The Splinters on Southpaw Records

Southpaw's got another good one on the heels of the Shannon and the Clams and Bare Wires singles, I can paypal as fast as they can release them. Try me.
So here's a new single I had to check out from the Splinters, I think I noticed them coming up a lot in different searches...I even remembered really liking a youtube video they posted...not because it's a super inventive music video or anything, it's just the energy they had from just a backyard crappy show was great, and I reminisced about the promise of certain bands who lose that sincere first album excitement along the way and end up sounding too produced, too stiff, that it deviates too far from why I liked them in the first place. There's something missing the more a band like that records...why was the Vivian Girls, 'Everything goes wrong' album missing something? It was more than being fed up with the sound, because I gotta say freaking Beach House isn't that different when you start listening to the reverb echo soaked effects. I think they suffered from that second album disease where you're trying too damn hard?

'Blood on my hands' one of the tracks on this sounds like the Bangles, and I can't shake it... that slow 4-part harmony, and look at that sleeve! It probably was an old photo shoot from Electra...did they photoshop their faces? One of them should be wearing a pair of those giant prescription cokebottle glasses and I would understand the acid wash. I don't know if this is a sincere nod to th? The tracks are squeaky clean sounding, with raw electric, Matthew Melton at the studio controls gives the guitar that same pop punk un-effected sound. To hear this laid back harmony with no echo/ reverb effects on it? It's fucking shocking practically... Or you found some old Bangles 45's.
Jen Kelly from Dusted has a problem with their lyrical content...and I'd agree that between losing a lot of the energy from that live clip I saw, and this low key delivery ...I just don't know that content makes a song...ever, but it can certainly add to what's going on.
I do know I want to see them live...that always separates the OK from the great.

Get it from Southpaw Records.

On their debut SOUTHPAW release The Splinters show us they are perfecting their blend of 90’s grrl rock and mid – fi garage rock, while wearing their influences on their sleeves with their stellar Ian MacKaye and Carrie Brownstein influenced guitar work. Recorded by Bare Wires frontman Matthew Melton to give it that extra charm and authenticity that Melton is know for.

Press of 500

The Splinters on Double Negative Records

I don't know if I just got dissillusioned with the Coathangers from the slightly letdown sound of their self titled, or if they were they like the Vivian Girls, they blew up before I could get the hang of them? They start to feel a little too contrived?
I don't know, I'm not ready to give up on the Coathangers yet, I think their Self Titled didn't capture what I liked about how sloppy and fun they were live. It's more contained on the record, all the instruments sound separated, the vocals sound restrained....trust me I've been listening to it a bunch to try to like it again. I just remember why it isn't doing it for me....the recording. I loved them live. The personality is kind of missing a little, the attitude, the keyboard sounds...well...actually good. I guess I wanted it to sound a little more raw, garagey.

Anyway I ran across this single from the Splinters which made me want to revisit the Coathangers because I have the same feeling with these guys especially based on that youtube video for the A-Side 'Splintered Bridges', their having such an unpretentious good time. That performance is everything that I love about playing in the backyard when it comes together and create something out of the simplest things...the whole time making it sound completely new. It's one of those little videos that's inspiring and I remember why I spend time tracking down these singles and why they are so important...breaking bands like this.
The track on the myspace feels like they capture most of this energy, especially in the vocals. It's a harmonized layered chorus mixed perfectly. Right in the middle of the room sound, you're there. It's killing me trying to figure out what else this is reminding me of...the Yips! The raw pure songwriting that comes out of a random day fucking around, having a few too many drinks...the stuff that isn't too dramatic, but is a perfect glimpse of the everyday.
Ok I'm building this up too much now, it's just hitting the right tone for today or something.

If that wasn't enough I like the B-Side 'Sorry' even more. Just when you think it's going all out 60's throwback girl harmony shangri-la's (another reference I keep seeing lately) they go and pull out this lyric driven almost bedroom Softies sound. It's not twee or anything, there's a grrrrl attitude, but it's homemade, with a restrained catchy guitar melody under this intimate layered vocal. Great. Completely sincere anti-love letter where they aren't sorry dad doesn't like you and they aren't quitting smoking. So there.

