Recension av Brush My Hair

Rhett Redelings - Gods Of Music - 2002-04-14

Betyg: 7,6/10

Spiral Stairs’ describe their work by stating up front “We play distorted pop with very nice melodies and influences from both 60's pop, punk and lo-fi. We don't try to make long advanced numbers, just great pop songs!” and judging by ‘Brush my Hair”, I’d have to say they’re almost right. I don’t hear the ‘60’s influences, but I recognize the influence of every early ‘80’s band I’ve ever heard, refracted happily in this song.

Technically speaking, the recording levels are a little out of control, the guitars and vocals are generally too loud (support vocals don’t need to be as loud as the lead to be effective), the drums are a tad too quiet, the overall recording, mix and performances need more polish. The vocalist has a nice quality to his voice, but could use a little more skill navigating between notes. The lyrics are silly and fun and the hook is completely infectious.

Basically this is a good demo of a great disposable (this is a compliment!) pop song! Does it matter that the recording and mix aren’t a little more polished? For long term appeal, yes, I think it does. In fact, if not for the imperfections in the recording quality, this song would have scored much higher. Does it matter that the vocals are a little clumsy? Not really, no. In fact, paired with these silly, fun lyrics, the vocals actually add to the charm of this song and, by association, the band. If Spiral Stairs had an album available on their site, I’d buy it, and if I had a recording label to call my own, I’d consider signing them. Why, because their energy, sense of humor and generally solid pop sensibilities outweigh almost all of this track’s technical short comings. Spiral Stairs are probably a great band to see live. With a slightly more professional sounding recording, this band could likely be a shoe-in for the ‘80’s revival thing happening in the music scene right now.

Is this track ready for prime time? No. Should you listen to it anyway? Yes! If you like pop music (Pop in the purest sense of the word) have a sense of fun and can get past the less than perfect technical aspects (and I recommend you try), go download this song, add it to your collection and let it cheer up your day! I can’t wait to hear more from this band.

Tillbaka