Music
Press
"Boy girl duo Pin Me Down have come up with a right proper ditty, that's dead catchy too. Driving, jangly guitar riffs and sing song vocals give "Cryptic" an immediacy destined for major airplay..."
i-Dm July 28 - i-D Magazine (UK)
"It's compositional effort rather than any specific sound that defines the compilation's several successes. Pin Me Down's by turns sneering and sighing "Cryptic" aims for a midpoint between the Bush Tetras and early Bananarama, and comes out sounding like an ace angry Girls Aloud single. Which should tell us two things: Firstly, that combining rock guitar and beat-heavy electronic production in pop songs isn't so novel that these artists deserve a medal just for turning up, and, conversely, that this very combination can aspire to pop majesty when the participants try hard enough."
Pitchfork Media, Feb. 6, 2008 - Pitchfork Media
Inside Bloc Party there's clearly a happy band dying to get out. After the fireworks of Flux, here's Russell Lissack weaving choppy guitars under Milena Mepris' strident vocals to produce effervescent disco-punk as Pin Me Down. Granted it sounds all a bit Trash [London nightclub]circa 2004, but it's well turned. And it starts with the beeping sound of a lorry reversing. More records should. The Guardian, May 31 - The Guardian
A Bloc Party side project turns out to be quite brilliant...all you really need to know is that Pin Me Down is the fit bloke from Bloc Party and some bird called Milena Mepris making good sounding, good looking electro pop. So well done them. "
Jan 25, 2008 - Popjustice.com
Ever wondered what Russell Lissack does when he's not playing with Bloc Party or getting his fringe retouched? Well he's formed a side-project Pin Me Down with American songwriter and rock-goddess-in-the-making Milena Mepris....She sings killer pop hooks like a dead ringer for Kim Wilde, while he splurges his distinctive riffs all over them to make anthemic floorfillers such as "Cryptic."...
- NME
"Given Lissack's global success and Mepris's own solo work, it's hardly surprising it's taken so long for Pin Me Down to release anything but, Lord have mercy, the wait has been worth it. The track "Cryptic" throbs with an infectious 80s dance-pop finesse that showcases her ear for an anthem and his all-encompassing musical flair - and it's just the tip of an extremely large iceberg, considering that they already have two album's worth of material."
- Dazed and Confused Magazine (UK)
What happens when you take one pasty British indie boy with a scene-defining haircut and pair him up with a sass-packed New York lass with a hectic pair of lungs on her? Pin Me Down, that's what; Russell Lissack and Milena Mepris' 80s worshipping electric rock duo who make fripping immense tunes like this one, and which are as mindlessly disco ad they are beard-strokingly clever. Sorry Kele, but Russell may be some time...
NME, May 30, 2008 - NME
What does Bloc Party's Russell do when his mates take a break? He teams up with his friend Milena Selkirk and writes songs that hark back to the days of Pat Benatar, B-52s and the Go-Gos. There are some remixes, too, but it;s the original that makes me jump up with joy. - Music Week (UK)
‘Cryptic’ aptly demonstrates the absurdity of genres and delineation in music. To some this will sound like a Bloc Party riff blu-tacked onto a dance beat, while to others a Girls Aloud demo, which actually aren’t a million miles apart as the Arctic Monkeys/Girls Aloud love-in (can’t see why the boys would have wanted to myself) ably demonstrated.
This is Bloc Party’s guitarist Russell Lissack and New York songwriter Milena Mepris paired up for one of those ‘2 albums in; time for a side-project’ moments. Unlike the Shadow Puppets however, this feels breezier and less weighted down by expectation.
It opens with one ear splitting air horn, before an immediately familiar guitar chop charges in. At first it doesn’t quite stick, barely enough to warrant a second listen, but press replay and you won’t regret it. “A little bit Cryptic” is the sweetest romp of a chorus, while the indie-esque verses are bizarrely complemented by assured early 90’s dance influenced production."
July 2, 2008 - Rockfeedback.com
Discography
"Cryptic" 12" vinyl and digital single (2008) - Kitsune records.
"Pretty In Pink" and "Ticking" are streaming on the band's website and the band has received radio airplay in Europe, US, and Japan
Photos
Bio
Meshing influences from the 80s with a futuristic soundscape, Pin Me Down make dance music for rock kids, or “apocalyptic pop” as singer/songwriter/guitarist Milena Mepris likes to describe it.
Pin Me Down began when British guitarist Russell Lissack (of the band Bloc Party) met Milena Mepris in New York City, when Mepris’s former band Black Moustache supported Bloc Party at the legendary Knitting Factory. The two shared guitar equipment at the show and instantly became friends, bonding over guitar playing, Twin Peaks, as well as the bands they loved like Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, and 80’s guilty pop pleasures like Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. Armed with identical laptops and protools music programs, the two began sending songs they had each written back and forth over the Internet. Lissack had many song ideas, in addition to those he worked on with Bloc Party, many revealed a more sensitive side, while some featured his signature guitar delay textures and blistering riffs. Mepris, an accomplished songwriter and singer who often writes for others with a back catalog of over 300 songs, played Lissack some tunes she’d written for herself.
It was only a matter of time before the pair began to assemble songs together. Whenever their busy schedules would permit, they recorded demos together in whatever city was convenient, until they felt ready to take the next step and flesh out their songs properly in the studio. Bringing in producer, drummer, jack-of-all-trades Alex Elena, they camped out in the heart of New York City’s east village to make their debut album of danceable, heartfelt songs. While the melodies and lyrics deal with love, loss, and the (sometimes crumbling) world around them, one of Pin Me Down’s main concerns was to make sure their music was sassy fun.
When their first single “Cryptic,” the duo’s ode to modern pop culture and the unknown, appeared on February’s Kitsune Maison 5 GOLD compilation in Europe, the band was singled out and praised by the likes of NME, Dazed and Confused, Pitchfork Media, The Times (of London) and Drowned In Sound. Pin Me Down will now release “Cryptic” as a single on May 19, 2008 on Kitsune on 12” vinyl and digital formats. The single will feature remixes by acclaimed producer and remixer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Babyshambles, New Order, Kate Nash), Dave P and Adam Sparkles (remixers to Klaxons, The Rapture, Bloc Party), as well as a mix by Pin Me Down’s own Russell Lissack and Jamie Ellis.
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