Every once in a while it warms my heart to get such labor intensive, etravagant gifts from people I don't even know inviting me out for a beer. Cory and Marc from Brooklyn's Lizard Kisses sent me a test pressing of their latest ultra handmade single, a split with Vancouver BC'sMy Friend Wallis, who has since gone on to record under White Poppy. The imperfect hissy, fading format of the lathe cut adds another element to this already ghostly sounding single.
Lizard Kisses "Water Tap" is a god damn gorgeous tropical sounding beat with high watery vocals. It's this gorgeous Real Estate sound, a perfect groove and falsetto vocals, barely rising over the shimmery guitar sounds. On top of the etherial quality, I can hear this degrading as I'm playing it. This temporal party fading into the night. I love this vocal.... at times just sounds with this barely recognizable title chorus. A jangly guitar disappearing into blown out treble.. but clearly a beach jam, where's the kettle drum? Like Ski Lodge's lazy pop with Deerhoofs idiosyncracies...kind of an enthusiastic good time but tempered by the cool loner sound. Like the northeast rocky, cloudy beach maybe? It's windy, hinting at a sandy time. This time, blindingly sunny, glinting off the rolling waves. Cranking up a low lathe cut is not a goood idea, the crackles and pops get deafening, but I want this to really take over.
My Friend Wallis does "The color of water" - Heavy rhythm mechanics put in their place with this soloing chorus giutar, the rhythms separated into a hazy really dense mess. It's a kind of ancient groove, atmospheric Ducktails sound going on here, without the overwhelming texture to place it so specifically in an era. Lots of percussive synth sounds with a couple hundred guitars winding around each other over a sort of almost casio beat. A real chorus sound, fading out like a tempured Cure track, but poppy, really great compliment to the A-side of this, these guys are easily in love with each other. This lathe cut is certainly helping add layers to this thing. Driving sunny rhythm in lots of directions.
I like that we almost catch this in the middle of it coming into existence... right where it's starting to pick up and it quickly starts to fade out, this sunset of a track. The whole thing sounds like it comes to an end, but just shifts tempo to super slow mode. Chorusy and warm as anything, the beat is gone and it's reaching for the starts, in a subdued, epic way.
Great cover collages by both bands on heavy chipboard, sending them back and forth across north america and a lathe cut to boot? Labeled with an old school raised letter labeler. Why do I love seven inches? Because of releases like this.
It's sold out, but god make someone repress this, or give Lizard Kisses and White Poppy a chance at a full length already. If you are a millionaire who regularly reads seven inches and needs someone to curate bands for your first couple of releases on your new label, please contact me at jdean99 at gmail.
These covers are all great, looks like they might have a few still available go pick this up.
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