* Le Fits
Like great New Wave bands of yore, Le Fits began at art school. While studying for his MFA in Art at Mills College in Oakland, CA, Ben Riesman began producing songs in his art studio. Arranging these rather catchy folksy pop tunes with ecclectic instrumentation and drawing musicians from the renowned Mills Experimental Music program, the recordings eventually became the album Near Fits (a scramble of "Fine Arts") which was released in 2006 and a band was formed. Garnering many local fans through radio play and a few early shows, Ben put together an ecclectic band that included a musical saw and horn section and the band began to play to a growing number of fans in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ben and friends went on to produce Le Fits Sportif and went on tour on the East and West Coasts. "Sportif is... Stellar indie pop reminiscent of Elephant 6 bands, with an effortless and engaging quirkiness layered on top of sweet catchy melodies." (The Bay Bridged). Le Fits Live shows are always "Full of Energy" (Fake Science) and touring has garnered Le Fits many happy fans. Ben relocated to Philadelphia in 2009, where he has reformulated Le Fits with a new cast of musicians.They are presently working on a new album, and playing shows on the East Coast. The Song, "A Hole in One" was featured in the recent indie film "Birds of America" (starring Hillary Swank, Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin). |
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"Highly Innovative Pop Exploration" (Performer Magazine) |
Coming Soon... Near Fits release on Vinyl! For Info/Sign Up to get a copy >
"A must have for fans of Lou Reed and Luna, no two songs sound the same" -What's Up Magazine
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*Press
"Effortless and engaging quirkiness layered on top of sweet catchy melodies" - The Bay Bridged
"Fits have earned a gold star with this release... This album is so good it feels like Hawaiian Hula music even though it clearly isn't. Put the 12 tracks on repeat for awhile and while away the hours." - The Owl Mag [Read the Review]
"Highly innovative pop exploration" - Performer Magazine
"Near Fits is... brimming with indie pop gems, with a little bit of folk thrown in for good measure...Ball of Twine"...hooked me within the first 10 seconds and the song just gets better and better after that with the guitar stealing the show, dancing and wiggling all over the place." - SKATTERBRAIN [Read the Review]
"Each of the dozen tunes is an endearing folksy pop gem with vocals that reminded us of J Mascis." - Aquarius Records
"Full of energy" - FAKESCIENCE [Read the Review]
"Wonderful indie pop!" - KZSU [Read the Review]
"... confident and energized ballad-country. "Near Fits" is recommended to listeners who enjoy an Elephant Six twist to their DIY pop." - Christopher Petro , Performer Magazine
"...and the equally short aufschrillenden guitar noise in the "Psychic Voodoo is facing" the same attention as the main part of himself in "Magic Potion" finally be gleaned all the instruments in this one piece again. Thus, each track gets its own unique flavor. This strategy is the sure guarantee of Widererkennens." We have absolutely no idea what this means, but using Google translator on this German Review is pretty funny. [ Soundmag.DE ]
*Photos
Le Fits at the Independent, San Francisco
Le Fits at 12 Galaxies San Francisco
At the Hotel Utah
ben and sara who started the band the near fits together in 03 ~ sara now lives in england