If there was any sort of justice in this crazy mixed up world, all the John Reisophiles out there would be beating a path to Sicbay’s door. First up is what this band does best: a throbbing, up-tempo number laced with slithering guitar lines and seething melodies. Something that I just can’t put my finger on suggests an odd sense of triumph, and rightly so, because it’s an absolute stormer. The second ditty kind of took me by surprise. Y’see, before the Chris Dodge band of the same name, and before most of us were using it as a rudimentary schoolyard insult, ‘Spazz’ was the title of a song by a 60s garage-fuzz act called the Elastik Band. Which is what we have covered here, replete with delicious guitar twangs and a merrily insane vocal delivery, faithfully rendered the Sicbay way. Awesome.
Valina were an unknown quantity before I flipped the record, and now I know them I’m more than glad to have made their acquaintance. Their side starts with a drifting, faraway slice of a cappella before descending into a hypnotic pulse of Sonic Youth-esque indie rock, threaded through with some mean sax. Male and female vocals intertwine effortlessly, giving the impression that Valina are one of those bands who are able to reel off lazily fantastic melodies as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The sods. Their side of the split is a grand thing indeed, and neatly complements Sicbay on the flip.
Top notch.