The Band: PILE

The Release: ‘YOU’RE BETTER THAN THIS’

The Formats: COMPACT DISC & DOWNLOAD

The Release Date: MARCH 2ND 2015

The Label: FIERCE PANDA RECORDS

The Truth: The indisputable heroes of Boston's burgeoning indie rock scene hardly need an introduction. The band's name speaks volumes to most, and to the rest...it soon will. Earning the reputation of "your favourite band's favourite band," the quartet known as PILE (Rick Maguire (vocals / guitar), Kris Kuss (drums), Matt Connery (bass) and Matt Becker (guitar)) have been setting the DIY indie punk scene ablaze since 2009, developing a unanimously praised back catalogue and a legion of diehard fans throughout the entire country and abroad in the process.

Armed with previous albums ‘Dripping’ (2012), ‘Magic Isn’t Real’ (2010) and ‘Jerk Routine’ (2009), all the way back to the aptly-titled first ever ‘Demonstration’ tape release, the band have toured heavily with their heavy sound over the past six years, playing all ages venues and basements in the spirit of DIY culture with peers Speedy Ortiz, Big Ups, LVL UP, Two Inch Astronaut and Krill as well as support shows with bands like Obits, Ex Hex and Metz.

Following the release of their criminally overlooked 'Special Snowflakes' single in March ’14 and a year spent touring, Pile returned to the studio last October to record 'You're Better Than This' at Omaha's Another Recording Company with producer Ben Brodin. The result of those sessions is Pile at their absolute finest, a perfect mix of the band's ferocious and gentle sides, an undeniably explosive record that twists and convulses with unexpected turns at every corner.

Pile's exceptional ability to warp through loud-soft-loud dynamics is on full display, forgoing predictable song structures and triumphantly crushing any false sense of security. 'You're Better Than This' is comforting one moment and brutal the next, ripping through influences that include post-punk, noise rock, folk songwriting and a particularly colossal take on indie rock.

‘Cohesive’ is perhaps a strange word to use anywhere near Pile’s frequently perplexing gear shifts and occasionally pole-axing riffs, yet there is indeed a cohesion to this maddening-but-gladdening collection. Indeed, Stereogum hurtled into the new year by premiering the pithily-titled album track ‘#2 Hit Single’ with the words: “This is one of those rock songs performed with the aggression of a metal song – that is, it conks you across the face at the start and never lets up from there, jerking and jabbing with such a violence that you might not notice the sly melodic outbursts that occasionally blast off amidst the mayhem.”

Pile start touring the US proper on February 24th and carry right on through to May 20th, which we guestimate to be 73 dates, roughly speaking. And then a week later they’ll be coming to Europe for the first time ever. It’s gonna be a blast to the last…