In a confused haze early Monday morning, when I first checked my email, I thought I had seen a ghost, or a fifth-dimension apparition, or maybe it was just that post-Sunday raging ketamine buzz. “New Pile? No. What? Really?” I went back to sleep, chalking it up to my mid-REM cycle intrusion, accepting that it was all a dream, a wondrous, wondrous dream. For a brief moment, Pile gave, but Pile quickly taketh away. Before mid-afternoon, the track had been taken down, Rick Maguire (frontman and mastermind of the Boston-based fourpiece) had posted on Facebook that he had put it up by mistake, titling himself “Mr. Derp.” How could this have happened? When would we get new Pile?
If you take a casual survey of one hundred people on the streets of any major American city, 99 of them will tell you that Pile is their favorite band*. The latest track, which is their first release since 2012's phenomenal Dripping, finally became available for streaming today, and it's nothing if not a perfect example of why literally, factually 99% of people can't get enough. “Special Snowflakes” is a long, dense tribute to all things that Pile does well: atonal melodies, abrasive yelling, tight low-end drumming, and high-pitched guitar squeals. The track is the stuff of music theory legend, and it proves one thing we've known all along: Pile is a rare snowflake.
You can stream “Special Snowflakes” over and over again at the embed below, then head to Pile's Bandcamp for a hard copy of the track as it pairs with “Mama's Lipstick”, the highly anticipated B-side. All of this will come to you on March 11 through Exploding In Sound Records.
*Not tested.
