Friday, April 10, 2020

Spells - Stimulants & Sedatives LP - Purple Vinyl (/200)

Untitled

Snappy Little Numbers (2020)

I find it impossible to believe that it's been nearly four years since the first Spells full length came out.  That's an album that really jumped out as something special at the time of its release and, to me, it's only gotten better as I've listened to it over the years.  There's been a bunch of singles and songs making their way to the masses in the interim, but it's nice to finally have a brand new full album from this band.

The record is broken up into two sides, Stimulants on side A and Sedatives on side B.  The Stimulants side is fast with loud catchy songs and the sort of RFTC era Rocket From The Crypt style singalong backing vocals that I love.  "Nose Dive" and "Down Every Road" stand out as my favorites of the bunch.  They're catchy and just brimming with energy.  When this band is on, they're really on.

The Sedatives side doesn't really sound all that different from the Stimulants side to be totally honest.  Yes, in general the songs are a little slower, but it's not like the band has decided to break out power ballads or anything weird like that.  I'm also just a very shallow and unobservant man, so there may be a very striking artistic statement going on that I'm too dumb to see.  All I care about is that this side of the album still showcases a band cranking out great songs, with the sort of vibe that makes you want to go to one of their shows, grab the stranger next to you around the shoulders and just jump up and down screaming along to the lyrics all night long.

Spells - Stimulants & Sedatives:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/stimulants-sedatives

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