Search - Splitsville :: Incorporated

Splitsville is great

Michael C. Bennett | 01/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Highly recommended. Recommend purchase from Notlame.com. Ordered dozens of CDs from them (including this one) and never had a problem.That other anonymous person is a moron, although s/he appears to have good taste in music.an auditeer"

Power pop band matures and still has fun

Michael C. Bennett | Chicago, IL United States | 01/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The fifth Splitsville album is by far their most straightforward foray into pure power pop. Whereas the first two albums had speedier, punkier aspects, the brilliant third album Repeater was a textbook in a variety of pop styles and The Complete Pet Soul was a Dukes Of Rutlesphear-esque lark, this is narrowly focused. This could have been bad news, as it would have turned the bright colors of prior work into a monochromatic affair. However, the brilliance of their songwriting prevents that. There is no new ground broken. The pleasure comes from the sublime songs, that possess memorable and enticing sounds and articulate lyrics that separate them from so many pop bands today (or any day, for that matter).
From the get go, it's apparent the band worked very hard on developing these songs until they were 100 percent fat free. Moreover, the first song also shows that they are trying a new approach to the pop song. "White Dwarf" has relatively spartan lyrics that don't tell a story. Yet the music and words fit -- the effect is a more impressionistic song, where there are hooks, but the mood and feeling dominate. The song is essentially three melodic movements -- the melody of the verses, the melody of the chorus and the melody of the coda. The band plays the music with a large sense of scale, which fits the lyrics, where the protagonist is dealing with the cosmic reality of being a speck in a vast universe. This could be an existential musing or a heartbroken guy trying to put things in perspective. The song goes out on the mantra of "now on/I'll keep my feet on/solid ground", with the band building the intensity to a fever pitch.
Splitsville nearly equals the emotional impact of "White Dwarf" on a handful of other songs. "The Mentalist" sounds like a cross between America and recent Gigolo Aunts. The song's mellow Cali-vibe is tinged with resignation. It looks at how hard it is to deal with relationships, since you have no control and self-awareness can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth: "uncomfortable in my skin/I want to relive this life/blissfully ignorant/and easily satisfied." This song is a pretty downer.
On "Sasha", Paul Krysiak's electric piano adds an R & B tint to a McCartneyesque song in the tradition of Splitsville classics like "Manna". The lamenting of the verses is balanced by an empathetic chorus, where the singer is trying to reassure his lover that she doesn't have to run away (like she usually does). The inability to be emotionally intimate is not standard power pop song material, yet Splitsville pulls it off with ease.
And nothing sounds easier than "Headache", which may the most perfectly constructed pop tune I've heard since Redd Kross's "Mess Around". The song is 100 percent hook, from the lead guitar figures played by Matt Huseman and Tony Waddy (making his Splitsville album debut, and doing so in fine fashion), the creamy backing vocals, the melodies that fit together as if preordained, and a chorus that is impossible to get out of the head.
Splitsville hasn't lost its sense of humor, coming up with some crackling rockers. "Trouble" is a spinning top of a tune, allowing Brent Huseman to bash away at his drum kit and Matt and Tony to play chunky riffs, while the chorus ping-pongs along. On "Heart Attack", the band grafts spare verses with a semi-funk chorus that pulses and rocks. The best pop and rock combo is "Brink", where the band seems to call out bands that are in it for the fame or the shot at a major label deal, rather than doing what they feel: "If you are not/about to rock/then we will not/salute you." I particularly love the guitar leads at the end of the chorus, that sound like relics from Thin Lizzy (note: no other Lynott-ish content in the song).
It's notable that the rockers are the songs that retain the cleverness that has served Splitsville well from the beginning. On the slower songs, they really delve for something deeper and achieve it. What's particularly inspiring is that these two sides of the band compliment each other. This is the rare disc that I think is far too short at 10 tracks. Splitsville is one of the best rock bands around, and I hope that they can get back to the studio soon, as I'm yearning for more."

ANOTHER GREAT SPLITSVILLE DISC!

More M | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 03/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THIS DISC TOOK A FEW LISTENS FOR ME TO COMPLETELY ENJOY. IT'S EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS (MAYBE BETTER THAN) "PET SOUL," BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY. I THINK IT'S A MORE MATURE SOUND FOR THE BAND, WITH A FEW MORE CURVE BALLS THROWN IN. THE LYRICS ARE MORE MATURE, THE SONGS A BIT MORE COMPLEX. GREAT HARMONIES, GREAT LEAD GUITAR WORK, MEMORABLE MELODIES THAT STICK IN YOUR BRAIN TILL THE NEXT MORNING. THIS STUFF IS ABOVE THE FRAY OF ALL THE KNOCK-OFF POWER POP BANDS OUT THERE...I DOUBT YOU'LL FIND ANY USED COPIES GOING FOR $6. THIS DISC IS A KEEPER."