Pity Sex: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash + March 19, 2015 Long Branch Inn (SXSW – Austin, TX)

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

The Ann Arbor, MI-based band Pity Sex have done their homework. You’ll hear pieces of a number of 90s acts woven into their sound, which takes advantage of three band members (drummer Sean St. Charles and guitarists Brennan Greaves and Britty Drake) as vocalists and packs a suitably slacker attitude to go with wry-but-serious hooks. It’s pop-punk under a shoegaze haze, with lyrics that echo the band name — tales of breakups and half-assed hookups, self-loathing and dejection. Not to say that, when played to a teeming converted car wash full of what some tourist probably calls “Brooklyn hipsters” on a Saturday afternoon, Pity Sex’s sound isn’t a lot of fun. Joining at-times labelmates LVL UP and a number of like-minded others, Pity Sex delivered some of the best songs off of their current slate (2013’s Feast of Love and the Dark World EP that preceded it), plus their latest stuff, including the buzzed-about new single “What Might Soothe You?” On that note, for fans who’ve been clamoring for new material beyond just the single, there’s good news there, too: Pity Sex have a new record, White Hot Moon, coming out on Run For Cover records in 2016. Having caught this band at SXSW back in the spring, we were excited to see their progress since then at the car wash, and are sure more good things are in store for 2016.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other recordings of the day, with AT 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The SXSW set was recorded with Sennheiser cardiods and a soundboard feed. In both cases, the sound is good, but keep in mind that it’s reflective of the “DIY” nature of the events.

Download the Ad Hoc Car Wash set: [MP3] [FLAC]

Download the SXSW set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the Ad Hoc Car Wash set: 

Stream the SXSW set:

Pity Sex
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 30:42]
01 What Might Soothe You?
02 Drown Me Out
03 Keep
04 “Burden You” [title unknown]
05 Acid Reflux
06 Coca Cola
07 Wind-Up
08 Dogwalk

Personnel:
Sean St. Charles – Drums, vocals
Britty Drake – Guitars, vocals
Brennan Greaves – Guitars, vocals
Brandan Pierce – Bass

Tags: acidjack, Ad Hoc, Ad Hoc Car Wash, Ann Arbor, austin, brooklyn, live music, Pity Sex, pop-punk, shoegaze, SXSW