(banner image borrowed from Jeff Rice without permission, but I’m sure Roddenberry wouldn’t have approved, either; the implication that a charged lemonade killed Tasha Yar is some refreshing new thought but maybe it could also help out old Oily here too … your poison is my medicine)

THE SPATULAS A Blue Dot LP (Post Present Medium)

Coming off as strong a debut as The Spatulas’ Beehive Mind, there’s that adage of how it gets topped. But the rules don’t apply here, and the songtrust of Miranda and Lila forget all of that and simply do it again; another set of new ones that fit their broke-the-mold stance and sound. Folky without going unplugged (maybe “regional” is the best word, as the band crafts songs that sound like they are cut off from trends and maybe even other music), inspired without long-standing traditions or expectations, their music is a veritable bouquet of wildflowers bursting out of a crack in the sidewalk, comfortably decoupled from the garden and thriving in the crease. Nature finds a way! Plaintive production pushes the difference between their two guitars, one astringent rhythmic constant, the other flying off like Wayne/Kate Village (“To Comfort Them And All Beings”) against a stalwart bass/drums interplay that holds it down with the best of pocketed private press psych gems, in that they play through the fundamentals and the comparisons and get straight to hotwiring this vehicle for wild, expressive pop. No decorum needed or wanted – they’ve struck again, making off with my heart.

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