted a coterie of fans. . . . Sonorous layers of sound . . . A keen sense of humor . . . Psychedelic bands tend to play long songs, punk bands favor short ones. The Special Pillow has always liked to create both. . . . Punchy, bouncy . . . a haunting, spacey jumble that leaves a lasting impression.” —The Jersey Journal
“Pop goodies, chock full of elegant harmonies, flute, violin, sitar, and the occasional sax, cornet, and recorder tossed in for extra-sensory perception . . . Fluttering like a butterfly on a summer’s breeze . . . a surreal pop groove that’s sure to lengthen that illegal smile you’ve been unsuccessfully stifling throughout. (****)” —Shindig!
“While undeniably exhibiting traits that can be described as post-Feelies and Yo La Tengo-descended, the band is so much more, with an incontestable tendency towards psychedelia. . . . Unabashedly melodic, often downright catchy, and frequently baroque.” —The Vinyl District