I'm waiting to hear what's next.

Get it from Double Negative records on the west coast.

Couches on 20 Sided Records

It's an unintentional coincidence that the label 20 Sided Records is run (just like The Funs) by the three gentlemen of Couches. I think every band should start their own label. Honestly what was the reason for giant labels being in the middle of this whole thing? Maybe there was a time when unless you were willing to tour incessantly for years at every random venue and spread by word of mouth there wasn’t another way to interact with fans all over the country. You can be annoyed at the internet but it’s allowed for more DIY than ever before and is worth sifting through worthless gifs and facebook posts to be able to easily track down a label like this.

Warm guitar tones open A-Side's "California" with lots of compressed reverb, the vocals get right into singing about the state and you can hear those pilowy strings bouncing around reminding a lot of Pinback’s exaggerated harmonies and over the top production. Two riffs wind back and forth with huge channel separation in the vocal track, making real specific interesting changes. It’s even like Why?’s playful approach to the lyric about his state and weird instrumentation. When this breaks into a heavy sludgy ending for a measure their crisp production is brought into an even tighter focus; the melody shift in the lyric, spreading the notes way apart while that huge metal haze piles in again turning this into earlier decades hard sound. Makes California sounds pretty nice and this track is as sunny and clear as those cloudless days.

B-Sides" Killer Mutant Butterfly" opens up the left channel with an understated riff in a bending Built to Spill epic style, the swirly layered guitars all but lying just on the surface of this deep pool. The second the lyric starts the delayed tight melody splinters into a million pieces the vocal finding space between them. It gets hazy just before the sharp, quick verse comes in, making it that much closer to Why?'s weird combinations of genre’s. The way they seemingly ignore trends, they’re off on their own path getting something this unique and separated from anything else. When the hiss is stripped away the clarity of this stands out even more while taking the long way home with this track jamming in every last rotation. It's an extended cut that leaves you wanting to hear more of their controlled chaos.

Great interview from Gelatinous Blog over here that got me started on that corporate label rant.

Get this from 20 Sided Records.

Hot Dolphin on Negative Fun Records singles club

Hot Dolphin is the stuff they accidentally catch while net fishing for Hot Tuna. Don't be stupid, they're a rock four piece from Richmond Virginia with a massively blown out sound that's fuzzy, punk and hardcore. So maybe it is that stuff - no wonder people are pissed. It's the best part.

A-Side's "Body Snatcher" launches a heavy snare explosion right into a springy bass sound, like the stuff on Shellac records but the whole thing comes on with a freakish speed, overdriven many times into the red. I also thought this was playing at the wrong speed with her deep throaty vocals from Lindsey. It's clearly printed 45 and this hyper fuzz would be at an unplayable speed. I don't think I truly understood the level of peaked out fuzz until they pause at the end of a riff, winding up for the next chord and you hear that magnetic tape just giving up. These aren't effects it's the attempt to capture a sound that is beyond comprehension. Just like those guys that go into haunted houses with Infrared goggles and weird UV devices, they're only ever going to get hints at this bigger picture. I don't mind this thin horizontal slice, it's just going to make the live show that much more essential.
B-Side's "Cat Sweaters" is locked into the horrendously (awesome) blown out guitars which are smashed right into the top of things, the drums are splintering those sticks into splinters and managing to be heard under the crunchy thick groove of blanket distortion. Almost taking their time on this one, there's a feedback harmonic hum making up the pauses between verses sound like Low Fat Getting High covering Bikini Kill. Lindsey screams "You're dead to me!" over and over, must be because of the sweaters. "Paint Dry" finds Lindsey's lower creak vocal with a high tempo track about paint drying. You can't say they don't have a sense of humor, managing to get this fully between the limits of the recording device but not the speed. This might be the perfect metaphor for these guys though, if this is the sound of them watching paint dry then everyone else in the world is practically standing still.

Get this from Negative Fun Records direct. Or the whole damn set.