The split 7″ has to be one of the most compelling indie releases. Always worth a punt, even if you don’t like one side, the other side might blow you away. Most importantly, it should always give you a dilemma on where in your collection to file it. This one is from Empty Cellar records in California, The She’s vs the Dry Spells. In my opinion, every split release should have a “vs” in the title. Even better would be a picture of the bands having a fight on the front, but I suppose we can’t have everything.
Anyway, first up – The She’s, Californian four-piece and their troubles with lipstick “Cherry Red”. Handclaps, fuzz, and it’s a fair bet that their concerts involve a lot of jumping. Managing to echo the Breeders, the Shangri-Las and the Donnas, it’s a fantastic track that I can see being a big favourite live.
On the flip – The Dry Spells “Heliotrope”, ethereal psychedelia, think the Sundays falling through a slip in time and ending up in a jam session with the 13th Floor Elevators. The sort of record that makes you wish you were wearing purple bell bottoms and a frilled shirt to experience it properly.
It may be tricky to get the 7″ given it is limited to 500, but it looks amazing (the artwork is in 3d, and one side of the record is red, the other blue) and downloads are also available at the Empty Cellar Bandcamp.
