Distant Hearts a Little Closer

EDITORIAL REVIEWS
Dublin's Joan of Arse recorded their new LP, Distant Hearts, A Little Closer, last spring on our shores oddly enough, with Chicago's very own Steve Albini. The gorgeous sounds are complemented wonderfully by the handiwork of Low's Zak Sally for the album's artwork as well. Distant Hearts. is a record that easily defies description, moving effortlessly from Crazy Horse-inspired, rock anthems to melancholic, folk-tinged ballads. The end result is a work of great depth and beauty that reveals something new with each listen.

PLAY-BY-PLAY: Opening track THE SLAVES ARE IN THE GALLEYS, SHARPENING THEIR OARS delves into the rifftastic early QUEEN catalogue whilst providing us with some of the most acerbic lyrics since THE FATIMA MANSIONS. Its suitably followed by the early NEIL YOUNG singalong THINGS ASLEEP IN THE SUN. A sparse and scary gothick-folk song A SPELL CAST WITH FINGERS tells us the story of the hate that love inspires, whilst the epiphanic WAS CHRIST AMONG US THAT NIGHT builds to such a cathartic angelic fury that we almost find ourselves on a helter-skelter nightmare trip to Lourdes with LOW on the headphones. THE BELLRINGERS WARNINGS AND OTHER STORIES provides us with a relentless tale of rebellion and revolution set to a soundscape by BUILT TO SPILL,and the epic jewelling-guitar rock workout (with echoes of BLONDE REDHEAD) of AT THE FEET OF SAINT PETER ends up in an orgiastic frenzy of lustrous MBV cacophanies. Fans of TELEVISION beware! Final track WATCHING FILMS WITH THE SOUND DOW! N sounds like the forgotten TV theme tune of some twisted country cousins playing warped acoustica and preparing to pluck out until the end of the storm.



REVIEW
Imagine putting several centuries of bloody history and encasing them in the fragile shell of a sprawling Dublin-based band. -- Mark Desrosiers, Pop Matters, January 17, 2003

This is just plain great a really eclectic mix of twangy pop rock, acoustic ballads, and dense as hell rock. -- GC, Geek America, January 1, 2003

This quartet's vibrant take on twenty years of American alternative rock produced one of the best albums of 2001. -- Martin Aston, The Times (London), November 2001

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Dublin-based JOAN OF ARSE drifted into existence around 1996 and have ranged in size from one to five people. They are currently a very stable FOUR-PIECE. They've managed to garner a fair amount of critical acclaim and radio airplay for their first releases, including an Album of the Year nod in Hot Press for "Lost at Sea" and spins from John Peel (Radio 1), Dave Fanning (2FM) and John Kennedy (XFM). Since solidifying, the band has built a broad Irish fan base through gigging across Ireland with Grandaddy, Bonnie Prince Billy, Jim O'Rourke and Papa M to name a few and even touring Ireland with Low. In April 2001, Joan of Arse came to Chicago to record their second album, Distant Hearts, A Little Closer, with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio.

See more

Number of Discs: 1

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.