Kique Jiménez
Yet another fantastic album by the ever prolific Alexander Leonard Donat. Nostalgic, spectral; it's hard to pick a favorite track, since all of them are printed with their very own color and mood.
"What listening to Waterslide at 7am has shown me is Alexander Donat is a master at observational song writing. He takes day to day situations, finds the spark, the magic in them and spins a song so beautiful from it you would never know where the inspiration came from. For me that is something to shout about. There are few acts that can do this to the level shown on Fir Cone Children albums. Add to this the fact that he plays all of the instruments himself and you have one exceptional musician at the top of his game." - Static Sounds Club (UK)
"One of my favorite cassettes. [...] could be a modern version of The Beatles. [...] Overall this cassette has a dreamy, psych familiar sound to it. Is it because it feels like a movie I've seen or an animated series I've only dreamt about? Is it because it sounds like bands I've heard a lot before, such as Weezer and The Beatles? Or is it simply because I've listened to a lot of music by Fir Cone Children so what makes them sound so familiar now is just that I've heard them so many times before." - Raised By Cassettes (USA)
"What’s truly miraculous in this ecstatic roller coaster of pure vehemence is that this storytelling is tailored for punk/indie lovers without distinction, but it’s centered on routine actions to fight back lockdown jitters that impacted children. [...] Once again, Fir Cone Children is exploring the boundaries of their sound: the definition of this beauty is really tucked away on the top shelf of a an unreachable kitchen cabinet. It’s vast, immersive, at times meshugenah, smiley and immediately down in the dumps, exactly the swings we would expect from children, perfectly mirrored." - Quaquaversal (UK)
"[The] sixth album can be described as cheerful, melancholic, anxious and hyperactive. An excellent choice for those days when you don't understand your mood." - Shoegaze Blog (ITA)
"A bright bouncy slice of intelligent indie-pop with a slight goth edge to it [...] dreamy and angular [...] a day-glo punk feel to it, like they are pogoing across the seas into battle [...] space rock for kiddies cartoons [...] a good cartoon image [...] The album closes with the wonky pop explosion that is Waterslide At 7am." - Whisperin' and Hollerin' (UK)
"Delightfully upbeat, equally vibrant [...] with a shining sun beaming over the natural landscape" - The Big Takeover (USA)
"["Gekko-19"] - Dreamy, sparkling textures layer sad, nostalgic guitar melodies with abrasive reverb-laden chords to prickle and linger melancholic madness into the muted bass oscillations, cut with dull heart-thumping beats, while airy feather-light dual male-female vocals drown in emotional guilt and disbelief, grinding the mourning moods of downtrodden speculation under the ringing distortive howls of monstrous doom." - White Light White Heat (ITA)
"“Panic in The Mansion” is a perfect way to enter the album’s atmosphere. Tinkling piano opens the track which then leads into a frenetic rhythm and woozy guitar and synths. There’s a playful innocence with this track that is reminiscent of DIIV’s brand of shoegaze and Wild Nothing’s dream pop eloquence, but with Donat’s sort of caffeinated excitement that pushes the song along. His stacks of vocal melodies add a sort of “The Beach Boys in space” vibe." - Complex Distractions (USA)
"[Panic In The Mansion is a] refreshing song that is located in the grounds of indie rock with shoegaze tendencies, injected with a luminous piano riff that gives it pop hints, just brilliant" - Automatique (MEX)
ALBUM INFO
With barely a quarter of the year behind us there had already been tons of memes on the internet about how how messed up 2020 was. Now, half a year later, the situation hasn’t improved, on the contrary. While everyone is fed up with the pandemic coronavirus has steered us in, it has had a massive impact on artists, the music scene and the club culture in general. In all uncertainty, artists wrote (and still write) albums about their time in quarantine. “Waterslide At 7 A.M.” is one of them, however, it is different, as it focuses on what it feels like for children to grow up between the joys of life and the limitations COVID-19 has brought with it. In 2015, Fir Cone Children mastermind Alexander Donat made it his goal to dedicate each of his FCC albums to his two daughters (now aged 5 and 7), releasing one album every year. In 2020, on LP number six, the album title reflects the feeling of the past months: No matter what, you can still be excited about life, enjoy the huge playground life offers, yet everything feels a little odd these days. How could a child understand the impact on something that they cannot see, anyways? Fun, yes. Fear, unfortunately. Nobody is ready to easily slide down the steepest and wildest waterslide at a time when you usually start to wake up with a spoonful of cereals in your hand. The dream punk of Donat’s Fir Cone Children has become reflective and ruminative, when kids’ pets are dying (the darker DIIV-ish “Gekko-19” [feat. Krissy Vanderwoude]) and the motoric pop of “Furball Sun”), or grandparents can’t be visited due to a deadly virus (the wild, soaring “When This Is Over” with its blastbeats). Yet, in its bones the project has remained the life-affirming character it has always had: Take the first year at elementary school (the catchy “Soaking In” featuring Krissy once more), “Fold It!” (which includes instructions on how to build paper planes) and invented comic strip characters by the kids (the layered twang pop of “Max & Hax”). Fir Cone Children’s songs this time just take their moments and incorporate more classic 90s indie rock elements --- the self-imposed two minute punk mark is no longer a definitive rule.
As much as the album’s title, “Waterslide At 7 A.M.”, stands for an allegory of 2020, it does refer to an actual moment. Donat’s then 6-year old kid had to perform a song she wrote with her father for a videoclip that was made for a popular holiday parks brand in Europe. They had to meet at 7 A.M. in a waterpark before it officially opened to the visitors and the child was overwhelmed by the situation, dancing in a bathing suit, knee-deep in a swimming pool with cameras around you.
credits
released October 30, 2020
All songs written & performed by Alexander Leonard Donat
(except "Soaking In" and "Gekko-19", vocals by Krissy Vanderwoude)
Art: Alexander Leonard Donat
(except fruit bowl drawing by Laila Liisu Donat)
With “In Silver Halides,” Lowpines have created a collection of rich, textured, deeply-felt rock songs abounding in small sonic details. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 26, 2018
supported by 12 fans who also own “Waterslide At 7 A.M.”
Shoegaze ist die Kunst des Dröhnens, doch „Everything Is Alive“ setzt diese Elemente nur sparsam ein. Statt Hall- und Zerr-Sounds aufzutürmen, schäumt die Musik in feinen Bläschen über.
https://tortue.substack.com/i/140348114/slowdive-everything-is-alive-dead-oceans Daniel Welsch
