Carrie Brownstein (rock goddess extraordinaire), several years ago, was in a little duo called The Spells with Mary Timony. They released an EP, and then ran out of time and never got anywhere with it.
Apparently, they recorded a few more song than were on the EP, and Carrie just released them on her blog. According to Carrie, they were just sitting around so, “…why not?”
I suppose this means that The Spells will never release an album now, but I’m certainly not going to complain. Four songs is infinitely better than nothing! And the songs are pretty darn cool, so go and listen now – they’re only available for two weeks.
Thoughts on the individual tracks:
Bat Vs. Bird
Punk rock style riffs plus a really beautiful melody plus sound effects! Timony has a very unique singing style, moving through the odd intervals in the opening easily. The hissing s’s are a nice touch, and the ‘fall’ (for lack of a better word) at the end of the chorus “listen to the birds… as they call”
The song is delicate, almost a ’springtime’ song, with just a touch of sadness. Being chased by a vampire bat never sounded more appealing!
Viola
Starts out with… a violin? I can’t really tell, but something just doesn’t sound right with the opening! That’s just a minor difficulty, though. The guitar playing is excellent, and the singing is absolutely haunting. I have a real weakness for women singing in a low register!
Very good, though not as good as Bat vs. Bird.
Champion Vampire
Almost sounds like an early Sleater-Kinney song! They both sing simultaneously throughout, and due to my inability to understand lyrics easily, the only time I can tell what they are singing is the unison “You’re the best thing I never had!” (Let me know if you can make out the rest, would you?)
This song sounds cool, in the most specific sense of the word.
Antarctica
Begins with generic angry background noise, almost like a Pink Floyd song. I’m not crazy about the singing on this one – and I still can’t understand the words! The ‘oo hoo’ sound is a bit silly, and overall the song is rather boring – just like Antarctica, I guess! I do like the guitar vibrato at the end of the phrases.
So, Bat vs. Bird is the best, Antarctica is the worst, and my primary reaction is, “YAY! Something new(ish) from Carrie!”
She should do a solo project, or something.