Cool Hunting

Embodying the perfect marriage of subtle skill and charming sincerity, The Finches thankfully deliver on the promise of their 6-song debut EP, maintaining that release's spare instrumentation and generally subdued tone on their latest, titled Human Like a House. The duo of Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs and Aaron Morgan thankfully resist the temptation to weigh down their songs with excessive overdubs and overblown production, relying instead on the delicate interplay of their finger-picked guitars to carry them through these twelve tracks and embellished here and there with the smallest flourishes of cello, pedal steel and recorder.

While many reviews I've read point to Vashti Bunyan as a key reference in describing The Finches, their undeniably North American sound more accurately calls to mind the self-titled 1970 album by Fraser & Debolt. In this post-Will Oldham world where our cups overfloweth with all things folk, it is the honest voice and singular wordplay of Riggs that float The Finches to the top. Listen to tracks on the Finches' MySpace or pick it up from Amazon or iTunes

If you're in NYC, don't miss them performing live this Thursday, 1 March 2007, at Cakeshop.

Cool Hunting readers have an opportunity to win a copy of the newly released album by The Finches or a lovely Finches tote bag. To enter, follow the contact link at the bottom of the page, select "Finches Giveaway" from the pull-down menu and send us your answers to both questions before this Wednesday, 28 February 2006, 11:59pm EST. The first two people to answer both of the following questions correctly will win either the CD or the bag.

Q. What was Carolyn's first choice of instrument?

Q. What French song does the Finches "The House with Two Front Doors" borrow a melody from?

by Michael Talbott