ELmagazine

ELmagazine.com / JAPAN

BEFRIENDED

the innocence mission / P-vine

The measure of comfort that Don and Karen Peris have provided to their cult over the past fifteen years is more than just a function of the gentle beauty of their songs. Sequestered in the sleepy town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, raising a family, going to church, and releasing an album every three years or so, the Perises embody the life they sing about more convincingly than many other pop artists, indie or otherwise. Perhaps it's their inability to be awed by their circumstances that explains how fresh they can sound with such a limited palette. They've done away with drums altogether, throwing the occasional tambourine in for rhythmic color, and their simple guitar-piano arrangements fit the abstract subjects of these songs perfectly. "Beautiful Change," with its crisp guitar harmonics, and "Sweep Down Early" feature melodies that seem to have been buzzing around your head for decades. Some artists can't handle volume, but the innocence mission actually thrives in quietude.