Peter Wolf Crier, and Sondre Lerche @ One Eyed Jacks

The first thing you notice about Peter Pisano, fronter of Minneaplis indie-pop-folk-rock-whateveryouwannacallit duo, Peter Wolf Crier, is that he’s pretty much the nicest fucking guy you’ve ever met. He’s also what you would call ‘man pretty’. And if he wasn’t crammed in a van with brilliant drum banger, Brian Moen, touring their asses off most of the year, you could easily imagine seeing his smiling face on the cover of Wholesome Midwestern Guy Magazine. If such a wonderful magazine were to exist.

If that wasn’t enough, he’s also a pretty damn fine singer-songwriter.

I’ve only been in this city for a little over a week, full disclosure, fresh off the riverboat from Minneapolis. I’m about as greenhorn as they come. So when I saw that PWC was coming to One Eyed Jacks on Sunday with indie hero Sondre Lerche, I got a little homesick, and jumped at the chance to check out a Mpls fave all the way down at the other end of the Mississippi. We met up before the show, in the Quarter, and talked music, New Orleans, and the art of honing your craft. Then we got lost for a little while.

This new record that they’re out on the road supporting, Garden of Arms, is terrific, you guys. Opting to forgo the option of an outside producer provided by their label, Jagjaguwar (Bon Iver, Okkervil River, Volcano Choir, etc), Peter and Brian kept production in-house. The result, a beautiful landscape of heartbreak and harmony that this writer, for one, eats up by the bowl-full. Pitchfork gave the record a flat 6.0. But I happen to hate Pitchfork, so there’s that. If I had an arbitrary scale of critique, say from 8 to 35, I would give it a 29. Which is pretty good, if you ask me.

Here’s “Beach”, off said record.

beach // peter wolf crier by sexmusic

And a pretty little slideshow of both Peter Wolf Crier, and the wonderful Sondre Lerche. (c) Jason Albus Photography