Labels: Sex is Disgusting
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I was pretty chuffed with that Mazes 7″ from a little whiles back, and these two new songs just confirm how fackin’ good they are. “Most Days” and “Vampire Jive” are exemplary examples of how to coax quality song writing and lo-fi flapping into a singular place, and come up with the goods. To my ears, this basically sounds like if Superchunk had a bunch of booze, and broke into a recording studio. Or, if you prefer, it’s a bit like Guided By Voices. Each track bumbles along with slightly peculiar squeaky vocals and much fuzzy guitar. “Vampire Jive” in particular is a total tune, although it barely troubles the attention span. Spin it for Spectrals on the flip, and they haven’t hooked me on vinyl just yet. Live, it made more sense, but on record it sounds like either they are really out of tune, or the vinyl is warped. They play slacker surf stuff, it’s exceptionally retro. The vocals are slurred and don’t even attempt to hold a tune. It basically sounds like a rejected Fred Thomas side project. I do love the booming production on “Can’t We Please Just Stop This Now” mind you, but I can’t quite find the appeal of these misguided adventures in cocking up the past just yet. However, like I said, live it somehow works. Don’t ask me. I just work here. This gets the blue badge for the Mazes side, and maybe I’ll figure out Spectrals eventually.