Disco de The Pierces: “Light of the Moon”

The Pierces are two sisters who make pretty, accessible and well crafted pop music with an emphasis on gorgeous harmonizing. Critics, of course, won't like The Pierces because their music is neither dark nor pretensious nor deliberately obscure and unintelligible. I like to be challenged by music as much as the next person, but there are also times I simply want something to sing along to in the car without having to work too hard. This is what good pop music should do and Light Of The Moon fits the bill nicely.

Thrilling opener 'Space Song' boasts a fantastic hook and a lovely, swelling chorus and makes a very good first impression. 'A Way To Us' is catchy upbeat pop that would no doubt appeal to fans of Michelle Branch. Other songs take a more Fleetwood Mac approach - beautifully crafted, with lingering melodies and the sisters harmonizing to the fore, and it's on these songs that The Pierces really strike gold. In fact, if I were Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks & co. I'd be asking the Pierce sisters to do a little songwriting on the side because tunes like 'Louisa', 'You're Right' and 'I Don't Mind' are miles better than anything on the Mac's last studio album.

Much more than just pretty faces, The Pierces possess musical talent in abundance, and if gorgeous melodies are your thing then the remarkably consistent Light Of The Moon will provide you with an album full of them.

Highlights: 'Space Song', 'Louisa', 'I Don't Mind'

I loved this CD from start to finish. My fingers never even itched to hit the forward button, not for a second. I love the harmonics they employ, weaving in and out of each other beautifully.

'The Space Song' was my instant favorite. I had heard 'Save Me' before, though not the version on this CD. That's not a complaint exactly. While not the same song I had heard on "Roswell," it does have its own beauty in the bridge that I can't get out of my head.

'Patience' is a song I find myself humming when I haven't listened to the CD in days.

Catchy is not the word I'd use for this group and that's what sets them apart from song continously played on the radio, where the songs get stuck in your head in the most annoying ways. Haunting is better. A song comes to mind and you smile. It's a shame more people have not heard of The Pierces. I like having this little secret but I'd rather have them be a part of common consciousness.

Absolutely perfect for any mood.

I have to admit, I listened to this album relentlessly for a few months, and might still be listening to it in my car, if said car had not been stolen with said CD still inside. I subsequently bought all the Pierce albums I could, but this one remains my favorite of their releases.

Allison and Catherine Pierce grew up in Alabama, and depending on how much of their bio you want to believe, were home schooled by their parents: artist mother and musician father, and at one point were planning on careers as professional dancers.

First lets get some superficial trivia out of the way: yes The Pierces are a strikingly atractive pair, and yes Catherine was at one time engaged to Albert Hammond, Jr of the Strokes. Yes someone at "Gossip Girl" really likes them and keeps featuring their songs. No I don't watch "Gossip Girl."

The Pierces were first signed to Sony after a demo tape they'd made was circulated around Nashville by a friend, while the Pierce sisters were still attending college at Auburn university. Their debut album was released in 2000, to solid reviews, but was never marketed by the label.

Despite the understandable disappointment of being lost in one of the numerous record company shakeups of the last 15 years, The Pierces toured, continued to write songs, and eventually relocated to the New Jersey and New York area. They eventually signed with Universal, and made Light of the Moon with producer Brian Sperber, who has an eclectic resume of work with artists as diverse as Ozzy Osborne, Dinosaur Jr, De La Soul, Moby and Staind.

Light of the moon was released in 2005, and in my opinion represents the best of their three albums. The songs are excellent from start to finish, as the Pierce sisters had honed them during a period where they routinely performed their material live as an acoustic duo.

From what I've read, The Pierces were extremely unhappy with their experience as young artists signed to two major record labels. Light of the Moon was released during this period, and the Pierces have claimed in interviews that they felt the album was "over produced". Purely as a listener, I feel it captures their often airy hook laden songs, and fluent harmonies, and presents this material in a manner that really opens it up. The musicianship is outstanding, and the album really grabs people's attention. Don't be surprised when you play it at a party, and people start asking you: "who is this?"

Most of the subtle poetic lyrics on the album seem to be about relationships from a female perspective. They fit the melodies very well, and in many cases take a direct and candid approach that anchors their emotive vocal renditions, and lend the songs a feeling of real substance. Take for example, the album stand out "Save Me", reworked from a demo that received a degree of notice after it was featured in the TV series Roswell. The song's protagonist describes both fear and resignation over the abandonment she expects, once her lover discovers her checkered past.

"There's a lot you don't know.

And there's a lot I can't tell.

Would you think I'm crazy

If you knew me that well?

Cause there's a lot you don't know

But you say you won't go and I'd like to believe you."

Or the heartbreaking plain spoken, and enigmatic "Louisa" with its charming touch of southern colloquialism

"Don't you know you're my best friend?

I've been havin such a hard time makin new ones

I guess everything comes to an end

I had you for a moment, now you're gone"

The songs on Light of the Moon are beautifully rendered, with a consistent artistry and musicianship that should have been embraced by radio, but wasn't. The Pierces seem to be thriving now that they are Indie artists, but I personally didn't connect with the more experimental lo-fi direction they have taken with their latest album, Thirteen. For all the stripping down, their songwriting now seems to include more gimmickry. I guess what I like about the songs from "Light of the Moon" is their simplicity and earnestness, which ultimately gives them the staying power of the best classic pop songs.

It's a shame to think that the Pierces don't look upon this album with pride or even the same degree of affection as many of their fans do. Perhaps given time they will.

How these two aren't mega stars, I'll never know. This is a great album, one catchy and likable song after another, the kind of music that sticks with you long after it's over. When I need to hear something beautiful with substance, it doesn't get much better than this.

The Cd just came in perfect condition not a scratch the songs are amazing i had listened to them before hand but i coudln't find the cd anywhere at a good price and i finally found it and i jumped to the chance and it's amazing i love the pierces the have writen some really good songs from the start of their career this is their 2nd album and it's great nothing else to say