Labels: Song, By Toad Records
Review by: Alex Hannan
The 4-way split is an appealing format for up and coming sibling-ish bands like these four that share influences and gig bills, but display distinct musical personalities. Set in a mixed tracklist, each band’s traits feel fresh sandwiched between other flavours of songwriting and the listener is free to follow up their favourites in bigger chunks later. Each band is represented by 3 songs, aside from PAWS who get a fourth, the closing instrumental. As far as I can tell, the songs are exclusive to this release.
These are briskly captured session recordings rather than gleaming studio creations. According to the label, “the recording barely took longer than an hour or two per band, and we deliberately kept the mixes quite loose and unpolished.” This approach generally suits the songwriting and atmosphere here, since PAWS and DOLFINZ in particular are trading heavily on tunes and enthusiasm and SEX HANDS and WAITERS’ songs sit comfortably with a mid-fi treatment. On the odd occasion with the former two cute ramshackleness tips over into a wish that they’d done one or two more takes, so there will be some technical carping later in this review which you are free to ignore if you are so inclined.
PAWS have impressed me live, but nagging lyrical clichés have me gritting my teeth throughout their first track, “Kill a familiar”, in which an object of scorn is offered lines like “Oh how I’d hate to rain on your parade”, “I’m sure you’ve got a screw loose in your skull”, “God bless your cotton socks” and so forth. Off-key vocals spoil the verses of “Clementine” for me, otherwise a nifty little tune, as the vocalist repeatedly strains for and never quite nails a long climactic note. The BIG DEAL cover and the moody instrumental that round out the CD work a lot better for me.
DOLFINZ sound E-numbered up on their first two tunes: tempos vary with excitement level and they bash away with abandon. Gleeful stompbox use doesn’t save their first track “Jennifer Finch” from a lack of memorable ideas. The more angular guitar work of “Kitsch Craft” fits their general sound here better for me – wish it had stuck around more than a minute and a half before tailing off into abstract noise territory. “Teenage Bloom” slows things down a notch and has simple but gorgeous tremeloed-up guitar work – my favourite of their three.
SEX HANDS take a more discordant, repetitive approach, foregrounding twin guitar work with a loosely-tuned shamble which recalls a sprinkle of POLVO for me. Their songs reward repeated listens – I wasn’t initially keen but was won over by the atonal-PORTASTATIC stylings of “The one where the stripper cries”. Band name plus song titles like the above and “Gay marriage” left me initially dubious about their schtick, but it seems the titles are drawn from Friends episodes. Hmm, now I’m dubious in a different way.
WAITERS stood out to me from the first listen – they have the knack of weaving mystery around abstracted, serene jangle-pop episodes. “I hope your heart is not brittle” – era PORTASTATIC come to mind again along with the more obscure, wistful products of the Athens, GA. scene that R.E.M. sprang from. Like those bands, they wield evocative power even if you have no idea what they’re singing about… Not so keen on their last track, but “So-so” and “Vacillate wildly” are my pick of the record.