HANDS AND KNEES // WHOLESOME LP // JAN 27th, 2011 @ GREAT SCOTT

“SITTING AT THE PIANO DISAPPEARING” MP3
“DANCING ON YOUR TEARS” MP3
WHOLESOME ALBUM ART: SMALL // LARGE // LIMITED EDITION
PRESS PHOTOS: AMPS 1 // AMPS 2 // KNIFE // HOUSE
ONESHEET PDF
VIEW HANDS AND KNEES PRESS 

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Wholesome is the third full-length by Boston’s Hands and Knees, available on vinyl and digitally January 18th, 2011.

Like their 2007 self-titled debut and 2009’s Et Tu, Fluffy?, the quartet recorded songs at their guitarist Scott Hoffman’s studio in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. The result is by no means a departure from the jangly turbo pop they’ve perfected on those albums. Rather, Hands and Knees have successfully brought more influences into the party without it feeling overcrowded.

Guitarist Joe O’Brien and bassist Carina Kelly share vocal duties, melodies ripe for singalong like the buoyant “The Moonlight is Wicked”. “Sitting at the Piano Disappearing” and ”Dancing On Your Tears” are arguably the band’s most infectious to date, reminiscent of Hunky Dory-era Bowie or The Modern Lovers. Nick Branigan’s drumming is on display throughout, nearly taking lead on the galloping opener “Throw Me From The Bridge of Flowers” and the Pixies stomp of “The Ballad of Cottonball Johnny”.

The album will be available via handsandknees.bandcamp.com starting January 18th. Come celebrate Wholesome’s LP release with Hands and Knees, Doomstar!, The Needy Visions, and The Fedavees at Great Scott on January 27th.

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FEATURED PRESS
“The group’s strength — besides a flair for well-turned hooks and dash of grand drama — lies in the sweet and sour contrast of [singer/guitarist Joe] O’Brien’s and bassist Carina Kelly’s voices… There’s lots to love here, and Wholesome more than measures up.” 
-The Boston Globe 

“Hands and Knees have crafted an record that sounds as if it was drafted in different decades but on the same equipment… This quartet are, ladies and gents, one of the best pop bands in New England. Definitely One to Watch in 2011.”
-Ryan’s Smashing Life

“…the self-released Wholesome is earmarked to be one of 2k11’s finest releases”
-The Boston Phoenix

“There’s something quirky and memorable to Boston, MA band, Hands and Knees… Pop at its root core, but very rough around the edges and delivered with some ferocity to it.” 
-Weekly Tape Deck

“In fact it seemingly picked up where… Et tu, Fluffy? left off, delivering more great hooks, more toe-tapping finger-snapping singalongs, and perhaps more dynamic range than we’d seen from them – a remarkable feat.”
-Boston Band Crush

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NOTES
Joe and Carina met in the desert of New Mexico in 2002, writing very small songs that they mostly kept to themselves. A couple of years later they regrouped in their native Massachusetts with Carina’s childhood friend Scott Hoffman, and formed Hands and Knees.

Nicholas Branigan, a veteran drummer of bands including Bane, Gary War, Bobb Trimble and the Flying Spiders, and The Tony the Bookie Orchestra, joined the group in 2009.

The band has shared stages with Wye Oak, Quasi, The Fiery Furnaces, Drink Up Buttercup, and more.

In December 2010, the band released a Christmas-themed 7” titled James Brown Died on Christmas Day, availablle here.

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