Pickwick
High-voltage garage soul featuring soaring falsetto and gritty analog grooves. It is the sound of a 1960s R&B revue crashing into a modern indie rock basement show.
High-voltage garage soul featuring soaring falsetto and gritty analog grooves. It is the sound of a 1960s R&B revue crashing into a modern indie rock basement show.
Pickwick sounds like a vintage soul record that has been left in the sun until the edges started to curl and smoke. It is anchored by Galen Disston's incredible vocal range, which can pivot from a sandpaper growl to a glass-shattering falsetto in a single breath. The music is propulsive, driven by a rhythm section that understands the 'pocket' but isn't afraid to get messy with garage-rock distortion.
What truly sets them apart is the tension between their polished R&B influences and their Pacific Northwest indie-rock roots. While they channel the spirit of Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, the production feels modern and urgent, often incorporating the fuzzy textures and sharp angles of the Seattle scene. It is soul music for people who grew up on punk and lo-fi.
Start with 'Can't Talk Medicine' to hear them at their most cohesive. The track 'Lady Luck' is the perfect entry point, showcasing their ability to take a soulful foundation and elevate it with haunting, atmospheric vocal layers and a groove that feels both classic and entirely new.
Pickwick is an American indie rock, garage rock, R&B band from Seattle, Washington. The group initially started out as a folk band, but after a 2008 tour in California the group discarded its material and changed their sound. The band's name stems from Pickwick Records, where Lou Reed was employed as a songwriter in the 1960s. The group released a series of three 7" singles, also issued digitally, in 2011, and compiled them on a CD-EP entitled Myths. This was one of the best-selling albums in local Seattle stores in 2012. On the strength of their early single releases, they began selling out local shows in Seattle at venues such as the Neptune and the Showbox at the Market. The band's debut full-length, Can't Talk Medicine, was released independently in the United States and on Dine Alone Records in Canada on March 12, 2013. Bandmember Kory Kruckenberg, who won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Engineered Classical Album, produced the album with the band. The group recruited Sharon Van Etten to sing on Can't Talk Medicine. She sings on the track "Lady Luck", a Richard Swift cover. Swift also collaborated on the album. Reviews of Can't Talk Medicine likened the band to The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, and Sam Cooke.
Shares garage rock, soul, tape saturation, analog warmth (signature)
Shares garage rock, analog warmth, indie rock, noise textured (signature)
Shares garage rock, tape saturation, analog warmth, indie rock (signature)
Shares garage rock, tape saturation, indie rock, live recording (signature)
Shares garage rock, dusk, indie rock, noise textured (signature)
Shares garage rock, tape saturation, analog warmth, dusk (signature)
Shares garage rock, analog warmth, dusk, noise textured (signature)
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