By Stan Cierlitsky
It's quite surprising that Pete Fij (AKA Pete Fijalkowski) is releasing his debut album more than 30 years after bursting onto the scene with his post-shoegaze / pre-Britpop band Adorable. It's even more surprising that it's an upbeat record and a celebration of life. Pete's new one, Up's the New Down has been slowly leaking out since last summer when his debut single "Complicated" came out. I was immediately taken by his new sound, which is quite a bit different from his earlier projects.
For those of you not familiar with Pete, he started in the early Nineties with one of my favorite Creation Records bands, Adorable. We only got two albums from them before they broke up, but they were brilliant ones. "Glorious" and "Homeboy" are two of my favorite songs of life. Pete next joined forces with his brother Krzys to form the again short-lived band Polak. I'd have to say, if you can compare his new sound with any of his old projects to me this is the closest. Polak also released just two albums in the early part of this century, and the brilliantly insightful Not Listening has to be my favorite. Around this time, The Independent called Pete "the most gifted lyricist since Jarvis Cocker last put pen to paper" and I wouldn't argue with that. His last project was with the great House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers and was appropriately titled Pete Fij & Terry Bickers, and -- of course! -- they only released two albums. The tunes of this project were a little slower and quieter, though numbers like "Out of Time" and "Betty Ford" are classic.
As I mentioned, we have been getting a steady stream of singles from Up's The New Down since last summer. That stream started with "Complicated", a song which is a combination of post-punk dream-pop with a heavy dose of fuzzed guitars. After that we got four more singles, and all are very good. "Love's Coming Back" was one of my favorite songs of 2025. I can't pinpoint that sound on this one. He has a way of sounding classic and new at the same time. I really get the feeling that Pete and I have been listening to a lot of the same music over the last 30 years. Of the three new singles this year, "Don't Bring Me Sunshine" is my favorite. Pete's voice has always been one of my favorites, and his lyrics have always been some of the best: "Don't bring me sunshine, because I'm blinded by the rays that it sends. Don't send me roses, because I'm allergic to the sentiment."
For those of you keeping up with the singles, you already have half of the new album. Up's the New Down has 10 songs, and they honestly all seem worthy of being singles. "Hey Sunshine" has a slower Western vibe that ends kind of funky thanks to the keyboards. "Kitchen Disco" is a fun song, but it really reminds me of Shriekback. Again, there are lots of keyboards on this one. Another favorite of mine is "Fragments", the closer here. It's a bit of a longer song, and starts out slow and eerie. It will remind you a little bit of early stuff from The Cure. And, of course, the song builds and ends gloriously.
Again, I could not be happier that this record exists, and if history holds, then perhaps we will get a second album before the next intermission. I won't hold my breath for a US tour to support Up's The New Down so I guess I'll just hold onto one of my favorite memories of seeing Adorable live at the old 9:30 Club in the early Nineties. And I can't believe that was over 30 years ago! Glad Pete is still making music though.
Up's The New Down by Pete Fij is out today. Details below.
[Photo: Lorna Allan]