Labels: Jump Start Records
Review by: MH
2 tracks each here from a couple of US bands. Aspiga’s two tracks are a gentle kind of clean-cut punk with nasal vocals. They come across as an even poppier Tigers Jaw or Mixtapes, particularly on “Thanks, But I Can Throw Myself Out” – a wistful, poppy corker that would have me singing along if I was that way inclined. Hanalei are also fairly poppy and their two tracks are on the slower side. Apparently the frontman is the only mainstay of the band as Hanalei started off as a solo project and band members have changed depending on where he was living. On the mid-tempo and melodic “Get Gone” they do their best impression of Jets To Brazil. They also do a rather odd cover of a Jesus & Mary Chain song. Their two tracks don’t stand out for me and are inoffensive but a little on the bland side.
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Anyway, did you know that Hanalei is a place in Hawaii and it can also mean “crescent bay”? I also wanted to find out what Aspiga meant but failed miserably so I have to presume that they named themselves after the brand of flip-flops that I found when searching the internet for answers.